BLOOMINGTON -- After a nervous opener, Mike Woodson's team didn't make things so stressful for the fans inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Friday night.
The Hoosiers smothered Northern Illinois defensively, holding the Huskies without a made field goal for extended stretches of both halves, in an 85-49 win. You all had a variety of questions in the wake of that victory. Here are answers to some of them.
Q:From a talent and performance perspective, how would you evaluate the new faces on the team? (Stewart, XJ, Bates, etc.)? Meet expectations?
Obviously the sample sizes remain small, but having seen them in The Bahamas and now here ...
... Xavier Johnson is about as advertised. He can be mercurial but he's a playmaker, and the best point guard/creator this program has seen since Yogi Ferrell.
... Parker Stewart just needs to get his shot going. I think his defense has been a pleasant surprise, though of course that will get tested in Big Ten play. He'll score more than he has in these first two.
... Tamar Bates I am on the record as saying I think will be a very good player in time. How much ground he covers toward that potential this year remains to be seen but I think he has a high ceiling.
... Miller Kopp obviously hasn't found his 3-point shot yet but he seems to grasp a lot of what Woodson asks schematically at both ends of the floor. There's enormous value in that right now.
... Michael Durr we just saw for the first time Friday night. There are plenty of signs he can be a strong rotation option in the post. He looked strong and assertive, and we haven't seen him pull a 3-pointer yet but should expect to.
... Logan Duncomb I haven't seen enough of in meaningful minutes to judge yet. I do
think it's interesting IU won't redshirt him.
Q: After seeing two games, what's the biggest area for growth? 3-point shooting looks like it may put a ceiling on how far this team can go this season?
As has been the case for five years, 3-point shooting remains the ceiling on this program's ambitions until it is removed. That said, I think this team will make the arc work better this year than in the past as much through volume as efficiency.
The other piece I'm curious about is rebounding. Indiana doesn't seem overly concerned about the offensive glass so far. For a team that trends small a lot of the time, that may continue to be the case, the Hoosiers being more interested in dropping bodies to protect transition defense.
Q: Which is the real team, tonight or Tuesday? Didn’t watch the game but what was your feeling being there?
I don't think either is "the real team" at this point. It's too early in the season and Indiana remains too raw as a whole group to make those sorts of pronouncements.
I said this the other day on our midweek podcast: IU basketball right now is like a scientist in a laboratory, conducting a bunch of experiments at once, while we all watch through an observationwindow. Some of those experiments are likely to produce a desired result, some will fail, some will prove worthless, some will be surprisingly successful and a couple might explode in everybody's face.
This team is going to be a work in progress for a while, not just because of the new coach but also because of all the new players. I've said since I saw this group in The Bahamas that IU has the chance to be good. Perhaps very good. Certainly NCAA tournament-level good. But we're not going to be in a position to credibly declare it so for a while.
Q: When was the last triple double with blocks in the NCAA, if ever?
Forgive me, I could not find a master list of Division I men's triple-doubles to consult (though I did look). But it has happened. In fact, it's happened at Indiana.
Steve Downing finished with28 points, 17 rebounds and 10 blocks in a win over Michigan on Feb. 23, 1971, IU's first triple-double in program history.
Juwan Morgan, who reached that milestone with 10 points, rebounds and assists each, has the other one. He did that in a December 2018 win against Jacksonville.
Q: No playing time for the walk-ons?
With respect to his walk-ons, I think Mike Woodson needs to prioritize evaluatingthe players he knows have a good chance to make his rotation during these buy games. Woodson has made it clear he thinks Indiana could go 10 deep this year, which for a coach with an NBA background isn't that surprising. But these are the trial-and-error games where he can tinker and toy with combinations, with minimal involved risk. That needs to take precedent right now.
Once the weather turns cold, there's no going wrong with Teddy Bear Kisses. In moderation, of course.
Purely an educated guess: I think Jack Tuttle is QB1 Saturday for as long as his health allows. Tom Allen has suggested Tuttle is further along in his recovery than Michael Penix, though both were expected to practice this week. And while I don't think Allen would throw the baby out with the bathwater to do it, I am sure he and his staff would like to retain Donaven McCulley's redshirt year if possible.
So if I'm guessing (and I am), I'll say Tuttle.
Follow IndyStar reporter Zach Osterman on Twitter: @ZachOsterman.
