It’s that time of year. The start to a new basketball season. For some Hoosier fans, they’ve been waiting for this day since last March. Tonight, Hoosier fans will get their first look at the highly-ranked 6-man recruiting class. Tonight the men’s basketball team will make their 2009 campaign debut with an exhibition contest vs. Grace College (Near Warsaw, south of Fort Wayne). Head Coach Tom Crean said he scheduled Grace and St. Joseph’s College, both located in Indiana, to allow their players who are mostly Indiana born, to achieve a dream and give them the opportunity to play at The Assembly Hall. The following are the things to watch for tonight.
- Jeremiah Rivers’ impact on the floor. He has already has provided instrumental leadership off the court for this team, but how does that translate on the court?
- Jordan Hulls- 2009 Indiana Mr. Basketball, the local favorite. He led his Bloomington South team to a state championship last year, played great in the AAU season. I look for him to slowly take over starting PG later down the road.
- Bawa Muniru- still waiting for NCAA Clearing. This has been an ongoing story that hopefully will clear up soon and allow him to play
- Turnovers- last year this was the team’s biggest problem. They averaged over 20 turnovers a game. Their lack of experience and indecisiveness proved costly.
- Shot Clock- again a big point of emphasis. The team had many shot clock violations last year and rushed to get some kind of shot off. They must be more efficient with the ball and get a shot off, a quality shot off, in plenty of time.
- Close situations down the stretch- the game that sticks out is the Big Ten home opener against Michigan where the Hoosiers led most of the game, and had a lead over 20 points at one point. But turnover’s and not managing the shot clock allowed Michigan to get back in the game and steal the victory.