What We've Learned After Two Games

* After missing 3 weeks of practice and both exhibition games, it's clearly a big boost to have Verdell Jones III back in the line-up.  In the first game, the biggest benefit was that Hulls was able to move off the ball and drain 6-9 from the arc.  In tonight's game, Verdell was a scoring machine -- 27 points on 11-14 from the field including 2-2 from the arc.  He also added 6 rebounds, 3 steals, and 2 assists.  The tone of this bullet point is a positive one, so we will touch on turnovers later.

* Well, now that I mentioned it, we might as well discuss the turnovers.  This has to be the biggest concern for the team right now.  24 turnovers in the opener and 21 more tonight.  I expect this to be a problem area all year, but 45 turnovers against Florida Gulf Coast and Wright State is ridiculous.  Verdell is leading the way with 11 in two games.  When IU is not turning it over, they are shooting the ball very well at around 55% after two games.

* I'm ready for Guy-Marc Michel.  During tonight's game, Dakich (if you did not see the game, Dakich was doing the color commentary) said the information that he has been able to gather was that Michel was on a team with professional players for 5 games where he logged a grand total of 2 minutes.  The NCAA needs to get off their ass and make a ruling.  I don't understand it. 

* Another reason to be anxious to see what Guy can do is because we are not getting much out of our big men.  Check out these numbers:
       * Pritchard - 2 points, 10 fouls
       * Capobianco - 1 point, 6 fouls
       * Elston - 7 points, 7 fouls
So, that's only 10 points while racking up 23 fouls for those 3 guys.  It's not that they have been horrible, they have been active at times, but there just isn't much production.  Pritchard does have 4 blocks total and had 8 rebounds in the opener.  Capobianco has been playing the role you would expect.  However, Elston did not score in tonight's game and hasn't seemed to get into the flow of the game.

* Christian Watford is going to have a big year.  Watford had career highs in both points (24) and assists (4) in the opener and then had a double-double tonight with 17 points and 10 rebounds.  After 2 games, he's averaging 20.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 4 assists per game.

* Only 16 minutes for Mo Creek tonight.  Even though his limited minutes were primarily due to some foul trouble, I am sure Crean is fine with 36 total minutes in the first two games for Mo.  Again, Creek is still working his way back but he keeps looking better each time he steps on the floor.  And it's not like he's been non-existent thus far, he is averaging 11 points after two games and is 4-9 from the arc.

* There's something about Victor Oladipo.  Already in his young career, he is proving to be a guy you want on the floor at the end of either half.  There was the 4-point play and blocked shot to send the second exhibition game to overtime.  And in tonight's game, it looked like Wright St was going to get the final shot of the half before Vic got a steal with 5 seconds, drove the length of the floor, and made a fantastic spin move to lay it in at the buzzer.

* Jordan Hulls has looked very good in the first two games.  I was concerned after watching both exhibition games with Hulls handling a majority of the point guard duties.  He did not look comfortable and did not do much creating for the offense.  However, with Jones back in the lineup, Hulls has been able to play off the ball more and has been very effective.  In the first game, he put on a shooting clinic from the arc.  Tonight, he didn't shoot much, but I thought he was doing all the little things.  Whether it was ball movement or getting in the lane or rebounding or hitting free throws, he was getting the job done.

* Another player that is quietly off to a good start is Jeremiah Rivers.  After the first game, Crean said one of his favorite stats is to look at how players and combinations of players impact the game.  He said that Rivers led the team in the first game with a +21 differential.  As I mentioned before, I really like the change in role for Rivers.  It allows him to use his strengths and impact the game by rebounding, playing defense, making some great interior passes, and helping out with the ball-handling when needed.  So far, so good.

* Daniel Moore has been playing his role effectively when called upon.  He actually operates more like a true point guard than anyone else on the team and he has 6 assists to 3 turnovers thus far.

* Will Sheehey has definitely shown some potential with a traditional 3-point play in the first game and a 3-pointer in tonight's game.  I don't expect him to get a lot of minutes, but you never know what can happen over a course of a season. He does seem to have the size, athleticism, and skills to potentially compete for some minutes.

* As a team, they have not been overly impressive but they were able to eventually pull away in each game and win comfortably in both.  I'd really like to see them take care of business in these first 6 games.  If they can do that, it would make their ACC/Big Ten Challenge game at Boston College pretty interesting. 

* Next up is their 3rd game in 5 days when Mississippi Valley State comes to Assembly Hall on Tuesdat at 7pm ET/6pm CT.  Mississippi Valley State only lost by 2 points to Georgia in their opener.

Go Hoosiers!