Breakdowns - IU Film Room

IU Basketball 2020-21: Offensive Improvement

Do you ever find yourself longing for the simpler times when your biggest worries were why IU had multi-minute stretches of stagnant offense? Pre-Coronavirus – that was something that was pretty heavy on Hoosier fans’ minds. And for good reason. There were multiple stretches this season when the Hoosier offense was abysmal. The base offense the Hoosiers ran was blocker-mover motion, which is essentially an offense where your big men each have their own side of the floor and set screens for guards and post-up on that side. That’s an elementary explanation of it, as it can certainly get more intricate than that, but that’s the basic gist. It may have seemed like a great offense for the Hoosiers to […]

Next Man Up: How Jerome Hunter Can Replace Justin Smith (And the Hoosiers Can Be Better for It)

Depending on who you are, the Friday morning news of Justin Smith transferring may or may not have come as a surprise. Smith averaged 10 points, 5 rebounds, and 1 assist per game on 49% shooting from the floor. He was also first on the team in minutes per game at just over 30 minutes a contest. First things first, I want to note that I wish Justin Smith well. He got a degree from the Kelley School of Business, and while some apparently disagree, he will quite literally be a Hoosier forever. He just happens to be going elsewhere for grad school and his last season of eligibility. With that said – while Smith was first on the team […]

Indiana vs. Syracuse 2013: Was it Really that Bad?

When you see the Syracuse vs. Indiana game talked about on social media, it’s usually done as a shot at Tom Crean. If you type in ‘Tom Crean Zone’ on Twitter, these are some of the tweets you’ll see. The tweets highlighted above are tweets from many years ago, but if you click ‘Latest Tweets’ with that same search query, you get several that were tweeted in 2020. Immediately after the 61-50 Syracuse victory, I vowed to not watch any ‘highlights’ on Sportscenter and did everything in my power to forget that game. For just about seven years, I’ve been pretty good at avoiding that game. But then Coronavirus hit & I’ve been quarantined (like the rest of the world) […]

A Deep Dive into IU Basketball’s Offensive Stats

I originally posted this on Twitter – but thought it may be easier for people to consume in a format like this. So here’s the deal: I did a deep dive into some offensive stats to see what’s working (if anything), what’s not, and if there’s a path to fixing any of the dysfunction plaguing IU’s offense. Here’s what I found: 17% of IU’s offense happens in transition. They score 1.04 points per possession in transition, good enough to put them in the 63rd percentile in the nation. Not great, not terrible. This means that 83% of IU’s offense happens in the half court, where their scoring dips to .88 points per possession. With transition offense yielding better results than […]

Bracketology Predictions – 1/28/20

It’s just what you’ve been looking for – another bracket prediction in late January. I’ve never done this before & basically just wanted to do it for fun. I did a little research on the selection committee process, looked at the ‘Team Sheets’ and rankings they use, and did what I could to come up with a bracket. Your team not in here & you think they should be? You’re probably right. Hoping this is something I can get better at as I go, but we shall see. Without further ado, my bracket: South (Houston) Midwest (Indianapolis) Omaha Omaha 1) Baylor 1) Gonzaga 16/16) Norfolk St/Merrimack 16) Hawai’i 8) Stanford 8) Houston 9) Michigan 9) Wisconsin Sacramento Albany 5) Kentucky […]

Indiana vs. Louisiana Tech (11-25-19)

The Hoosiers got off to a hot start against La Tech & rode that wave throughout the game. There was a lot of good in the 1st half, along with a lot of bad in the 2nd. In this film room, we dive into what we saw went well in the first, along with looking at every turnover of the 2nd half.

Indiana vs. Princeton (11-20-19)

It was a pretty sloppy first half for Indiana, especially on the defensive end. We take a look at what caused that, along with how the Hoosiers shored it up in the 2nd half. In this IU Film Room, we also look at Joey Brunk’s excellent D, BLOB plays, and much more! As always, appreciate the feedback!

Indiana vs. Troy (11-16-19)

The Hoosiers put their most complete game together against Troy on Saturday night. They executed offensively and defensively, which is certainly exciting for Hoosiers fans to see. I really liked IU’s zone offense against Troy, which I dove into extensively, along with their baseline out of bounds plays, and a few other things to keep an eye on! As always, appreciate the feedback!

Indiana vs. North Alabama (11/12/19)

North Alabama hit the road to Assembly Hall on Tuesday night & the Hoosiers came away victorious. North Alabama came out firing in the first half, but IU was able to pull away for a comfortable victory in the 2nd half. In this film room, we look at how Archie built upon one of the plays he ran a lot against Portland State, along with some talk about spacing, defense, transition, and more. As always, appreciate the feedback.

Indiana vs. Portland St. (11/9/19)

It wasn’t exactly a pretty performance from the Hoosiers, but small little tests like these that still result in double digit victories aren’t necessarily a bad thing for IU. Like all November games, there were good & bad things to dissect on this edition of the IU Film Room. We look at transition, defensive breakdowns, IU’s most common offensive action this game, and more. As always, appreciate the feedback!