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Indiana has bulked up at guard, literally and figuratively. The hope is the additions will add up to a few more wins.
“We’ve had a good fall. Since Aug. 31 we’ve seen a competitive mind-set,” Indiana coach Tom Crean said during a news conference Thursday at Assembly Hall. “It doesn’t mean anything yet in the sense of it carrying over to where it will be in competition against other teams, but we are optimistic that that’s going to happen. They are competitive with one another, they are working hard.”
IU continues its workouts as it counts down to Hoosier Hysteria. IU’s version of Midnight Madness will tentatively begin at 8:30 p.m. Oct. 16 at Assembly Hall. Crean has seen improvement from “everyone,” saying sophomore guards Verdell Jones III and Matt Roth have stood out in drills among the returning players.
“They have both gained over 20 pounds since they’ve been here,” Crean said. “I have not seen any full-court five-on-five yet. We’ve run up-and-down 5-on-0, have done some five-on-five half court, but we haven’t gone as a team. The reports I get back are very strong in Verdell’s confidence in that area.
“Matt has got a quicker release. Matt’s trying to do more than shoot threes. We’re actually trying to get him to move his range in, so that he has a quicker release and from points in time break you down using a shot fake. And he’s trying to get to the offensive boards. When you look at their bodies and you look at them in the drill work, those guys stand out in those ways.”
Crean is optimistic about guard play with the added depth provided by newcomers Maurice Creek, Jordan Hulls – both freshmen – and junior transfer Jeremiah Rivers.
“Now you have people that are saying, ‘You might have too many guards.’ It never ends, but we don’t have too many guards,” Crean said. “The guards we have do have the ability to go in there and help us play. But consistent measures of that are where it’s really going to be. But if that continues to take shape I think we will be much closer to a style of play that we would like to have at Indiana, without a doubt.”
Note: Freshman center Bawa Muniru has not been cleared yet by the NCAA eligibility center.
