Indiana Basketball has finally made it through its long and difficult offseason and will kick off the season Saturday night at home against Northwestern State.
The 2007-2008 season was supposed to be the year that Indiana would be back atop the Big Ten and potentially make a Final Four run, but here we are nearly eight months removed from a first round loss in the NCAA Tournament.
This season, Indiana will likely be known as the Whoosiers. They have a new coach in Tom Crean, one returned scholarship player in Kyle Taber, and 11 new players, eight of whom are freshmen. You will certainly need a roster sheet when you watch them play this year.
The 2008-2009 will be nothing short of a rebuilding year for Indiana. Crean has been asking for patience from the Hoosier faithful, and that is exactly what fans will need when watching this team. They aren’t overly talented, and they won’t be flashy, but they will play their hearts out and improve game by game.
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The Hoosiers will heavily rely on freshman point guard Verdell Jones III, freshman guard/forward Nick Williams, freshman big man Tom Pritchard, junior transfer guard Devon Dumes, and junior forward Kyle Taber. The Hoosiers won’t have a single standout player. Instead, they will rely on a complete team effort in order to be competitive.
Look for Crean’s Hoosiers to push the ball up and down the court, shoot a bevy of three-pointers, and play aggressively on the defensive side of the ball. This team is thin in frontcourt depth and extremely deep at the guard position. Look for opponents to work the ball inside and beat them with size and strength.
With that said, the baby Hoosiers are expected to be fighting to stay out of last place in the Big Ten, and many predict that they will finish last.
It won’t be about wins and losses this season. It will be about gaining experience, playing hard, showing improvement each game, and building towards next season with the top 10 recruiting class that Crean has coming.
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