After Thursday night’s win over Maryland, Indiana has proven all of the national media wrong through 20 games and has forced its way to a first-place tie with Wisconsin in the Big Ten.
In fact, Dan Dakich has been calling for Tom Crean to be the 2015 Coach of the Year favorite due to the work the Hoosiers have been doing. While I still think that might be a bit of a stretch, Indiana has been awfully impressive this campaign.
First, let’s view the Hoosiers’ losses. The early-season home loss to Eastern Washington appeared to be the beginning of the end for Tom Crean’s final season in Bloomington. However, the Hoosiers rebounded nicely. Eastern Washington has a good chance to head to the NCAA tournament as an autobid holder, while Louisville, Georgetown, and Michigan State all appear to be headed to the Dance as at-large selections.
Next, let’s view the wins. Indiana has three in the RPI top 20 with Maryland, Butler, and SMU. Yes, January RPI ratings should be taken with a grain of salt, but IU does have three such scalps as opposed to one. They also have a road win at Illinois and a quality win against Ohio State at home. If it can add another strong road win in the Big Ten — perhaps this weekend in Columbus against the very same Buckeyes — Indiana would already have a strong resume for March. Moreover, with five more wins this season, which seems to be nearly a lock at this point, Indiana will hit the 20-win and 10-conference-win mileposts.
The national media, myself included, were quick to jump on Crean with all the off-court issues that surfaced for IU earlier in the season. Since November, the program has been squeaky clean. While some may argue that this is nothing more than necessary self-preservation and not a cultural shift, Crean still deserves some credit.
A central source of the doubts which threatened to engulf Indiana in November was a perceived lack of talent after the roster turnover which accompanied the end of the 2014 season. Crean has also weathered this and gotten the most out of this team as possible. While a lack of size could still hurt the Hoosiers going forward, they can still cause their own mismatches at the opposite end of the floor. Indiana spreads out its opponents and beats them on the perimeter. In a season when so many teams are struggling to score, Indiana has been fairly consistent in that department. There is no doubt that if Indiana lights it up as it did against Maryland on Thursday night, it could beat anyone in the nation.
While most know about the success that James Blackmon, Jr. has been enjoying, two other players have generated even more successes for the Hoosiers. After an early suspension, Troy Williams has come up huge for Indiana. Outside of his highlight dunks and blocks, Williams has provided stability in a smaller frontcourt and given Crean a perfect fit for the offense.
Yogi Ferrell has provided strong leadership at the point guard. Ferrell is averaging 15.4 points per game on nearly 44 percent shooting. However, most importantly, Ferrell is averaging just 2.1 turnovers per contest, which is down from the 2.6 average of last year.
While I’m not sure we should be ready to completely buy into Indiana as a serious Final Four contender or Crean as a Coach of the Year candidate, it is hard not to see the success this squad has had with limited resources. However, one thing is for certain: Indiana now owns what its turbulent offseason lacked — stability.
