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Tuesday, November 28, 2000
Time for young Hoosiers to grow up
By Andy Katz
ESPN.com
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NEW YORK -- The people of Indiana probably won't be too patient. But the players have to be or else interim head coach Mike Davis and his staff won't have a chance to stay on past this season.
When the Hoosiers won their first two games of the Preseason NIT over Pepperdine and South Alabama, euphoria enveloped the staff, and to some extent, the team. It put off any talk about a successor or, even fired Bob Knight. But the Hoosiers' two lopsided losses in New York to Temple and Texas last week seemed to have zapped the life out of the team.
The Hoosiers are in a fragile state, and so is the staff. They understand their fate is tied to wins and losses and nothing else. Being 2-2 after four games is fine in the big picture, especially for a team that has only one inside player who actually looks like he's filled his body frame (Kirk Haston) and a backcourt that is devoid of big-game experience.
|  | | Mike Davis' future is in the hands of young Hoosiers like freshmen Andre Owens, left, and A.J. Moye. |
The pressure on McDonald's All-American Jared Jeffries grows with each possession and he's saying he's not feeling it. But how can he not be? Jeffries looked scared at times, playing passive against Texas until the second half.
But the offense Davis and his CBA-groomed staff have developed revolves around Jeffries. The offense is based on a scorer getting the ball in position to score. But if Jeffries isn't aggressive, then the whole infrastructure can fold. If the Hoosiers don't play tougher on defense then whatever they do on offense won't work.
But they're young. They need time. But they all know they can't afford to lose, putting the players and, especially the staff, in an improbable situation.
"I don't get too high and I don't get too low," Davis said after the Hoosiers lost 70-58 to Texas in Friday's third-place Preseason NIT game at Madison Square Garden.
"I know where we are and where we have to be," Davis continued. "We're 2-2. Purdue lost to Central Michigan. Auburn lost to Mercer. Georgia lost to Georgia State. We didn't lose to bad teams. We lost to two pretty good teams. Anyone who thought we would come into this tournament and win is crazy because Duke is the best team in the country. Temple is playing well right now. But I thought we should have beat Texas."
Indiana plays at Indiana State Wednesday in a grudge match after the Sycamores upset the Hoosiers last year in Assembly Hall. Next up is Southern Illinois Dec. 2 in Bloomington. The Salukis aren't a slouch, either, at 3-0 after beating Long Beach State, Saint Louis and Ball State at home. The Hoosiers then travel to Notre Dame on Dec. 5 to play an Irish team who just beat Cincinnati. On the horizon before the Big Ten season are games against Charlotte (Dec. 16), Missouri (Dec. 18) and Kentucky (Dec. 22 in Louisville).
"They're so fragile," Davis said. "You talk to them at halftime and can look in their faces and see that there's no 'I'm going to go out there and kill look.' My job is to put that there. We've got to get stronger. I've got to motivate them until it sinks in."
Jeffries said the team has a positive attitude and won't be discouraged if the people in Indiana start to stay away from home games, boo or simply put pressure on the staff. The problem is in the team's lack of aggressiveness that Jeffries said hasn't been consistent. He said the team is taking quick shots and not feeling comfortable yet.
But Jeffries was adamant that the team's performance has to do with the Hoosiers being young and still inexperienced.
"Everybody is hesitating and they've got to put their all into it," Jeffries said. "I'm not worried. There are still some guys on the team who are used to coach Knight, but I think it will work out. Even the two games we won we didn't play well. I didn't play well.
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The
pressure the coaches feel filters down from them
to us. We've got to maintain a balance between
what they want and what we want. But this is just
part of an up and down normal season. ... A lot of
teams go through adversity and a lot of teams
lose games they shouldn't. You find out what's
wrong and correct it. ” |
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— Jared Jeffries, Indiana freshman |
"I've still got to understand when to do things. I hesitated at going to the basket. The past four years I could do whatever I wanted in high school. Now I've got to get used to a team and to a coach who puts a lot of demands on me."
Against Temple's zone, a tough assignment for any team -- young or old, the Hoosiers got nine inside points combined from Haston and Jeff Newton, while none of Jeffries' 13 points came in the paint.
"The pressure the coaches feel filters down from them to us," Jeffries said. "We've got to maintain a balance between what they want and what we want. But this is just part of an up and down normal season. Kentucky came up here and lost two games (in the Coaches vs. Cancer tourney in New York). Other teams have lost, like Auburn to Mercer. A lot of teams go through adversity and a lot of teams lose games they shouldn't. You find out what's wrong and correct it."
Indiana could have done better at the free-throw line in MSG, missing 16 free throws and losing by 12 to Texas. They could have cut down on the 14 first-half turnovers as well. They could have made more than one 3-pointer.
But Indiana's problems begin with toughness, mentally and physically. Indiana didn't have the strength in either place to play with Texas in the first half, falling behind by 20 at halftime. They had it in the beginning of the second half, cutting the lead to seven. But the Hoosiers ran out of gas and couldn't keep up the pace.
The schedule doesn't give them time to mature. But will the people of Indiana wait to see the staff and team grow?
"People in Indiana have high expectations of these guys," Davis said. "We have really good players, but they've got to play."
If they don't, the players might not give the staff a chance to witness whenever they decide to play to their potential.
Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com.
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