Indiana Hoosiers Basketball season in review: Derek Elston.

by John M (The Crimson Quarry) on May 10, 2011 9:56 PM EDT in Indiana Hoosiers Basketball

Maybe we should start a pool on when I will finish this series. Memorial Day? Fathers' Day? Fourth of July? Fall football practice? I'm determined to finish it much sooner than that, before the 2010-11 season fades even further into the past. Before I begin discussing the enigmatic Derek Elston, I suppose it's worth noting that it's now May 10. The end of the spring semester, final exams, and graduation all are in the past, and there have been no reports of transfers. Tom Crean added Remy Abell to next season's roster, and the Hoosiers remain overcommitted by two scholarships for the 2012-13 season. Despite all that, Tom Crean's "never stop recruiting" philosophy still has him and his staff following Gary Harris of Hamilton Southeastern. Fans generally have responded to this by presuming that Crean knew something we didn't know, that someone would be leaving. IU has not lost any players, however, and it is becoming increasingly unlikely that IU will have a ride for Harris in 2012. Perhaps Crean's approach with Harris is simply a very time-consuming hedge. Maybe he doesn't actually expect to have a ride for Harris, but in the event that there is unexpected attrition because of academics, discipline, or disgruntlement, Crean isn't going to be caught flat-footed. That's my best guess at this point, because it does not appear that any of last season's freshmen or sophomores are going anywhere.

It's not a coincidence that I bring this up in my Elston post. Derek has been the subject of transfer speculation all season as he spent time on various levels of Crean's doghouse. Elston's overall numbers (here is his Yahoo page) were fairly stagnant compared to his freshman year. Despite ample opportunity, Elston's minutes did not increase appreciably. He shot slightly better from the field, improving to 51 percent from 47 percent, but all of his other numbers: points per game, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks, declined modestly. After shooting a respectable 36 percent from three point range as a freshman, he slipped to 17 percent as a sophomore and did not make a single three pointer in Big Ten play. Of course, these numbers don't tell the whole story. Even a layman like me could tell that Elston really struggled to grasp his role defensively this season and made a ton of poor decisions on that end of the court. Finally, he found himself bounced from a game at Northwestern for what appeared to be an intentional trip of a Wildcat player. Elston played well in IU's win over Minnesota, but for the most part, his best games statistically came in games in which IU played poorly, such as losses to Northern Iowa and at Iowa. All in all, a sophomore slump that lasted the entire season.

I really don't know what to make of Elston. He certainly doesn't seem to lack skill and athleticism. He strikes me as agile for a player of his size and with a nice jumper as well. Is it a mental issue, a matter of commitment, a problem of distraction? I don't know. I do know that IU needs help in the frontcourt, even with Cody Zeller arriving, and if Elston (or Tom Pritchard or Bobby Capobianco) can make major strides in the offseason, then there will be excellent opportunities for playing time. Hopefully one or more will find a way.

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To be fair to Elston

Just about everyone struggled to grasp their role defensively last year. That does not excuse him, but I think it might have affected him. I am hopeful that with Zeller and perhaps Abell bringing some added chops on the defensive end, it will help Elston to figure it out. I don’t think that he’s a good defender. But I am also hopeful that it’s not a question of his aptitude, but instead a question of him being thrown into a mix of bad scheme and other bad or sub-par defenders.

As the talent level rises a bit, I’d love for them to tell Elston to focus on defense and boards. Maybe it works. Maybe not. He is a mystery to me at this point.

by hoosierdaddynow on May 11, 2011 8:28 AM EDT reply actions

A mystery. I agree. You are correct that Elston wasn’t the only defensive problem on the team. Not by a long shot. Elston’s mistakes, however, really stood out even to an untrained eye like mine. I don’t claim to understand all the vagaries of switching and double-teaming and off-ball defense, but I know that there is no defensive principle that justifies switching off of a 40 percent three point shooter when you are the only defender within 15 feet of him, and stuff like that happened more than once with Elston.

But, as you note, there is a lot of potential there, and hopefully he will commit his offseason to figuring things out.

The Crimson Quarry, SB Nation's Indiana Hoosiers blog

by John M (The Crimson Quarry) on May 11, 2011 8:36 AM EDT up reply actions

You’re definitely correct in noting that Elston isn’t the only poor defender on the team but, with the notable exception of Capo’s stunningly poor defense and willingness to give bad fouls, Elston was one of the worst defenders on the floor whenever he was out there.

I don’t think you can blame the scheme. We tried everything this year. The Hoosiers were “best” at man-to-man, but we experimented with 2-3 zones(went poorly), 1-3-1 zones(went worse), and even some box and 1 defense(this worked well but you can’t run this defense against very many teams/lineups).

Elston shouldn’t have looked as lost as he did a lot of the time this year. If I recall correctly he said he was going to commit to gaining a lot of weight this summer and playing C for the Hoosiers. Thatd be interesting if he could get strong enough to hold his ground there. It’d simplify defense for him a bit as he’d encounter fewer screens/switches(though he’d have to take a step as a help defender).

Elston’s huge for the face up forward that he is and I haven’t seen the sort of back to the basket game that suggests he can be a good C for the Hoosiers. Hopefully he surprises me. I think Elston could lose minutes to Pritch/Zeller and our better juniors(Hulls/Wat/hopefully Creek) spending more time on the floor. He needs to have a strong summer if he wants the minutes he got this year imho

by INDIANABANNER on May 11, 2011 4:31 PM EDT via mobile reply actions

One of the problems with Elston is he never trained as a post player

While at Tipton they had him playing as pretty much a big guard. They had a kid named Kyle Coleman (who walked on at Purdue for a year) and a 6’10" kid named Ethan Jacobs (now playing at Ohio) to do all the work int he post. At the 2A level he could kill teams outside because they had no size to match up with him. I saw him play a Tipton several times from his freshman year on and he never had to be a forward-type that banged around down low. I even remember a game where he was practically running the point.

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by BoilerTMill on May 12, 2011 7:45 AM EDT reply actions

I don’t doubt that, but what is strange is that where he really struggled defensively is getting lost on the perimeter. He’s just an enigma, but I see him as fairly talented and versatile, so hopefully he can find a way to improve in the second half of his career.

The Crimson Quarry, SB Nation's Indiana Hoosiers blog

by John M (The Crimson Quarry) on May 12, 2011 9:19 AM EDT up reply actions