Three Things We Learned: UIndy Exhibition

With the caveat that this was just an exhibition and what we learn here may not actually be true or important. UIndy is a pretty good Division II team but they're still Division II.

ONTO THE LEARNINGS:

• Rebounding will likely be an issue all year long. UIndy cleaned up the glass on both ends for the majority of the night, at one point gathering in three offensive boards on a single possession and 22 total on the night. Troy Williams reintroduction to the lineup should alleviate these issues at least a little bit, but he can't do it all on his own. There will likely be stretches that the Hoosiers will have to play without Williams or Perea and rebounds will be at a premium. This is a team with plenty of talented guards and those who can rebound effectively will probably find themselves in line for more minutes. The same can be said for some of the taller guys like Hartman, Hoetzel, Priller, and Holt, if can establish themselves as capable defenders.
• Hartman's health is surprising and awesome. While the healing time is awfully variant and getting shorter as medicine evolves, a torn ACL typically triggers a one-year timeline in the minds of those who think about such things. I, for one, anticipated Hartman to be out of game action for at least ten months when he tore his in March, and then even more time after that to get readjusted to the speed of the game, as IU would be into conference action at that point, leaving him with an even steeper rehab curve. Tonight he looked spry on both ends and his jumper looked lightyears better than it did last season. His line was impressively well-rounded: 8 points (2 threes), 2 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal and 2 blocks.
• Hanner Mosquera-Perea took a big step tonight, in my opinion. HMP picked up his second foul less than five minutes into the game and Crean didn't take him out. I thought it was the smart move and here's why: Perea is our one true post guy with any experience and we've discussed ad nauseam that we'll lean on him heavily this year. That likely means that there will be games when we won't have the luxury to take him out when his foul situation dictates him and he needs to learn to play under those situations, and a meaningless exhibition is the best opportunity to practice that. To the big man's credit, he played 28 minutes on the night and finished with only those two fouls.

Indiana started slow again before shooting their way into a massive 19-0 run over the final eight minutes of the first half. When the shots are falling, this team will be a handful. But, as we saw in stretches, when the jumpers aren't falling, this team struggles. That said, Yogi has to feel like he has died and gone to basketball heaven with all these sharpshooters just standing around waiting for him to dish it out.