Commentary

Editor’s note: On February 27th, the day after Indiana’s double-OT victory over Wisconsin that Romeo Langford sealed with a layup in the final seconds, we received an email with the following introductory paragraph:

Recently I’ve been struggling with some things I’ve seen about Romeo and our team on social media, and how our fan base has handled this season, and I wrote an open letter to Romeo Langford.

However, I would like to post it anonymously. Would you be willing to help me share this letter that I wrote?

I understand if you don’t do this sort of thing, but I was hoping to share my words in hopes of making our fans realize the impact they are having on our players and team by the constant negativity. I wrote this after seeing a tweet from one of Romeo’s high school coaches that Romeo retweeted regarding ‘fake people.’

After reading this fan’s letter, I replied that I would be proud to share it on our website. And I will respect the wishes of the author to keep their identity anonymous.

Below is this fan’s open letter to Romeo Langford, which I edited only slightly for clarity and readability.

*****

An open letter to Romeo Langford:

When I first heard that you might come to Indiana, I was excited like never before. There had never been a recruit that I followed like you.

I watched your press conference live and was over the moon when I saw you put on that Indiana hat.

Fans were hopeful. You were a light for all of us.

As the season began, the pressure that was placed on your shoulders to help us hang another banner was palpable. However, you handled it with grace. You suited up and gave your best effort night in and night out.

Then things started to fall apart.

Our fan base started to turn on the team, the coach, and they even started to turn on you because you were not winning games for the team.

As I watched, I became more and more disgusted with the judgment levied against an extremely talented freshman that was giving his all.

I work on campus and I’ve had several interactions with you. Every single time you have been kind, humble, gracious, and willing to do anything for your fans.

You signed my baby’s onesie at Hoosier Hysteria, took a photo with my nephew after a game, and even thanked me for holding a door for you one day. Your entire class walked through the door I was holding, and only two kids out of the entire class said thank you: Rob Phinisee and you.

You are the type of young man that I want representing Indiana University. Period.

Win or lose, we support you Romeo.

I have never seen a kid like you come through our program and handle the pressure with such poise. I’ve watched as our losing streak continued to see if you seemed frustrated with your teammates or the coaching staff — and you haven’t for a second.

You are all in 100% for this team regardless of how fair-weather some members of our fan base can be, how tough the road has been, and knowing that you are probably leaving us in a few short games.

While I would like to remain optimistic that I will get to watch you play another season in Bloomington, I know that this is most likely an empty hope. And I find myself emotional as this season wraps up.

You chose us.

I can’t ever thank you enough for what you have brought to this team on and off the court. Watching you has been an indescribable pleasure, and I have never wanted to see a player succeed more than you.

I will follow your career after you leave IU, and I will always root for you. Not just because of the player you are — but more importantly because of the person that you are.

I’m so happy you finally got your game winning shot. You earned it!

Sincerely,

A Loyal Hoosier Fan

*****

Editor’s note: If you have comments, please leave them below.

This blog post hasn’t actually been written yet.

It will be written on April 9th as a reflection on how Indiana’s season played out from the point of its five-game losing streak through the balance of the regular season.

But due to a brief, fortuitous tear in the space-time continuum, it mistakenly appeared in our WordPress dashboard three months early. I quickly hit “Publish” before it vanished.

So if you want to see how things play out from tonight on, keep reading.

You might be surprised at just how reasonable a path there always was to 10 wins, even after the five-game skid. And it all started with a slump-busting victory over Michigan …

*****

v Michigan

Indiana entered its January 25th home tilt with #6 Michigan on a five-game losing skid and in desperate need of a win. Buoyed by early 3-pointers from Rob Phinisee and Al Durham, the Hoosiers got off to a strong start and lit the fuse of an Assembly Hall crowd that approached tip-off ready to explode.

Michigan battled back, and the Hoosiers endured a few prolonged periods of offensive inefficiency, but Indiana’s resurgent defense allowed the Hoosiers to nurse a slim lead for most of the game.

Romeo Langford ultimately took over down the stretch, scoring eight of his game-high 22-points after the final media timeout, and the Hoosiers prevailed 65-61 — snapping the seemingly interminable losing streak and giving Archie Miller his first signature win as Indiana’s head coach.

at Rutgers

After a much-needed four-day layoff following the Michigan game, Indiana took on Rutgers in Piscataway. With the Scarlet Knights having already defeated Ohio State and Nebraska at home, no one was taking this game for granted. And it was as ugly as most predicted it would be.

The Hoosiers got off to a slow start, especially on defense, which caused immediate panic on Twitter. But the Hoosiers did enough on offense late in the first half to turn an early 12-point Rutgers lead into just a 5-point deficit heading into halftime.

Juwan Morgan asserted himself early in the second half, the defense recovered to hold Rutgers to 0.74 points per possession during the final 20 minutes, and Rob Phinisee made two key 3-pointers late.

Ultimately the Hoosiers survived with a 67-62 victory, improving to 14-7 and getting back to .500 in conference play.

at Michigan State

Next, the Hoosiers traveled to East Lansing for a meeting with a Michigan State team playing as dominant as anyone in the country. After defeating Purdue by 11 on January 27th, the Spartans had beaten three straight top-30 opponents by double digits.

Indiana would fare no better. The Spartans jumped on Indiana early and never looked back, winning 77-59.

The only silver lining was that the trip home from East Lansing marked the end of Indiana’s six-road-trips-in-eight-games gauntlet, of which the Hoosiers had won just a single game. Now 5-6 in conference play with nine games to go, Indiana would get to play six of them at home.

A much-needed two-game win streak followed.

v Iowa

Iowa visited Bloomington first, sporting one of the nation’s best offenses but a subpar defense.

The Hawkeyes actually jumped on Indiana early, again causing waves of social media panic normally reserved for national disasters or delays in Apple product announcements.

But Juwan Morgan eventually recovered from early foul trouble and settled the Hoosiers down with a methodical approach in the paint that was helped out by Rob Phinisee and Al Durham hitting 3s to loosen up the defense.

Indiana also clamped down defensively in the second half, holding the explosive Hawkeyes to just under one point per possession. It would be enough for Indiana to hold on for a 77-74 victory.

v Ohio State

Ohio State visited next, in desperate need of a victory to save their fledgling season. But it was not meant to be.

Indiana delivered its most impressive performance since the Marquette victory, racing out to a 24-7 lead at the second media timeout of the first half, and carrying that margin all the way through to the final buzzer with a 77-60 victory.

Romeo Langford fell just one point shy of matching his career high, scoring 27 points. And Al Durham continued to be a steady offensive presence for the Hoosiers, notching 15 points, including three 3-pointers.

The Hoosiers improved to 16-8 and finally had their head above water in Big Ten play at 7-6.

at Minnesota

But the good feelings wouldn’t last long, as the Hoosiers fell flat at The Barn against a Minnesota team coming off four straight losses.

Indiana simply didn’t have its defense, which had been so important in winning four of its last five. Jordan Murphy pounded the offensive glass, Amir Coffey got the ball anywhere he wanted it, and the thin Hoosiers were plagued by foul trouble and dismally cold shooting.

For the second straight road game, the Hoosiers never really had a chance. Minnesota won comfortably, 75-64.

v Purdue

The Hoosiers returned home for a game three days later against Purdue. Still smarting from the beatdown the Boilermakers levied up in West Lafayette, the Hoosiers emerged right from the tip ready for a 40-minute fight.

Romeo Langford played with an edge he rarely displays. The freshman was clearly determined to avenge the worst performance of his career. And he did a little bit of everything.

He made two 3s, he hit a mid-range step-back, he sliced and diced his way to the bucket, he got to the free throw line, and he delivered the highlight of his freshman season when he skied over Nojel Eastern for a dunk that nearly shook the Assembly Hall roof into orbit.

When the buzzer finally sounded on a tight but impressive 72-70 Hoosier victory, Romeo had set a new career high with 31 points. After the game, Purdue coach Matt Painter said, “Getting old and staying old is the way to build a consistent program, but damn, sometimes even experience doesn’t have an answer for elite talent. Romeo was amazing today. Our hats off to him.”

at Iowa

Now 8-7 in conference play, the Hoosiers traveled to Iowa City for a rematch with the Hawkeyes. This time, the Hawkeyes were ready. They blitzed Indiana from the opening tip, hitting six 3-pointers before the second media timeout.

The Hoosiers were able to minimize the damage with some productive offense of their own, and they kept getting within arm’s reach of the Hawkeyes at different points throughout the rest of the game, but Iowa ultimately had too much offensive firepower on their home court. The Hawkeyes won 82-74.

Indiana returned home 17-10 overall and 8-8 in conference play, with three home games and one road test remaining. All bracketology projections had the Hoosiers firmly in the NCAA Tournament on the strength of their wins over Marquette, Louisville, Butler, Michigan, Iowa, and Purdue. The volume of losses and the lack of an impressive road victory was holding the Hoosiers’ seed projections down, however.

v Wisconsin

Wisconsin came into Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall riding a three-game winning streak, which had included handing Michigan State its first Big Ten loss of the season. And the Badgers would actually control much of this game, nursing a 5-7 point lead for nearly 30 minutes after jumping on the Hoosiers early.

With Juwan Morgan struggling in his matchup against Ethan Happ, and Romeo Langford having an off night, it was the supporting cast that had to keep the Hoosiers in the game. Rob Phinisee and Al Durham combined to hit six 3-pointers, each of which was pivotal, and Justin Smith was opportunistic in finding points in transition and off of offensive rebounds.

Midway through the second half, with Wisconsin threatening to build a double-digit lead, Clifton Moore came in to spell Juwan Morgan and stumbled his way into a blocked shot on Ethan Happ that brought the crowd to its feet after a few pensive minutes. A Durham 3-pointer came next, followed by two Romeo Langford free throws, and the Hoosiers were right back in it.

Controversy ensued at the end of the game, as Langford twice drew shooting fouls on questionable calls, much to Greg Gard’s dismay and Assembly Hall’s unabashed delight. Langford made all four free throws, his final two putting the Hoosiers up one with 24 seconds to play.

Wisconsin predictably dumped it inside to Ethan Happ on their final possession, and Happ appeared to score the decisive points on a beautiful post move as time expired … but he was whistled for a travel. The basket was waved off, and Indiana inbounded the ball to secure a 65-64 victory.

Replays suggested that a firm lower-body bump by Juwan Morgan had probably contributed to the travel, but the basketball gods simply shrugged their shoulders and said “Tough shit, that’s life on the road in the Big Ten” as Gard angrily shook his fist in their direction after the game.

Asked about the call, Archie Miller smirked and said it looked like a good, physical, late-February Big Ten play by Morgan and he trusted to the officials to get it right. Juwan Morgan laughed and said, “Yeah, I probably fouled him, but it’s not my job to call it.”

The win pushed Indiana to 18-10 overall, 9-8 in conference play, and inched the Hoosiers closer to the KenPom top 25. (They were only getting a small smattering of votes in the human polls.)

v Michigan State

A visit from Michigan State followed, with the Spartans having lost two straight road games to Wisconsin and, one week prior, at Michigan. The Hoosiers actually led 35-29 at the half, as the Spartans mostly sleep-walked through the first half, leading the announcers to suggest they were experiencing a post-rivalry hangover after the loss to Michigan.

But Cassius Winston got hot in the second half, and Nick Ward devoured Indiana’s interior defense, at one point going on a personal 8-0 run as the Hoosiers’ defense lost its way for a four-minute stretch. Michigan State outscored the Hoosiers by 18 during the first 16 minutes of the second half. A last gasp by the Hoosiers late drew the score closer, but the Spartans ultimately scored a decisive 71-63 victory.

Two games remained for the Hoosiers: a road trip to Illinois and a home tilt with Rutgers. Standing at 18-11 overall and 9-9 in conference play, most bracketologists were projecting the Hoosiers into the field comfortably if they could notch one more regular season victory and avoid any embarrassing results in the Big Ten Tournament.

The first of the two games would not go well.

at Illinois

Illinois had won two out of three entering the battle with IU, impressing pundits by improving as the season went along under Brad Underwood. Early foul trouble for Rob Phinisee spelled doom for the Hoosiers, as a dearth of ball-handling proved troublesome against Illinois’ pressure.

Despite a few scoring runs, Indiana never seemed fully comfortable or at ease the entire game. With Illinois’ 3-point shots falling, they were able to keep Indiana at arm’s length for most of the contest.

The Hoosiers briefly seized a lead around the 9:00 mark of the second half, thanks to an individual scoring flurry by Romeo Langford, but with IU’s outside shots not falling and Illinois forcing 20 turnovers, the Hoosiers simply didn’t have enough. Illinois won 73-68.

v Rutgers

The two-game losing streak set up an all-important final regular season against Rutgers.

Indiana needed a win to finish conference play .500 and feel good about an NCAA Tournament berth. A loss would likely set up the Big Ten Tournament as a play-your-way-off-the-bubble gauntlet for the Hoosiers, the thought of which terrified all IU fans who are collectively incapable of having even a modicum of confidence in anything good happening at the Big Ten Tournament.

The finale against Rutgers was also Juwan Morgan’s senior night, and everyone wanted to see Juwan go out a winner at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.

He would.

Morgan came out like a man possessed. He bullied his way to baskets in the post on Indiana’s first two possessions, then drained a 3, then got a steal and fired a one-handed outlet pass to Justin Smith for a dunk before most fans had even sat down. All of a sudden it was 9-0 Indiana.

Indiana nursed an 8-12 point lead for the majority of the day, though a feisty Rutgers team did provide some tense moments late. A Justin Smith turnover led to a Rutgers dunk with 3:21 to go that brought the Scarlet Knights within one possession for the first time since the second possession of the game.

From there, Morgan and Langford took over. They scored the final nine points for Indiana as the Hoosiers calmly ended the game on a 9-4 run to secure a 68-68 victory.

The win gave the Hoosiers a 19-12 record overall, 10-10 in conference play.

To recap:

After starting the season 12-7 and 3-5 in the conference, Indiana would finish thusly:

• V Michigan: 65-61 Win
• @ Rutgers: 67-62 Win
• @ MSU: 77-59 Loss
• V Iowa: 77-74 Win
• V Ohio State: 77-60 Win
• @ Minnesota: 75-64 Loss
• V Purdue: 72-70 Win
• @ Iowa: 82-74 Loss
• V Wisconsin: 65-54 Win
• V Michigan State: 71-63 Loss
• @ Illinois: 73-68 Loss
• V Rutgers: 68-60 WIN

With Indiana penciled into most bracket projections as a 7 seed (with a high of 6 and a low of 10), IU fans exhaled with the Big Ten Tournament approaching.

A 7-10 matchup with Ohio State awaited during the Thursday session. A win or two might help the Hoosiers’ cause of getting a better seed, but it did not seem like Indiana’s bubble was at risk of being burst regardless of their first round outcome.

In the end, Archie Miller and the Hoosiers had endured the best haymaker the Big Ten could levy — losing five straight and six out of eight in January. But thanks to strong play at home down the stretch, the emergence of Rob Phinisee and Al Durham as more consistent scoring threats, and, of course, the game-in, game-out heroics of Juwan and Romeo, Indiana appeared poised to play in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in three seasons.

And more than one national pundit was already prepping to earmark the Hoosiers as a dangerous low seed with a chance to reach the tournament’s second weekend, depending on the draw …

Ever since Romeo Langford’s announcement ceremony on Monday, I have been troubled by the number of accounts I have heard and read that have stated, definitively, that Romeo’s pastor, Mike Ward, compared Romeo to Abraham Lincoln.

Let’s run through a few real quick:

“Romeo is like Abraham Lincoln,” said pastor Mike Ward. — Chris Spatola, The Athletic — for which I’m a happily paying subscriber, by the way.

“After they lauded his character and kindness to small children, after his minister said, without a hint of irony, that he was ‘kinda like Abraham Lincoln,’ after the speeches and the video tagged him as a ‘Once in a Generation Player,’ after his father worked the crowd into a fever-pitched frenzy, after 45 minutes of hoopla and hype, wait, buildup and hope, Romeo Langford announced he was staying home.” — Dana O’Neil, The Athletic — this is the intro sentence of her piece.

‘Kind of like Abraham Lincoln’ – Is Romeo Langford the Great Emancipator of Indiana basketball? — Pat Forde, Yahoo Sports — this is the headline to his piece. And while writers shouldn’t be held accountable for headlines that are often written by editors, Forde does spend a considerable portion of his article casting unfounded aspersions on Romeo and his family because of their affiliation to Adidas … so it’s not like he approached the piece from an unbiased perspective.

Here’s the problem …

Pastor Mike never compared Romeo to Abraham Lincoln.

From my personal perspective, I didn’t hear it that way in the moment, and further viewings of Pastor Mike’s comments confirmed my initial impression.

Yes, the transition into the Lincoln quote about character was a bit awkward, so I understand how someone could mishear the string of words themselves, but in the context of the overall statement it’s pretty clear that he wasn’t intending to make a comparison between the two.

You can listen for yourself right here:

People apparently took “Romeo … (pause) … it’s kind of like Abraham Lincoln, (quote)” to be Pastor Mike saying “Romeo … is kind of like Abraham Lincoln (quote)” … even though that second interpretation doesn’t even really make sense in context.

And in case you hear it differently than I do, which I admit is within the realm of reasonable possibility if you only listen to once, or simply trust the mistaken accounts of others, hopefully you’ll respect the opinion of the man himself.

I asked Pastor Mike, and he responded thusly:

@assemblyCall
I was trying to use Abraham Lincoln's quote to explain what "Character" means. Maybe I didnt explain myself very clear. D…

— Pastor Michael Ward (@_Pastor_Mike) May 3, 2018

@assemblycall
Didn't mean to compare the person Abraham to Him.

— Pastor Michael Ward (@_Pastor_Mike) May 3, 2018

Thanks to @AssemblyCall for clearing up any confusion regarding what I meant in my speech the other night. #assemblyhall

— Pastor Michael Ward (@_Pastor_Mike) May 3, 2018

So, hopefully this clears the record.

Now, you may be wondering, why I am going to all the trouble of investigating such a seemingly trivial matter and writing this blog post.

Two reasons …

Reason 1: In hindsight, I’m not pleased with how I initially presented my thoughts yesterday in a tweet to Chris Spatola.

At that point, I hadn’t actually done the legwork of following up with Pastor Mike to confirm the truth. All I had was my interpretation — and, as Chris mentioned in a later tweet to me, all he was going off of was his.

If my goal was to grandstand and try to call out a writer whose work I often read and enjoy, I succeeded. But if my goal was to actually clear the record, which it was, I should have confirmed my own interpretation first and found a better way to express it than a Twitter #hottake.

So that was my mistake, and I’d be a hypocrite if I wasn’t as willing to call it out.

Reason 2: I began noticing that all of the places where I was encountering the presented-as-fact notion that Romeo’s pastor compared Romeo to Abraham Lincoln were national outlets. I found this curious, and a bit troubling.

I searched through accounts of the ceremony from local beat writers, all of whom were actually there in person, and I couldn’t find mention of the supposed Abraham Lincoln comparison. If you can find one from a beat writer, please send it me. I’m sure I didn’t read them all.

What I really found annoying and disappointing was how the presented-as-fact mistaken Abraham Lincoln comparison was typically used as Exhibit A or B for how over-the-top the ceremony was. And, whether implied or stated explicitly, it was used to show how borderline delusional and insane Indiana fans and New Albany fans were for participating in such a scene.

Here is O’Neil’s second paragraph: “Langford, the fifth-ranked player in his high school class but the most favorite son in all of the Hoosier State, plopped an Indiana ballcap on his head, the final alleluia in a Monday night event that was The Decision Meets Religious Revival. Yes, for those who are reading this with the FBI investigation of college basketball dancing in their brains, this is the perfect place to toast with a heavy dose of eye roll and a cynicism chaser. This was about a kid choosing a college, an experience that in all likelihood will last less than year and yet was choreographed as if it was the opening to the Academy Awards.”

Let’s ignore, for now, the remarkable hyperbole used in that paragraph.

Was the ceremony over the top, given how these types of events usually go? Of course it was.

But, then again, everything about Romeo’s relationship with his community and high school basketball fans in his state has been the over the top. The ceremony was meant as a celebration of that, and a way for the Langfords to share his decision with the community that supported him. (And I’m sure Mr. Langford didn’t mind his few minutes with the spotlight being on him.)

To me, using Romeo’s announcement ceremony as a microcosm for what’s wrong with youth basketball, or for adults exploiting young athletes, just doesn’t hold water if you actually peel back the onion and look beneath the surface of this particular case.

But most of the readers of these articles by national voices will trust the basic accounts as factual, and trust their impressions of these crazy Hoosiers and how they have the wacky audacity to compare local basketball legends to Abraham Lincoln.

Heck, I probably would too. I don’t know the full context of events that occur at other schools, because I don’t pay that close attention. So I only learn what I can read about it.

But if what I’m reading misrepresents basic facts, and uses those misrepresentations as important evidence for the overall point they are making … well, that’s a problem.

One thing I do know is this: I hope Ms. O’Neil — whose work I usually respect and enjoy, and often tweet links to — comes back to visit the next time Indiana does win a national championship, which almost certainly will not be next season, no matter how good of a college player Romeo proves to be.

I say this because later in her piece, O’Neil says, “The culture was a bit unnerving on Monday night, grownups reacting as if the Hoosiers had won a title when Langford merely placed the hat on his head.” (As evidence for this, O’Neil presents the quotes of one longtime fan, who said, “Let’s do this. Let’s go win us a title.”)

I was on campus when we beat Duke to simply advance to the Elite 8, and let me tell you something: there are several orders of magnitude to go beyond the “celebration” you saw on Monday night.

Besides, the reality is that while some of the joy at New Albany High School on Monday night was about Romeo picking IU, most of it was an expression of joy and appreciation for Romeo himself. The room would have been enthusiastic no matter which school he picked; the enthusiasm just ratcheted up a few notches because it was IU.

But alas, the hyperbole fit the narrative.

Hey, again, I readily admit: I am writing this piece from a biased perspective. I grew up in Indiana and Romeo picked my Hoosiers. So I would strongly advise you to view my opinion with all of the proper grains of salt. Then make up your own mind.

That’s why I wanted to correct the record.

The truth likely falls somewhere in the middle. I’m surely primed to be as charitable as possible about the ceremony and everything surrounding it, while many of these national media members seem like they were primed in the opposite direction.

The big difference is that I haven’t presented my own misinterpretations of someone else’s words as fact.

The question now is: with the error clearly pointed out, will any of these writers go back and correct the record in their articles? And let their readers know they made an honest mistake?

I sure hope so.

If not, I know a short, insightful speech on character by an enthusiastic pastor from Louisville that they should pay closer attention to.

Note: The original version of this story contained a factual error. It said Indiana’s win over Duke in 2002 advanced Indiana to the Sweet 16, when in fact the win advanced the Hoosiers to the Elite 8. Our thanks to the reader who pointed this out.

The following comment was just posted in our IU basketball Slack community:

I have a topic for you Jerod. The argument for Zach McRoberts to be named on the Big Ten All-Defensive Team.

My reply is simple:

What argument?

If Zach McRoberts isn’t an All-Big Ten defender, they shouldn’t even pick the team.

The macro case is pretty easy: Indiana has become the best defensive team in the conference in terms of per-possession efficiency, and Zach McRoberts is the best defender on the team.

I’m open to arguments that Juwan Morgan is Indiana’s best defender — given his defensive rebounding prowess, the amount of steals and blocks he amasses, his ability to defend bigger guys in the post without fouling, and his impressive versatility.

But that merely suggests to me that Indiana should have two guys on the All-Big Ten defensive team, not just one.

Which doesn’t even account for Robert Johnson, who has also been very good defensively for Indiana this season.

But back to Zach.

There are two ways to view his defense.

The first is quantitative, and the case is pretty clear.

Via Synergy Sports, there have been 145 possessions that have ended with Zach’s man having the ball and either shooting or turning it over. In those possessions, Zach’s man is scoring just 0.621 points per possession. That is in the 95th percentile nationally.

For comparison’s sake, Jaren Jackson, who is a leading candidate for Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year even as a freshman, is holding opponents to 0.635 points per possession in 181 possession-ending opportunities.

Both of them have been outstanding, albeit in completely different ways.

Dakota Mathias from Purdue, who has a more comparable athletic profile to Zach, and is also renowned as a strong defender, is allowing 0.915 points per possession across 235 possessions. That is in the 34th percentile nationally. Vincent Edwards from Purdue, another versatile defender, is allowing 0.668 points across 184 possession. That is in the 91st percentile nationally.

Some numbers for other notable Big Ten defenders:

• Jae’Sean Tate: 0.739 ppp across 268 possessions
• Josh Reaves: 0.818 ppp across 148 possessions
• Ethan Happ: 0.86 ppp across 178 possessions

Granted, Zach’s sample size is smaller than that of these other players, save for Reaves (who sat out several games). This is due, in large part, to those other guys playing a lot more minutes overall this season than Zach has, especially in non-conference play.

But it’s also fair to consider that Zach’s sample size is smaller because he is so effective at simply denying his man the ball in the first place. And given that he’s drawn some of the toughest perimeter defensive assignments over the last month, that’s impressive.

I should also point out that a raw point per possession number is an interesting and insightful, but ultimately incomplete, way to assess a player’s defensive impact. For example, Juwan is giving up 0.903 points per possession across 217 possessions — yet the context is that he’s often been playing post defense against players much bigger than him, and at times has simply conceded points to avoid fouling.

Finally, also worth considering from a quantitative perspective for Zach: no player in the Big Ten generates more steals per possession than Zach. His overall steal rate of 4.1% is 23rd nationally. In conference play, his steal rate has risen to 4.5%, which is first in the conference.

The second way to view Zach’s defense is qualitative.

Consider where Indiana was defensively earlier this year. The Hoosiers, at one point, were sub-200 nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency. It’s not an accident that Indiana’s improvement all the way to 51st nationally, and first in the conference, has coincided with Zach playing a lot more minutes.

Also, there are no metrics that account for the impact of a guy who just freaking can’t ever stop hustling.

Zach McRoberts is 22nd in the nation in steal percentage at 4.1%. His effort has made him one of the most important players on Indiana's roster. Here we have two straight minutes of McRoberts out hustling everyone on the floor. #iubb

Story➡️https://t.co/3j0E5wKD0Z pic.twitter.com/skNYxgCFer

— The Hoosier Network (@TheHoosierNet) February 10, 2018

That type of effort is contagious. It’s leadership by extreme example.

Plus, think about all of the strong box-outs that don’t result in a rebound, the rebound tap-outs, the deflections, the smart rotations that keep the defense out of scramble situations …

No stats account for those, but anyone who has watched Indiana games this year can tell you how often McRoberts is doing them.

So, in conclusion, I really don’t think Zach McRoberts’ inclusion on the Big Ten’s All-Defensive Team should be a debate at this point.

The only debate should be whether someone like Juwan Morgan or Robert Johnson is on the team with him.

The much-awaited public unveiling of the 2017-18 Indiana Hoosiers and their new coach occurs this Saturday night.

The doors to Simon-Skjodt Assembly Hall will open at 5:30 p.m. ET and the event will begin at 7:00 p.m. ET.

There is no charge for admission, but you are encouraged to bring a canned good for the Hoosier Hills Food Bank. Also, the clear bag policy will be in effect.

Okay, that was #1 — the basics, the first set of things you need to know about Hoosier Hysteria.

Now here are eight more things you need to know …

2. Less filler, more scrimmaging

Alex Bozich and I hosted Jeremy Gray on last week’s edition of Podcast on the Brink. He provided a lot of useful insight on what to expect from this year’s Hoosier Hysteria.

In short, there will likely be a little less pomp and filler (and much less Seth Greenberg), and more of a focus on just playing some basketball.

Listen to that episode here (or subscribe to Podcast on the Brink here.)

You can expect player intros for both the men’s and women’s teams, a dunk contest, and a skills competition, Then the men’s scrimmage will happen, and it will likely be about 40 minutes of basketball.

3. Yes, we will be hosting a post-scrimmage episode of The Assembly Call

Hopefully, by now, you would expect nothing less from us. 😉

Sure, it’s just a scrimmage. So I promise we’ll be careful about making any sweeping proclamations about anything. But dadgummit, it’s the first time in a long time that we’ll have real basketball to analyze, and we’re not about to pass up that opportunity!

So, as soon as the BTN Plus broadcast (more on this in a second) ends, we’ll go live.

You can watch the show live on YouTube here, or right on our redesigned homepage.

If you can’t watch live, no worries. The video replay will be available on our YouTube page, and the podcast will be available after the show ends late Saturday night. See a bevy of podcast subscription options here.

Note: if you want to get an alert when we go live, then make sure you’re subscribed to our YouTube channel:

Also, we will, of course, have our regular Thursday night broadcast beginning tonight at 9:00 p.m. ET. Join us!

Andy and I will react to Big Ten Media Day, and then we’ll dive deep into the frontcourt with our in-depth analysis of Juwan Morgan, De’Ron Davis, Collin Hartman, Freddie McSwain, Zach McRoberts, and the new guys — Justin Smith and Clifton Moore.

Watch tonight’s broadcast and participate in the live chat live on YouTube here or right on our homepage.

4. Hoosier Hysteria will be streamed on BTN Plus

Hoosier Hysteria can be streamed live on BTNPlus at this link.

Yes, you will need to pony up $10 for a one-month subscription to BTN Plus to watch Hoosier Hysteria live.

On the bright side, you will also need a BTN Plus subscription to watch Indiana’s two exhibition games and the season opener against Indiana State — so at least you get four games for your money.

Now, make sure you pay attention to #5 …

5. Uncheck the auto-renew button when you sign up for BTN Plus(!!!)

This is very important.

Unless you really want a recurring monthly subscription to BTN Plus at $9.95 per month, then make sure you uncheck the auto-renew button on the sign-up page. It is checked by default.

You’ll find it here when you’re signing up:

If you don’t uncheck the box, then you’ll have to remember to cancel before the next month begins. Otherwise, you’ll be charged for a second month.

Why put that extra pressure on yourself? Just uncheck it now, remove the possibility of an unwanted auto-renew, and enjoy your Hoosiers with peace of mind.

6. Yes, IU players will be signing autographs after Hoosier Hysteria

Several of you have asked, and the answer is yes, the players will be signing autographs after the scrimmage.

They will be available “in the four corners of the main concourse” for a half hour after the scrimmage ends. They will sign one item.

This is your only excuse for missing the start of the post-scrimmage show. 😉

7. It’s possible that not every player will play in the scrimmage

While it sounds like Indiana is mostly healthy after having its first handful of practices this season (Halelujah!), there is one player who is banged up enough that he may miss the Hoosier Hysteria scrimmage:

Collin Hartman.

But fear not — this isn’t any type of recurrence of his knee injury. He rolled his ankle. And while that’s never ideal, it shouldn’t be anything to worry about long-term.

Someone else will just have to do #CollinHartmanThings on Saturday night. Sounds like Zach McRoberts might be ready to fill in ably.

Now, with all this said …

Everyone please knock on wood so no injuries occur between now and Saturday night. (And then knock again, just for good measure, to help prevent injuries during the scrimmage as well.)

8. A certain recruit from New Albany will be in the house … and on an official visit

It’s long been expected that Romeo Langford would attend Hoosier Hysteria. And the assumption was that he would be on an unofficial visit rather than an official visit, since Indiana is so close to his home in New Albany.

But according to Romeo himself, this weekend’s visit to Bloomington will be an official visit:

IU official this weekend ??

— RoMeO‼️ (@yeahyeah_22) October 19, 2017

Why does this matter? It means that IU can host Romeo and his family for 48 hours and pay for lodging, transportation, meals, and entertainment.

And while I wouldn’t read too much into this and think it makes some kind of surprise weekend commitment a possibility, it does mean that Romeo will now have one less official visit to take to a school that’s farther away than IU.

Whittling another school off his list (now that Louisville is gone) can only help.

9. A bevy of other important prospects will be on hand too

Romeo’s buddy and fellow 5-star prospect from the Class of 2018, Darius Garland, will also be on his official visit. The two teamed up for an official visit to Vanderbilt recently, and now will do the same in Bloomington.

Again, I wouldn’t read too much into it … but it can’t hurt.

Jeff Rabjohns provided some insight on the Romeo and Darius recruitments on The Kent Sterling Show earlier this week.

Also, let’s not forget about the future Hoosiers from the Class of 2018 who have already made their commitments to Indiana.

Jerome Hunter, Rob Phinisee, and Damezi Anderson are all expected to be in attendance, and all three of these gentlemen deserve, and will undoubtedly receive, an enthusiastic welcome. (I haven’t heard or read definitive word on whether or not Jake Forrester can make it.)

And as Alex Bozich reported over at Inside the Hall, there will also be important Class of 2019 prospects in the house, led by Indiana natives Keion Brooks Jr. and Trayce-Jackson Davis, as well as a number of younger prospects.

While Romeo will undoubtedly get the loudest and longest cheers from the Hoosier faithful, let’s make sure all of these young men feel welcomed and wanted.

And that’s it!

Now you’re ready for Hoosier Hysteria.

And as if I needed any more reason to be excited about watching Archie Miller-coached basketball, he went and said this earlier today at Big Ten Media Day:

Here's more of what Miller had to say about KenPom. #iubb pic.twitter.com/QcMBA9joG6

— Jake Thomer (@jakethethomer) October 19, 2017

***Swoon***

Bring on the season!

I look forward to talking IU hoops with you tonight, and then after the scrimmage on Saturday night.

Oh, and P.S., whatever you do, don’t miss this fantastic video the @IUHoosiers account tweeted yesterday:

The dream? To be an Indiana Hoosier. pic.twitter.com/nh1LWve7hV

— Indiana Hoosiers (@IUHoosiers) October 18, 2017