Indiana's exposed flaws vs. Eastern Washington may linger
The scariest part of Indiana's stunning 88-86 home loss to Eastern Washington is that the outcome didn't feel like a fluke.
The defensive problems the Eagles exposed could be season-long issues for the Hoosiers.
Though Indiana extended its defense to limit a deadly shooting Eastern Washington team to a modest six threes Monday night, the Hoosiers left themselves even more vulnerable than usual in the paint as a result. Six-foot-8 forward Venky Jois dominated Indiana's overmatched post defenders one-on-one in the post en route to 17 points and 14 rebounds and guards Tyler Harvey and Drew Brandon combined for 52 points by torching the slow-footed Hoosiers off the dribble.
Easy baskets from those three Eastern Washington standouts rallied the Eagles from a 12-point second-half deficit and doomed Indiana to its first loss of the season. Eastern Washington shot 52.2 percent overall from the field and scored at will in the second half, time and time again either dumping the ball to Jois on the low block or setting a high ball screen to allow Brandon or Harvey to attack off the dribble.
Suspect perimeter defense from a high-scoring Indiana backcourt was certainly one culprit, but the bigger reason for Eastern Washington's success was the Hoosiers' lack of a big man capable of altering shots in the paint.
It's clear Tom Crean has little trust in 6-foot-9 forward Hanner Mosquera-Perea, who logged only 14 minutes Monday night and has just five rebounds in his last 67 minutes of playing time. At one point, Crean yanked Mosquera-Perea from the game midway through the first half after he let Jois establish good position in the paint and spin right around him for an easy basket.
Benching Mosquera-Perea would be fine if Indiana had its usual array of options, but the combination of Noah Vonleh's departure to the NBA and a handful of recruiting misses has left the Hoosiers extremely shorthanded. Crean apparently doesn't feel freshman center Jeremiah April or freshman forward Emmitt Holt are ready to contribute, so 6-foot-7 forward Troy Williams played center for long stretches Monday and was often abused by Jois in the paint.
It wouldn't be a huge surprise if this were Frank Kaminsky dominating Indiana in the post or Caris Levert blowing by the Hoosiers off the dribble, but the fact that these issues are coming up against Eastern Washington is eye-opening. The Eagles (4-1) are a threat to win the Big Sky Conference this year, but they're still a far cry from the Big Ten competition that awaits Indiana later this winter.
Indiana's identity this season is going to be as a high-scoring team fueled by the dribble penetration of Yogi Ferrell and an array of outside shooters, but the Hoosiers will not return to the NCAA tournament purely by outscoring their opponents. They're going to have to find ways to win when freshman James Blackmon isn't making a huge impact or when the threes aren't falling at a 45 percent clip.
Thus, the big takeaway from Monday night may be that Indiana's season hinges on the development of Mosquera-Perea, and, wow, that has to be a scary thought for Hoosiers fans.
Mosquera-Perea was a highly touted recruit who played sparingly as a freshman and sophomore behind Cody Zeller and Vonleh and performed erratically in those limited minutes. Now he's the only returning big man on the roster and the last line of defense for an Indiana team that may be downright defenseless if he can't come through.
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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
