Joey Brunk: 'What We Have in Locker Room is More Than Enough to Win Games'

COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Deep in the hollows of the Xfinity Center on the campus of the University of Maryland, Joey Brunk stood solemnly along a brick wall in the hallway leading to Indiana’s locker room. In whispered and muted tones, he tried to explain what was wrong with Indiana’s basketball team right now.

If that’s possible.

This was just a few minutes after Indiana was clobbered by Maryland. The scoreboard said 75-59 at the end, but it was much worse than that. Indiana was down by 30 at one point, and barely competitive. So the questions started, and then came the answers.

There was the obvious from Brunk. "We didn't hit as many shots as we needed to today,’’ he whispered.

There was the raw emotion from Brunk. “It’s tough, and nobody likes this feeling,’’ he whispered.

And then there was this from Brunk, a sense of optimism. “What we have in the locker is more than enough to win games,’’ he said, this time with a little more forcefulness.

Ah, optimism.

That’s a rare element these days.

Searching hard for the positives

As a glass-half-full guy, I’m not about to write off this season already like so many “fans’’ are. There’s still too much opportunity out there, and just enough promise with this team to expect — or at least hope for — good things to happen.

Let’s look at it this way first. The Hoosiers are 11-3. Of the three losses, two were on the road – and very ugly. We’ll get to that later. The third loss, against Arkansas on Dec. 29, was an outlier for a team that had won its first nine home games.

Glass half full, right? Well then, let’s not forget that Indiana actually played very well for much of that Arkansas game against a decent SEC opponent that’s 12-1 themselves.

What drives us nuts the most about this Indiana team is its inconsistency. The Arkansas game was a perfect example of that. Freshman forward Trayce Jackson-Davis, who is clearly Indiana’s best player, dominated the first half of that game, scoring 16 points. Then, he had only four points the rest of the way, and barely saw the ball.

Indiana’s guards didn’t do a good job of finding him in the second half, but Jackson-Davis will even admit that he needs to work harder to get open sometimes, too. It’s on everybody. Coaches too, for that matter.

“At some point, you have to continue to compete, you have to continue to be tough and play through it,” Indiana coach Archie Miller said. “You can’t let the floor fall out on a couple plays and let it become a problem.”

True, but here’s what most interesting to me about Brunk’s comment that there’s enough in that Indiana locker room to win games.

Maybe there is, but is it being utilized properly?

Doling out the proper minutes

We knew it would be tougher for Brunk and Jackson-Davis to score inside once the Big Ten season rolled around because there are so many good big men in the league, especially on the defensive end. But they’ve got to stay at it, and still get to the rim – or to the foul line.

Indiana is still No. 1 in the country in free throw attemps per game, averaging 26.5 trips to the stripe. That needs to remain a priority, along with making more of those freebies. Jackson-Davis has been OK at 70.2 percent, but Brunk, at 54 percent, can do better.

Still, those two need to be on the court as much as possible. Archie Miller has tried to play a lot of guys this season, and all 11 scholarship players have had a good look. But now that the Big Ten season is here, it might be time to tighten that rotation.

Here’s a thought, since 3-point shooting also has been a problem. How about using Justin Smith less at the 3 and inside more instead of bench guys De’Ron Davis and Race Thompson, neither of whom are contributing? Get Smith off the perimeter, where he hasn’t been good, making just 2 of his last 13 3-point attempts. He’s better around the basket, and playing the 4 or 5 spot, especially against smaller teams, might force him to play more of an inside game.

Devonte Green and Al Durham are Indiana’s two best 3-point shooters. They’ve combined to make 41 of Indiana’s 74 long balls this season. They need to get better looks in the offense.

It would help more, of course, if Rob Phinisee was himself. The sophomore point guard still hasn’t started a game this year because of various injuries, and he’s only averaging 19 minutes a game. He hasn’t played at his level yet, either, which is unfortunate, because he’s the only person on the roster with his skill set. He can attack the basket, and provide on-ball pressure, which no one else can. If he gets back to a decent level, this could be a different team.

And if we saw less of Smith at the 3 — which I know a lot of people would love to see — and maybe more of Damezi Anderson or a third guard, maybe the 3-point shooting numbers would go up. I would still like to see what Anderson could do in extended minutes, where maybe the looks from 3 come more naturally and aren’t forced.

Maybe the guys are there. A different approach maybe? We’ll see.

The right week to turn it around

I choose to keep my glass half-full because I watched as Indiana easily handled Florida State, the best team on its schedule so far, and is capable of doing that at home again against other ranked teams. The Hoosiers have to hold serve on their home court during the Big Ten season if they want to make the NCAA Tournament.

That’s another thing about this schedule, that’s it’s set up for success. Indiana should be able to get its confidence back on Wednesday against Northwestern back in the friendly confines of Simon Skojdt Assembly Hall. Maybe they can have a good shooting night – and then have it carry over on Saturday at home against Ohio State.

The Buckeyes are very good, but they aren’t flawless, either. They suffered through a long scoring drought themselves Friday night and lost AT HOME to Wisconsin, the first – AND ONLY – favored home team to lose a conference game all year.

So let’s see how this week plays out. A lot of folks have their toes on the edge here at 11-3. Will they feel better in six days if the Hoosiers are 13-3 after wins over Northwestern and Ohio State? We’ll have to see.

Just let it play out, people.