My Two Cents: First Five Games Set Up Well For Much-Needed Hot Start for Hoosiers

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — For several years now, the quality depth in the Big Ten makes it very hard to win games night in and night out. Heck, two years ago, a 14-6 record won the league. Michigan won a shortened season last year with three losses and even after just a week of play so far this year, there are only three undefeated teams still standing.

But it's still a fact that some games are easier than others, and as Indiana resumes conference play on Sunday, and golden opportunity is there for the taking for the Hoosiers in the next two weeks.

Indiana has five games in 15 days, three on the road against Penn State on Sunday, and Iowa (Jan. 13) and Nebraska (Jan. 17), and home games against Ohio State on Thursday and Minnesota next Sunday.

Why the golden opportunity? Because this schedule sets up the Hoosiers — who are 10-2 overall and 1-1 so far in the Big Ten — to make a serious early-season run.

Like ''win-all-five'' kind of run.

Yeah, yeah, I know. My glass-half-full optimism doesn't go over well with the negative nellies in the Indiana fan base, but I think if the Hoosiers can play well — and play well for 40 minutes — they could get off to a hot start.

Here's some numbers why:

Those three road games: It's not a coincidence that Penn State, Nebraska and Iowa are the ONLY THREE TEAMS in the league that haven't won a game yet. They're all 0-2 so far, and the Nittany Lions and Cornhuskers are clearly the two worst teams in the league. Iowa is better, but even their 10-1 nonconference record is shaky at best. Their one-point win over Virginia is the only one against a top-100 foe. So, yes, it's very possible that Indiana can win these road games.
Those two home games: Ohio State and Minnesota have played well, but the Hoosiers have been very good at Assembly Hall. Under Mike Woodson, they are 9-0 so far in Bloomington. But that's not the REAL NUMBER I wanted to bring up. There's this: Even Archie Miller went 3-0 at home against Minnesota, and he even beat Ohio State in Bloomington once. I can see the Hoosiers continuing to hold serve there.

Sure, I get it that Indiana is 0-2 on the road thus far, but they really could have won both of those games, and they played well in hostile environments for long periods of both losses at Syracuse and Wisconsin.

Those losses are, at the very least, great learning lessons.

"The biggest thing that we've learned through our first two conference game is that there's going to be a lot of scouting, especially on me,'' Indiana junior Trayce Jackson-Davis said. "I have to put myself in different positions to have a bigger impact on the game.

"Especially on the road, we can never relax. Against Wisconsin, we had a 20-point lead and relaxed, and we gave it away. That's something that we can't do. We have to always put our foot on their neck. Those are the two biggest things that we've learned so far.''

Indiana's iffy shot selection early against Syracuse and late against Wisconsin had a lot to do with both losses. Jackson-Davis says he needs to be more demanding, and that the offense should run through him at critical moments. And when the double teams come, he said he'll find shooters.

That's when Indiana is at its best offensively.

"I''ll be more vocal, most definitely,'' he said. "At Syracuse early, I think we were a little rushed, but then we kind of got our composure back and held ourselves together. But against Wisconsin, especially toward the end of the second half, we were speeding up and speeding up, and no one ever said 'we need to relax and calm down.'

"That falls on me to do better in that sort of area, and tell guys that everything is good. At the same time, you can see that both of those road games were winnable games and we're just two or three possessions away from being 12-0. It's just the little things that we have to prepare for. Down the stretch, I think it's a learning experience, and I think we'll be better for it in the future.''

He understands this opportunity to get off to a good start as well. He says that he doesn't really feel pressure now that the Big Ten season is cranking up. He looks it more of having a great opportunity — and being ready to take advantage of it.

"I never think of pressure as bad. With all the accolades I have received in the preseason, I think that's a good thing. I try to keep my mind in a good place,'' Jackson-Davis said. "When people are talking about you, it's because you're doing something right. Fans what to see wins, and we want to see wins too, so we bust our chops to get the position where we are. We're 10-2 now.

"We've dropped two eggs, but at the same time, there's a lot of eggs in the future to get. We're just going to have to play as a team, and if we do that, we'll be in a really good position come March.''

I'm not saying they are going to win all five of these games in this stretch, but I could sure see it happen, especially if they continue to shoot the ball well from the perimeter and play inside-out.

It's going to be interesting to see how quickly guard Parker Stewart gets back in the mix. They really need him to knock down shots in the Big Ten. He didn't start in the last game on Dec. 22, a discipline thing by Woodson, but he did get some second-half minutes.

That will be a situation to watch, because he's shooting 49.1 percent from three, best in the Big Ten. And Anthony Leal, who started in his place, has to knock down shots, too.

Big Ten basketball is back, baby, and it's going to be interesting to see how ready Indiana really is.

This five-game stretch to start out the year? It's season-defining in my book. Because after that, the schedule gets brutal. Indiana needs to grab some wins — and a lot of them — while they can.

Relates stories on Indiana basketball

HOW TO WATCH: Here's how to watch Indiana's game on Sunday, with gametime and TV information, the starting lineups, coaching bios and newsy nuggets. CLICK HERE
INDIANA SLIGHT FAVORITE: Indiana always seems to play close games with Penn State, and oddsmakers are expecting more of the same on Sunday. Here's the opening line, with some updates. CLICK HERE
JACKSON-DAVIS HEAVY LOAD: The Big Ten season is starting back up and now the games simply mean more. Indiana star Trayce Jackson-Davis knows that all too well, and he's ready to play as many minutes as Mike Woodson needs. CLICK HERE
TOM BREW COLUMN: Will Indiana's soft nonconference schedule hurt them down the road? We probably won't know that for sure until March. CLICK HERE
WOODSON EYES BIG TEN TITLE: Indiana coach Mike Woodson said on his radio show Monday night that the Hoosiers ''have as good a chance as anybody'' to win the Big Ten title. CLICK HERE
BIG TEN POWER RANKINGS (Vol. 1): Tom Brew's first Big Ten power rankings are out, with Purdue being the clear No. 1 in the league so far. Where is Indiana, who's 10-2 but doesn't really have signature wins. Here is the complete list, from 1-14 in the Big Ten, with records, and schedule for the first week in the Big Ten as it resumes. CLICK HERE

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