Jeff Howard’s spot start helps Hoosiers roll
By CHRIS GOFF
ISL Assistant Editor
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Seldom-used senior Jeff Howard had never played more than seven minutes in a game, let alone start one. Shortly before Tuesday night’s contest, Howard found out he’d be making a surprise appearance at Assembly Hall.
With Howard’s veteran know-how adding to the mix, the Indiana Hoosiers put together what ultimately may be one of their best defensive performances of the 2013-14 season. Evansville shot 29 percent from the field, put just two players in double figures and scored about as many points as there were purple-clad fans in attendance during a 77-46 Indiana triumph at Assembly Hall.
In the spotlight after the game was a power forward who made the only shot he took and contributed a measly three rebounds to the effort.
Howard chipped in an assist and was charged with two personal fouls and a turnover over 15 minutes, but the only number that grabbed coach Tom Crean’s attention was Howard being a plus-15 in plus/minus.
As Crean noted after the game, “I rarely look at the scoring. We’re always going over the plus/minus. I saw him get a plus-15. Jeff established what we were out there to do.”
You’ll read a lot about Jeremy Hollowell, the man shuffled to a reserve role for Howard’s elevation, and with good reason after he put up a career-high 18 points in Tuesday’s win. But many will note that Indiana’s first unit thrived with Howard’s presence at the start of the game (Indiana led 12-0 when he checked out at the 14:31 mark).
Instead of complaining, Hollowell provided a major spark. He had started the first six games but mostly struggled since blocking four shots to go with 16 points in the season opener. While Indiana’s second unit struggled in the 2K Sports Classic, Hollowell helped give them a sustained attack in a blowout victory.
“Everybody’s got to be in a play-on-demand type of thing for me,” Crean said. “Who the starters are is too big of a topic. For me, it’s never up for debate on the inside. It’s who’s going to come out and bring their best every day. Every day is measured. I don’t think it was trying to light a fire. We were trying to give ourselves our best chance to start a game.”
Hollowell, a sophomore, is still learning to contribute to the Hoosiers in a number of other ways when his scoring is down. And Howard has not been a rotation player or really a part of any sub units.
But consider this: Howard probably made a bigger defensive difference than anyone else in the arena. The team allowed a mere six points in 19 possessions with Howard on the floor Tuesday (compared to 40 points in 55 possessions without Howard in the lineup).
Howard admitted Crean made his decision for a reason and that he had worked hard in practice to earn an opportunity. Howard said he tries to be vocal on the floor and yell at guys to be in the right place. Howard found ways to impact the game with energy and leadership even if Crean knew putting him in the lineup wouldn’t yield a lot of points.
“I get to make those decisions,” Crean said. “What I looked at over the last few days was a guy who epitomized what we wanted out there in the form of energy, communication and intensity. I thought he did it better than anybody else. What we got is a lot of really good play from the frontline tonight. It’s a very complicated team (Evansville) in the sense that you’re going to see a lot of cutting, screening, shot-fakes, curls, flairs, you name it. You’re going to see a lot of things. You’re going to see more in 10 minutes than you’ve seen in two weeks. You’ve got to be really locked in. We wanted to be really locked in.”
The Hoosiers would have beaten Evansville without Howard scoring a wide-open layup off a pick-and-roll with Will Sheehey. It’s fair to wonder, though, if the victory would have come so easily without Howard’s work against Evansville power forward Blake Simmons or without Hollowell spearheading the second unit.
Afterward, Hollowell insisted that his change in role was a non-issue, that he approached it with the right mindset and was happy to see Howard capitalize on the opportunity of a lifetime.
“It was Coach’s decision,” Hollowell said. “I went along with it.”
The Howard-Hollowell flip-flop was a one-time thing and not likely to be a recurring storyline. But it is a reminder that Crean is not done tinkering, and might not ever be with such a young team that lacks the timing and chemistry of last year’s veteran group. The Hoosiers are deep, and come Big Ten play, when opponents are bigger and more talented, Crean may play matchups and swap roles more frequently.
In short, Tuesday’s change was a message that everyone on the team should be ready for anything.
The only gaudy numbers Howard put up were in the plus/minus category, but the only one that really matters to Crean is the growing total in the win column.
“Everybody has got to get better,” Crean said. “I see how good they can be. We are pushing them to reach a level and we keep understanding daily what this level can be.”
Follow Chris Goff on Twitter: chrisgoff_ISL.
