Will Jalen Hood-Schifino play vs. Kansas?
- No. 16 IU at No. 6 Kansas, noon, Saturday; TV: ESPN2
BLOOMINGTON – Jalen Hood-Schifino will practice Thursday.
How long depends on his sore lower back. Whether he plays at Kansas on Saturday depends upon how he feels Friday. Mike Woodson was in no mood for guarantees Thursday morning when explaining the plan Indiana hopes will get Hood-Schifino to tipoff Saturday.
But Hood-Schifino, out since the Hoosiers’ win over North Carolina more than two weeks ago, will practice. That by itself is welcome news for IU fans.
“Today,” Woodson said, “we’re going to start him out on the floor and see if he can practice. Last few days, he’s kind of shot around and done some things. He’s moving around. So today we’re going to let him bang a little bit, and see where he is tomorrow.”
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Insider:It didn’t take long for IU to realize how much it needs Jalen Hood-Schifino
There has been an unmistakable Hood-Schifino-sized hole in Indiana’s lineup with him stuck in sweats the past three games. That two of them have been double-digit losses, coupled to Hood-Schifino’s plus-109 plus-minus — second-best on the team — have left those fans wondering whether some outcomes might have been different had the Hoosiers’ No. 1 been able to suit up.
There are no absolutes in these situations, but is there some truth in that argument? To what extent has IU missed Hood-Schifino? Would the Hoosiers have enjoyed better results across their past three games with him on the floor?
Respectively, the answers to those questions are probably, substantially and perhaps. Because some of the things Hood-Schifino does best have been some of Indiana’s biggest weaknesses without him.
“He’s one of the best freshmen in the country,” Kansas coach Bill Self told reporters Thursday. “He can score, he can handle. He’s strong, confident, plays with a swagger. They’ll be fine without him, but they’ll obviously be better with him.”
Hood-Schifino’s initial impact this season has been substantial.
A starter when healthy, he’s averaging 8.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game. He owns Indiana’s second-best assist rate behind Xavier Johnson, and Hood-Schifino’s 3-point shooting has improved, albeit in a limited sample size, having hit five of his past 13 attempts from deep after starting the season 1-of-6. He’s also shooting 41.4% on 2-point jumpers, adding a midrange threat to an offense that’s growing more diverse and varied than could be said at any point last season.
Alongside Johnson, Hood-Schifino has become a sort of swing player. Sharing the point guard load with Johnson, Hood-Schifino helps bind Woodson’s starting and bench rotations productively.
The basketball analytics website EvanMiya.com tracks a statistic it calls adjusted team efficiency margin for individual players across college basketball. Adjusting for the relative strength of a team’s opponents, it tracks the difference on a per-player basis between a team’s adjusted offensive and defensive efficiencies (per 100 possessions) when individual players are on the floor. In other words, it seeks to identify which players most impact their teams’ efficiency numbers in the collective when they’re in the game.
Hood-Schifino is fourth among Hoosiers, with an adjusted efficiency margin of 28.1. But that’s the highest number among starters, narrowly edging out Johnson, and performing substantially better than leading scorer Trayce Jackson-Davis.
Some numbers can be deceiving, or at least dependent upon circumstances. That plus-minus total, for example, would suggest Hood-Schifino is a crucial piece of his team’s success. Being a bit of a blunt instrument, though, it might also be inflated somewhat by Hood-Schifino having not played in either of his team’s two losses to date.
But below the surface, there are some specific strengths Hood-Schifino brings to the floor that have become weaknesses in his absence, whether by causation or circumstance.
For example, at 6-6, and well over 200 pounds, Hood-Schifino has proven to be an outstanding defensive rebounder. His overall rebounding average is third among Hoosiers behind only Jackson-Davis and Race Thompson, and his individual defensive rebounding rate (15.9%) is best among regular backcourt players. It’s better, even, than Jordan Geronimo’s performance in the same statistic.
A point guard who can rebound is a significant offensive asset, because he can launch transition offense more quickly if he clears the board than if a bigger teammate has to do it, then pass him the ball. But in Indiana’s two losses this month, the absence of one of their best defensive rebounders has been glaring.
Rutgers and Arizona, respectively, posted offensive rebounding rates (i.e. what percentage of misses were pulled down for offensive rebounds) of 41.5% and 43.2%. Before the Dec. 3 loss in New Jersey, the…
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