It’s time for Inside the Hall’s player-by-player breakdown of the 2010-2011 Indiana Hoosiers. Today: Matt Roth.
Suddenly, we’re talking about Indiana’s depth at guard, and how reliable it is less than three weeks from the start of the season. And so when we talk about Matt Roth, we need to frame the conversation thusly.
Roth certainly has a chance to win some playing time, with Verdell Jones tweaking an ankle and Maurice Creek still taking a wisely cautious approach to his return from a knee injury. The problem with Roth is that the questions in need of answering won’t have any until we see him in game action.
Statistics don’t tell us anything we don’t already know: Roth is a blistering 3-point shooter when he’s hot, and still one of the best in the league when he’s a touch off. Thad Matta probably still has the occasional night sweat about the flood of threes Roth dropped on Ohio State in 2009.
The problem is that Roth hasn’t played in a game since November of last year, thanks to an ankle injury suffered early in the Hoosiers’ trip to Puerto Rico. That had the double-edged effect of robbing Roth of a year of development and not allowing him to try and prove that the deficiencies he said he had improved upon were indeed behind him.
In his freshman season, Roth was often a defensive liability, often outmatched athletically. He was also quite one-dimensional on offense, and without the ability to drive into the lane and draw contact, his excellent free-throw shooting rarely got put on display.
Again, it was believed Roth had improved in some of these areas last season, and while it was too small a sample size to get an accurate measurement, he absolutely looked like a more rounded player before his season was cut short.
The foot is now fine, according to Roth, although he also picked up a concussion during the preseason, which also shouldn’t be an issue. But Indiana will need Roth to stay healthy, at least initially.
The bottom line: Roth will absolutely get his chance, with Creek still not 100 percent and Jones recovering from an ankle injury. If he is the more well-rounded player he believes he is, then he should get some minutes in the Indiana rotation. If he’s not much more than a streaky 3-point shooter, then his playing time will reflect that, as well.
Quotable: “Obviously, I’ve gotten a lot stronger and I feel a lot quicker coming back from this injury. My doctors and my trainers did a great job with making sure I did all of my rehab and all of my strength and rehabilitation and stuff like that. I’m looking forward to getting out there and playing a fun style of basketball and making sure the fans are just as energetic watching us play as they are when we’re winning. It’s going to be a great opportunity and I’m looking forward to getting out there.” – Matt Roth
Previous Player Profiles: Bobby Capobianco, Victor Oladipo, Tom Pritchard, Jeremiah Rivers, Christian Watford, Verdell Jones, Maurice Creek, Derek Elston, Jordan Hulls, Guy-Marc Michel
2010-2011 Player Profile: Will Sheehey
Like fellow freshman Victor Oladipo and junior college transfer Guy-Marc Michel, Will Sheehey arrives with the expectation, from both himself and from Tom Crean, that he’ll compete for significant minutes in the IU rotation from day one.
Crean, as has been mentioned in this space and also elsewhere, says he has no interest in this group of newcomers waiting their turn and easing into the rotation.
Sheehey hails from a basketball background. His father, Mike, played at St. Bonaventure and Syracuse and his uncle, Tom, played at Virginia and was drafted by the Boston Celtics and played professionally in Spain.
At 6-6 and 195 pounds, Sheehey’s bread and butter offensively seems to be a combination of a solid mid-range game, setting up teammates and finishing at the rim. If given space, he doesn’t hesitate to consistently stick the 15 to 18-foot jump shot. And if he’s defended too closely, Sheehey will use the dribble to get past defenders. His versatility with the ball should afford him the luxury of playing in the backcourt and also on the wing.
Like Oladipo, Sheehey should help Indiana on the offensive glass and if he’s able to establish himself early in that regard, that should increase his likelihood for playing time. (Crean is placing a big emphasis on improved rebounding this season.) He appears to have improved upon his physical stature from the time he first met with the media in late July to Hoosier Hysteria earlier this month. But as is the case with most first-year players, continued improvement of strength and conditioning is a necessity to compete in physical conference games. Sheehey is also continuing to work on his 3-point range, which has been, to this point, one inconsistent part of his game.
Bottom Line: Sheehey should compete for minutes in a rotation that will be much more difficult to crack than the previous two seasons. He will likely get plenty of opportunities in the early out of conference slate. And if he rebounds well, defends and limits his mistakes, Sheehey should be in the mix come Big Ten play in late December.
Quotable: “People talk about the tradition, but it really is one of a kind. With all the other schools recruiting me, I felt this one was the one that if you turn this place around it will be one of the stories of basketball history.” – Will Sheehey
Previous Player Profiles: Matt Roth, Bobby Capobianco, Victor Oladipo, Tom Pritchard, Jeremiah Rivers, Christian Watford, Verdell Jones, Maurice Creek, Derek Elston, Jordan Hulls, Guy-Marc Michel