Film Session: Noah Vonleh’s touches

  • 01/07/2014 7:46 am in

When Vonleh re-entered the game at the 12:04 mark with the ball in Indiana’s hands, he immediately went to work on the offensive boards, missing on a left-handed attempt after he rebounded a Sheehey miss. (It would be his only offensive rebound of the game.) He also grabbed a defensive board on the ensuing Michigan State possession, but made a costly error by throwing an outlet pass to Evan Gordon as Harris was lurking. (This is a danger spot for IU in the Big Ten as the opposition will be looking for steals on IU’s go-go outlets.) Harris scored as Vonleh fouled him.

IU’s next possession saw a Harris foul on the floor and a reset of the 35 seconds. It was time again for Vonleh to try a move off the perimeter. It didn’t go so hot, as he lost the ball and turned it over:

After a turnover and then a made jumper from Ferrell on IU’s next two possessions, Vonleh barely moved or called for the ball on IU’s next trip down the floor. Instead, he just hung around the left high post. This is one of those times when Crean and Sheehey’s comments make sense. Yet, Yogi is still able to work him the ball later in the possession and he makes a move to the rim, but misses with his left hand:

Indiana’s next two trips down the court resulted in 3-point tries. Ferrell made his. Jeremy Hollowell failed to connect on his attempt. The next possession displayed another Zeller-esque move for Vonleh, as he beat everyone down the floor for a transition dunk:

Just over a minute later at the 6:40 mark, Vonleh hit the bench for Mosquera-Perea. The freshman returned to action with 4:35 to play before the half. He quickly went to work again, grabbing a defensive board and then showing a bit of frustration on his initial attempt to get an entry pass from Gordon. Vonleh would get the ball later in the possession, make a move and narrowly avoid another Harris swipe at the ball — before airballing a shot in the lane. There appeared to be some contact here from Payne and a foul call may have been missed by the official:

A makeup call was on its way. Payne was whistled for a foul over the back on Vonleh after a Harris missed 3-pointer. Indiana was in the bonus and Vonleh made 1-of-2 from the charity stripe. Hollowell made his only shot of the day on IU’s next possession.

Gordon looked to enter the ball to Vonleh the next time down the court, but he was pretty blatant about it and Matt Costello was able to steal it from behind:

After a missed 3-pointer from Hollowell and a made one from Ferrell, Vonleh picked up a silly foul at the 1:09 mark and sat the rest of the half:

Vonleh had opportunities in transition, off the top of the key and in the post during his time in the first half. For the most part, his teammates looked to get him the ball and he was making an effort to receive it as well. The simple fact is Vonleh can’t take every shot for the Hoosiers or touch the ball on every single possession. There was some good balance in offense between Vonleh being involved and others, like Yogi Ferrell — who needs to score for IU to have a chance in games this year — getting a proper amount of looks.

While the box score read just four field goal attempts, his five points and seven rebounds were on pace for yet another double-double.

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