Much of the preseason talk about Indiana centered on the team’s anticipated depth. The Hoosiers added a highly-touted freshman class to a roster full of returning veterans from last year’s Sweet 16 team.
But so far this season, No. 5 Indiana really hasn’t been that deep. Due to issues with the NCAA and an injury to senior Derek Elston, the Hoosiers are still in the process of trying to incorporate several players on their bench.
Freshman Hanner Mosquera-Perea was suspended for the first nine games, Elston missed the first 10 games after having knee surgery, and freshman Jeremy Hollowell was out for three games due to an NCAA investigation. Mosquerea-Perea and Elston have yet to get significant minutes or make major contributions through the first 14 games, and Hollowell’s minutes and contributions have been inconsistent.
In Monday’s game at Iowa, the trio combined to play only 14 minutes and none of the three scored a single point.
“We want to get this team to the point where Jeremy, Hanner, Peter [Jurkin] and Derek are a big part of that, where they get that experience [of a road win],” Indiana coach Tom Crean said Saturday. “We haven’t had a lot of that yet. We were basically a team that was playing with seven guys in that game [against Iowa], and that’s not what we wanna do moving forward.”
Even though they haven’t gotten significant time on the court, Crean said Mosquera-Perea, Hollowell and Elston have gained a good amount from the few minutes they have been out there. And with a full week in between the Big Ten opener at Iowa and Monday’s game at Penn State, they’ve had some extra practice time to learn from the things they experienced at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
“I don’t anticipate, they will [play more],” Crean said. “There’s no question about that.”
Hollowell got off to a strong start to his freshman campaign by scoring in double figures in his first two collegiate games, but he hasn’t been quite the same player since. He hasn’t scored more than seven points in his last nine games, and he’s shot better than 50 percent from the field in only one of those contests.
In his only game back after missing three games, Hollowell airballed his lone shot attempt, but did have two important blocked shots.
“When a freshman misses a day of practice or a game, it’s like missing a week,” Crean said. “When you take somebody out of three games, it makes it that much harder.”
For Elston and Mosquera-Perea, the process has been a bit slower. Elston has struggled to find his jump shot in his return from injury, and it has impacted other parts of his game on the floor. He’s just 1-of-8 from the field for four total points in four games this season. Elston has played a total of 35 minutes.
But Crean saw a lot of improvement from his senior forward in Saturday afternoon’s practice.
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That’s A Wrap: Jeremy Hollowell
Welcome to “That’s A Wrap,” our player-by-player recap of the 2012-2013 Indiana Hoosiers. Today: Jeremy Hollowell.
Hollowell (33 games): 2.8 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 0.3 apg, 40.3% FG, 63.2% FT in 9.7 minutes per game.
Jeremy Hollowell’s 2012-13 campaign was one of a stereotypical freshman: some good, some bad and plenty more to learn as he continues to assimilate to the college game.
The Lawrence Central product showed flashes of promise as both a scorer and defender. He netted over 10 points twice in a row to start the season (12 against Bryant in the season opener, 14 against North Dakota State three days later). Hollowell isn’t the quickest defender, but he showed a knack for swatting shots on occasion. He recorded three blocks against Michigan on Feb. 2 and two against both Iowa (Dec. 31) and Purdue (Jan. 30). He gained enough trust from Tom Crean to get run in every game he was eligible for this season and average almost 10 minutes in them. (Remember: Hollowell sat out three games in December amidst some self-reported violations by his family.)
But Hollowell was inconsistent. His high in scoring during the Big Ten season was just six points (Feb. 7 against Illinois). And at times his shooting from distance resulted in him entirely missing the rim. He finished the year shooting just 23.3 percent from beyond the arc. Hollowell also could stand some improvement at the charity stripe (63.2 percent).
The freshman had a little early Christian Watford in him as well — a laid-back personality that resulted in him not always bringing an edge to the court. Dan Dakich made note during broadcasts later in the season that Hollowell came to Bloomington not quite used to the work ethic needed to succeed in Tom Crean’s program, but that he was finally coming around to it all as the season matured.
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