Indiana sophomore CJ Gunn feels like a basketball team's players are a lot like individual puzzle pieces that fit together to help make a pretty picture. Some pieces are bigger than others, and all are shaped differently. The only difference between the pieces on a basketball team and a real puzzle? The role each piece plays in the photo at the end can change.
As a freshman, Gunn played in 20 games for a good Indiana squad that finished with a 23-12 overall record and 12-8 season in the Big Ten before bowing out to eventual Final Four participant Miami (Fla.) in the Round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament. Gunn's role was small averaging just 2.0 points a game while shooting just a hair under 31 percent from the field in his first season of college basketball.
"Looking back on my freshman year," Gunn pondered to reporters on Thursday, "I think I did a really good job on the defensive side of things. I feel like my offensive side wasn't really clicking how I wanted it to. But as long as you're confident and put the effort in the gym and countless days, I feel like that side will handle itself."
Gunn, a three-star recruit in the 202 recruiting class from Indianapolis Lawerence North High School, had been a star on most basketball courts he grew up playing on. But his piece in Indiana's puzzle last season was quite small. He didn't play much -- less than eight minutes a game -- so much of his time was spent on the bench wearing his candy cane striped pants and buttoned warmup jacket supporting Indiana's stars, Trayce Jackson-Davis and fellow freshman Jalen Hood-Schifino.
"No path in life is going to be easy," Gunn said. "You’re going to have those talks about ‘I can’t do this,’ ‘I’m not going to get there,’ but I’m a faithful guy and I believe that God is always going to have my back and through that faith, why would I give up now? You just got to keep going. You’re going to get to where you want to get to."
Where Gunn wants to get as a sophomore is a place where he can better showcase his ability as a two-way player and provide leadership to Indiana's six new players, which includes three freshmen and three transfers. But after being a seldom relied-on player for Mike Woodson last season, Gunn's duties are potentially daunting.
"It’s a challenge. I didn’t come here to be comfortable," Gunn said. "I came here to be pushed and to get used to being comfortable being uncomfortable. I see that as a great opportunity for me to take my game to the next level."
To get to the next level, Gunn will need to be a more impactful offensive player this season for Indiana. Recruited for his three-level scoring abilities, Gunn made just 2-of-24 attempts from beyond the 3-point line last season and made less than 59 percent of his attempts at the rim, according to Hoop-math.
At 6-foot-6 and close to 200 pounds, Gunn has the necessary athletic traits to be impactful scoring around the rim. He's stronger and heavier now, but he still has a quality vertical that should help him finish over and through defenders. And he's quick enough off of the bounce to beat defenders before elevating for a pull-up jump shot. But as much as Gunn admits that he needs to be a bigger shooting threat, he also understands that his basketball IQ must improve and that he needs to become more versatile as a sophomore.
"Knowing a good shot from a bad shot," Gunn said of something he wants to improve as a second-year player. "And just really cutting off of the ball and getting my teammates involved as well. I also am looking to evolve my game further by bringing the ball up the floor and being more of a combo guard, transitioning from the one and the two."
Gunn has been working on these areas with Indiana's new director of player development Calbert Cheaney, who starred for the Hoosiers in the 1990s before a long-tenured NBA career. Woodson hired Cheaney this summer away from the Indianapolis Pacers.
"When he finally got down here, the first practice I watched film with him, the first day I got a training session in [with him]," Gunn said. "Me and his bond is already tight. I feel like he is in the room with us and is another piece to the puzzle to make this program great."
Together, Cheaney is helping Gunn focus on the areas necessary to make him a consistent contributor to a complicated backcourt picture that includes Xavier Johnson, Trey Galloway, Gabe Cupps and Jakai Newton. Johnson and Galloway project as starters for Indiana next season as experienced, older players in the Big Ten. But rotational minutes between Cupps, Newton and Gunn are contested.
Gunn knows that he's a puzzle piece in what Indiana basketball is trying to accomplish this season. He's comprehended what he is good at and knows what he needs to improve upon before the season tips against Florida Gulf Coast on Nov. 7.
"I feel like my two-way ability and my ability to get my shot without the ball [are what I bring]," Gunn said. "I’m very good about creating space when it comes to drop downs, pin aways or any cutting or action throughout our motion offense is what I really specialize in."
JOIN THE CONVERSATION ON THE HOOSIER'S MESSAGE BOARDS
-- SUBSCRIBE TO THE HOOSIER'S YOUTUBE
