Last year the Indiana backcourt was about as inconsistent as it has been in years but with that comes encouragement that it can excel next year. Now a starting backcourt that will have a senior and junior at the helm, consistency is a must.
While staying on the floor has been tough for Rob Phinisee, that hasn't been the case for rising senior Al Durham. In 98 possible games over the past three seasons, Durham has been on the floor for 97 of them. Part of that consistency and availability helped the Georgia native be named Indiana's Co-Captain for last season by his teammates.
Part of his 'team-first' mentality was shown throughout the first two years but none more than last year when Archie Miller needed Durham to shift into having more of a ball handling role. It was a role that Durham hasn't always played, but it was needed with the lack of backcourt depth. Now, Durham will have to wear another hat, but this one will only happen if he has a shift in his mentality.
Indiana ranked 10th in the Big Ten in offensive efficiency (104.9) this past year and the majority of that was due to the inability of most of the players on the roster to create their own offense, outside of Devonte Green. Now with Green gone, Durham must be that guy to step up and be a consistent scoring threat.
Throughout his Indiana career, Durham has been effective as one of the main options, unfortunately it just hasn't been on full display due to playing with two players who needed the ball in their hands in Green and Romeo Langford. But there is a good trend for the rising senior when one or both of that duo is off of the floor, albeit in six games.
In those outings Durham has averaged 15.2 points per game while shooting 45 percent from the field. Forcing Durham to become more of an aggressive scorer hasn't always been an issue, it has been the ability to do it every time he has stepped on the floor. The other end of the spectrum is what needs to be fixed heading into next season. Last year, Durham had 12 games where he failed to score more than six points. Part of that can be due to opportunities, but more so aggressiveness.
Durham saw 220 more minutes on the year than both Joey Brunk and Rob Phinisee. Despite that, he had only 20 more field goal attempts than both and even had four fewer made field goals than Brunk. For someone who shot 38 percent from three and 81 percent from the free-throw line, attempting only 6.6 shots a game could have arguably hurt the team.
Indiana's roster will have some changes, but for the most part it will look at the returning pieces for production. While Archie Miller is bringing in another very solid recruiting class, none of the incoming recruits are expected to have the impact that Trayce Jackson-Davis did this past year. That leaves a lot of pressure on someone like Al Durham to provide that consistent scoring punch.
For someone who has improved every year in the Indiana program, it is not a stretch to see another jump heading into his senior season. While Jackson-Davis will carry the load offensively, every Batman needs a Robin.
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