Postseason Player Review: Robert Johnson
With the offseason underway, TheHoosier.com will review each IU player's 2016-17 season.
We continue the series with a look at junior guard Robert Johnson.
Stats
Averaged 12.8 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 29.4 minutes per game ... Shot 44.7 percent from the field and 37 percent from 3-point range ... Scoring averaged ranked second on the team behind junior guard James Blackmon Jr.'s 17 points per game ... Also finished second on the team in assists with 85 ... Defensively, recorded team-high 29 steals ... Scored in double figures in 25 games last year ... Played in all 34 of IU's games last season, starting in 32 of them.
Season In Review
A strong start early on led to a somewhat fading finish for Johnson in his junior season.
Through IU's first 23 games, he shot 48.7 percent from the field, including 41.7 percent from 3-point range. Johnson also posted double-digit scoring efforts in all but two of those games.
Then things dropped off beginning with the Purdue game on Feb. 9. Over the Hoosiers' final nine games, Johnson shot just 34.7 percent from the field and an abysmal 26.3 percent from 3-point range, scoring in double figures just three times.
However, Johnson had his moments down the stretch despite his late offensive shortcomings. His team-high 26 points at Ohio State in the regular season finale helped the Hoosiers land the No. 10 seed entering the Big Ten tournament and their second true road win over the season, and he also poured in 27 in a triple-overtime win over Penn State on Feb. 1.
However, single-game point totals only tell part of the story when it comes to Johnson's role in the offense. Using advanced statistics from KenPom.com helps explain this.
Looking at percent of shots taken - a metric KenPom describes as the percentage of a team's shots taken while the player is on the court - Johnson accounted for 25.1 percent of the Hoosiers' shots, second-most on the team behind Blackmon's 27.7 percent.
There's also percent of possessions used - a metric which "assigns credit or blame to a player when his actions end a possession, either by making a shot, missing a shot that isn’t rebounded by the offense, or committing a turnover," according to KenPom. Johnson used 21.7 percent of the Hoosiers' possessions, third-highest among IU's significant contributors, or players who used 20-24 percent of possible possessions.
In other words, Johnson didn't lack confidence when teammates passed him the ball but wasn't necessarily a go-to scoring option as a starter.
On April 11, Johnson officially declared for the NBA Draft but chose not to hire an agent, leaving the door open for him to return to school if he so chooses.
Outlook
There's no harm in Johnson declaring for the draft getting feedback from NBA evaluators.
He's not projected to get selected in this summer's draft in mock drafts compiled by DraftExpress.com, ESPN's Chad Ford or NBADraft.net, but it will give him a sense of what he needs to work on if he chooses to come back.
However, Johnson must decide by May 24 at the latest - the deadline all underclassmen who have not hired representation to either remain in the draft or withdraw their name from consideration.
If he does come back, he would be a capable scorer and a strong perimeter defender Indiana could certainly use next year.
Previous Postseason Player Reviews:
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