8/30/2022 basketball Edit

Season Preview: Miller Kopp

Kyler Staley • TheHoosier

Basketball Recruiting Analyst

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The 2022-23 Indiana men's basketball season gets started in just a few short months which is a perfect time to start looking ahead and breaking down each scholarship player of the roster and previewing what to expect out of them this upcoming year.

Today, we take a look at senior forward Miller Kopp with a recap of last season, preview of this upcoming season, plus some notable quotes.

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Other Season Previews: Xavier Johnson, Race Thompson

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Last Season Review

Due to the intense need of consistent perimeter shooting, something that Indiana has been lacking since the Tom Crean era, Mike Woodson went out to the transfer portal to snag Northwestern transfer Miller Kopp who came into last season with already so much pressure to produce from behind the arc. In his first year in an Indiana uniform, the Houston, Texas native started all 35 games for the Hoosiers averaging 6.0 points per game shooting 35.6% from the field including 36.1% from three.

Kopp's seemingly breakout game last year was during the Big Ten/ACC Challenge when Indiana traveled to Syracuse where he put up a season high 28 points in 48 minutes in the double-overtime loss. While that performance showed what Kopp's potential could be as Indiana's elite outside scoring threat, Kopp would only score 10+ points in 5 total games all season long. When the opposing defense was often times heavily packed in the middle trying to contain Trayce Jackson-Davis or Race Thompson, Kopp struggled to knockdown the open looks.

It is safe to say that fans grew very frustrated with Kopp's lack of consistent production from deep with them having so much hope that they had finally found a reliable threat from behind the arc. While Kopp was Indiana's primary outside, spot-up shooter, the inconsistency was a constant theme of his play all of last year. There were a few highs but way too many lows in his first year at Indiana.

2022-23 Season Preview

As of where it stands right now, Kopp will come into season as yet again Indiana's primary shooter from deep. Due to experience, IQ, and offensive balance, he will likely keep his starting spot at the three as well even though there have been cases made of him coming off the bench this season by fans and analysts alike.

Obviously the most important thing to watch for with Kopp is consistency shooting the long ball. It is very clear to Kopp , the Indiana staff, and the fans on what he brought into to do and that is to stretch Indiana's offense and provide that much needed range. Opponents will once again focus a lot of their defensive effort on containing Jackson-Davis and Thompson in the post along with slowing down Xavier Johnson so Kopp has to take advantage of the open looks he surely is going to have.

Although three point shooting is what many fans want Kopp to bring in this season, it is often overlooked that Kopp is a reliable defender as well. He is not the strongest or the quickness but he does a very good job of communicating and sticking to his assignment on that end. His high IQ is what makes him so effective on defense.

There may not be a shorter leash on this team than Kopp's, especially with the fans. Kopp is praised as being a great teammate and leader but there is arguably no one player that has to show improvement from last year to this year for this Indiana team to have success than him. He simply has to make outside shots and do it consistently.

Notable Quotes

"I came here knowing I need to become a better defensive player," Kopp said previously. "(Coach Woodson) gets on me every day about defense, about rebounding, about blocking out, about guarding."

"He (Coach Woodson) values shooting big time which is what I do best," Kopp told TheHoosier.com when he committed. "But he’s talked to me about using my versatility to handle the ball and use my IQ to help make plays."

“If I make three in a row, miss three in a row, I’m still gonna shoot the fourth one with the same confidence and the same rhythm," Kopp said previously.