The scout on Jalen Hood-Schifino coming into his freshman season?
Great defender, great scorer on the move, able to lead a team, and tough-as-nails.
But could he make the three ball on a consistent basis? That was an open question.
On Saturday evening against Ohio State, Hood-Schifino scored on a mid-range jump shot on Indiana’s first possession, and that was all it took to get him in rhythm.
After that initial bucket, IU went cold and fell behind 9-2. But that’s when Hood-Schifino went red hot, making five threes in a less than eight minute span.
Mike Woodson said Hood-Schifino revealed to him he was feeling ill before the game, but he sent the Buckeyes to the halftime locker room with a sick feeling.
He’d finish the half with six makes from long range, and he got them in a variety of ways. Let’s take a look at how he got all six with another edition of film study.
READING HIS MAN
Hood-Schifino’s first three was set up by a Trayce Jackson-Davis high ball screen, but the freshman point guard didn’t use it in the traditional way.
Hood-Schifino took one dribble towards the TJD screen, and that got the hips of his man, fellow freshman Bruce Thornton, completely turned as you can see here. The key was that Hood-Schifino wasted no time. As soon as Thornton turned, Hood-Schifino rose into his shot with no further dribbles or hesitation — and he was comfortable doing that from a few feet beyond the arc.
BALL SIDE DOUBLE TEAM
If you’ve been reading these film studies, you know IU is making a living off of ball side double teams against Jackson-Davis.
With three men opposite, it’s a simple two-man game. If the double comes, Jackson-Davis kicks it out, if it doesn’t he’ll look to attack one-on-one.
Here OSU’s Isaac Likekele doubles in a very aggressive fashion, with his back completely turned from Hood-Schifino.
The key here is Hood-Schifino reading that, and relocating to give Jackson-Davis a clean passing angle, which he did. He ended up taking the shot right in front of where the referee is standing in the photo.
It’s interesting that Jackson-Davis caught the ball on the perimeter and backed his man to the block. It makes you wonder if where he started influenced who doubles — perhaps a fun little cat-and-mouse game.
A GREAT OUTLET PASS
Check the shot clock here.
Race Thompson grabbed a defensive rebound a placed an in-stride outlet pass to Hood-Schifino at about the half court line.
Hood-Schifino was unconscious at this point, and he was bringing to mind another Hoosier who wore No. 1 — James Blackmon, Jr. — who would rise up at any time from anywhere. He’s into his shot two seconds into the shot clock, and Ohio State is nowhere near back on defense.
This is just a highly confident shooter rising and firing without hesitation before a defense can get set — an essential ability to have in the modern college game.
FINDING THE HOT HAND VIA THE IN-BOUNDS PLAY
At this point, if Hood-Schifino catches the ball and has any space at all, it’s going up.
Here IU ran an in-bounds play designed for him to get another 3-point attempt.
Hood-Schifino started at the top of the key, and he went down to the top of the restricted arc. This was a nifty play design that required precision timing. Malik Reneau had his back turned to Hood-Schifino, but at just the right moment, he did a 180 degree turn and set a screen on Likekele, which seemed to catch him off guard.
Hood-Schifino may not have even caught this ball cleanly, but at this point it didn’t matter.
A DEFENSIVE BREAKDOWN
How can OSU lose track of a player who has made four threes over a six-minute span?
It doesn’t hurt to have another 40 percent 3-point shooter next to him and heavy attention on the post.
This time Reneau drew the post help in an apparent attempt to take away his left hand. Reneau skipped it out to an open Tamar Bates at the top of the key. Bates drew two defenders with one dribble inside-the-arc, and at that point the Buckeye defense is broken.
It isn’t clear who was supposed to recover to Hood-Schifino. Thornton is pointing in the screen shot like he expects someone to be there. No. 1 Roddy Gayle is probably that person. In any event, Hood-Schifino is wide open, and he’s posting video game numbers at this point. Five threes in eight minutes.
OFFENSIVE REBOUND KICK-OUT
One of the best ways to get open 3-pointers is via offensive rebounds, and this screen shot illustrates that very well.
Trayce Jackson-Davis drove baseline here and caught his own miss on the other side of the basket.
All five Ohio State defenders are literally in the paint, which makes it far too easy for now smoking hot Hood-Schifino, who hits the 20-point mark before the break with this wide open opportunity on the kick-out from TJD.
Shot-making exhibition from Jalen Hood-Schifino in Indiana's win over Ohio State. Hit 6 of 9 three pointers in a variety of ways, off the dribble and from deep vantage points. Up to 43% for 3 on the season now, and answering a lot of questions NBA scouts had. Stock rising. pic.twitter.com/Jh8HJ958lq
— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) January 30, 2023
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