BTN put together an interesting segment on Juwan Morgan. It really illustrates the multitude of ways that the junior forward contributes to the Hoosier program. We’re all guilty of focusing on point totals first, but Morgan is leading this team in so many other ways. Take a look:
Oh, and if all of that wasn’t enough, he also got his career high in assists on Friday night against Minnesota with five.
Another interesting way to look at Morgan’s performance is his improvement over his first three years at Indiana. Take a look at the following year by year comparison:
Probably the most notable improvements are (i) of course the points, but perhaps more important that he is getting those points at a career best 59% from the field; and (ii) his blocks and steals are up substantially, signaling that his defensive positioning and energy has improved.
On the negative side Morgan’s free throw shooting percentage is down significantly. That is actually a mid-season development, as Morgan was shooting above 70% during the early portion of the season.
It is also interesting that he fouled out 5 times last year and has thus far not fouled out this year despite playing significantly more minutes.
Of course one thing that you won’t see in any of these statistics is Morgan’s health. He struggled with injuries in each of his first two years which almost certainly slowed his development. His freshman year injuries were especially memorable, as it seemed like he agonizingly separated his shoulder in almost every game. We’re sure that he won’t soon forget. He has been fortunate this year to stay relatively healthy, with only a couple minor ankle tweaks thus far.
MINNESOTA GAME HIGHLIGHTS
Here are the highlights from last night’s game courtesy of BTN:
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