Now that Indiana’s offseason roster changes are over, we’re reviving our annual tradition of taking a closer look at players expected to return to the program.
Next is small forward Miller Cop. He is in his fifth year of college basketball and his second training with IU.
2021-22 numbers
After moving to IU from Northwestern University, Kopp was one of three players to start all 35 games. He averaged 6.0 points, shooting 36.1 percent from the 3-point range and 86.5 percent from the free-throw line.
The 6-foot-7 Kopp had 2.5 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 0.9 turnovers in 25.1 minutes per game.
what went well
Kopp was an effective three-point shooter for Indiana most of the time when he received good passes. Despite being inconsistent, Kopp recorded his third-highest percentage of successes from distance within the team and his second-highest percentage in his four-year career.
In the crucial six-game stretch towards the end of the season, Kopp made 12 of 29 3-games (41.3%) from the road game in Minnesota to the Big Ten Tournament semifinals against Iowa.
Kopp had a massive game with 28 points on 9-of-16 shooting at Syracuse and added double-digit games at St. John’s, Minnesota and Purdue.
On the defensive side, Kopp hasn’t magically gotten better laterally, but he’s a player the IU staff can rely on, being in the right place, learning to use the right positioning and technique, and being a shooter through the screen. was effectively pursued.
Off the court, the Houston, Texas product quickly became a favorite with both players and coaches after moving from the Northwest.
off-season developmental needs
1. Rebound —Mike Woodson said when he arrived at Cop he needed to be a better rebounder, but that didn’t happen. Recorded a lower defensive rebound percentage than Johnson and a worse offensive rebound percentage than those two and Tamar Bates.
Last year, Kopp’s offensive rebound percentage dropped to a career-low 1.6%. That could be partly due to IU’s emphasis on getting back on defense, but his defensive rebounding percentage was his 9.8, the same as his two seasons up to that point, and 1 That’s a far cry from his 12.1 when he was a sophomore. At this point, it may be a case of Kop’s ‘what it is’, but IU needs more production in Glass from the three spots.
2. North of 40? — Let’s be honest, Copp has a slew of talented players including Bates, Trey Galloway, Jordan Geronimo, Anthony Leal, Caleb Banks, and CJ Gunn to move him out of the starting lineup with three spots. Trying to push out. One obvious way to stop them all is to become an elite 3-point shooter in your fifth year of college basketball. Kopp’s career success rate is his 36%, but last year he had well over 100 players he shot better than his 40% on at least two tries per game. I’m here.
If Cop can get over 40 in about 5 attempts per game, it’s nearly impossible to push him off the floor. He already has 5.3 attempts at Northwestern as his sophomore year, where he has had a 39.6% season, so this is not his goal in the stretch. The late-season run I mentioned above was largely a byproduct of the emergence of the elite pick-and-roll duo of Xavier Johnson and Trace Jackson-Davis. he responded. The question is whether he can keep it up all season.
3. Arc Efficiency — After going above 2-scoring to 41% each in his first three seasons, Kopp achieved just 34.9% (30/86) from the 2-scoring range in his first season at IU. He was arguably unable to convert from the 2, as the defense learned to stick with him on the perimeter and take chances against his dribbling drives, which also hampered the cop from the 3.
Copp is more than 10 percentage points (45.2%) higher than Northwestern’s juniors, and the forgotten part of that blowup against Syracuse was Copp making 5 of 2-7. He probably won’t be a big finisher at the rim to length, but his midrange pull-up game has been far superior in the past and will have to rediscover it next season. Being a bigger threat can also mean more trips to the free-throw line. Kopp had an 86.5% shooting percentage, but his shots totaled 37 for the entire season, or about one per game.
How success looks in 2022-23
We’ve laid it out – Kopp should be Indiana’s knockdown 3-point shooter next year against Johnson and Jackson Davis. . And when he overplays his 3 points his shot, Copp forces you to pay out from midrange.
The defensive task may not be too difficult for people in the Big Ten like Johnny Davis, Keegan Murray and Ron Harper Jr. You may have the depth to find a suitable matchup.
If Kopp can raise his numbers from 8 points, 3 rebounds and both 2 and 3 to over 40%, his fifth year in college basketball can be called a success.
previous edition
Daily Hoosier – “Where Indiana fans gather when they’re not at the assembly”
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