The young Hoosiers have played beyond their years so far this season competing against top ten teams in #7 Notre Dame and #5 Gonzaga, not to mention #17 Wake Forest. The team has certainly handled bumps in the road so far, but that was expected.
What wasn’t expected is the sloppy play by the player who we all thought was going to lead this team with his experience. No, not Kyle Taber - I’m talking about Devan Dumes.
The junior guard was supposed to come in and serve as the veteran to the young squad this season. Many picked Dumes to lead this team in scoring and solidify the backcourt. Coming out of high school, Dumes committed to Division I Eastern Michigan where he played valuable minutes for them as a freshman. He then transferred to Vincennes University and led his team with over 20 points per game. With that experience Dumes was much anticipated to lead the young freshman this year. Instead, Dumes has played more like a freshman than any other player, continuing to take bad shots, committing terrible turnovers and committing stupid rally killing fouls.
Now I know Dumes is averaging a respectable 12.1 points per game and many people can make the argument that he is doing a good job at leading this team, but I’m looking at the statistics that don’t normally appear in the box score.
Dumes is only shooting .365 from the field. He is leading our team with 85 shots taken and the .365 is not going to cut it. That number can be contributed to the poor shot selection Dumes continues to make. Many have been contested long threes early in the shot clock and wild out of control drives into much bigger defenders down low. Our leading shot taker needs to shoot better than that for us to really contend in the Big Ten.
He is also only shooting .688 from the charity stripe. Not a stat one would expect from a junior guard. Also not going to cut in when the Big Ten season gets started.
It isn’t just the shooting either. The turnovers have been deadly this year for the Hoosiers and it has been obvious. Dumes has been one of the leading contributors to those stats. A 0.4 assist to turnover ratio is not good for any kind of guard. Dumes has continued to make terrible passes and have made a lot of “freshman” turnover mistakes.
But you know what most gets on my nerves? The rally-killing fouls. All the times Assembly Hall has gotten to its feet and it has gotten to its loudest, the crucial times when we need a big stop and momentum is on our side. It always ends with one thing: a Devan Dumes foul. It just kills the momentum and takes out our biggest advantage this year, the hype from the stands.
The season is still young, I know, and there is time to change and play better. Let’s hope Dumes can make strides in these areas. The Gonzaga game was a step in the right direction in the shooting department, but again made a lot of turnovers and committed the stupid fouls.
We need an experienced veteran to lead this team and one who is playing to his capabilities. Devan Dumes has the skills to do it but just hasn’t showed it yet.
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