Any way you slice it, the emergence of Nick Dorn has made Indiana’s offense much more potent.
Consider this as perhaps the best indication — at 6.0, Dorn has the highest offensive box score plus/minus on Indiana’s team. That’s also the 64th highest OBPM in Division I, and No. 16 in the Big Ten.
So it goes without saying, to introduce that kind of offensive pop in the lineup midseason has been a major boost for the Hoosiers.
The headline stat for the 6-foot-7 and 225-pound Dorn is his three-point shooting. He’s made 44.3% of his 106 attempts. And those attempt numbers are rising rapidly as Dorn’s minutes have increased. He has averaged 36 minutes and 10.8 three-point attempts per contest over IU’s last four games, and the Hoosiers are 3-1 in that span. And despite his dramatic increase in shot volume, Dorn’s three-point accuracy has actually improved over the last four games. He’s making 46.5% from long range over his last four appearances.
It hasn’t just been 3-point shooting from Dorn. His shooting splits are across the board impressive. He’s making 77.3% from two, and 88.6% at the free throw line. He’s been finishing well at the rim, and identifying when the man guarding him turns his head and loses track of him for back cuts. Oh, and Dorn has just one turnover in the last four games.
Dorn’s presence on the floor can make things especially difficult for opposing defenses, as he become a third player who can be given no space to shoot, along with Lamar Wilkerson and Tucker DeVries.
“Nick Dorn is probably the difference in the game if you want to look at players,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said after Dorn went 4 of 9 from three and poured in 18 points against the Boilermakers. “I thought he was really good. And a couple times, you know, he hit a couple tough ones. A couple times we got guys just giving him space. You just can’t give him space.”
The trio of Dorn, Wilkerson and DeVries have helped IU lean even more into its preferred identity. Indiana was already a high-volume three-point shooting team, but that volume has increased by more than four attempts per game in the last four contests.
And efforts to give no space to Dorn, Wilkerson and DeVries has meant driving lanes are that much more open. And that puts defenses in a bind.
Reed Bailey has taken advantage of having more room in the paint. He’s 9 of 11 from the field over the last two games, and he has taken 18 free throws in that span. Sam Alexis has made 10 of 16 shots over the last four contests. That recent efficiency at the five spot is no coincidence.
“He (Dorn) fits well with what we try to do and the spacing that we want to have on the floor,” IU coach Darian DeVries said Saturday evening after his team’s win at UCLA. “I thought the guys did a good job really finding him, feeding him, and then it was able to put some stress in some other areas that we were able to get to the rim a little bit more because they’re pressed out on Nick and got a couple rolls to the basket. He’s just a great fit for us in terms of what we’re trying to do offensively.”
Besides Dorn’s massive production, what the last four games have in common is the absence of Tayton Conerway, who suffered an ankle injury against Iowa on Jan. 17 and has played only sparingly in two games and not at all in two others since.
The challenge for Darian DeVries will now be integrating Conerway back into the rotation when he’s ready, while not disrupting Dorn’s emergence and overall positive impact on the offense.
Two things seems certain: Dorn needs to be starting for Indiana, and playing much more than the 17.1 minutes per game he was averaging before Conerway’s injury.
And Conerway needs to continue to play significant minutes. His return should likely scale back everyone else’s time on the floor, not just Dorn. That probably would be helpful on the margin anyway, as some players have been playing excessive minutes lately, and the Hoosiers have also had challenges navigating foul trouble.
Conerway is the best one-on-one offensive player on the team, so he’s actually best suited to take advantage of the opportunities created by Dorn’s presence on the court. We saw a glimpse of this when Indiana won at Rutgers. And Conor Enright has been exceptional of late, especially on defense and as an offensive facilitator. Both point guards have plenty to offer.
Both Conerway and Enright should have big roles. It might just be that with the emergence of their new Dorn identity, the Hoosiers are better off without them on the floor so much together.
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