Local Man Breaks Out.
No matter what you thought of last season, one of the feel-good stories was the emergence of Anthony Leal and his contributions to winning basketball. Until this point, his career had been mostly a series of questions about his potential or his role on the roster.
Now we know what Leal brings to the table. Effort, poise, and a willingness to take the big shot when the time comes.
His most memorable performance was his career-high 13 points against Iowa at the end of January. Against a team that Mike Woodson had never beaten before as a college coach, Leal stepped up and hit a huge 3-pointer to give Indiana a lead with just under seven minutes left in the game.
He went on to ice the game with some big free throws down the stretch.
Leal also hit the game winning layup with seven seconds left in a two point victory over Penn State in the Big Ten Tournament. His eight points and four rebounds were essential to extend Indiana’s five game winning streak and keeping Indiana’s season alive for one more game.
The increase in playing time did expose some of Leal’s limitations. He’s at his best defensively against bigger, athletically limited wings, an increasingly rare player in modern college basketball. But he always made the smart play to keep the Hoosiers in games or help seal a win down the stretch.
He was also limited in his ability to create shots for himself, which contributed to a low shot volume despite good shooting numbers from deep. The guards on this year’s roster would be able to get him more kick outs, but we’ll see where he falls on the depth chart.
Whatever role Leal has going forward, we know that he will approach his minutes with composure and maturity. Out of all the players who saw time on the wing for Indiana last year, he had the best assist/turnover ratio by far.
These qualities, along with his experience at Indiana and in the Big Ten, will be invaluable to a team that features a lot of new pieces and guys in new roles. As we have been since he committed, we are lucky that Leal is a Hoosier.