Sigh of relief as Bell returns to ISU fold
Missouri State visits tonight
If there was one word to describe T.J. Bell?s return to Indiana State?s men?s basketball roster it would likely be relief.
That word works in two of its definitions. One is that, from a basketball sense, Bell offers relief in terms of ISU?s frontcourt depth, something that will be particularly helpful given that tonight?s opponent ? Missouri State visits Hulman Center at 7 p.m. tonight ? is gifted down low.
More importantly, there is relief in the fact that Bell?s saga is over with. His departure from the team on Dec. 19 was one that produced mixed feelings soon after it happened ? both in terms of the team?s view and Bell?s own.
They were able to agree to a return over the weekend and Bell returned to the official fold on Monday. ISU coach Greg Lansing said that some of ISU's older players knew about some of things T.J. was going through outside of basketball, knew Bell wanted to come back, and over time, encouraged Lansing to consider his return.
?I haven't felt good about it since T.J. left us. T.J. stayed in touch with his teammates. Even when he was away, he wasn't really away. He was positive and supported his teammates. T.J. wanted to come back, the players wanted him to come back. I feel better about it already," Lansing said.
Bell missed a total of eight games. In his absence, ISU won just two games. Over time, his teammates began to warm to his return. Bell himself stated as much, sometimes publicly via his Twitter feed, and was happy to be back.
Bell did not delve into the details of his departure, but is happy to focus on future games.
?I'm really thankful for this opportunity. Ever since I've left the team, I've kind of wanted to be a part of it. I just needed to take some time. I don't know what day they wanted me to be back on the team, but it happened, and I'm thankful for it," Bell said.
Bell was asked if it was hard to watch the team struggle in his absence.
"They won the last game so that's all that matters. I'm not going to think about the past, I'm going to move on and help anyway I can," Bell said.
ISU leading scorer Brenton Scott thinks Bell's return can't do anything but help the Sycamores.
"It's great to have T.J. back. We missed him. The bigs missed him competing in practice. He'll do some big things for us and we could definitely use him," Scott said. "I think [his absence] had an influence because some of the negative things that came from losing T.J. affected things. I don't think we were focused on it, we were still competing hard, but adding T.J. back will help and possibly get us over that hump."
Bell?s return will help ISU?s depth in the paint and it should also help players like Niels Bunschoten and Bronson Kessinger not have to play at the five-spot as much as they have. Bell is averaging 6.1 points and 3.5 rebounds per game.
? Missouri State visits ? ISU took Missouri State to overtime in the previous meeting on Dec. 31 at JQH Arena. The Bears ultimately prevailed 81-75.
Much has changed since then for both teams. At the time, ISU was in the midst of several close losses, before suffering a pair of blowouts to go to 0-5 in the MVC, before stemming the tide with an 81-71 win over Bradley last Saturday.
The Sycamores, of course, also welcomed back Bell this week, a player it hasn?t had in any MVC games this season.
Missouri State (12-7, 3-3) has won just one game since its victory over the Sycamores, losing three of four. The Bears have lost starting guard Ronnie Rousseau III to personal reasons, thinning their backcourt. Jarred Dixon, who scored 19 against ISU, has replaced Rousseau.
The backcourt was only part of the issue for ISU in the previous meeting. Gifted junior college transfer forward Alize Johnson had a 30-point, 15-rebound outburst against the Sycamores last time. Between him and Obediah Church, ISU has a load to contend with in the paint.
?Individually, the guy that's on him has to make it harder to get it. We left a guy on an island to guard him last time and maybe we need to try some different matchups on him," Lansing said. "You can't double-team him all the time because he's such a good passer. It's a difficult matchup and that's why they're such a good team."
ISU last won two in a row against MVC competition at the end of the 2016 season. It defeated Bradley in the regular season finale and then knocked off Illinois State in the MVC Tournament.
"We have to continue to do the things we did defensively [in the first half against Bradley on Saturday] and continue to share the ball. We have to be who we are, know our personnel, know our strengths and we'll be fine," said Scott, who also noted his body was sore, but that he is 100 percent for games.
Missouri State visits tonight
If there was one word to describe T.J. Bell?s return to Indiana State?s men?s basketball roster it would likely be relief.
That word works in two of its definitions. One is that, from a basketball sense, Bell offers relief in terms of ISU?s frontcourt depth, something that will be particularly helpful given that tonight?s opponent ? Missouri State visits Hulman Center at 7 p.m. tonight ? is gifted down low.
More importantly, there is relief in the fact that Bell?s saga is over with. His departure from the team on Dec. 19 was one that produced mixed feelings soon after it happened ? both in terms of the team?s view and Bell?s own.
They were able to agree to a return over the weekend and Bell returned to the official fold on Monday. ISU coach Greg Lansing said that some of ISU's older players knew about some of things T.J. was going through outside of basketball, knew Bell wanted to come back, and over time, encouraged Lansing to consider his return.
?I haven't felt good about it since T.J. left us. T.J. stayed in touch with his teammates. Even when he was away, he wasn't really away. He was positive and supported his teammates. T.J. wanted to come back, the players wanted him to come back. I feel better about it already," Lansing said.
Bell missed a total of eight games. In his absence, ISU won just two games. Over time, his teammates began to warm to his return. Bell himself stated as much, sometimes publicly via his Twitter feed, and was happy to be back.
Bell did not delve into the details of his departure, but is happy to focus on future games.
?I'm really thankful for this opportunity. Ever since I've left the team, I've kind of wanted to be a part of it. I just needed to take some time. I don't know what day they wanted me to be back on the team, but it happened, and I'm thankful for it," Bell said.
Bell was asked if it was hard to watch the team struggle in his absence.
"They won the last game so that's all that matters. I'm not going to think about the past, I'm going to move on and help anyway I can," Bell said.
ISU leading scorer Brenton Scott thinks Bell's return can't do anything but help the Sycamores.
"It's great to have T.J. back. We missed him. The bigs missed him competing in practice. He'll do some big things for us and we could definitely use him," Scott said. "I think [his absence] had an influence because some of the negative things that came from losing T.J. affected things. I don't think we were focused on it, we were still competing hard, but adding T.J. back will help and possibly get us over that hump."
Bell?s return will help ISU?s depth in the paint and it should also help players like Niels Bunschoten and Bronson Kessinger not have to play at the five-spot as much as they have. Bell is averaging 6.1 points and 3.5 rebounds per game.
? Missouri State visits ? ISU took Missouri State to overtime in the previous meeting on Dec. 31 at JQH Arena. The Bears ultimately prevailed 81-75.
Much has changed since then for both teams. At the time, ISU was in the midst of several close losses, before suffering a pair of blowouts to go to 0-5 in the MVC, before stemming the tide with an 81-71 win over Bradley last Saturday.
The Sycamores, of course, also welcomed back Bell this week, a player it hasn?t had in any MVC games this season.
Missouri State (12-7, 3-3) has won just one game since its victory over the Sycamores, losing three of four. The Bears have lost starting guard Ronnie Rousseau III to personal reasons, thinning their backcourt. Jarred Dixon, who scored 19 against ISU, has replaced Rousseau.
The backcourt was only part of the issue for ISU in the previous meeting. Gifted junior college transfer forward Alize Johnson had a 30-point, 15-rebound outburst against the Sycamores last time. Between him and Obediah Church, ISU has a load to contend with in the paint.
?Individually, the guy that's on him has to make it harder to get it. We left a guy on an island to guard him last time and maybe we need to try some different matchups on him," Lansing said. "You can't double-team him all the time because he's such a good passer. It's a difficult matchup and that's why they're such a good team."
ISU last won two in a row against MVC competition at the end of the 2016 season. It defeated Bradley in the regular season finale and then knocked off Illinois State in the MVC Tournament.
"We have to continue to do the things we did defensively [in the first half against Bradley on Saturday] and continue to share the ball. We have to be who we are, know our personnel, know our strengths and we'll be fine," said Scott, who also noted his body was sore, but that he is 100 percent for games.
