For the better part of her high school and college basketball careers, Ali Patberg has had a pass-first mentality as a point guard.
But as she enters her senior season at Indiana University, Patberg finds herself in much the same position she was in her senior year at Columbus North. As it was during that state championship 2014-15 season with the Bull Dogs, she will be looked upon to be more of a scorer for the Hoosiers this year.
“She’s one of the most selfless young ladies I’ve ever had the opportunity to coach,” IU coach Teri Moren said. “She’s all about the team, but she also realizes that in order for us to have success, she’s going to have to be very aggressive on the offensive end. I think we found this a year ago that the more aggressive Ali Patberg is, the more aggressive our team and those pieces around her feel like they can be, as well, and that’s a good thing for our basketball team.”
It’s not like Patberg hasn’t been a scorer at all. She led the Hoosiers with 15.6 points a game last year while also leading the team with 5.3 assists.
This season, Moren is asking the 5-foot-11 Patberg to be a little more “selfish” with the ball.
“My whole life, I’ve kind of looked to pass first because I am a point guard,” Patberg said. “I love to set people up. But if I’m more selfish with my shot, it actually opens up better looks (for teammates) or passes just because they know I’m a threat. I’m going to do whatever coach wants me to do, whatever the team needs me to do for us to be at our best.”
That means taking more 3-point shots. Patberg led the Hoosiers with 34 made 3s and 39 percent shooting from 3-point range last season.
“I’ve just been programmed my whole life, when someone drives, and they kick, I’m thinking that’s a play that I can do,” Patberg said. “How can I get downhill and create for someone else or get to the rim? And I think just mentally, when I catch the ball, I need to start thinking ‘shot first.’ That’s going to open up getting to the rim because they have to respect my shot more. But more importantly, it gives a lot more options for my team, too, if I’m willing to be ready to shoot.”
An All-Big Ten and honorable mention All-America selection last season, Patberg has gotten plenty of national attention in the preseason. Earlier this month, she was named to the Nancy Lieberman Award Preseason Watch List for the nation’s top point guards.
On Tuesday, Patberg was named to both the Naismith Top 50 Watch List and the Preseason Wade Watch List. Both of those recognize the nation’s top player, regardless of position.
“There’s no question that the point guards in our system have had a tremendous amount of success historically in the seven years that we’ve been here, but she is I think one of the best players in the country at that position this year,” Moren said. “Expectations on her have always been high since she arrived to Bloomington, but her leadership has been incredible. I know that she’s looking forward to leading this group.”
Patberg always has used her voice as a leader, and when things aren’t going well, she has been more assertive.
“I’m kind of the one picking people up and saying, ‘You’re good,’ but I think I’m to the point where they know that I care about them, and I can kind of, not get on them, but push them a little harder than I ever have before just because we know that we want the best for one another,” Patberg said. “They trust me, I trust them, and I’ve developed all my relationships with my teammates even more, especially during the quarantine. So I’m able to push them and challenge them, and they’re able to do that for me.”
Indiana went 24-8 last season, including 13-5 in the Big Ten. The Hoosiers were ranked in the top 20 in the country for most of the season and had a shot at being one of 16 hosts for the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament before it was canceled because of COVID-19.
“I think we had a really good season, and I want us to be able to show what we can do,” Patberg said. “I think last year, it was hard because we had something taken away for us. We have to give it our all and leave it all out there. That’s been big for me personally. I don’t know when my last game is, so just giving it everything I have, just being fearless and mentally understanding it could be gone like that.”
Patberg said Moren has done a good job talking to the team about how there are going to be ups and downs. Patberg realizes there likely will be changes to the schedule, and that some games could get postponed or canceled.
“It’s how we handle adversity and how we bounce back,” Patberg said. “We’re going to take one day at a time, and that’s what we’ve been doing — dominating the day we have in front of us, waking up and knowing that we get the opportunity to work out today and to be with one another. We’re controlling what we can control, and we’re going to take on whatever the season has for us and make it the best. We can control our effort and what we’re given, and that’s what we’re going to do.”
Indiana opens its season at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday at home against Eastern Kentucky.
“We’re really excited,” Patberg said. “I’ve been thinking about it since we found out we couldn’t have the tournament (last year). We’re working really hard and just preparing physically and mentally and preparing in all areas. We’re ready.”
The Hoosiers were picked by the media and coaches to win the Big Ten championship. The Hoosiers goal is to win the Big Ten and go far in the NCAA Tournament.
With only starting forward and sixth-leading scorer Brenna Wise lost to graduation from last year’s team, Indiana has added several new players and others who are returning from injury.
“We already miss Brenna a lot, her energy and everything,” Patberg said. “But one thing I think is really cool about our team is, during quarantine, we all worked really hard. We were all apart, we were at home, but we did whatever we could to work on our games, to stay in shape, to get stronger. We knew what personally, our weaknesses were as players, and everyone really took that seriously.
“Honestly, we’ve all grown in our game so much, and I think just our weapons offensively are going to be different this year,” she added. “First of all, we’re going to have a lot of options. We’re going to miss Brenna, but we’ve just all gotten so much better, which is really cool.”
