[IUFR] Why is Trey Galloway Struggling From Deep So Far This Season?

Coach Adragna looks at what could be plaguing Trey Galloway from the outside here early in the 2023-24 season.

Through six games, it’s safe to say that Trey Galloway is struggling offensively. He is a mere 3-18 from deep (16.7%) and has an offensive rating of 99.2.

Those numbers are a far cry from Trey’s 2022-23 campaign, in which he shot 30-65 from downtown (46.2%) and had an offensive rating of 117.5.

On the season, the only players with worse offensive ratings for the Hoosiers thus far are Payton Sparks, CJ Gunn, and Gabe Cupps.

While it is still very early and there is plenty of time for Trey’s numbers to improve, this season has been a struggle for him so far as a shooter, especially from the outside.

So why is that? How does a player who shot the ball so well over the course of a full season have such poor numbers to start?

• Is it mechanical?

• Is it mental?

• Is it the offense?

• Is it just the result of a small sample size that will correct itself with more games and more shots?

Let’s dive into it.

[Editor’s note: The analysis of Trey’s shooting from last season is open to all. The deep dive into his early struggles this season is for our paid subscribers.]

2022-23 Season

By the time conference season rolled around last year, I had confidence that when Trey let it fly, it was going in. And he had that same confidence in himself.

It was one of the more staggering turnarounds I had seen in somebody’s jumpshot, as the previous two seasons Galloway was just 21.4% and 18.2% from downtown.

Let’s examine Trey’s 29 makes from last season (I excluded a half-court make against Northwestern) and identify trends in the shots.

What did you notice?

Here’s what caught my eye:

• Of his 29 makes last season, 24 of them were of the spot-up variety. Essentially, Trey wasn’t on the move coming off a screen or off the dribble.

• Seven of his makes came from an “extra pass” from the likes of a Miller Kopp or Tamar Bates. Trey proved last season that when he was spotting up and the ball was passed to him, he could be a knockdown shooter.

• Only five of his makes were coming off screens or off the dribble. Those really weren’t the ideal shots for him … which is fine! Miller Kopp was also mostly a spot-up shooter and played a highly valuable role in the offense like Trey did.

So, now that we’ve freshened our memories for the types of shots Trey was finding success with last season, let’s take a look at Trey’s shooting struggles so far this season.

Is there something in the types of shots he’s getting that might explain his early-season struggles?