Newkirk Looks To Make The Simple Play

By Pete DiPrimio, IUHoosiers.com

BLOOMINGTON, Indiana - In this multi-dimensional basketball world, where everybody pushes to do everything but sit the bench, Josh Newkirk is a welcome throwback.

The Indiana senior is a one-dimensional guy, and that's take-charge good. He's a true point guard who fully embraces his run-the-offense directive. He's not driven to light up scoreboards across America, although fail to respect his outside jumper at your own risk.

Newkirk looks to, as he says, make the "simple play."

Why?

Because complexity can lead to disaster, and point guards want to stay far away from that, especially when their head coach is a former point guard, as Archie Miller is.

In fact, Miller was a very good point guard at North Carolina State who has become a very good coach, in part because he expects very good point guard play.

Newkirk, more than any other Hoosier, is poised to deliver. While he won't be the only one running the offense (veterans Robert Johnson and Devonte Green will do it along with freshman Al Durham), he's the No. 1 option.

"Josh has clearly established himself as a clear-cut point guard," Miller says. "I think that everybody else on our team can play a couple spots. I think Josh is primarily a point guard.

"That position for us is essential in running the show. You've got to be able to push the ball, and you've got to have great tempo, but you also have to be able to play smart when you're playing fast and be able to control it and play with low turnovers."

Newkirk can do that, and more.

"It's just being more of a vocal leader, of putting guys in the right position to succeed," he says. "It's taking care of the ball. We had a lot of turnovers last year, so it's making the right decisions, making the right plays."

In other words, it's substance over spectacle.

Newkirk led IU with 108 assists last season, but with 76 turnovers, he wasn't close to the 2-to-1 assist-to-turnover minimum ratio you want from a point guard.

Improving that, Newkirk says, comes down to, "Making the key pass earlier, make it one dribble earlier, passing ahead. Just making the game simple."

Miller can show as well as tell how to do that.

"He'll get out there and show how he wants it done," Newkirk says. "He's real interactive with us on the court. It means a lot that he played at the college level, so he can teach us a lot."

Leadership is crucial, and Newkirk and fellow fifth-year senior Collin Hartman are poised to provide it.

"They have really brought a spirit when I'm around," Miller says. "The way they communicate with each other and their teammates brings such a positive vibe, even when they're not doing well personally. I think that's a big step."

As for scoring, Newkirk upped the ante in Big Ten play last season, averaging 10.3 points, better than his overall average of 9.0. He had a career-high 27 points against Penn State. He had 22 points and four three-pointers against Wisconsin.

A three-point-shooting afterthought in his first two seasons at Pitt (he shot just 29.6 percent beyond the arc as a sophomore), Newkirk became a perimeter threat for the Hoosiers. In the last 12 games last season, he was 21-for-47 (44.6 percent) from three-point range.

Why does that matter? Because when teams have the choice of defending say, Johnson on the outside, or Newkirk, they will always choose Johnson, so Newkirk could get a lot of open threes. And if defenders do guard him close, he has the ability to blow by them and attack the basket.

Beyond that, IU will load the court with shooters such as Collin Hartman, Curtis Jones and Green. They will draw the attention, and Newkirk will be positioned to make them pay.

"You look at a guy like Josh," Miller says. "He finished the season really strong (in scoring)."

Miller approaches his first Hoosier season seeking to boost the defense, minimize the turnovers and establish a tough-minded approach no opponent will want to face.

It starts with confidence.

"He wants to establish the identity of being confident," Newkirk says. "It's having that way about you – working hard, bringing a great work ethic. He brings that to the team."

As for defense, Newkirk says, "It's just the mindset that nobody is going to score on us, that we're going to be in the right position, the right gaps, the right everything.

"It's playing defense first."

You don't need multi-dimensions to understand that.

Indiana University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Devonte Green

Collin Hartman

Robert Johnson

Josh Newkirk

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