Indiana University Athletics
Postgame Quotes: Indiana vs. Illinois
2/14/2018 11:33:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Indiana vs. Illinois
Feb. 14, 2018
Indiana Head Coach Archie Miller
Every time that you're going to play against Illinois I think you're going to get a chance to see just one of the harder playing teams. And as they continue to build their program they're going to be very difficult to play against in the Big Ten moving forward. They do a great job. Play really hard. There's no quit in any of their guys. They keep coming at you.
For us tonight, to be able to battle through it, thought we had a lot of guys step up, give our bench credit with Josh, Al and Justin, in particular, did a fantastic job making big plays. And I thought the defensive effort for the most part on Trent Frazier was pretty good. He had really hurt us in the first one, and when he gets going they're hard to deal with.
So I thought some things were good there. All in all, we'll take it. It was a really good win for us.
Q. As you are kind of building this thing what's the value in a bench performance like that? You get multiple guys stepping up on a night where guys --
COACH MILLER: In particular it shows that the team is continuing to do the right things -- coachability, working towards getting better individually, caring about everything that we do. You don't have performances like that off guys off the bench if they're not completely locked in.
So I think we have a locked-in team which is good this time of year. We're clearly playing as well as we have played all season, and that's a good sign. Obviously going on the road here, the next one will be very difficult as we know, but I think the guys right now are enjoying playing with one another.
Q. With those three guys, how much has confidence been for those that had fluctuating seasons?
COACH MILLER: Freshmen, they go through ups and downs and good starts, bad games. That's what a freshman season is. But moments like tonight, hard-fought win where guys make winning plays, they stick with you -- that's how you learn how to win. And these are experiences that will help them develop into really good Indiana players.
Q. How much is just learning the defense and being able to actually do it for a consistent number of minutes and back to back games with guys like Justin Smith?
COACH MILLER: Defense is like offense. You can become better as an individual player on defense just like you do offense. It's the same. And when you rep it like we rep it and you believe in what you do -- you teach it, you teach it, you rep it, you rep it -- eventually you start to get better at it. And I think you've seen some guys, although I didn't think we were completely dialed in at times, especially in the second half a couple of our ball screen stuff we were sloppy. But all in all I think the guys in general kind of know right now how we have to do it and what they have to do to be successful.
Q. Illinois forced you to 18 turnovers, both teams this season, what do they do defense-wise?
COACH MILLER: Well, their style, you don't see it very often. It's a very disruptive half-court, man-to-man, literally four feet above their man. You can't make a pass. When you can't make a pass you've got to have guys that can put it down, make some plays for us. I thought we had some good possessions. I thought we did some good things, but I thought we had some sloppy turnovers. And both games kind of played out a little bit the same way except I thought we were better on the glass tonight and we made our free throws.
Q. Turnovers aside, the efficiency was pretty much off the charts across the board. Everybody was within a couple of points of each other as far as scoring, five in double figures, almost six, and everybody is four to six, five to seven, very efficient shooting across the board. Is it the new makeup, starting lineup?
COACH MILLER: I think just in general we're more confident. Guys understand right now what we're asking them to do in terms of the passing, the reads, the looks that guys are getting. I think we're a much better passing team than we have been. When you're a better passing team it's inevitable you start to shoot the ball a little bit better. We're taking less challenge shots as well.
But when you play against Illinois it's kind of feast or famine. You're either going to get a layup or good look or turn it over most of the time. You've got to take advantage of the easy ones you get and shot 59 percent from the floor. Take back a couple of those turnovers, I think we may have more of a cushion.
But I'm proud of our guys. We didn't get off to a great start tonight. I thought we were a little lethargic, battled through it and were able to control. We had a lot of guys, like I said, step up and we are very pleased just to be able to be in the situation right now as a staff and as a team where you enjoy being around one another. Sometimes at this time of the season you get tuned out and that's not the case here.
Q. The turnovers, I think it was like only four in about the last 11 minutes of the game. Was there something a little bit different in terms of maybe could you see a little bit more sharpened focus as it got into some of those winning moments late?
COACH MILLER: I thought some guys that got subbed in did a good job. Al did a better job. And Freddie, Juwan, Justin, those guys played pretty well. We turned it over early in the game and we turned it over early in the second half a few times to start. You basically had ten turnovers in your starting back court, that's not good.
But I thought being able to pressure release with Freddie, Juwan and Justin was the way to go and I thought those guys did a nice job.
Q. During the playoff season, as far as Juwan's play, five blocked shots tonight. The way he controlled the paint, how big was that?
COACH MILLER: Huge. He's doing it almost every game. Doesn't get as much notice but blocks a lot of shots and defensive rebounds and steals the ball. He's a very good defender, a valuable defender on our team, not the biggest at times guarding in the post, but I think what he's done for our team on both ends of the floor has been really good.
Q. I know Black was causing some problems aside, Juwan was still able to (inaudible). How reliable has he been regardless of the matchup?
COACH MILLER: About as reliable as you can get. He's been a stud for us all season, especially as you come through these February games, he's still playing really hard, really well.
If he's not a first-team, all-conference member maybe it's because of our record. But I have a hard time imagining there's an impactful player on a team that's done as much as him for us.
Q. Any update on Devonte Green?
COACH MILLER: I think he got landed on his ankle. I'm sure he's sore. I think he'll be fine.
Q. Josh has had some really large baskets in the game. How would you -- have you seen like some more confidence in him during practice or how has he kind of stepped up?
COACH MILLER: He did a good job. First half he drove and got a couple of big baskets for us to alleviate the pressure and then I thought in the second half he made a big 3. A really big 3. And he had a couple of good drives. Got to the foul line and he made his free throws. So it's nice to have him play the amount of minutes he did and also put some points on the board and also make some crucial shots for us.
And he'll get more. I mean right now we're by committee. If we have a group that's playing well we'll stick with them.
Q. Didn't see De'Ron here tonight. I didn't see him Friday either. What's his deal, De'Ron?
COACH MILLER: De'Ron he's not feeling well. The bug that's going around a little bit. He's obviously trying to get himself back into academic shape he was at shoot-around today I don't think he felt well but it's nothing other than a bug.
Indiana Players - Aljami Durham, Justin Smith, Josh Newkirk
Q. Seems like midway through that first half it was a little sleepy out there and you guys kind of sparked it tonight. How does it feel that you guys are really making an impact in what is really the most important stretch of the season?
DURHAM: "We feel like we came and did what we do every day practice. Go hard, compete and we always have each others backs. I feel like we didn't do anything out of the norm, it's what we always do and it was just normal tonight.
SMITH: To piggyback off of that, I'd say our coaches always tell us to be ready. When our number was called, we were able to get in the game and make something happen, trying to get the juices flowing.
Q. Josh, a lot of fouls tonight, lot of interrupted play. As a player and point guard, how do you fight through that to establish some sort of flow?
NEWKIRK: Just staying poised. Making the right reads, taking care of the ball, just knowing that you are going to get hit, you're going to get fouled, just be prepared for that.
Q. Al, you've made three-pointers in three straight games know after kind of a dry spell there, how is your confidence in shooting those three's? What's changed?
DURHAM: Nothing's changed. I've just been working with the coaches and my teammates. My teammates and coaches have always had confidence in me so nothing has really changed, it's just been following them.
Q. Josh, everyone knows you can hit three's but it has been awhile since you did. When they did go down, how did it make you feel in terms of contributing to the game?
NEWKIRK: It felt good. My teammates did a good job finding me and it was my job to knock down open shots. Them just having confidence in me and just trusting me to knock down the shots was big.
Q. For Al and Justin, how much has learning the defense and getting a feel for what Archie wants and what you need to do each possession to really help get you guys in points where you can make impacts in the Big Ten season?
SMITH: I'd just say having experience playing the defense. Now that we get game reps and practice reps, we are able to see how things are maneuvered throughout the defense. We're just getting more comfortable in the defense, we're knowing where to be at the right times, when to do it. It's just confidence building.
DURHAM: To piggyback off of what he said, just having the experience playing the defense, going through it, making mistakes and just learning from them. Just repetition of the defense and just keep going through it and learning.
Q: Josh, with three to go in the regular season, you guys lock up tonight that you won't have to play in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament. Where's the confidence at when you think about March Madness and the chances this group has to sneak in?
NEWKIRK: We just need to take it one game at a time. We need to focus on Ohio State right now. Take it one game at a time right now, take care of your opponents, then I think we have a chance.
Q: Josh, coming off the bench the last couple games but basically playing the same amount of minutes, the team as a whole seems to be more efficient. Everybody is shooting 5-of-6, 4-of-6 across the board. How does that change the dynamics with the new rotation?
NEWKIRK: Just trusting each other. Finding each other in the open spot, knowing where each other is going to be on the offensive end and defensive end. So just working with each other, communicating, and just playing for each other.
Q: You guys were better tonight from the free throw line, 69 percent. Have you done anything in practice to work on that issue? Or has it been same old, same old?
DURHAM: It's kind of just same old, same old. We go through shooting free throws with each other every day, and we just keep going and doing the repetitions. They just fell tonight.
Q. Does it help for you guys to see a teammate have a couple go down, give you confidence that when you go down the line yourself you're going to knock a couple down?
SMITH: I'd say so, because I feel a lot of our struggles have been because one person wasn't making free throws and that escalated into everything. We're still working on it in practice, looking to get better.
Q. The quality you guys, out of the 78 points, 45 from the starters, 38 from the bench. Five double figure starters. Nobody more than 14. How does it feel to play on a team that's playing like a team that way?
NEWKIRK: It's good. Everybody contributed. Coming off the bench, people giving us spark. So I mean it's fun to see everybody score, everybody contribute.
Illinois Head Coach Brad Underwood
Opening Statement:
"Interesting game. Very similar, I thought, to the game in Champaign. There they jumped out early and threw a punch, then we counter punched. Then they took a little lead at half. I thought tonight was very similar. We came out pretty good early and ran great offense. Then the one thing that has been kind of our bug a boo has been that offensive drought. And we had that again today. We fell down again 10 at half.
"I loved our fight and our competitive spirit in the second half. And when you're on the road, you have to make free throws. We have to be tougher with the basketball. We probably had about 6-8 balls knocked out of our hands at the rim. We missed huge momentum plays like when you come up with a steal and miss a layup. I think we had 3 or 4 of those, and those are just as deflating to us as it would be to the opposing teams when you finish those plays.
"But give Indiana credit. Juwan was great again, another double-double. He is a very difficult matchup. I thought our pressure was very bothersome and then I thought their kid (Al) Durham was excellent. He had a big dagger three there when the game was pretty close. He handled the pressure better than their other guys, so kudos to that young man.
"All in all it was a game where we grew a little bit. I wasn't very happy after the Penn State game. We have that kind of effort in front of our home crowd, and after the other night our home crowd deserves to see one with that type of effort. I like what we're doing. Minus Da'Monte Williams who has really been terrific in practice and then Michael Finke. I liked that Matic's got a chance to play and did some positive things. Well we'll get better and get ready for five games in ten days."
Brad, do the missed layups or the missed free-throws bother you more?
"Both. You can't win on the road without making free throws. Like I said, those plays are demoralizing. When you get a steal that makes a great play. Then goes in and smokes the layup. Kipper also had a couple. You are playing high major basketball. You have to finish your layups."
Coach what difference do you see in Indiana, if any, since you last played them?
"Well obviously tonight, Durham gives them something that I wasn't expecting. I think that their guard rotation becomes pretty doggone good. We felt like we could bother Green. I felt that we accomplished that. Johnson always scares me to death just because he is a veteran and a senior. He makes big shots, and he is a capable three-point shooter. I like their depth. Freddie (McSwain Jr.) is playing as well as he has lately on the glass gives them a huge boost. For a team that is very similar to ours, doesn't have a lot of size. Anytime you can go rebound the basketball like he does, I think those are the biggest changes since the last time."
On carrying over strong play from the first half to the second half:
"Well again look back at the last game the way we ended the half 36-32, we are up by 4 seconds left to go and fall down one. Those plays are huge and that's what we're trying to get our guys to understand the way the game has to be played. There is a certain karma to it so to speak, so that's huge. I was hoping Trent's three would have gone. I think he could have taken one more dribble. Anyway, those are huge, and then our guys feel good going into the locker room at half time. They are upbeat. Then we came out and missed Leron 4 or 5 times on the post up that we had. We got back into a pretty good flow that I thought we had for the majority of the second half. We played in decent flow. We still didn't shoot it any good, but we played in pretty good flow and got some opportunities there."
