IU About To Unwrap 2018-19 Men's Basketball Season
10/31/2018 11:02:00 PM | Men's Basketball
By Andy Graham, IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Coach Archie Miller celebrated his 40th birthday Tuesday, in part, by giving Indiana's students a gift.
Aside from people officially affiliated with the program, only those with valid and current IU student IDs could attend the Tuesday afternoon men's basketball practice at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
The students responded, as the Hoosiers did some post-workout stretching, by spontaneously singing "Happy Birthday" to the coach before adjourning for free pizza in the Assembly Hall south lobby.
Miller addressed the students briefly and exhorted them to return often, with friends in tow, to support the 2018-19 Hoosiers who close their preseason campaign with Thursday night's 7 p.m. exhibition game against NCAA Division II power Southern Indiana.
IU already got the kinks out a bit with Sunday's "secret scrimmage" at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis against 2018 Final Four entrant Loyola (Chicago.)
Perhaps the better term for the scrimmage was "closed" rather than "secret," because customarily information from the scrimmages is subsequently shared. Indiana has released some of the statistics from the 40-minute contest, taken 70-48 by the Hoosiers, and Miller discussed it during his weekly radio show Monday night with Don Fischer.
Indiana built most of its bulge by intermission, up 35-16, and finished with double-doubles by both senior forward Juwan Morgan (13 points and 16 boards) and freshman guard Romeo Langford (19 and 10).
Sophomore forward Justin Smith (12 points) and classmate Aljami Durham (11) also finished with double-digit scoring. The Hoosiers shot a solid .482 from the field, including .538 after halftime.
But Miller seemed especially enamored of the IU defense. Senior winger Josh McRoberts had four steals among the Hoosiers' total of 11, and the Ramblers were held to just .320 shooting (including .222 from 3-point range).
Loyola had shot 54 percent from the field during its initial exhibition, an 82-52 win Oct. 23 over Winona State.
"We held a good offensive team to a really poor day," Miller told Fischer of the Ramblers, who return three starters from their Final Four team – including Clayton Custer, the point guard and 2018 Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year. "Probably some of that is shooting … some good looks that didn't go down, (but) we did something right on that end."
"I'm hoping we can be a very active team. We had 11 steals. That's a very active team defensively, where we had a lot of guys getting their hands on balls. We have the ability to really fly around and play. We have some bigger guards that can challenge shots. I think we have a quickness and a toughness about us, and a speed about us on defense that I like.
"We had to guard an extremely skilled team that ran really good stuff and spaced the floor. They really challenged our on-the-ball defense. They challenged our ball-screen coverages and they challenged, just in general, our ability to have to play really hard because you're dealing with a lot of shooting … I was really pleased."
Miller said IU's offense remains a work-in-progress, which is only to be expected at the end of October.
"We're not there yet," Miller said. "We have a lot of different guys that are first-time players that are playing with guys a certain way and you could tell that we weren't as fluid as we're going to be. You could tell that we have a long way to go in terms of chemistry on offense."
IU played without junior point guard Devonte Green – who started five of the first six games, then the final seven games, last season – and redshirt-freshman forward Race Thompson, both sidelined by undisclosed injuries.
The Hoosiers got some positive injury-related news last week when center De'Ron Davis was cleared for full-contact, five-on-five work as he continues his recovery from an Achilles tear last January. He played 10 minutes against Loyola. Regaining conditioning is now perhaps the biggest hurdle to clear for the 6-10, 255-pound junior.
"He has to play himself into shape, so to speak," Miller said. "Hopefully by the end of Christmas, getting into conference play, he's feeling better."
But even while not at full strength, the Hoosiers still cruised Sunday.
"Our athleticism was better than theirs," Miller said. "That was the one thing that stood out. We were the bigger, more athletic team and it showed with some guys rebounding the ball on the offensive glass, being able to finish around the basket and in transition, getting some good things going."
IU should have an athleticism advantage against USI, too, as would be expected when playing a non-Division-I foe (a subset against which the Hoosiers are 25-0 since the 2004-05 season).
But USI's Screaming Eagles have a history of success and won't lack for motivation Thursday, especially with 10 of the 14 players on their numerical roster hailing from the Hoosier state.
Those include 6-4 freshman Chance Coyle – a 2018 Indiana All-Star and Bloomington native who is a former South High teammate of IU junior walk-on Johnny Jager – and a trio of senior players who helped Evansville Reitz make the 2015 Class 4A state finals.
One of the Reitz alums is Screaming Eagles scoring leader Alex Stein, whose father Rick coaches the USI women. The 6-3 Stein averaged 17.5 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.7 assists for last season's 20-11 club. He also made 54 straight free throws, finishing with a school-record .935 percentage from the line.
Nate Hanson, a 6-4 wing, is another Reitz product and he averaged 12.5 points and 3.5 boards last season. Emanuel Little, a 6-6 Indianapolis North Central alum, averaged 9.1 points last season as a freshman.
USI isn't especially tall, but that doesn't mean it doesn't boast some size. Indianapolis Shortridge grad Josh Price is the tallest Screaming Eagle at 6-8, but he also packs 250 pounds. Tyler Dancy, a 6-7 freshman, is listed at 273 pounds.
Several of the key USI players are also veterans of the 25-5 team from 2016-17. Coach Rodney Watson, in eight seasons at the helm, has compiled a .757 winning percentage, including a .710 mark in Great Lakes Valley Conference play.
Thursday marks the second time USI has traveled to IU for an exhibition, with the host Hoosiers taking a competitive 83-68 decision in 2013.
And it marks the Assembly Hall debut game for a talented Hoosier freshman class, including 2018 Indiana Mr. Basketball and McDonald's All-American Romeo Langford, who has received Preseason All-American plaudits from ESPN.com (third team), CBSSports.com (third team) and WatchStadium.com (fourth team).
Fellow frosh Rob Phinisee, Jerome Hunter (who earned the gold jersey as the most productive Hoosier in practice last week), Damezi Anderson and Jake Forester have all reportedly flashed in practice – and, along with redshirt Thompson and grad transfer Evan Fitzner, have fleshed out what appears a deep Hoosier roster on-paper.
"We have a lot of guys that can play in the games," Miller said. "The guys that are getting it done in practice are going to get a fair crack at getting in there."
No more practice games after Thursday. The Hoosiers will open regular-season play next Tuesday, Nov. 6, by hosting Chicago State.
And the students and Hoosier fans everywhere will be looking to see what sort of gift, what sort of team, Miller is going to unwrap.
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Coach Archie Miller celebrated his 40th birthday Tuesday, in part, by giving Indiana's students a gift.
Aside from people officially affiliated with the program, only those with valid and current IU student IDs could attend the Tuesday afternoon men's basketball practice at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
The students responded, as the Hoosiers did some post-workout stretching, by spontaneously singing "Happy Birthday" to the coach before adjourning for free pizza in the Assembly Hall south lobby.
Miller addressed the students briefly and exhorted them to return often, with friends in tow, to support the 2018-19 Hoosiers who close their preseason campaign with Thursday night's 7 p.m. exhibition game against NCAA Division II power Southern Indiana.
IU already got the kinks out a bit with Sunday's "secret scrimmage" at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis against 2018 Final Four entrant Loyola (Chicago.)
Perhaps the better term for the scrimmage was "closed" rather than "secret," because customarily information from the scrimmages is subsequently shared. Indiana has released some of the statistics from the 40-minute contest, taken 70-48 by the Hoosiers, and Miller discussed it during his weekly radio show Monday night with Don Fischer.
Indiana built most of its bulge by intermission, up 35-16, and finished with double-doubles by both senior forward Juwan Morgan (13 points and 16 boards) and freshman guard Romeo Langford (19 and 10).
Sophomore forward Justin Smith (12 points) and classmate Aljami Durham (11) also finished with double-digit scoring. The Hoosiers shot a solid .482 from the field, including .538 after halftime.
But Miller seemed especially enamored of the IU defense. Senior winger Josh McRoberts had four steals among the Hoosiers' total of 11, and the Ramblers were held to just .320 shooting (including .222 from 3-point range).
Loyola had shot 54 percent from the field during its initial exhibition, an 82-52 win Oct. 23 over Winona State.
"We held a good offensive team to a really poor day," Miller told Fischer of the Ramblers, who return three starters from their Final Four team – including Clayton Custer, the point guard and 2018 Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year. "Probably some of that is shooting … some good looks that didn't go down, (but) we did something right on that end."
"I'm hoping we can be a very active team. We had 11 steals. That's a very active team defensively, where we had a lot of guys getting their hands on balls. We have the ability to really fly around and play. We have some bigger guards that can challenge shots. I think we have a quickness and a toughness about us, and a speed about us on defense that I like.
"We had to guard an extremely skilled team that ran really good stuff and spaced the floor. They really challenged our on-the-ball defense. They challenged our ball-screen coverages and they challenged, just in general, our ability to have to play really hard because you're dealing with a lot of shooting … I was really pleased."
Miller said IU's offense remains a work-in-progress, which is only to be expected at the end of October.
"We're not there yet," Miller said. "We have a lot of different guys that are first-time players that are playing with guys a certain way and you could tell that we weren't as fluid as we're going to be. You could tell that we have a long way to go in terms of chemistry on offense."
IU played without junior point guard Devonte Green – who started five of the first six games, then the final seven games, last season – and redshirt-freshman forward Race Thompson, both sidelined by undisclosed injuries.
The Hoosiers got some positive injury-related news last week when center De'Ron Davis was cleared for full-contact, five-on-five work as he continues his recovery from an Achilles tear last January. He played 10 minutes against Loyola. Regaining conditioning is now perhaps the biggest hurdle to clear for the 6-10, 255-pound junior.
"He has to play himself into shape, so to speak," Miller said. "Hopefully by the end of Christmas, getting into conference play, he's feeling better."
But even while not at full strength, the Hoosiers still cruised Sunday.
"Our athleticism was better than theirs," Miller said. "That was the one thing that stood out. We were the bigger, more athletic team and it showed with some guys rebounding the ball on the offensive glass, being able to finish around the basket and in transition, getting some good things going."
IU should have an athleticism advantage against USI, too, as would be expected when playing a non-Division-I foe (a subset against which the Hoosiers are 25-0 since the 2004-05 season).
But USI's Screaming Eagles have a history of success and won't lack for motivation Thursday, especially with 10 of the 14 players on their numerical roster hailing from the Hoosier state.
Those include 6-4 freshman Chance Coyle – a 2018 Indiana All-Star and Bloomington native who is a former South High teammate of IU junior walk-on Johnny Jager – and a trio of senior players who helped Evansville Reitz make the 2015 Class 4A state finals.
One of the Reitz alums is Screaming Eagles scoring leader Alex Stein, whose father Rick coaches the USI women. The 6-3 Stein averaged 17.5 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.7 assists for last season's 20-11 club. He also made 54 straight free throws, finishing with a school-record .935 percentage from the line.
Nate Hanson, a 6-4 wing, is another Reitz product and he averaged 12.5 points and 3.5 boards last season. Emanuel Little, a 6-6 Indianapolis North Central alum, averaged 9.1 points last season as a freshman.
USI isn't especially tall, but that doesn't mean it doesn't boast some size. Indianapolis Shortridge grad Josh Price is the tallest Screaming Eagle at 6-8, but he also packs 250 pounds. Tyler Dancy, a 6-7 freshman, is listed at 273 pounds.
Several of the key USI players are also veterans of the 25-5 team from 2016-17. Coach Rodney Watson, in eight seasons at the helm, has compiled a .757 winning percentage, including a .710 mark in Great Lakes Valley Conference play.
Thursday marks the second time USI has traveled to IU for an exhibition, with the host Hoosiers taking a competitive 83-68 decision in 2013.
And it marks the Assembly Hall debut game for a talented Hoosier freshman class, including 2018 Indiana Mr. Basketball and McDonald's All-American Romeo Langford, who has received Preseason All-American plaudits from ESPN.com (third team), CBSSports.com (third team) and WatchStadium.com (fourth team).
Fellow frosh Rob Phinisee, Jerome Hunter (who earned the gold jersey as the most productive Hoosier in practice last week), Damezi Anderson and Jake Forester have all reportedly flashed in practice – and, along with redshirt Thompson and grad transfer Evan Fitzner, have fleshed out what appears a deep Hoosier roster on-paper.
"We have a lot of guys that can play in the games," Miller said. "The guys that are getting it done in practice are going to get a fair crack at getting in there."
No more practice games after Thursday. The Hoosiers will open regular-season play next Tuesday, Nov. 6, by hosting Chicago State.
And the students and Hoosier fans everywhere will be looking to see what sort of gift, what sort of team, Miller is going to unwrap.
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