Indiana University Athletics
Postgame Quotes: Indiana vs. Chicago State
11/6/2018 9:14:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Postgame Quotes
COACH MILLER: Well, we have one in the books. And it's always good to get the first one out of the way with a win. We did some good things in the game, had some unselfish plays in the game. And there were some positives.
I didn't think from our staff's perspective we had a real good feel defensively on what we were doing out there. Just wasn't as happy regardless of the score with our defense and what we're trying to do.
So hopefully there's a lot to learn from this. Friday will be a much different opponent with a different style. And it will be a hard game. And for our guys to realize, especially our young guys, it comes quick. You've got to be ready to go tomorrow and take in the information, go to work, and just try to find a way to get a little bit better. But I think we can play a lot better defensively.
Q. Going off that, what do you feel you guys need to do better defensively going forward?
COACH MILLER: It's always going to start and stop with your balance. I thought that Chicago State really pushed the ball hard on us and they gave us the opportunities where we were going to have to fight to get back. And at times we did. At times we didn't. So that's step one.
Our on-ball defense, our pressure on the ball, wasn't where it has to get to. And just in general defending off the ball with a lot of screening actions. You saw a lot of just communication breakdowns and you saw some guys, really to be honest with you, just fade into the screens and die.
And we can't do that. So we have a lot of work to do on that end of the floor. And inexperience and youth is something that you have to deal with early. And we're going to have to deal with that. But those guys gotta get sped up. As our older guys gotta get more dialed in.
Q. Speaking to your youth, with Romeo's debut, what were you pleased with and what would you like to see him improve upon?
COACH MILLER: I think the overall team did a nice job in transition, of advancing the ball early. Using the pass as a strike, almost as a strike. And Romeo was the beneficiary of some good advance passes, across the floor, up the floor, and from that point forward he's in his strength zone, when he's in transition, heading to the basket, you saw a guy really was efficient, makes a few more free throws, probably looks almost like a flawless game for him, offensively. Second half of the game was a little bit different. It was a different flow in the second half. But I thought just in general in the first half he was very efficient. I think it was 17 points in 17 minutes in the first half.
Q. What did you see from Evan Fitzner tonight? What does he bring to the team?
COACH MILLER: He did a nice job. Very high IQ, very skilled offensive player. He has size and length and great touch with either hand around the basket. He obviously can stretch the floor. I thought he did a nice job of throwing over the zone at times, catching it in the middle and skipping it out at times.
And he's a very good free throw shooter as well. So for him it's a good start. But that's who he is as a player.
Q. Talking about Romeo, seemed like earlier on it was his passing that really was --
COACH MILLER: Without question. If you look at the first four minutes, he probably had three to five passes, unselfish plays, on kickouts, drives to pass, looking for the bigs. I thought he got off to a really good start passing the ball which helped our team. We got him in foul trouble.
At the rim, we were at the rim so much, the foul line was going to be the one indicator. And I think that was probably the one thing in the first half. Why did it feel funny? Again, you've got to knock your free throws down.
Q. Also looking at Evan's night tonight, he got open a few times down low. Is cutting another kind of strength of part of his game?
COACH MILLER: We played a lot of zone tonight. Obviously he was free to float. He's not a guy that obviously anchors down, but he can get to his spots. And today, against the zone, he has a really good feel in the paint, how to catch it, how to move, in and around the basket he's got good touch. I thought our guards did a really good job hitting behind the zone early in the first half, seeing Justin, Evan and Juwan.
Q. Going 19 of 33 from the foul line tonight, anything that you can pinpoint as to why you had difficulty in that part of the game?
COACH MILLER: Just didn't go in. At the end of the day, as difficult -- it's black and white. You make them or don't make them. Guys have to step up, go to the line, knock them in. Especially your better shooters. And I think that will always balance out over the course of the year. Sometimes your guys that aren't very good free throw shooters, it's just going to be what it is. You've got to keep working to get better, and we'll do that. We're going to get fouled.
That's our aspiration as a team, is to be a team that continually attacks the paint and the rim. And to get fouled is something we really, really want to get our guys focused in on attacking. And when you get there, though, you've got to take advantage of it.
Q. What did you like most about what Phinisee did tonight, and kind of overall --
COACH MILLER: I thought just in general he got taken out of rhythm in the first half with the two fouls. We've got to watch the film, see if we can help him out. But we can't afford for our point guard to pick up two fouls in the first three minutes.
So he's got to maybe concentrate a little better and hopefully maybe get a different call in a different game at some point in time.
But the second half he's much more in the flow. Rob is under control. As he learns our system and our style and exactly what we want him to do from that position, he can execute that.
And I think guys have a lot of confidence in Rob. I think he has a lot of confidence in himself. And I think in the second half, as he got more minutes, he was much better.
Q. A few minutes tonight, when Rob and Devonte played together, what do you like about that look, and how do you see Al kind of factoring into that once he gets back healthy?
COACH MILLER: If Al was healthy, he would be in the rotation with these other guys. We're having to play -- we're having to play these guys too many minutes. So I think it's going to be really good when Al comes back. But Devonte can play with Rob. We have that ability to do that. And it gives you two guys off the dribble, I think, that are your best creators.
Hopefully in time you see those guys as being able to be attack mode. Al will fit right in with those guys as well, whether he's playing the point or playing with one of those two guys.
Q. Romeo, talk about the pressure, the emotion coming in playing in your first game tonight?
Q. Romeo, your thoughts on the way Rob played, especially just the calmness --
ROMEO LANGFORD: I felt Rob played real well. He didn't play like a freshman guard's first game in Assembly Hall. He showed that he can pass the ball and everything that he's capable of doing. He basically translated his game from high school into college, off this game pretty well.
Q. Took a few minutes to get that first basket. How much were you looking of the game?
ROMEO LANGFORD: My job is to attack. And I was just attacking. And people were getting on me and left my teammates open. And I was just making the right basketball play and let the game come to me.
Q. Evan, talk about the team defense, especially in the second half, especially the start of the season.
EVAN FITZNER: I say that's definitely an area that we need to improve in. Coach talked about that after the game. I think we can do a lot better defensively, be tougher. They ran some stuff that we haven't seen before. So we've got to do a better job of adjusting to that.
Q. Evan, you seem like you were the beneficiary of some pretty good passing tonight. Can you talk about some of the passing?
EVAN FITZNER: Yeah, Coach talked a lot about how he wants us to be a team that shares the ball with one another. And I think that's how you win games is sharing the ball, finding the open man. Keep everyone happy. And like you said I was the beneficiary of that tonight. And we'll see, hopefully we can continue to share the ball moving forward.
Q. Following up on that, ever had a prettier pass?
EVAN FITZNER: That was nice. Great pass. I didn't even see him look at me, to be honest. I don't know how he saw me, really, but somehow he saw me and finished the layup.
Q. Romeo, you hit the baseline jumper for your first pass three-minute stretch. Was anything happening in that period that got you going?
ROMEO LANGFORD: I guess that jumper. (Laughter). To see the ball go through the net, that's all I really need. I just need to see that first shot go down and it's all good for me from there.
Q. Evan, your thoughts on Phinisee. You played with and against some really good point guards. What did you think of him first game?
EVAN FITZNER: To be honest, I'm not really used to a freshman coming in and being that tough mentally. Physically, I think he can definitely hold his own. And he has shown that in our scrimmages. And tonight again. If he can continue that, it's going to help us a lot.
Q. Romeo, what has helped you with the transition to have this kind of opening night?
ROMEO LANGFORD: Really my trainers before I got here like in June and then also just the preparation from the coaching staff from June all the way until preseason.
Q. You've been in games like this where you're up comfortably and the game isn't competitive in the second half. What can you still get out of the situations in a game like this?
EVAN FITZNER: I think one of the big things is guys that might not play as much, they get quality movements that could be big for our team moving forward, because you never know when you're going to get your chance to get out there. It's good for guys that don't play as much to get experience. And you want to try to not get complacent at any point. So just keep pushing it like we did.
Q. Either of you guys, Devonte 15 points off the bench tonight. Obviously finally healthy. What difference did he make on both ends of the court, really?
ROMEO LANGFORD: He made a big difference just to be able to come off the bench and have that experience from last year to back up Rob tonight. And we really in the scrimmage we played we kind of missed his presence just having a backup guard with experience like that. And I felt like he played real well both on defense and offense getting people open shots.
Q. Romeo, you were able to get to your spots pretty easily tonight, get to the basket. Was there something about their defense or something about your offensive scheme that allows you to do that?
ROMEO LANGFORD: Yeah, we worked a lot this week on the advance pass. And I felt that's what I was good on the ball mainly on advance passes. And the defense was a success. I needed to open the court, go do the things I'm best at.
Q. Romeo, saw Devonte and Rob playing together for a little bit tonight. How do they complement each other and what might allow them to share some minutes on the court together moving forward?
ROMEO LANGFORD: Devonte, he's a real good scorer as well as a passer. But I felt like scoring is his main thing. And Rob can pass the ball really well. So just letting Devonte play without the ball for a little bit, when they're both in the game at the same time, opens the court up even more for guys like me and Evan and J-Mo.
Chicago State
Head Coach Lance Irvin
You went out with your first game against Indiana, what are some of the things they did that
challenged you tonight?
"One of the things they did that challenged us, that I'm just throwing off the top of my head is that you can't teach size. They're big. They're athletic. They're long. When I was walking out, I told (Juwan) Morgan, I knew you were big, but I didn't know you were that big. I was joking. I said their guard is bigger than my biggest player. We also got in foul trouble early on, so that said their guard is bigger than my biggest player. We also got in foul trouble early on, so that didn't help us out. But they are a good team, how they execute and how they play hard. Their size really got to us."
What were your impressions of Romeo Langford tonight?
"It's just like everyone else's impressions of him. He can play, we all know that. And he is surrounded by some good players. I thought Devonte Green came in like he was on a mission. With that being said, they had some good plays. Like Green, and Justin Smith they are just so long. With that being said, they are a really good team."
What can you take away form a game like this that will help you during conference season?
"I just wanted our players to play hard. I though they played hard, and I thought they executed. But we need to get in better shape. We go tired down the stretch. But I don't have any
problems. We gave up too many points, but I was proud of what I saw especially early on in the first half. I though we set really good solid screens and got back on defense. I thought we executed and played hard."
What was the toughest thing to conquer against Indiana?
"It's the size, like I told them. There is no answer for size. I just told the players I had a brother 6'6 and I'm 6'1. If you've got a player that is taller than you and they know what they are doing, it's tough to guard them. One thing that got us in the second half was I think they got us free throws. They missed free throws and still were getting second shots. So that hurt us too."
What did you think of Romeo?
"Like everybody else. He is surrounded by some good players. But he is athletic, long, a good shooter. He has got all of the tools that he needs to go onto the next level. With that being said, he plays on a really good team. If he was on the team by himself, it would be hard. But no, he is out there with Morgan, who is nice and low in the paint. You have Justin Smith, who is probably one of the best athletes in the country, and Green and Phinisee out there. They make your job a little bit easier out there. You don't have to key on them because you have those other players little bit easier out there. You don't have to key on them because you have those other players
out there. I think they went 9-9 in the Big Ten last year. That's a good team."
A player that you and your family know well is Justin Smith, just talk about what you saw
form him tonight and the strides you have seen him make as a player?
"One thing I said about Justin is that he is learning how to consistently play hard. When we got
him his sophomore year, he was playing hard but not as hard as he had to play. But now what he is doing is making himself especially different. He is going to the offense glass every time. And he is able to guard too. I saw last game that he started to step out and make some jump shots. He made some threes. He used to be kind of streaky. So, if he can consistently step out and make the jump shot that will be good for him. I like the pace he is playing with and how he consistently playing hard."
