GRAHAM: Fresh Faces Going Places
11/8/2018 9:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
By: Andy Graham, IUHoosiers.com
It seemed, at times, almost like another scrimmage game.
But this time it counted.
And Romeo Langford certainly made his college debut count.
The McDonald's All-American and 2018 Indiana Mr. Basketball wasn't alone in the regard, either.
That was clear even though it is, frankly, difficult to gauge overly much from Indiana's 104-55 romp over Chicago State in Tuesday night's season-opener.
After all, Chicago State just got its coach, Lance Irvin, in August – and the Cougars won just three games last season. They hung around for a while but were out-manned Tuesday.
That doesn't take away from the fact the host Hoosiers showed several signs of good things to come. This is going to be an exciting and entertaining Indiana team to watch much of the time.
Yes, IU struggled initially against CS's 2-3 zone. The Hoosiers were periodically sloppy and – somewhat surprisingly given how their two exhibition games had gone – disjointed defensively.
Indiana's 3-point shooting was only OK (.333). And the free throw shooting a bane to Hoosier fortunes last season, was awful (.567).
But this still looked like a talented, athletic, quick Hoosier crew with plenty of promise.
And new faces were a big part of that.
Chief among those Tuesday were Langford (a game-high 19 points), grad-transfer Evan Fitzner (14 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field and 3-of-3 free throws, and six boards) and frosh point guard Rob Phinisee (six points, five assists and a game-high five steals.)
"Romeo was the beneficiary of some good advance passes and, from that point forward, he's (plying) his strength," Hoosier coach Archie Miller said. "When he's in transition, when he's heading to the basket, you saw a guy who was really efficient. (If he) makes a few more free throws, probably looks almost like a flawless game for him, offensively.
"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."
One of those bigs was the 6-foot-10 Fitzner, who played at St. Mary's (Cal.) before arriving in Bloomington.
"Very high IQ, very skilled offensively player," Miller said of Fitzner. "He has size and length and a great tough with either hand around the basket. He obviously can stretch the floor. I thought he did a nice job throwing over the zone at times, catching it in the middle and skipping it out.
"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."
It was Langford who took and missed the game's first shot, an open 3 from the left wing. He missed his second attempt, too, while indeed spending most of the early minutes finding teammates.
But then he made is next seven shots.
After scoring his first Hoosier point with the second of two free throws at the 16:03 mark, Langford got his initial bucket by swishing a smooth 12-footer from the right baseline with 9:20 left before intermission.
"To see the ball go through the net, that's all I really need," Langford said. "I just need to see that first shot go down and it's all good for me from there."
That shot ignited a personal 8-0 Langford run, as it was followed by:
8:35: A finger-roll, drawing a foul.
8:05: A great lefty tip-in of a Justin Smith miss.
7:20: A nifty lane drive.
Langford then made a steal, only to have his pocket picked right away in return, leading to a Ken Odiase dunk for Chicago State. But Langford responded by drilling a 17 footer while drawing a foul at the 6:40 mark.
So that made it Romeo 10, Chicago State 2, over that two minute span, stretching IU's lead from a modest 23-16 to a cushy 33-18.
The bulge was 53-32 by halftime, at which juncture Langford already had 17 of his 19 points.
It wasn't just the quantifiable production, either. There was also hustle.
Langford's full-out dive with 15:48 to play didn't quite prevent a loose ball from going out of bounds, but was still appreciated by the home fans.
That was followed by a very impressive stretch of thievery from Phinisee.
Phinisee made a slick strip-steal and saved the ball off a Cougar leg out-of-bounds to give the Hoosiers possession at 15:19.
Then, after another Phinisee steal, he took the ball into the lane and issued a dazzling, left-handed, behind-the-head, no-look pass to the 6-foot-10 Fitzner for a bunny inside.
"That was nice," Fitzner, who played four seasons at St. Mary's (Cal.) before his arrival in Bloomington, recalled. "Great pass. I didn't even see him look at me, to be honest. I don't know how he saw me, really."
Phinisee then made yet another steal and took the ball all the way to draw a foul, hitting both free throws to include IU's advantage to 70-38 with 13:03 left.
"I'm not really used to a freshman coming in and being that tough mentally," Fitzner said of Phinisee. "Physically, I think he can definitely hold his own."
Phinisee and junior guard Devonte Green, who started the final seven games at the point last season, shared some court time Tuesday as Green made a welcome return from a preseason injury with 15 points (while also showing some rust with four turnovers to go with three assists). Justin Smith made if four Hoosiers in double-figure scoring with 13.
Indiana shot .565 from the field and held CS to .317. The Hoosiers owned the boards, 52-33, getting a game-high eight from senior Juwan Morgan.
"They're big. They're athletic. They're long," Cougar coach Irvin said post-game. "When I was walking out, I told Morgan, 'I knew you were big, but I didn't know you were that big.' "
Perhaps a particularly revealing statistic was Indiana's 51-22 advantage in bench scoring, with a dozen different Hoosiers ultimately posting points.
That's to be expected in a blowout, to a degree, but Indiana does seem to have about a double-digit number players who can currently make a case for playing time – including Al Durham, Jerome Hunter and Race Thompson, who sat out Tuesday with minor injuries.
It's obviously not a bad problem to have, but Miller will have to juggle minutes judiciously as things proceed, and will have to help kids playing fewer minutes understand that their time will eventually come even as the team context and purpose remain paramount.
Miller has correctly emphasized chemistry, cohesion and sacrifice as elements this IU team will need to attain the sort of success Hoosiers everywhere want.
And the newcomers' performances will fluctuate, as is always the case with freshmen, so some patience is required from all concerned in that regard, too.
But Tuesday still represented the curtain lifting on talented new faces that figure to bring a lot of fun to Indiana basketball.
"It really was no pressure," Langford, who got used to handling pressure and hype while starring at New Albany High School, said post-game. "Emotions were high.
"Couldn't wait, all of our freshmen, just to get out here and get our first game under our belt. Felt real good."
Looked good, too.
And it counted. 1-0.
It seemed, at times, almost like another scrimmage game.
But this time it counted.
And Romeo Langford certainly made his college debut count.
The McDonald's All-American and 2018 Indiana Mr. Basketball wasn't alone in the regard, either.
That was clear even though it is, frankly, difficult to gauge overly much from Indiana's 104-55 romp over Chicago State in Tuesday night's season-opener.
After all, Chicago State just got its coach, Lance Irvin, in August – and the Cougars won just three games last season. They hung around for a while but were out-manned Tuesday.
That doesn't take away from the fact the host Hoosiers showed several signs of good things to come. This is going to be an exciting and entertaining Indiana team to watch much of the time.
Yes, IU struggled initially against CS's 2-3 zone. The Hoosiers were periodically sloppy and – somewhat surprisingly given how their two exhibition games had gone – disjointed defensively.
Indiana's 3-point shooting was only OK (.333). And the free throw shooting a bane to Hoosier fortunes last season, was awful (.567).
But this still looked like a talented, athletic, quick Hoosier crew with plenty of promise.
And new faces were a big part of that.
Chief among those Tuesday were Langford (a game-high 19 points), grad-transfer Evan Fitzner (14 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field and 3-of-3 free throws, and six boards) and frosh point guard Rob Phinisee (six points, five assists and a game-high five steals.)
"Romeo was the beneficiary of some good advance passes and, from that point forward, he's (plying) his strength," Hoosier coach Archie Miller said. "When he's in transition, when he's heading to the basket, you saw a guy who was really efficient. (If he) makes a few more free throws, probably looks almost like a flawless game for him, offensively.
"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."
One of those bigs was the 6-foot-10 Fitzner, who played at St. Mary's (Cal.) before arriving in Bloomington.
"Very high IQ, very skilled offensively player," Miller said of Fitzner. "He has size and length and a great tough with either hand around the basket. He obviously can stretch the floor. I thought he did a nice job throwing over the zone at times, catching it in the middle and skipping it out.
"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."
It was Langford who took and missed the game's first shot, an open 3 from the left wing. He missed his second attempt, too, while indeed spending most of the early minutes finding teammates.
But then he made is next seven shots.
After scoring his first Hoosier point with the second of two free throws at the 16:03 mark, Langford got his initial bucket by swishing a smooth 12-footer from the right baseline with 9:20 left before intermission.
"To see the ball go through the net, that's all I really need," Langford said. "I just need to see that first shot go down and it's all good for me from there."
That shot ignited a personal 8-0 Langford run, as it was followed by:
8:35: A finger-roll, drawing a foul.
8:05: A great lefty tip-in of a Justin Smith miss.
7:20: A nifty lane drive.
Langford then made a steal, only to have his pocket picked right away in return, leading to a Ken Odiase dunk for Chicago State. But Langford responded by drilling a 17 footer while drawing a foul at the 6:40 mark.
So that made it Romeo 10, Chicago State 2, over that two minute span, stretching IU's lead from a modest 23-16 to a cushy 33-18.
The bulge was 53-32 by halftime, at which juncture Langford already had 17 of his 19 points.
It wasn't just the quantifiable production, either. There was also hustle.
Langford's full-out dive with 15:48 to play didn't quite prevent a loose ball from going out of bounds, but was still appreciated by the home fans.
That was followed by a very impressive stretch of thievery from Phinisee.
Phinisee made a slick strip-steal and saved the ball off a Cougar leg out-of-bounds to give the Hoosiers possession at 15:19.
Then, after another Phinisee steal, he took the ball into the lane and issued a dazzling, left-handed, behind-the-head, no-look pass to the 6-foot-10 Fitzner for a bunny inside.
"That was nice," Fitzner, who played four seasons at St. Mary's (Cal.) before his arrival in Bloomington, recalled. "Great pass. I didn't even see him look at me, to be honest. I don't know how he saw me, really."
Phinisee then made yet another steal and took the ball all the way to draw a foul, hitting both free throws to include IU's advantage to 70-38 with 13:03 left.
"I'm not really used to a freshman coming in and being that tough mentally," Fitzner said of Phinisee. "Physically, I think he can definitely hold his own."
Phinisee and junior guard Devonte Green, who started the final seven games at the point last season, shared some court time Tuesday as Green made a welcome return from a preseason injury with 15 points (while also showing some rust with four turnovers to go with three assists). Justin Smith made if four Hoosiers in double-figure scoring with 13.
Indiana shot .565 from the field and held CS to .317. The Hoosiers owned the boards, 52-33, getting a game-high eight from senior Juwan Morgan.
"They're big. They're athletic. They're long," Cougar coach Irvin said post-game. "When I was walking out, I told Morgan, 'I knew you were big, but I didn't know you were that big.' "
Perhaps a particularly revealing statistic was Indiana's 51-22 advantage in bench scoring, with a dozen different Hoosiers ultimately posting points.
That's to be expected in a blowout, to a degree, but Indiana does seem to have about a double-digit number players who can currently make a case for playing time – including Al Durham, Jerome Hunter and Race Thompson, who sat out Tuesday with minor injuries.
It's obviously not a bad problem to have, but Miller will have to juggle minutes judiciously as things proceed, and will have to help kids playing fewer minutes understand that their time will eventually come even as the team context and purpose remain paramount.
Miller has correctly emphasized chemistry, cohesion and sacrifice as elements this IU team will need to attain the sort of success Hoosiers everywhere want.
And the newcomers' performances will fluctuate, as is always the case with freshmen, so some patience is required from all concerned in that regard, too.
But Tuesday still represented the curtain lifting on talented new faces that figure to bring a lot of fun to Indiana basketball.
"It really was no pressure," Langford, who got used to handling pressure and hype while starring at New Albany High School, said post-game. "Emotions were high.
"Couldn't wait, all of our freshmen, just to get out here and get our first game under our belt. Felt real good."
Looked good, too.
And it counted. 1-0.
Players Mentioned
Forward
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Forward
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Guard
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Forward
/ Men's Basketball
Forward
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