Hoosiers Look To Get Attack Untracked
12/22/2018 1:42:00 PM | Men's Basketball
By: Andy Graham, IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Jacksonville no longer has Artis Gilmore.
(And only a sports writer of a certain age would note that.)
But the Jacksonville team that visits Indiana for Saturday's 6 p.m. tipoff still has decent size, if nobody 7-foot-2, and has won six of its past eight games.
(Jacksonville also has assistant coach Dan Bere', who was a student manager for IU's team that reached the 2002 NCAA title game.)
And the Dolphins (7-6) had a four-game winnings streak till Thursday night, when they were unable to withstand a withering 18 made 3-pointers by Notre Dame in a 100-74 loss to the host Irish.
Not that Jacksonville can't hit the century mark itself. It has done so twice, most impressively in a 123-77 wipeout of Florida Memorial.
The Dolphins also scored 94 in a win over a Presbyterian team that led Butler at halftime Tuesday night before falling by a 76-67 count at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
Jacksonville averages 77.9 points, led by 6-2 sophomore J.D. Notae (15.2) and 6-6 senior Jace Hogan (14.1). The Dolphins aren't especially adept at 3-point shooting (.315) but Hoosier coach Archie Miller noted Friday that Jacksonville can readily and rapidly drive the lane.
IU enters with a 77.7 scoring average and is shooting .519 from the field (fourth nationally), but offense remains the primary concern for Miller in the midst of a 10-2 start that has showcased more overall strengths than weaknesses.
"I mean, we've seen a lot," Miller said of his team a dozen games into the campaign. "We've played good teams. We've been on the road … three true road games, a neutral (court) game. It hasn't been like we've been in Assembly Hall the entire non-conference slate.
"We've played games that have been grinders. We've played some games that have required us to make comebacks. I think there's a resiliency about the group. Our returning guys, I feel, are playing pretty hard right now. I think our young guys have surprised me that they've been able to be incorporated in there and … be tough-minded in pressure situations really on both ends of the floor.
"(But) this team has underachieved, in my opinion, offensively. Regardless of our numbers, regardless of how many points we score. Our execution, our taking care of the ball, our style of play … hits a lot of speed bumps, a lot of road bumps, and that's been the one thing that's been not just frustrating but perplexing."
Because, Miller said, he's seeing things in games that he's not seeing in practice.
"We haven't been able to put a game together where we're fluid on offense," he said. "We make bonehead mistakes. We miss free throws. We just haven't put it together offensively where we've been really fluid, and that's going to be a search, a quest."
"We've caused problems with ourselves just trying to do things that we don't practice a whole lot. Even the first five turnovers of the game the other night (Wednesday's 86-53 win over Central Arkansas), they were ridiculous turnovers where it just -- you don't even see that in practice happening. There are guys not thinking the game."
Other than torrid early shooting that helped scorch Marquette (96-73, Nov. 14, during which the Hoosiers shot .654 before halftime and .636 for the game), Indiana has experienced slow starts with too many wasted possessions. Turnovers constitute an overt, seemingly chronic, issue.
IU has almost as many errors (177) as assists (188) this season, and the man with the best assist-to-turnover ratio among the Hoosier starters – freshman point guard Rob Phinisee – is in concussion protocol and is unavailable Saturday.
Phinisee played just 6:52 of the Central Arkansas game before exiting and, fortunately for Indiana, junior Devonte Green stepped right in and shined. Green delivered 19 points (hitting 6 of 10 3-point shots), nine rebounds, six assists (against just two turnovers), four steals and a block.
Miller acknowledged Green is potentially catalytic enough offensively to somewhat solve the slow-start issue.
"I think he definitely has a more offensive mindset when he comes in the game in terms of how he's looking to play," Miller said of Green, who missed four November games with a thigh injury. "Sometimes it's feast or famine with him where he tries to do too much, and then there's times when he looks like a million dollars.
"Big thing is him running the team and him getting our guys going in terms of the movement, the ball movement, the sharing of the ball, making plays. He's definitely a guy that comes in with that type of a mindset. As he gets ready to come into hopefully Saturday's game, he's ready to go. … In the last couple weeks, he's gotten a lot of things done for us, so he's got to keep going."
The Hoosiers will likely see zone defense from Jacksonville and Green's 3-point capacity is an element that might come in handy. And Miller is hoping the Hoosiers have their minds right for their last non-conference game.
"There are some concerns there going into (Saturday's) game, just in terms of our guys being dialed in and ready to go," Miller said. "We were disappointed in the way we started the other night, just taking care of the ball, and I think Jacksonville could take advantage of some of the same things. We have to be prepared.
"And, I think, obviously, (be prepared to) attack some zone … just got done watching Jacksonville play Notre Dame … and studying them through the course of their season so far. They're going to present a number of challenges for us. They have some guys that can really cause some problems with their ruggedness, their physicality. They play fast, and they can really drive the ball from five spots."
Defense has been more of a constant for Indiana so far, and it shined during stretches against Central Arkansas. The Bears were held scoreless for a 9:25 span before halftime, while IU scored 22, and went even longer after halftime (9:39) without a point.
And no doubt key defensive stops have helped the Hoosiers win close games – of which they are likely to see plenty once Big Ten play resumes Jan. 3 against Illinois.
"Once you get to Big Ten play," Miller said, " … you have to play in the half court, and you have to execute and you have to be able to not turn it over, in particular on the road.
"There's going to be some real grinder games coming up where we're going to need our offense to raise its level … we've made it hard on ourselves, at times, there. (But) I would say, through non-conference, if you asked me, I think we played pretty hard. I think we have some tough-minded guys. I think we play to win."
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Jacksonville no longer has Artis Gilmore.
(And only a sports writer of a certain age would note that.)
But the Jacksonville team that visits Indiana for Saturday's 6 p.m. tipoff still has decent size, if nobody 7-foot-2, and has won six of its past eight games.
(Jacksonville also has assistant coach Dan Bere', who was a student manager for IU's team that reached the 2002 NCAA title game.)
And the Dolphins (7-6) had a four-game winnings streak till Thursday night, when they were unable to withstand a withering 18 made 3-pointers by Notre Dame in a 100-74 loss to the host Irish.
Not that Jacksonville can't hit the century mark itself. It has done so twice, most impressively in a 123-77 wipeout of Florida Memorial.
The Dolphins also scored 94 in a win over a Presbyterian team that led Butler at halftime Tuesday night before falling by a 76-67 count at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
Jacksonville averages 77.9 points, led by 6-2 sophomore J.D. Notae (15.2) and 6-6 senior Jace Hogan (14.1). The Dolphins aren't especially adept at 3-point shooting (.315) but Hoosier coach Archie Miller noted Friday that Jacksonville can readily and rapidly drive the lane.
IU enters with a 77.7 scoring average and is shooting .519 from the field (fourth nationally), but offense remains the primary concern for Miller in the midst of a 10-2 start that has showcased more overall strengths than weaknesses.
"I mean, we've seen a lot," Miller said of his team a dozen games into the campaign. "We've played good teams. We've been on the road … three true road games, a neutral (court) game. It hasn't been like we've been in Assembly Hall the entire non-conference slate.
"We've played games that have been grinders. We've played some games that have required us to make comebacks. I think there's a resiliency about the group. Our returning guys, I feel, are playing pretty hard right now. I think our young guys have surprised me that they've been able to be incorporated in there and … be tough-minded in pressure situations really on both ends of the floor.
"(But) this team has underachieved, in my opinion, offensively. Regardless of our numbers, regardless of how many points we score. Our execution, our taking care of the ball, our style of play … hits a lot of speed bumps, a lot of road bumps, and that's been the one thing that's been not just frustrating but perplexing."
Because, Miller said, he's seeing things in games that he's not seeing in practice.
"We haven't been able to put a game together where we're fluid on offense," he said. "We make bonehead mistakes. We miss free throws. We just haven't put it together offensively where we've been really fluid, and that's going to be a search, a quest."
"We've caused problems with ourselves just trying to do things that we don't practice a whole lot. Even the first five turnovers of the game the other night (Wednesday's 86-53 win over Central Arkansas), they were ridiculous turnovers where it just -- you don't even see that in practice happening. There are guys not thinking the game."
Other than torrid early shooting that helped scorch Marquette (96-73, Nov. 14, during which the Hoosiers shot .654 before halftime and .636 for the game), Indiana has experienced slow starts with too many wasted possessions. Turnovers constitute an overt, seemingly chronic, issue.
IU has almost as many errors (177) as assists (188) this season, and the man with the best assist-to-turnover ratio among the Hoosier starters – freshman point guard Rob Phinisee – is in concussion protocol and is unavailable Saturday.
Phinisee played just 6:52 of the Central Arkansas game before exiting and, fortunately for Indiana, junior Devonte Green stepped right in and shined. Green delivered 19 points (hitting 6 of 10 3-point shots), nine rebounds, six assists (against just two turnovers), four steals and a block.
Miller acknowledged Green is potentially catalytic enough offensively to somewhat solve the slow-start issue.
"I think he definitely has a more offensive mindset when he comes in the game in terms of how he's looking to play," Miller said of Green, who missed four November games with a thigh injury. "Sometimes it's feast or famine with him where he tries to do too much, and then there's times when he looks like a million dollars.
"Big thing is him running the team and him getting our guys going in terms of the movement, the ball movement, the sharing of the ball, making plays. He's definitely a guy that comes in with that type of a mindset. As he gets ready to come into hopefully Saturday's game, he's ready to go. … In the last couple weeks, he's gotten a lot of things done for us, so he's got to keep going."
The Hoosiers will likely see zone defense from Jacksonville and Green's 3-point capacity is an element that might come in handy. And Miller is hoping the Hoosiers have their minds right for their last non-conference game.
"There are some concerns there going into (Saturday's) game, just in terms of our guys being dialed in and ready to go," Miller said. "We were disappointed in the way we started the other night, just taking care of the ball, and I think Jacksonville could take advantage of some of the same things. We have to be prepared.
"And, I think, obviously, (be prepared to) attack some zone … just got done watching Jacksonville play Notre Dame … and studying them through the course of their season so far. They're going to present a number of challenges for us. They have some guys that can really cause some problems with their ruggedness, their physicality. They play fast, and they can really drive the ball from five spots."
Defense has been more of a constant for Indiana so far, and it shined during stretches against Central Arkansas. The Bears were held scoreless for a 9:25 span before halftime, while IU scored 22, and went even longer after halftime (9:39) without a point.
And no doubt key defensive stops have helped the Hoosiers win close games – of which they are likely to see plenty once Big Ten play resumes Jan. 3 against Illinois.
"Once you get to Big Ten play," Miller said, " … you have to play in the half court, and you have to execute and you have to be able to not turn it over, in particular on the road.
"There's going to be some real grinder games coming up where we're going to need our offense to raise its level … we've made it hard on ourselves, at times, there. (But) I would say, through non-conference, if you asked me, I think we played pretty hard. I think we have some tough-minded guys. I think we play to win."
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