Indiana University Athletics
DIPRIMIO: Winning the Day – Rob Phinisee ‘Defends’ To Be the Best
10/11/2019 2:10:00 PM | Men's Basketball
By: Pete DiPrimio
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- If you're an opposing guard, Rob Phinisee wants to get in your face.
Trash talk?
Not happening.
Disrupt at all times, intimidate if possible?
Darn straight.
Indiana's sophomore point guard embraces a defense-first mentality that, even in this offensive-metric era (consider "effective field goal percentage," "assist percentage" and, of course, "true shooting percentage"), is a game changer.
Yes, coach Archie Miller notices.
"Rob is a terrific defender," he says.
The reason is as simple as it is challenging:
Phinisee wants to be.
In fact, he wants to be better than last year, when he recorded 35 steals in 32 games and often defended the opposition's best guard.
"You can always improve in whatever you're good at," Phinisee says. "Defense is a mindset. I take a lot of pride in it. I always want to be the best player I can. If I can be the best on-ball defender in the country, I'm going to try to be it."
Phinisee isn't there yet, but the defensive-minded Miller likes what he sees.
"It starts with Rob on the defensive end. He triggers us in a lot of ways in terms of his on-ball pressure and how he can establish our defense in the half court."
Phinisee has an offense to match his defense. Last season he beat Butler with a three-pointer. He averaged 6.8 points and recorded a team-leading 94 assists with just 41 turnovers, a 2.29 assist-to-turnover ratio that ranked as IU's third-best since the 1996-97 season.
"Offensively, playing the floor game that he needs to play, he's traditionally a pretty safe guy," Miller says. "He does a good job there.
"He's getting more confident offensively."
That includes finding the balance between scoring and play-making for teammates.
"It starts in practice," Phinisee says. "You have to have that mindset to be more aggressive. It opens everything for everyone else. If I'm more of an offensive threat, it will open lanes for my teammates."
At 6-1 and 190 pounds, Phinisee can do it all. Last season he scored as many as 17 points, grabbed as many as eight rebounds, and totaled as many as eight assists and five steals.
A concussion sidelined Phinisee for three-games, and messed with his timing when he returned.
He's healthy now and looking for more.
"It's the focus I have. Coming in as a freshman, you don't know what to expect. I used last year as a learning experience."
What did he learn?
"I want to be better than last season. Focus on each day. Win the day. Improve myself on and off the court, and in the classroom. Be a leader. If I do that, it will take us a long way."
As a former college point guard out of North Carolina State, Miller understands the impact the position can have.
"I look at our point guards in a very different manner than I do the other positions," he says. "I think it's the most important position on the team. It's the quarterback."
Phinisee was ready to run the Hoosier show last season, even more now.
"Rob plays a big role," Miller says. "I think you saw (that) last year at times when he was playing effectively, was healthy. He's a gamer.
"But as you get another older, there are no surprises anymore. You're expected to do it. I think he knows from my standpoint what I expect of him."
Communication is a big key.
"He has had a lot of experience," Miller says. "He's been through a lot in his one year. He's more prepared to handle the communication part of it. He knows that's a big part of his job. He's taken a concerted effort to communicate better, talk better, not be quiet."
Phinisee once seemed a lock for Purdue. An all-state guard at McCutcheon High School in Lafayette, he was a Boiler recruiting priority.
McCutcheon won a school-record 93 games in the four seasons with Phinisee as its point guard, including a Class 4A state runner-up finish in 2016. As a senior, he averaged 29.4 points, 6.8 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 3.7 steals while shooting 35.8 percent from three-point range. As a junior, it was 21.7 points, 5.9 rebounds, 6.8 assists and 3.0 steals.
In the end, Phinisee chose to be a Hoosier. For perspective, the last time a scholarship recruit from Lafayette chose IU over Purdue was in 1948, when Indiana Mr. Basketball Bob Masters and Charlie Vaughn went from Lafayette Jeff High School to Bloomington.
The goal is to return IU to national prominence, and with three returning starters, four other key returners, and one of the nation's top freshman (Trayce Jackson-Davis), prospects are promising.
"It's the way we are practicing," Phinisee says. "It's the team chemistry. I'm not saying it was bad last year, but we're together this year. We have to focus on improving every day."
So far, he adds, so good.
"Every time we practice, we want to go as hard as we can. We keep pushing every day."
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