Indiana University Athletics
Postgame Quotes: Indiana vs. Butler
12/19/2020 2:10:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 19, 2020
Postgame Quotes
Indiana Head Coach Archie Miller
Opening Statement
ARCHIE MILLER: Well, really hard-fought game. I've been really impressed with Butler. I know those guys have been under a tremendous amount of adversity here early in the season, which is unfortunate. The COVID virus has obviously hit them at a tough time, and they've had to work through it. As I watched them play the other night against Villanova, very impressed with their team. I think their young guys are really doing a great job and they're physical. And as they played today, I mean, to start the game we weren't ready for the physicality. I thought they brought it a lot more regularly inside. They were a much tougher team than us in the first half. We just had to really come together at halftime. Not a whole lot of X's and O's but it's one of those things where you have to find a way to dig yourself out of it.
I thought we challenged ourselves and I thought our guys really were disappointed in the way that we played, and I thought in the second half we came out with a much better approach. Our attitude was much different. It started on the defensive end. We were able to get stops throughout the course of the game. That helped us get some easy ones. And thought in general Race Thompson answered the bell in the second half and gave us another presence inside and around the basket along with Trayce. So that was important.
Our guards did a good job. I thought the assist totals in the game, to have 19 assists, realistically if you look at Al being 4-1 today and Rob 3-0, and I believe Galloway was 5-0, those guys can some really good things to help Armaan get going, and he was the beneficiary of some of those. Make no mistakes those were big shots that Armaan made, and his confidence level is at a really good place as this non-conference finishes up. But we're proud of our group and what we've been able to do. Non-conference schedule is over. This was an important game for us.
Got a lot of respect for Butler, and as they get healthy, especially with Thompson being out, he's such an important piece of their puzzle, they're going to be in good shape heading into the Big East.
Q. Archie, you mentioned the difference in the second half defensively. What specifically do you think changed and what was kind of -- what did you emphasize maybe at halftime that you guys weren't doing well enough that you noticed in the first half?
ARCHIE MILLER: They kind of maneuvered and manhandled us inside. They really did. They controlled the game. They were able to perimeter post us from the perimeter, they were able to post one-on-one, and really they just had a lot of success playing one-on-one in the post. They took advantage of our lack of help and they took advantage of our lack of physicality.
I thought that was pretty much the main part of the game. They were able to do what they wanted, move where they wanted. They rebounded the ball physically. We couldn't post the ball. We couldn't get it inside. At the end of the day that's why the game felt funny for us.
I thought we changed that in the second half. We were able to do a much better job of being tougher inside, and we also did a much better job of giving correct help when we needed to. The bottom line is they didn't shoot any uncontested lay-ups in the second half. First half they shot a lot of uncontested lay-ups. Made a lot of hard plays. Guys were coming up with loose balls, and I thought very early in the first four minutes of the second half we got our confidence going because we were able to get some stops.
Q. Now that the non-conference schedule is over, how would you assess where you are right now heading into Big Ten play?
ARCHIE MILLER: Probably like a lot of teams, still really trying to get better. We're still trying to create more of an opportunity for our bench to play. I think as we head in here, we know what is a disaster if it doesn't happen in the games in terms of us being able to compete in the Big Ten. I think it's been very evident.
We have to rebound the ball by committee and we have to do a much better job of it. We're going to have to do a great job of not giving up easy baskets inside. We have to do a better job of continuing to be creative there. And I think on offense our turnovers. We continue to have five or six plays right now in our last two or three games that are just way too many turnovers. We can't play with 15 turnovers and win in our league.
We've got to do a better job of executing, a better job of taking care of it. But all in all we're as battle tested as probably any team in league in terms of understanding what it's going to take for us to be successful.
So I think we have that information, and we've got to keep getting better. We got to keep getting more guys involved in the game. It's been tough because I think early on we're playing some really high-level, intense games against good teams and we aren't able to just massage guys in and out.
But I'm here to tell you, I just don't know how we'll go through a Big Ten season without everybody on our team being able to contribute every game.
Q. Archie, this was back to back games for Armaan hitting five three-pointers. How much different does it make to your overall offensive play when you've got a guy willing to not only take the shots but knock them down?
ARCHIE MILLER: Well, I mean, the ball going in the basket makes things easy. Sometimes good offense beats good defense, and I think Armaan has given us an outside weapon here in the last few games clearly that's opened up some things inside. You've got to worry about him.
I think we're going to be a better consistently shooting team as we continue to embrace sharing the ball, and I think you saw some guys make some really great passes in transition, and I think we had some great drives today where we were unselfish and had the ability to deliver a pass on time where we got rhythm shots.
So that's very important for our team. And Armaan, he's playing with great confidence. He's earned that right. He's working hard at it. And like I've said before, he's really developed into a player I think is one of the most improved players in our league this year.
Q. At different times this season you've talked about the high expectations you have as a team. You talked about it after Florida State. Is that maybe also reflective in that halftime you talked about where your guys were able to challenge themselves, where you said it's not X's and O's, it's being willing to meet the physical challenge? Is that reflective of the same kind of quality of the expectation these guys are holding themselves to?
ARCHIE MILLER: No question about it. I think you have a reference as you look at the Florida State game and our inability to be able to finish that game and be tough enough. I think our team kind of knows we're hanging our hat right now on being able to finish games, finish plays, make more hard plays in the game, be a scrappier, tougher team.
At halftime when you're down by five or whatever and you look at the rebounding total, you're down, they're shooting at an unprecedented percentage in the game, you're not competing hard enough, and we weren't.
I thought our guys were able to pick ourselves up off the ground and get going. Like I said before, it was really important that Race Thompson really gave us an unbelievable boost in the second half. I thought Trayce was ready to play. We missed him a bunch in this game in the first half, and I thought in the second half he commanded more attention.
We were better inside in the second half, which helped us change this game. But just in general our group was disappointed at halftime. We knew how to answer the bell. There wasn't a whole lot of hooting and hollering and what not. It is what it is. We were getting outworked.
I thought our guys did a much better job of responding. We cut the lead fast and then were able to grab a lead, and I think momentum shifted our way.
Q. Do you feel a little bit better about this team with all the threes and the open looks you created these last two games?
ARCHIE MILLER: Yes. I mean, I think we've had a lot of these looks throughout the course of the season, but when the ball is not hitting a shooter's hands on time, on target, in rhythm, and we know where we get them from, you're going to have inconsistent percentages. You're going to have jumbled offense.
And I think here in the last few games, I'm not sure how many assists we had in the North Alabama game, but most of ow threes, if you watch us play, they're coming off of unselfish driving, passing, one mores, extra passes inside out of the post. They know where they are supposed to be getting them and they're hitting them on time.
The more we can stop our team from taking tough challenged two-point shots where we land on the ground and the more we can spray the ball and move it and share it, the better our team is going to be.
You're going to see that we have guys that are going to be able to step up and make more shots. I'm happy with our team. We've just got to keep getting better. We have a coachable group. They're in it for the right reasons. We've worked hard. Haven't had Joe all non-conference and guys have stepped up, and we're going to need more guys to continue to step up and develop.
I count on all these guys as we keep going that we are going to need them. As you guys know, we play in the fiercest league in college basketball this year. It's going to start up very quickly, and the mental challenge it's going to take to get through it with real -- no real time off is going to be something that we're going to have to be ready for.
Indiana Players
Q. Coach talked a lot about being so much better in the second half and then getting better looks inside and such. It seems like more the first half was really just that last seven, eight minutes. How good is it to feel like you guys all bounced back collectively like you did and came right out and got a nice run going?
TRAYCE JACKSON-DAVIS: Really just being able to play inside out has really been key for us, especially I think our guards have built a lot of confidence at shooting the ball in the last two games. Hopefully we can keep that up and just keep playing inside out. If they double or do whatever they do, we can hit open shots.
Q. Trayce, it's a simplistic question, but how much does it change the calculus for you guys in the post? Coach talked about Race Thompson and how he played in the second half, but how much does it change life for you down low when you've got Armaan hitting for threes, you've got Al hitting a couple, loosening up that defense a little bit more?
TRAYCE JACKSON-DAVIS: Most definitely. It really opens up the game. Just even with Race just shooting those shots so they can't sag off of him really helps. But at the same time, I thought Race really came in in the second half. He was amped up and ready to go, and Coach Miller told us at halftime that they weren't here to mess around. We got back into it and then we started playing our ball.
Q. Trayce, Butler scores 37 points the first 20 minutes, only six points the first 10 minutes of the second half. What was the big key in that changing so much for you guys?
TRAYCE JACKSON-DAVIS: Really just for us it's really just getting in the passing lanes, getting deflections. I thought in the first half we were kind of lackadaisical on the ball, and we let their bigs do really whatever they wanted with no crowds, so they're taking six to seven dribbles to get position on us. The second half we started getting engaged more. We were really locked in on the defensive end, and when you start getting stops and getting out in transition, it starts carrying over and you wear teams down with that.
Q. Armaan, just your shooting performance, we asked you about this a little bit yesterday, you said you kind of don't know what it is about shooting in that building. Now that you've done it again, do you have any more insight as to why you're comfortable in that building, just kind of what was working for you in the first half? Was it just a matter of seeing that first shot go down and your confidence built from that point?
ARMAAN FRANKLIN: I still don't know why this gym is having these good shooting performances. It's just my teammates giving me open looks. I saw the first one go down. For any shooter it gives you a lot of confidence when you see that first shot go down, and my teammates kept finding me. My bigs were setting good screens and getting me open, so I was just able to knock them down.
Q. This is a question for both of you. I know you've known each other for a while. Trayce, what would you say your favorite thing about watching Armaan develop has been, and then the same thing to Armaan about Trayce.
TRAYCE JACKSON-DAVIS: I'll start. Armaan has always been a great player. Last year he started the first 10 games and he was really confident, and then kind of at the back end of the season didn't play as much. So I know he wanted to prove to himself this year what kind of player he is. I already knew he was capable of doing all these things, and all the work is starting to show out here and he's become a really, really good guard. He's one of our best defenders and he's shooting the ball at a really high rate.
ARMAAN FRANKLIN: About Trayce, I've known Trayce for a long time and it always was not like how it is now. He can attest to that. Just seeing him get better year after year, being a dominant force in college basketball right now, I'm happy for him and I'm proud of him. But we both know we've still got things to work on to get better and get more wins.
Q. Trayce talked about the defensive improvement in the second half from the front court perspective. What did you see from the guard perspective? It looked like you guys closed out on shooters a lot more and stopped their three-point shooting?
ARMAAN FRANKLIN: I think we've just got to limit their drives and have good gaps, and then I think Aljami and I kind of messed up a little bit guarding Bolden. He was supposed to be dead on catch, but I made enough plays, got enough stops for us to get the win.
Opening Statement
I think obviously our guys fought -- when you look at this one, I will look back and learn a lot. Every opportunity right now is an opportunity for growth and an opportunity to learn, especially -- and there's nothing like games, and obviously things we can do in practice and go against each other, but there's nothing that simulates playing Indiana or Villanova or a game coming up. We can continue to learn from those things.
Got a great respect for Archie and the program that they're building, and obviously Indiana basketball, give them credit. They did a heck of a job responding in the second half, coming out and kind of establishing in the first four minutes. I think there was a 9-0 run. We came out early, and it was back and forth. I thought our guys had great energy. They responded.
We have to grow ourselves to be tough enough to respond sooner. I thought we did a little late. We had a middle stretch there in the second half, and those are the things guys are learning as they're getting more and more game experience.
We've got to take care of the basketball. You look up and 15 turnovers the other night, 14 today, way too many to give yourselves a chance to beat really good teams.
So get back to the film room. We'll have to learn a lot through film because there's not a lot of practicing right now with game after game after game. And our young guys are doing a good job absorbing it and our leaders are leading.
Q. Did Indiana do anything differently in the second half to kind of smother your offense? In some ways Butler got actually more post touches than I thought you would get, but you could hardly make a two-point basket.
LaVALL JORDAN: Yeah, I thought we got the ball where we wanted it. Obviously some shots that we feel confident in and believe in our guys, Bryce Golden, Bryce Nze going at the rim. Had some wide open shots for some of our guys that can make those.
And then I think it affected us when we didn't, and that's where we have to be tougher. We had a stretch where we got good looks, had the ball at the rim, didn't finish or they blocked it, and we didn't respond well in that moment.
And then a couple huddles I thought Aaron Thompson and guys were on the bench. John Michael Mulloy and Markeese and Mike Parker, all those guys did a good job in the time-outs of getting their guys back up and talking about that exactly, not letting our offense affect our defense.
Q. You've often addressed this when Butler has a poor shooting game. You seem more concerned about what kind of shoots you're getting. Were you fairly satisfied with the kind of shots you were getting? That's usually the way you evaluate offensive efficiency.
LaVALL JORDAN: Yeah, we'll watch the film, but I thought we had the ball at the rim a ton. Now, give them credit. They've got two athletic bigs with good size and good length, so you've got to be crafty. We finally used a shot fake there at the end and got an easy one.
They really loaded. We got a couple skip passes where we had great looks that didn't go down. So we'll watch the film and evaluate. Love to have less turnovers so we get more of those opportunities, and those are all the things we can get better at.
Our guys are going to get in the gym and shoot the basketball, get to the foul line. I thought we had some opportunities missed at the foul line. We've got to step up and make those, as well.
Q. Are you glad to be playing two more games right away? There's not much choice, they're on the schedule, but do you see that as a good opportunity to, I guess, get growth for these freshmen? They're young; they don't get tired, do they?
LaVALL JORDAN: Well, you had the time off where we didn't get games in, and with this whole circumstance that everybody is in in sports in general, we've got to take advantage of those opportunities.
So we'll have to get ourselves back up. We've got an early tip here, which gives us some time to rest the rest of the day today and recover, and tomorrow, and doesn't give us time to practice.
That's where we could really make some adjustments and maybe put some things in, but we'll just go play Butler basketball.
You get another opportunity to do that and have to fight through some fatigue and not let that be an excuse.
Q. Are you optimistic about AT returning for Southern Illinois and Providence?
LaVALL JORDAN: We'll see. It's kind of day by day as he's doing rehab and recovery. What Doc says heading into Monday, we'll find out more tomorrow and we'll see what he says. I know if he can, he will, but we're not going to push it if he's not ready.
Q. From the outside looking in, I think it would be easy to think your freshmen would be nervous playing against a Villanova, against an Indiana. At least on the court it doesn't seem like nerves have affected them. What do you attribute kind of the start that your freshmen have gotten off to against these high-quality opponents?
LaVALL JORDAN: Well, we recruited them to be confident players. They're learning how to play Butler basketball. And they've played basketball before. They're trying to pick up on how we do things here. And they've had moments, right.
They're trying to establish reliability with their teammates and trust and some consistency, and they've all had -- in the three games up to this point, they've had moments. Trying to get them to learn how to practice hard, which is difficult when you don't have as many practices as we just missed, which every freshman in the country is trying to learn how to practice hard.
But then in game, the thing that really stands out is in game them being able to make adjustments, and that speaks to their IQ, in game their competitive nature, which it's hard to teach that. So for Myles to start the way he did tonight, for Chuck to play the way he did the other night, Myles Wilmoth, JaKobe Coles responded tonight. Those guys are competitors and now they're growing every day.
Q. Has there been anything from the freshmen collectively or individually that surprised you a bit this early in the season or not so much?
LaVALL JORDAN: No, I think what they've had to do is -- you get it in practice to some degree because -- the physicality of the game. That's why Villanova the other night and obviously Indiana, just physical teams. And that's what the speed of it and the pace of it, so missing some opportunities earlier due to the pause, and now to getting to learn.
Guys coming at them and how to defend without fouling. I thought we did a better job tonight, Myles Tate specifically, JaKobe Coles defending and holding then his ground in the post. I thought he did a better job tonight than he did the other night.
Chuck Harris putting up no turnovers tonight, putting it all on the deck when their physical perimeter defenders are on you. Those are the things you learn with experience in games and make your adjustments and learn from game to game, try to be better the next time out and be better the next day in practice.
