Indiana University Athletics
Postgame Quotes: Indiana vs. Northwestern
12/23/2020 11:52:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Indiana vs. Northwestern
Postgame Quotes
Dec. 23, 2020
Indiana Head Coach Archie Miller
Opening Statement
Give Northwestern credit. They are a good team. They are playing really well and really together. They are very well connected, you can tell through the course of the game and hearing their players talk on the floor. They are an impressive group. I'm disappointed for our guys, but at the same time we didn't play well enough to win today and that is on me. We have to do a better job obviously preparing and getting ready to play. We are making the same mistakes over and over sometimes in terms of taking care of the ball, which really hurt us tonight. For the first time all season probably in eight games our defense did not do the job for us tonight either. Part of it was turning the ball over really hurt, especially in the first half, they got a lead. We didn't handle the zone at all in the first half. In the second half we started much better and got ourselves right back in contention to play to win the game and have a lead. There with about eight minutes, seven minutes, six minutes, I thought Northwestern just kept coming. They kept executing. I thought we got fatigued and had some bad possessions and they took advantage of it. I give Audige a lot of credit. In the first half he was taken out with fouls, but in the second half he was a confident guy. He came in a made some really big plays for them and some big shots. Again, credit to Northwestern, they are a good team. I'm disappointed for our guys and how we played because I don't think this team embraces playing that way. I think we have shown that we play hard and play together, but tonight for some odd reason we were just off balance and Northwestern had a little bit to do with it. I also think we didn't do a very good job on our end.
Q. On Rob Phinisee and Aljami Durham…
"Al and Rob, obviously if you look at the line they didn't have their best days today. Those guys are much better players than they played tonight. We need them to be better and I know they will be. Both guys care and they work hard, but we got to get them straightened out a little bit because their experience level and the knowledge of knowing what is coming down the stretch and how you have to play and at what level you have to play to be successful. Both of them play a vital role in what we are doing and any team that has their two starting guards not play very well, that is going to hurt. We had a number of guys that didn't get the job done tonight in some areas. Again, I'm going to take full blame for our lack of improvement in the last few weeks in taking care of the ball. It is getting to a level where you are not going to win in this league if you don't take care of the ball. First half turnovers, really silly, killed us, led to a lot of points. In the second half, our transition defense, having to get back off of some tough plays didn't go well. I'm just going to be honest with you. This is probably of all the games, even the Texas game, we didn't play well in that game at all, but we played hard. I watched the film, and looked at the numbers, did we do what we were supposed to do. We played hard, we just didn't play well on offense, we stunk that day. Today I thought we stunk on both end of the floor. There were a lot of breakdowns, a lot of sloppiness and it got us beat."
Q. Talk about getting beat on dribble drives…
MILLER: No question the biggest point in the game was being able to guard one on one. They space you. They have great shooting but at the end of the day our team has guarded a lot of teams this year and we were able to hold our own off the dribble. Our team is built that way and we have done a pretty good job of it all season long. When you look at their field goal percentage from two tonight, I think they were 21 for 31 from two-point range and that is not very good in this league. No question about it, the single most important break down we had tonight, from the start of the game to the end, was we were not able to guard the bounce consistently like we have been. We were spread out and our defense was not as tight as it usually is. They had a lot of opportunities to challenge the rim. To be honest with you, we were not blocking them tonight. No question about it. We did not guard the ball.
Q. What did you see that lead to the spark in the second half…
MILLER: I thought we got into a good rhythm to start the second half. Our defense created some loose ones and we got some easy runouts. I think at the midpoint in the second half, even as we got some stops, their post trap caused at least two turnovers which were tough to handle. We had some empty possessions where we were getting stops. If you were to ask me, at the end of the day, the game came down to execution, being strong, and being smarter with the ball. We had some bad possessions where we did not take care of the ball when we had the lead. We got the lead with about nine minutes to go. We were up four and at that point we felt pretty good that we were going to be able to hang in there but I thought we got fatigued as well. I thought the group that played tonight, especially in the second half, Trayce Jackson-Davis had 35 minutes, Race Thompson played a heavy dose in the second half, Armaan Franklin played 36, Aljami Durham had 35, I feel like fatigued played a factor. We are going to have to bite the bullet here and we are going to have to get a little deeper, play more guys to be able to sustain the depth that we are going to need throughout the season defensively. We had some offensive possessions that showed, like finishes around the basket, shot selections, that did not look good. Bottom line is that we are going to have to find a way to keep getting better. We have a quick turnaround. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and we will be practicing at nine in the morning and then on a bus to Champaign on Christmas day. We do not have a lot of time to fix things so we have to get back up and get ready to go.
Q. What more can you do to address turnovers…
MILLER: It is coming from a lot of different guys. I do not think it is just one guy doing the wrong thing. I think we have a slew of inopportune plays that we are trying to stay away from. I think as we continue to watch the film a lot of it is going to come down to being smarter when we are in transition, moving the ball, and trusting when you move it a lot of big things are going to happen. Trayce is an unbelievable post passer and he has had really zero problems handling doubles. We had a couple tough turnovers out of the double team tonight. We are too sloppy right now. We have too many plays that are not going to work for us moving forward in this league. We cannot turn the ball over 16 times at home. We cannot turn the ball over 15 times. There are five or six a game right now that have to get trimmed back. Maybe we need to slow it down. We are not playing that many guys anyway and if we keep turning the ball over in transition with numbers then maybe we just have to slow it down a little bit to make sure we do not turn it over. I know the turnovers are really hard to defend on the other end, especially against the teams in this league, they convert. Just like us if we get a steal, we get some numbers and it is hard to guard us. I would say our biggest problem as team here in the last week or so is that we have had some tough turnovers that are really hurting us. Tonight, we had really tough turnovers. When you are in a dog fight like that in the second half where you have the lead, everything is going to matter and we gave up too many tonight.
Indiana Players - Armaan Franklin and Trayce Jackson-Davis
Q. On the slow start…
FRANKLIN: I felt like we had a lot of energy coming into it. I think we played hard It is just a tough thing. A lot of things did not go our way, but we have just got to fight through it and prepare for the next one.
JACKSON-DAVIS: Basically, just what he said. I thought we were ready to play. During warmups we were amped up. I though in the first few wars we were good and then on the defensive end we let them get some easy buckets and so that hurt us. But I thought overall in the second half we regrouped and played hard but they, obviously that run at the end got us.
Q. On improving play at the start of the game…
JACKSON-DAVIS: Yeah, obviously it is really tough to play with no fans, but I think still the bench was a big role, they were still amping us up a little bit. At the same time, I thought that I came out sluggish and I was getting frustrated. I let me emotions get the best of me early in the game.
Q. On struggling defensively…
FRANKLIN: I mean give them credit. The biggest thing is they made shots down the stretch. I think they went on a nice little run at the end of the game and we did not execute our defense to the best of our ability. I think that played a major part towards the end.
JACKSON-DAVIS: Yeah I thought our execution there at the end of the game, we took the lead with over five minutes left but down the stretch after that I thought we were sloppy. You do that against a good team, you get beat. So, that's what happened.
Northwestern Head Coach Chris Collins
COLLINS: Good to see everybody, Happy Holidays. Our Christmas just got a little bit happier after that game, but just could not be more proud of our guys. We were really ready to play. I think our guys were determined coming into this game. After the Michigan State game and all of the talk about a huge upset and all of those kinds of things, I think our guy were determined to not make that a one-time thing. It was really important to them to show that we can be competitive in this league this year. And so we had great preparation. I thought we did a great job of moving on to the next game after Michigan State, which is not easy guys. I mean granted, these are guys that took a lot of crap last year and me as coaches take a lot of crap when things are not going well, and rightfully so. And then all of a sudden you have a big win and you get a lot of praise, which you are not use to and then you have go to bounce back two days later and you have got to come to Bloomington an play in Assembly Hall against a terrific Indiana team. I thought we got off to a great start. We were really executing and defending, and then Robbie goes down, and you couple that with Chase getting two quick fouls, Ryan Young being in foul trouble in the first half, Pete being in foul trouble in the first half being down a big body. We really had to manage a lot of things for a big chunk for the game and I was really proud of the guys for the way we ended the half being up nine with all of those things happening. Indiana like a good team does, they came out, they put a huge run together to start the second half and we lost the lead, and quite frankly guys like these guys last year or the guys that have been year a couple years, we probably would not have responded after that run. But these guys are different. They have grown up. They are tough. They believe. They are confident, and the huddles were great. They just kept saying that we are going to be okay. They made their run now let's make our run back, and we finally got some stops. Then the Chase Audige explosion happened. That was awesome, and I am really happy for him as a guy that has had to sit out for a year and not play, and just be so anxious to play on this stage. That last whatever they told me, 17 points in three minutes, it is great to have a closer like that. But against man it is winning by committee. The other night it was Boo and Pete. Tonight, we had great contribution from Ryan Young. Miller was great. Obviously, Chase at the end of the game, and so that is what we feel. We feel that we have a lot of guys that can step up and play on a given night and there are no bad attitudes about that. Whoever's got it going, whatever that works, we are going to go with that because guys just want to win. So it was a great win and obviously another quick turnaround coming back on Saturday against a terrific Ohio State team. So, I am open for questions.
Q. On pulling out this win down the stretch…
COLLINS: I just think confidence and belief. All of our huddles and timeouts, even when Indiana hit us with that push and they took the lead and things were not going well. We had some turnovers and they ran out and got some dunks and layups, we just got together and said hey let's get a basket here, let's get some stops, let's get the game back in our favor. And whenever you can win games like this against terrific teams especially on the road you are going to get confidence. It is just like the other way. When you lose some of those that is going to be on your mind, but when you break through, and you make plays, and you do not turn it over and you make free throws and you get stops in the last two minutes, those are things that can be really big confidence boosters for our team. And I hopefully so, because in this Big Ten there are going to be a ton of close games and if you want to be in them, you are going to have to have to win some of those. More than some.
Q. On anything since the Pitt game resulting in this confidence…
COLLINS: I just think since the Pitt game, there was a lot of anger out of our guys after that game. When you lead a game for 39:55 and you make multiple critical mistakes, coaching, playing all of those things and you walk out of there and all of a sudden you walk out of there, you are like what just happened. What I saw from the reaction from our guys was not sadness, it was anger and I liked that. They felt that should have won that game. We did not, we watched film, we talked about it. We talked about how we need to close at the end of the game, especially with the lead at both ends, and we have now at the in these last two games done a really good job as teams have made runs on us, you know we have done a very good job. And these guys deserve a lot of credit for that because all they hear all of the time is how they cannot close, and how they cannot finish games and they are coming out and they want to change the narrative, and it is all on them. It is great about them. They have taken ownership of this thing. They want to be good and they do not care who scores, they just want to win and that is what is fun as a coach to see that.
Postgame Quotes
Dec. 23, 2020
Indiana Head Coach Archie Miller
Opening Statement
Give Northwestern credit. They are a good team. They are playing really well and really together. They are very well connected, you can tell through the course of the game and hearing their players talk on the floor. They are an impressive group. I'm disappointed for our guys, but at the same time we didn't play well enough to win today and that is on me. We have to do a better job obviously preparing and getting ready to play. We are making the same mistakes over and over sometimes in terms of taking care of the ball, which really hurt us tonight. For the first time all season probably in eight games our defense did not do the job for us tonight either. Part of it was turning the ball over really hurt, especially in the first half, they got a lead. We didn't handle the zone at all in the first half. In the second half we started much better and got ourselves right back in contention to play to win the game and have a lead. There with about eight minutes, seven minutes, six minutes, I thought Northwestern just kept coming. They kept executing. I thought we got fatigued and had some bad possessions and they took advantage of it. I give Audige a lot of credit. In the first half he was taken out with fouls, but in the second half he was a confident guy. He came in a made some really big plays for them and some big shots. Again, credit to Northwestern, they are a good team. I'm disappointed for our guys and how we played because I don't think this team embraces playing that way. I think we have shown that we play hard and play together, but tonight for some odd reason we were just off balance and Northwestern had a little bit to do with it. I also think we didn't do a very good job on our end.
Q. On Rob Phinisee and Aljami Durham…
"Al and Rob, obviously if you look at the line they didn't have their best days today. Those guys are much better players than they played tonight. We need them to be better and I know they will be. Both guys care and they work hard, but we got to get them straightened out a little bit because their experience level and the knowledge of knowing what is coming down the stretch and how you have to play and at what level you have to play to be successful. Both of them play a vital role in what we are doing and any team that has their two starting guards not play very well, that is going to hurt. We had a number of guys that didn't get the job done tonight in some areas. Again, I'm going to take full blame for our lack of improvement in the last few weeks in taking care of the ball. It is getting to a level where you are not going to win in this league if you don't take care of the ball. First half turnovers, really silly, killed us, led to a lot of points. In the second half, our transition defense, having to get back off of some tough plays didn't go well. I'm just going to be honest with you. This is probably of all the games, even the Texas game, we didn't play well in that game at all, but we played hard. I watched the film, and looked at the numbers, did we do what we were supposed to do. We played hard, we just didn't play well on offense, we stunk that day. Today I thought we stunk on both end of the floor. There were a lot of breakdowns, a lot of sloppiness and it got us beat."
Q. Talk about getting beat on dribble drives…
MILLER: No question the biggest point in the game was being able to guard one on one. They space you. They have great shooting but at the end of the day our team has guarded a lot of teams this year and we were able to hold our own off the dribble. Our team is built that way and we have done a pretty good job of it all season long. When you look at their field goal percentage from two tonight, I think they were 21 for 31 from two-point range and that is not very good in this league. No question about it, the single most important break down we had tonight, from the start of the game to the end, was we were not able to guard the bounce consistently like we have been. We were spread out and our defense was not as tight as it usually is. They had a lot of opportunities to challenge the rim. To be honest with you, we were not blocking them tonight. No question about it. We did not guard the ball.
Q. What did you see that lead to the spark in the second half…
MILLER: I thought we got into a good rhythm to start the second half. Our defense created some loose ones and we got some easy runouts. I think at the midpoint in the second half, even as we got some stops, their post trap caused at least two turnovers which were tough to handle. We had some empty possessions where we were getting stops. If you were to ask me, at the end of the day, the game came down to execution, being strong, and being smarter with the ball. We had some bad possessions where we did not take care of the ball when we had the lead. We got the lead with about nine minutes to go. We were up four and at that point we felt pretty good that we were going to be able to hang in there but I thought we got fatigued as well. I thought the group that played tonight, especially in the second half, Trayce Jackson-Davis had 35 minutes, Race Thompson played a heavy dose in the second half, Armaan Franklin played 36, Aljami Durham had 35, I feel like fatigued played a factor. We are going to have to bite the bullet here and we are going to have to get a little deeper, play more guys to be able to sustain the depth that we are going to need throughout the season defensively. We had some offensive possessions that showed, like finishes around the basket, shot selections, that did not look good. Bottom line is that we are going to have to find a way to keep getting better. We have a quick turnaround. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and we will be practicing at nine in the morning and then on a bus to Champaign on Christmas day. We do not have a lot of time to fix things so we have to get back up and get ready to go.
Q. What more can you do to address turnovers…
MILLER: It is coming from a lot of different guys. I do not think it is just one guy doing the wrong thing. I think we have a slew of inopportune plays that we are trying to stay away from. I think as we continue to watch the film a lot of it is going to come down to being smarter when we are in transition, moving the ball, and trusting when you move it a lot of big things are going to happen. Trayce is an unbelievable post passer and he has had really zero problems handling doubles. We had a couple tough turnovers out of the double team tonight. We are too sloppy right now. We have too many plays that are not going to work for us moving forward in this league. We cannot turn the ball over 16 times at home. We cannot turn the ball over 15 times. There are five or six a game right now that have to get trimmed back. Maybe we need to slow it down. We are not playing that many guys anyway and if we keep turning the ball over in transition with numbers then maybe we just have to slow it down a little bit to make sure we do not turn it over. I know the turnovers are really hard to defend on the other end, especially against the teams in this league, they convert. Just like us if we get a steal, we get some numbers and it is hard to guard us. I would say our biggest problem as team here in the last week or so is that we have had some tough turnovers that are really hurting us. Tonight, we had really tough turnovers. When you are in a dog fight like that in the second half where you have the lead, everything is going to matter and we gave up too many tonight.
Indiana Players - Armaan Franklin and Trayce Jackson-Davis
Q. On the slow start…
FRANKLIN: I felt like we had a lot of energy coming into it. I think we played hard It is just a tough thing. A lot of things did not go our way, but we have just got to fight through it and prepare for the next one.
JACKSON-DAVIS: Basically, just what he said. I thought we were ready to play. During warmups we were amped up. I though in the first few wars we were good and then on the defensive end we let them get some easy buckets and so that hurt us. But I thought overall in the second half we regrouped and played hard but they, obviously that run at the end got us.
Q. On improving play at the start of the game…
JACKSON-DAVIS: Yeah, obviously it is really tough to play with no fans, but I think still the bench was a big role, they were still amping us up a little bit. At the same time, I thought that I came out sluggish and I was getting frustrated. I let me emotions get the best of me early in the game.
Q. On struggling defensively…
FRANKLIN: I mean give them credit. The biggest thing is they made shots down the stretch. I think they went on a nice little run at the end of the game and we did not execute our defense to the best of our ability. I think that played a major part towards the end.
JACKSON-DAVIS: Yeah I thought our execution there at the end of the game, we took the lead with over five minutes left but down the stretch after that I thought we were sloppy. You do that against a good team, you get beat. So, that's what happened.
Northwestern Head Coach Chris Collins
COLLINS: Good to see everybody, Happy Holidays. Our Christmas just got a little bit happier after that game, but just could not be more proud of our guys. We were really ready to play. I think our guys were determined coming into this game. After the Michigan State game and all of the talk about a huge upset and all of those kinds of things, I think our guy were determined to not make that a one-time thing. It was really important to them to show that we can be competitive in this league this year. And so we had great preparation. I thought we did a great job of moving on to the next game after Michigan State, which is not easy guys. I mean granted, these are guys that took a lot of crap last year and me as coaches take a lot of crap when things are not going well, and rightfully so. And then all of a sudden you have a big win and you get a lot of praise, which you are not use to and then you have go to bounce back two days later and you have got to come to Bloomington an play in Assembly Hall against a terrific Indiana team. I thought we got off to a great start. We were really executing and defending, and then Robbie goes down, and you couple that with Chase getting two quick fouls, Ryan Young being in foul trouble in the first half, Pete being in foul trouble in the first half being down a big body. We really had to manage a lot of things for a big chunk for the game and I was really proud of the guys for the way we ended the half being up nine with all of those things happening. Indiana like a good team does, they came out, they put a huge run together to start the second half and we lost the lead, and quite frankly guys like these guys last year or the guys that have been year a couple years, we probably would not have responded after that run. But these guys are different. They have grown up. They are tough. They believe. They are confident, and the huddles were great. They just kept saying that we are going to be okay. They made their run now let's make our run back, and we finally got some stops. Then the Chase Audige explosion happened. That was awesome, and I am really happy for him as a guy that has had to sit out for a year and not play, and just be so anxious to play on this stage. That last whatever they told me, 17 points in three minutes, it is great to have a closer like that. But against man it is winning by committee. The other night it was Boo and Pete. Tonight, we had great contribution from Ryan Young. Miller was great. Obviously, Chase at the end of the game, and so that is what we feel. We feel that we have a lot of guys that can step up and play on a given night and there are no bad attitudes about that. Whoever's got it going, whatever that works, we are going to go with that because guys just want to win. So it was a great win and obviously another quick turnaround coming back on Saturday against a terrific Ohio State team. So, I am open for questions.
Q. On pulling out this win down the stretch…
COLLINS: I just think confidence and belief. All of our huddles and timeouts, even when Indiana hit us with that push and they took the lead and things were not going well. We had some turnovers and they ran out and got some dunks and layups, we just got together and said hey let's get a basket here, let's get some stops, let's get the game back in our favor. And whenever you can win games like this against terrific teams especially on the road you are going to get confidence. It is just like the other way. When you lose some of those that is going to be on your mind, but when you break through, and you make plays, and you do not turn it over and you make free throws and you get stops in the last two minutes, those are things that can be really big confidence boosters for our team. And I hopefully so, because in this Big Ten there are going to be a ton of close games and if you want to be in them, you are going to have to have to win some of those. More than some.
Q. On anything since the Pitt game resulting in this confidence…
COLLINS: I just think since the Pitt game, there was a lot of anger out of our guys after that game. When you lead a game for 39:55 and you make multiple critical mistakes, coaching, playing all of those things and you walk out of there and all of a sudden you walk out of there, you are like what just happened. What I saw from the reaction from our guys was not sadness, it was anger and I liked that. They felt that should have won that game. We did not, we watched film, we talked about it. We talked about how we need to close at the end of the game, especially with the lead at both ends, and we have now at the in these last two games done a really good job as teams have made runs on us, you know we have done a very good job. And these guys deserve a lot of credit for that because all they hear all of the time is how they cannot close, and how they cannot finish games and they are coming out and they want to change the narrative, and it is all on them. It is great about them. They have taken ownership of this thing. They want to be good and they do not care who scores, they just want to win and that is what is fun as a coach to see that.
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