Saturday, November 27
Bloomington, Ind.
7:00 PM
Indiana University
vs
Marshall
Woodson Pushes Point Guards to Push the Hoosiers
11/27/2021 2:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
By Pete DiPrimio
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana will go as far as its point guards will take it.
Coach Mike Woodson preaches it. Xavier Johnson, Rob Phinisee and Khristian Lander buy into it.
The Hoosiers (5-0), who face Marshall (4-1) Saturday night in the finale of the Hoosier Classic, need guards to be aggressive and controlled, and if that seems a contradiction, well, nobody said playing point guard was easy.
Especially under Woodson.
"I've always thought a good or great point guard has got to be able to run offense," Woodson says. "He's got to know who needs the ball. If Trayce (Jackson-Davis) has got it going, the point guard has got to find ways to get him the ball. It's the same with Race (Thompson).
"If a guy hasn't had a shot in a while, the point guard needs to know, 'Hey, I've got to get this guy a shot.' That's what great point guards do.
"And then he has to defend. I don't let him off the hook there, either."
Woodson's point-guard philosophy comes from nearly a quarter century of NBA coaching.
"I'm demanding when it comes to point guards," he says. "They probably played for coaches that didn't push them as hard as I'm pushing, but I expect more and I'm going to keep coaching them that way."
Johnson, a transfer from Pitt, is fine with that. He averages 10.2 points (second on the team to Jackson-Davis' 16.0) with a team-leading 16 assists and a team-leading 13 turnovers.
As far as playing aggressive and controlled, he says, "A lot of film goes into that. I try to slow down and speed up, recognize numbers."
During Tuesday's win over Jackson State, Johnson had 14 points, seven rebounds, three assists and one turnover. He made 5 of 6 shots.
"I took advantage of that," he says about playing with controlled aggression. "I was successful with it, so I'm just going to keep on getting better and better at doing that."
More and more, Lander is also getting better at it.
"I see a guard that's just come out of high school, he's a five-star recruit, he didn't play much last year, but honestly when I came here, I wanted to help him out and help him be a point guard," Johnson says. "I'm not the greatest point guard, but I've played against a lot of point guards and I'm just trying to put my competitiveness in him because I see a bright future in him."
Getting Jackson-Davis more offensively involved is a priority. The 6-9 All-America averages 10 shots a game while shooting 62.0 percent from the field. He only took seven shots against Jackson State's zone, made five of them, and totaled 11 points.
"He only had seven touches (against Jackson State)," Woodson says, "and a lot of that had to do with the zone.
"He's going to be trapped a lot this year. I mean, when he got it they trapped him. He made great passes out of the zone.
"Sometimes he's going to be able to beat the traps and sometimes he's got to sacrifice the ball for the sake of the team. That's just go offense is what I call it.
"When I look at the stat sheet and see that he only got seven shots, he's got to get more than that. So that's on me."
Woodson keeps pushing for better free throw shooting. Against Jackson State, it was fine except for Jordan Geronimo, who was 2-for-8 from the line. The rest of the Hoosiers were 14-for-18. As a team, they shoot 65.7 percent.
"We got to get (Geronimo) in the gym and we got to keep shooting them, man, because we're a better free throw shooting team than we're showing right now," Woodson says. "I don't like that category at all."
As far as IU's defense, attack the rim at your own risk. Jackson-Davis has a team-leading 18 blocks. Fellow forward Race Thompson has five blocks.
That's among the reasons why IU leads the nation in three-point percentage defense, at 28.4 percent, and leads the Big Ten in points allowed, at 52.8 points.
"It's nice for everybody on the perimeter knowing those two guys are back there protecting the paint, protecting the rim," forward Miller Kopp says. "Every shot is pretty much contested. It's hard to get lay-ups and make lay-ups against them. So it's good."
While Indiana's first five opponents will remind no one of, say, top-ranked Gonzaga and its nation-leading offense, that doesn't diminish its defensive accomplishments.
No one wants to try to score against the Hoosiers in the first half. They hold opponents to 21.6 percent shooting, 21.3 percent from three-point range and 19.4 points in the first 20 minutes while forcing 8.4 turnovers and blocking 4.8 shots.
IU has held opponents to 20 or fewer points in a half in four of its five games. It's held their first two Hoosier Classic opponents -- Louisiana and Jackson State -- to 39.5 points and 19.8 percent shootings.
Marshall also has beaten Louisiana and Jackson State in its first two Hoosier Classic games. It forced 28 turnovers in its 93-79 win over Louisiana.
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana will go as far as its point guards will take it.
Coach Mike Woodson preaches it. Xavier Johnson, Rob Phinisee and Khristian Lander buy into it.
The Hoosiers (5-0), who face Marshall (4-1) Saturday night in the finale of the Hoosier Classic, need guards to be aggressive and controlled, and if that seems a contradiction, well, nobody said playing point guard was easy.
Especially under Woodson.
"I've always thought a good or great point guard has got to be able to run offense," Woodson says. "He's got to know who needs the ball. If Trayce (Jackson-Davis) has got it going, the point guard has got to find ways to get him the ball. It's the same with Race (Thompson).
"If a guy hasn't had a shot in a while, the point guard needs to know, 'Hey, I've got to get this guy a shot.' That's what great point guards do.
"And then he has to defend. I don't let him off the hook there, either."
Woodson's point-guard philosophy comes from nearly a quarter century of NBA coaching.
"I'm demanding when it comes to point guards," he says. "They probably played for coaches that didn't push them as hard as I'm pushing, but I expect more and I'm going to keep coaching them that way."
Johnson, a transfer from Pitt, is fine with that. He averages 10.2 points (second on the team to Jackson-Davis' 16.0) with a team-leading 16 assists and a team-leading 13 turnovers.
As far as playing aggressive and controlled, he says, "A lot of film goes into that. I try to slow down and speed up, recognize numbers."
During Tuesday's win over Jackson State, Johnson had 14 points, seven rebounds, three assists and one turnover. He made 5 of 6 shots.
"I took advantage of that," he says about playing with controlled aggression. "I was successful with it, so I'm just going to keep on getting better and better at doing that."
More and more, Lander is also getting better at it.
"I see a guard that's just come out of high school, he's a five-star recruit, he didn't play much last year, but honestly when I came here, I wanted to help him out and help him be a point guard," Johnson says. "I'm not the greatest point guard, but I've played against a lot of point guards and I'm just trying to put my competitiveness in him because I see a bright future in him."
Getting Jackson-Davis more offensively involved is a priority. The 6-9 All-America averages 10 shots a game while shooting 62.0 percent from the field. He only took seven shots against Jackson State's zone, made five of them, and totaled 11 points.
"He only had seven touches (against Jackson State)," Woodson says, "and a lot of that had to do with the zone.
"He's going to be trapped a lot this year. I mean, when he got it they trapped him. He made great passes out of the zone.
"Sometimes he's going to be able to beat the traps and sometimes he's got to sacrifice the ball for the sake of the team. That's just go offense is what I call it.
"When I look at the stat sheet and see that he only got seven shots, he's got to get more than that. So that's on me."
Woodson keeps pushing for better free throw shooting. Against Jackson State, it was fine except for Jordan Geronimo, who was 2-for-8 from the line. The rest of the Hoosiers were 14-for-18. As a team, they shoot 65.7 percent.
"We got to get (Geronimo) in the gym and we got to keep shooting them, man, because we're a better free throw shooting team than we're showing right now," Woodson says. "I don't like that category at all."
As far as IU's defense, attack the rim at your own risk. Jackson-Davis has a team-leading 18 blocks. Fellow forward Race Thompson has five blocks.
That's among the reasons why IU leads the nation in three-point percentage defense, at 28.4 percent, and leads the Big Ten in points allowed, at 52.8 points.
"It's nice for everybody on the perimeter knowing those two guys are back there protecting the paint, protecting the rim," forward Miller Kopp says. "Every shot is pretty much contested. It's hard to get lay-ups and make lay-ups against them. So it's good."
While Indiana's first five opponents will remind no one of, say, top-ranked Gonzaga and its nation-leading offense, that doesn't diminish its defensive accomplishments.
No one wants to try to score against the Hoosiers in the first half. They hold opponents to 21.6 percent shooting, 21.3 percent from three-point range and 19.4 points in the first 20 minutes while forcing 8.4 turnovers and blocking 4.8 shots.
IU has held opponents to 20 or fewer points in a half in four of its five games. It's held their first two Hoosier Classic opponents -- Louisiana and Jackson State -- to 39.5 points and 19.8 percent shootings.
Marshall also has beaten Louisiana and Jackson State in its first two Hoosier Classic games. It forced 28 turnovers in its 93-79 win over Louisiana.
Players Mentioned
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