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INDIANA UNIVERSITY BASKETBALL MEDIA CONFERENCEDecember 4, 2017Collin HartmanJuwan MorganBloomington, Indiana Indiana - 77, Iowa - 64 Q. I guess for either of you, can you walk us through maybe the differences that you could see in real time between the way Iowa started that first half and maybe the way you were able to take them out of it; I think you put together something like a 18-4 run, after they got it within one point. What was different? COLLIN HARTMAN: I think it was mindset. I think having five games in three days is a mindset. I think coming out at halftime is a mindset. It's you don't have a lot of physical time to prepare, change much. You just can change your mentality. So I think that's the biggest thing, that we had that little lull there and we came in and changed our mindset after the timeout and got them back rolling. JUWAN MORGAN: Three games in five days. COLLIN HARTMAN: Whatever. You know what I meant. We had a quick turnaround. Q. With the two runs you each had in each half, is there something you said, too, about the way you guys played defensively, just lock in on that end of the court? JUWAN MORGAN: I think we bought into what we had had to do to pull the win out. I think it was five guys out there playing for each other. I think that's what you saw tonight when those runs were happening. We're at our best when we're in best transition. And (indiscernible) get stops, and I think we pulled those out. Q. Can you talk about that Devonte hit the three to (indiscernible) tie in the first half, and then (inaudible), then he had -- COLLIN HARTMAN: That's what he does. Q. -- talk about his play a little bit in the key run when you guys were up? COLLIN HARTMAN: Devonte is a spark plug. That's what I can tell you. He's very explosive and he can do some crazy things and just kind of makes you look at it kind of weird. But he's explosive and he can really help us when he's playing simple and playing solid basketball, as you can see. So we love that when we get it out of him and we need that moving forward. Q. Juwan, it's your second double-double in six games and fifth game in double figures. Are you trying to be more assertive on offense? JUWAN MORGAN: I guess you could say that. Not so much as forcing, trying to create things off the dribble or anything, but it's just getting other teammates open. And if they're getting open looks -- although I know they think it's going in, I always think it's a miss -- and just getting on the glass, things like that, create all the opportunities for me. Q. You're one of the better teams in the country at getting to the free-throw line. I imagine you want to be shooting a little bit better there. But I think you finished plus 11 there tonight and plus 16 in attempts. What's helping, I guess, you guys get fouled so much? JUWAN MORGAN: Just attacking the offensive board. That's where a lot of fouls come from. Just getting in the right position and making them have to grab you and keep you off the glass. And also just setting good screens. When you're setting good screens people are just trying to fight through and knocking you off the course and the refs are calling those fouls. And I think it's just being in the right place at the right time. Q. To go along with that, De'Ron had a pretty good stroke at the line last year. I think he shot like 75 percent on free throws. But obviously struggling right now. At what point does it become mental, and how do you get past it as a player? COLLIN HARTMAN: That's all it is -- repetition and just not thinking about it, just shooting the ball. He's not a bad free throw shooter. He can make them in practice and stuff. I think he just -- you gotta keep working at it and just keep his mindset. And he's thinking about it too much and just step up to the line and knock it down. Q. You mentioned calling that timeout early in the second half after they were on that run. What was the message, I guess, at that point in the game from coach? COLLIN HARTMAN: Just that we weren't playing hard. We came out and had a mental lapse. And just thought that since we were up we kind of relaxed. And at this level in the Big Ten you can't relax because you can lose that lead as you saw in a blink of an eye. I think it was just a mental lapse. And we just weren't playing hard. We weren't playing Indiana basketball and we weren't playing for each other. So just relocking in and having the will to play for each other, really, got us refocused and towards the way we were playing at the end of the first half. Q. Juwan, how was De'Ron's (inaudible) the game, all that stuff? JUWAN MORGAN: I think those go hand in hand. When his body changes, his game changed. He's able to more fluidly. As you can see, when he's -- he's a player for a longer stretches when he's not fouling, and the move he has on the block are just second to none in my opinion, except probably me. (Laughter). But, yeah, he's just incredible once he gets the ball on the block and he makes plays for others and I think it's just great when he's killing like that. Q. Collin, on Juwan, what do you feel he's a lot better at this year than maybe he was last year that's helping him with the double-doubles and things we see him doing? COLLIN HARTMAN: I think he's playing with a lot more confidence. And he's relentless on the boards. When you play with that confidence and you're relentless, it's hard to deny. He's obviously a great athlete to start. When you add the hustle and the mentality to the athleticism, it's tough to stop, it really is. And I think that's the biggest thing is his mentality and being relentless. Q. Collin, two games in a row you played (indiscernible) minutes and (indiscernible) tonight. Are you ready for it? Are you comfortable playing that many minutes and ready to go full swing? COLLIN HARTMAN: Yeah, just trying to day-by-day, that's kind of how I'm taking it right now and staying with the doctors and Tim Garl and just doing rehab and prehab just so nothing else happens. It's a never ending grind but it's part of the job, part of playing basketball, and it's fun because I get more playing time staying healthy. Q. I know no one asked you if you wanted to do it or not, but two Big Ten games in the first nine, now that you've done it, what were your thoughts on that? JUWAN MORGAN: It was kind of weird, really. But just being able to -- I think it's also helpful getting that type of physicality and toughness, especially going on the road in the first game. I think that just really helps having that kind of gut check in the middle of the season to see where you're at. I think that's a really good thing. Q. I know you guys -- winning always helps, you seem a lot looser tonight just sitting in here, seem a lot more relaxed. Is that because you're getting more accustomed to the play (inaudible) Archie is looking for and things are coming around? COLLIN HARTMAN: Yeah, like you said, everything is better when you win. But I think we are coming together as a team, learning from film sessions. And the quick turnaround is more mental. So just seeing the film and seeing what we can get better at is always good. And I think a lot of guys are buying in and part of that is a lot of the older guys like Rob and Josh and J-Mo and myself and even the young guys, Al, really buying in and pushing forward. Q. Collin, people talked about that timeout early in the second half, they had that run, but do you feel like this team as a whole maybe can see the problems that it needs to fix in real time maybe in a way it couldn't even just a couple weeks ago, particularly on defense? COLLIN HARTMAN: Yeah. And I think that we can always get better at fixing things on the fly, finding out when we're not playing hard and even when there's a dead ball like a foul or anything where there isn't a timeout, huddling up and getting them together and say, look, we're playing terrible right now -- lock in, fix this, this and this and we're good or just fix this and we're good. So it's just being able to adjust and that will come with maturity and playing more games in the Big Ten. We'll learn how to adjust on the fly and really shorten those runs that other teams have, because there's always going to be runs; you just gotta be able to make them as short as possible. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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