|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
INDIANA UNIVERSITY BASKETBALL MEDIA CONFERENCESeptember 26, 2018Juwan MorganRomeo LangfordBloomington, Indiana JUWAN MORGAN: Just going from the spring on, we put up a lot of shots, did a lot of work in the off-season, just working on our bodies, working on our game, and I think it goes for everybody that everybody is just significantly better than what we finished off at, and I think that's a good thing for us going forward with the momentum into the season, and I think it's important to get that started early. Q. Juwan, if you don't mind, what does Romeo look like? What kind of player, team has he been two, three months into this thing? JUWAN MORGAN: He's been a great teammate, just not what is usually portrayed of a five-star going in, being pretty much like a savior of a team or anything like that. But he's just a real down-to-earth guy. He's always making the extra pass. We all know he can score, and he shows that ability, but he also is able to see passes and plays before it even happens, and I think that is just something that you build over time, and I think he's really put in the extra work. As good as he is, he's only getting better. Q. Romeo, through high school you've come through a lot of pressure situations, but now you come to Indiana as one of the most talented freshmen since Damon Bailey. How is it coming in here with all that pressure on your shoulders? What do you do to let that go and just play your game? ROMEO LANGFORD: I really don't feel pressure. I'm just coming here to play basketball and do my job, and that's all I'm focusing on, having a successful season with my teammates. Q. Juwan, not just with Romeo but the incoming players as a group, what have been your impressions of them so far and the energy they've brought to the program? JUWAN MORGAN: I think just first off their willingness to learn and get better. I think for the previous classes they kind of was a little timid coming in, didn't really want to ask questions, but they're not afraid to ask questions, and they'll do things wrong, but they'll do it going as hard as they can, and I think that's just a good -- pretty much good mentality to have, especially on the defensive end. If you're just going hard sometimes, just going hard will be the right play to do. Q. Romeo, we were talking to Coach, and he was just talking about your style of leadership and how you didn't come in here acting like you were going to run the show, you didn't come in here acting like you were the star of everything. Is that kind of your way of leading, leading more by example, what you do on the court, than acting like you're the big man on campus? ROMEO LANGFORD: Yeah, that's just who I am, like on and off the court I'm not the most vocal person on the team. But I like to lead by example, and coming as a freshman, I knew that there was seniors, and they know a little bit more than me -- well, they obviously know more than me because of being watched for a year, so really Juwan, Devonte, and Zach, the upperclassmen. Q. Do you feel any kind of need to talk to them about what it means to be at Indiana, the attention, the focus, obviously just kind of the breadth of what Indiana basketball is, or do you think that's something they all kind of figure out themselves? JUWAN MORGAN: I think it's a little bit of both. I think they all know what they got themselves into, but at the same time, it doesn't hurt to tell them exactly what's expected of them, and I think going forward, just saying those things, making it plain and cut, just doing those things for them, I think it will just make everything on the team easier. Q. Juwan, what are some things that you learned from the NBA people, and how do you plan to apply those things both this previous off-season and now during the season? JUWAN MORGAN: The main thing I learned is just not to listen to everything they say and not try to do exactly what they say but still stick to what I've been doing. But just try and add a few other things to it, and then also changing my body. That was a big thing that each place had told me, and I think I took the steps as far as doing those things correctly. Q. Have you lost weight? JUWAN MORGAN: A little bit of both, I guess. Lost some fat, added some strength. A little bit of both. Q. Missing the tournament the last couple of years, going through the whole transition, how much do you expect winning this season? JUWAN MORGAN: I expect it a lot. Not even just saying -- just trying to be overly confident, but I think the work we've put in and just how hard we go at each other in practice, I just can't wait to see how it is when the person across from us isn't wearing the same colors. Q. Romeo, Coach said that you had added some weight since you've been here. How much of an emphasis was that for you before this first season to get a little bigger and stronger for what you're going to face? ROMEO LANGFORD: That was a big emphasis for me, just knowing -- playing in the Big Ten, there's big guards, so I've got to be ready from the first game to match up with them physically wise. Q. What did you do to try to make that happen? ROMEO LANGFORD: I just did what Coach Clif told me to do in the weight room. I've put on like 15 pounds since I've been here. Q. Romeo, this is so different for you being surrounded by guys about as big as you. What is that like for you on a daily basis to be with athletes like this as opposed to in high school? ROMEO LANGFORD: First it was something to get used to, playing with and playing against guys of my talent and my height and capabilities. It was kind of different, but now I'm kind of getting the hang of it, and it's kind of fun to be able to play with guys that can do the same things that I can do. Q. Juwan, how much easier is it for you to lead now that you've spent a year with Coach Miller and learned, for example, to get across what he wants defensively and whatnot? JUWAN MORGAN: I think it's a lot easier because last year we were all learning it. But there was really -- he was really the only teacher out there and the other coaches. But this year I think being a player-led team will be easier just because I know the system, I know what he expects, and I can express that to the younger guys in a different way than Coach Archie will. Q. Juwan, how will you challenge your teammates in practice, and what's it been like on days when you guys kind of really went at each other and it was like, okay, who's guarding me, let's go? JUWAN MORGAN: I just challenge them to be the best they can be every day, and whether I have to do that myself and tell them that they have to guard me personally or if I just guard them and I'm in them the whole practice, then I just think that will go from top to bottom. I think it'll be a domino effect and everybody will just want to bring it each and every day. Q. Romeo, what's it been like being on campus, just walking to class every day? How do people treat you on campus? ROMEO LANGFORD: They treat me like any other student. It's not as crazy and hectic as you would think, like being stopped going to class. I think I've probably been stopped maybe like once or twice this whole time since I've been going to class, but I'm enjoying myself on the campus and having a fun experience. Q. You're the two that I think a lot of fans are going to be looking at for the most production, sort of the most success this season. As a senior and a freshman, how do you deal with that, and do you talk to Romeo about any of that? JUWAN MORGAN: I would kind of say it's unspoken. I mean, we're both coming from a pretty much winning programs as far as high school goes, and then I think we've been -- we've both dealt with winning before, Romeo at the high school level, me with Yogi freshman year, and I just think walking in and being able to just be confident, without trying to sound too boastful or anything like that, I think that's just a big key. So I think going forward, I think just keeping each other's heads straight and then keeping everybody else's head level, too. Q. Romeo, what's been the biggest adjustment basketball wise that you've had to make? You mentioned that early on it was different getting used to playing against guys that were more athletic, stronger, but basketball-wise what's the biggest adjustment you've had to make so far? ROMEO LANGFORD: Biggest adjustments would probably be the speed of the game and also the terminology that coaches use to like say different cuts, different reads and stuff like that, so just the physicality, speed and terminology of the game. Q. Juwan, how much of a missing piece has Evan Fitzner been able to bring to this team? JUWAN MORGAN: What do you mean missing piece? Q. I mean, a good perimeter shooter, maybe three-point shooter that you guys didn't have? JUWAN MORGAN: I think it's going to be real good for us this year, especially we didn't really have -- we had shooters but we didn't shoot as efficiently as we could have, and I think Evan being 6'10" and being able to shoot that will open up a lot of opportunity for other players, and I think with that, he'll get even more shots from that. So I think it'll be good for us. Q. Romeo, Juwan kind of touched on it, the desire to win with this team, but for you, what are your realistic expectations maybe prematurely for this season, and what is it exactly that you do want to bring to Indiana with your presence here this year? ROMEO LANGFORD: My expectation is to win a National Championship. I don't go into any season just trying to win a couple games. I go in trying to win the whole entire championship. Really my expectation for myself for bringing to the team is just be whatever -- be the best I can be, and I feel like me doing that is going to help the team be successful down the road. Q. Juwan, when it's all said and done, what do you want your IU legacy to look like? JUWAN MORGAN: I haven't really thought about that. I just want to be remembered for just being a tough kid, being somebody that everybody wants on their team, that you never want to go against. Once we get in between those lines, you know exactly what you're going to get from me, and just a culture of winning here at IU. Q. Juwan, what does having a guy like Romeo who can handle the ball, shoot from the outside, what kind of elements does he bring to the offense that you didn't have last year, and Romeo, what do you feel you can bring to the offense that's different? ROMEO LANGFORD: It opens up a lot. I think just defenses having to key in on all those things that you just mentioned will open up things for say Devonte driving and kicking to Evan for a shot, Al driving, drawing the foul, anything like that. I just think the more that one person can bring and defenses have to key in on more things, the harder it is for them. ROMEO LANGFORD: I think just me being a scorer is going to open up a lot for my teammates like Juwan, Devonte, just open up driving lanes, and also they're going to open up shots for me just with the games they have. It's going to open up shots for me, too. But me being a scorer is going to open up a lot for others as well as myself. Q. Romeo, in practice when you have to guard Juwan or maybe you've seen other guys have to guard against him, what are like two or three things that really stand out that you say, okay, this guy is really good at A, B, C? ROMEO LANGFORD: Really he's probably one of the strongest people I know I went against. It may not look like it, but he's real strong, so just his physicality. And then his ability just to make broken plays look good, if that makes sense. I don't know if that makes sense or not, but just his ability just to make broken plays look good, and also his ability just to drive at his size and kick. Really his passing ability is probably one of his best aspects of his game is his passing, so those two things. Q. Juwan, you had some success last year playing at the center position, a small ball lineup a little bit. Have you been practicing that a lot this off-season, and do you think that's a lineup you guys kind of excel at? JUWAN MORGAN: I think at times we excel a lot at it. Especially when teams want to play fast, we're able to get up-and-down, and I wouldn't say I practice at it, I would just say that it's something that once De'Ron went out we kind of had to do it, and when you have to do something, you find a way to do it. I just think that's what it was, and whatever position I'm put in to have to do, I'll do it. Q. Romeo, Coach said it wasn't really about scoring 25 a night for you. It'll be more about winning games here in Bloomington. Is that easy for you to embrace, especially coming from high school where you had to score a bunch of points in order to win? ROMEO LANGFORD: Yeah, that's always been my mentality. I mean, I had to score points like that, but when I didn't score that many points, as long as we won, that's all that matters to me. It's not really about my individual performances. I know if I have a bad game, I'm going to be bad, but really all it boils down to is getting a win. Q. Romeo, you, of course, are a long-awaited prospect here at Indiana. What are your expectations for that first fan experience when you go out there on Saturday? ROMEO LANGFORD: I mean, I really don't know what to expect. I expect a lot of people to be there, but I'm really not going to know until the day of. Q. Juwan, could you tell us who of the guys coming back has impressed you most this summer based on their work ethic and how hard -- how much they've improved, and at the same time, of the freshmen outside of Romeo, who's impressed you the most? JUWAN MORGAN: Of the returners? I would say Al, Devonte -- Justin has just become more confident in his game, but I would say Al and Devonte for sure, just because Al is a lot more confident in his game, and he's added so many aspects to his game, and then Devonte has just become more under control and not making home run plays but making more singles than he has before. Then of the freshmen, I would say Rob has impressed me the most, just from his ability to read the game, especially adjusting to the pace of the game. He just pretty much got it as soon as he came in, and I think he'll get like more of the reads and terminology as we go on to say with all of them. But I think he's come the most far so far. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|