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INDIANA UNIVERSITY BASKETBALL MEDIA CONFERENCEDecember 7, 2018Aljami DurhamJuwan MorganBloomington, Indiana Q. Al, you've cleared improved your jump shot. Was it a long process, or how did -- just a lot of shots you got up over the summer? What's led to some improved numbers on the outside? ALJAMI DURHAM: Just confidence I would say, my teammates and coaches having confidence in me. The multiple reps we had over the summer and during like our year of practice, I mean, I feel like over the time, of course, it was just like basically confidence and multiple reps. Q. Juwan, you're passing out of the post a lot more often this season, and you've been really productive when you have. Are you seeing something differently? Are you able to read the floor a little bit territory ten years past? JUWAN MORGAN: I would say that I've always been able to do that. I just think that with the more deep team this year, you just have more options and teams have to respect what I did last year, and I think like Al said, with the confidence that all the other players have, they're just knocking down the shots and they're the ones making me look good; all I'm doing is throwing a simple chest pass. Q. Juwan, Archie was saying that when he looks at Al, he sees a veteran player despite him only being a sophomore. In what ways do you think that's true? In what ways is he a kid that plays maybe above his age level? JUWAN MORGAN: I just think, again, it goes to confidence. He played a lot of games last year, a lot of minutes, and I think this year he's just one of those guys that's been through it. He's been through the fire. He was with us when we were finally getting it to click, and he was there at the beginning of it when things were going bad. I just think once you go through those things, you should be considered a veteran. Q. Juwan, you guys played Louisville the last couple years, one that Coach Miller knows well. Different style, more back line, and a defense (indiscernible) they're a four out, one in. What have you seen on film that's maybe different compared to one of Coach Pitino's teams? JUWAN MORGAN: I would say that they're not as long as they were at the 4 and 5 position. Just I remember Ray and Enes just being down there, it was really hard to get rebounds, get lay-ups, anything, because they were just blocking machines down there. And we'd see that, they play a lot more just off screens, like just using the triple screen on the baseline. So we're just getting prepared for that. Q. Juwan, did playing with that shin guard on Tuesday kind of limit or affect you at all, and what percent would you say you're at? JUWAN MORGAN: I don't think it affected me at all, and I would say I'm at 100 percent. Q. Archie kind of mentioned how maybe last year there was a bit of awkwardness non-conference and having to jump back in in January. From you guys' perspective, is there anything maybe better this year or more comforting this year, knowing what to expect from jumping into conference play, then jumping back for five games? ALJAMI DURHAM: I mean, I felt like we go through it one year, and I feel like coming back this year, you get used to it and you know the things to expect coming into conference play, jumping out of it and coming back. Just going through it for one year you expect things and you try to explain things to the younger guys and try to put them into a situation where they know, as well. Q. Speaking of younger guys, Al, talk a little bit about what Rob Phinisee brought pretty much the whole second half at Penn State, but also the last play, to be alert on the switch, to know that he was going to have to get a shot up quickly to be able to strip the ball. ALJAMI DURHAM: Great instinct by him on that last play to step out and switch and get a hand on the pass, to get us a win out at Penn State, and I feel like Rob has done a great job running the team, and he's been doing a very good job, and he's just been very effective and very efficient, and I feel like he's been doing a great job for him being a freshman. Q. When the defense commits on that hard double, what's kind of your thought process as far as reading the floor? Is it as simple as seeing the open guy or are you surveying something deeper than that? JUWAN MORGAN: I would say I kind of go through a list of things as quick as I can. The first thing I think is can I attack either one that's coming at me, get to the outside, try to get a foul. The next thing I look for is cutters coming through because I know like Romeo, Zach, Justin, they're all great cutters. As good as they are on the ball and things like that, they are better cutters, and I look for those guys, and then the last thing I look for are shooters that whoever is -- I look for whoever's man came, I look for that guy and to be open for the shot. Q. How do you think Romeo -- we saw some step-back jumpers Tuesday night, those of us who watched him play a lot in high school saw that a lot. Do you see him getting more and more confident and more and more comfortable all the time? JUWAN MORGAN: Yeah, I definitely do. I just think we see it all the time. Every game I've just told him, you're a scorer, just do that. I'm like, don't try to get away from what got you here. I was like, although play within the offense, but if you know you can do it, just do it. I think you saw that on display the first half against Penn State where I think he was just more and more comfortable with every shot, and I think that's very dangerous for us going forward as a team because once people get comfortable on the offensive end you could be in for a long time. Q. Juwan, what challenges does Nwora present and do you see any similarities between the step forward he's taken this year and the steps forward you took last year? JUWAN MORGAN: He's just been real efficient. He's getting to his stops. He's a great player, and I just think it's going to be a team approach. I don't think it'll be like so simple as putting one guy on him and making sure that guy stops, and I think just being in gaps, making every catch, every shot, every pass tough for him, I just think doing those things will really help us pull out the win. I think there are some similarities. You know, he just really stuck to his script and waited for his time to come. Q. Juwan, you mentioned talking to Romeo, giving him a little bit of advice here and there. What kind of advice do you give Rob, if you do, and what do you tell him? JUWAN MORGAN: I tell Rob the same thing. Whenever he turns the ball over, he usually gets down on himself, and I tell him we need him. I think he has the best turnover -- assist-to-turnover ratio on the team. I just think he's the floor general right now. As much as I try to talk to him, there's only so much you can do from the post spots, and I always tell him that we need him each and every play, and it always starts with him. I tell him that on the defensive end and on the offensive end. Q. Juwan, Louisville has held forwards to under 15 points for the past three games. What do you think you need to do offensively to break that mold and that trend, to beat them inside at least? JUWAN MORGAN: I think the first thing I need to do is get the rest of my teammates open. I think getting them open will force their bigs to help and will open up opportunities for me in return. So I think just being an unselfish player will open up those opportunities to score inside. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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