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INDIANA UNIVERSITY BASKETBALL MEDIA CONFERENCEJanuary 25, 2019Juwan MorganAljami DurhamBloomington, Indiana Michigan - 69, Indiana - 46 Q. Juwan, it's a blunt question for you, but what do you guys want out of the season at this point? JUWAN MORGAN: Um, like I said at the beginning of the season, we're looking for a postseason this year. We're not really looking for anything else. We're not selling ourselves short. I know there's a talented group in that room. I'm still -- I'm not giving up on any of the guys, they're not giving up on me, and that's what it is. Q. You've talked a lot about leadership and wanting to be the guy that's sort of sending the message both with your actions and your words. I know you try to keep stuff said in the locker room in the locker room, but as much as you're willing to share, what do you say right now to these guys as the senior, as the guy that wants to be that leader? JUWAN MORGAN: A little bit just what I just said. I've got Al's back, Al has mine, and so forth down the line. We have each other's back; we need to show that. We just can't keep taking punches. We can't just keep laying down whenever we do get punched. We have to be able to fight. I just keep telling the guys that whenever you get hit, you can't just give up. You've got to -- if one guy is fighting, all five of us are fighting, and that needs to be the way it's going from here on out. Q. Just your thoughts or explanations; you guys missed your first 10 shots, fell behind 17-0, it's now three out of four games you've failed to score 60. What seems to be the issue with the offense? ALJAMI DURHAM: I feel like there's no issue with the offense. I just feel like we've just got to come out better, with better enthusiasm and let our defense start us off instead of just worrying about the offensive side, let our defense start it up for us. Q. You guys have had slow starts all season, but tonight kind of with your backs against the wall you come out and they go up 17-0. Any explanation as to why maybe the slow starts have been the recurring theme? JUWAN MORGAN: It's just we have to be able to fight. I don't think any guy wants to start off slow. I don't think any guy is not ready. It's just a matter of people getting inside their own heads, and I think that's where the camaraderie amongst the five on the court needs to kick in, and even if they're missing shots, we can't let that affect our teammates' effort and energy. Those are two things you just can't teach. That's just something you always have to have. I think we're getting beat on those more so than just letting people make shots. Q. How difficult was it to run your offense with no shot clock in the first half? JUWAN MORGAN: I mean, it didn't really affect us. I think we just -- once a couple shots didn't go in, I think everybody was just like, dang, shots are not falling, and they just kind of like sloughed back on defense, and I think we just can't have that. Again, like I said, that's just energy and effort. Q. Juwan, Archie said on postgame radio, "this is embarrassing," in his words. How would you phrase it as a player who went through it? JUWAN MORGAN: I would say it's embarrassing. You know, in my mind I don't think any team is 23 points better than us. I think we have a lot more fight in us than that. I think there's a lot of talent in that room. I'm angry about it. I know every guy in that room is. I saw the looks on their faces. I know how to read the room. Nobody is happy about that. Everybody is embarrassed. It's just not us, but you have to -- I guess you have to swallow a pill with a grain of salt. You just have to be ready to move forward and get better from it. I don't think we did really anything great in that game, as we let them get to their spots, we let them make them their shots, we didn't make them uncomfortable. But again, I think we need to come out as an angrier group from the get-go and just let our defense dictate our offense. Q. I wanted to go back to what you said there. You said you feel like you've got to come out as an angrier group? JUWAN MORGAN: Yeah, you know, coming out on fire, not really coming out soft, just being ready to go, ready to throw the first punch instead of always taking the first punch and then claw back from those. Q. How much fatigue are you dealing with personally? It definitely seems like obviously you still got doubled up again tonight, but it seems like this year is starting to wear on you a little bit. Do you feel that physically? JUWAN MORGAN: I mean, basketball is a hard game. I'll never, ever give up on my brothers out there. I'll give everything I have until I drop. That's just who I am, and I feel like they'd do the same thing for me, and I just have to -- I know some guys are different than others as far as how to talk to them and how to get it through their heads, and that's just something that we just have to figure out, and I have to pull that out of everybody. Q. It seems like teams are maybe defending you guys a bit more differently now, packing the paint, allowing some more spacing on the outside. You guys had some open jump shots. When you're not making those open jump shots from the outside from three-point range, how much more difficult does it make it for the offense to get into a rhythm and a flow during the game? ALJAMI DURHAM: I feel like we should be able to -- I mean, it doesn't make it difficult, it's just like something we work on in practice, so I feel like we're putting the reps in and I feel like these guys are going to knock them down sooner or later. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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