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Indiana's Jerome Hunter flexes after a big basket during the Indiana versus Ohio State men's basketball game at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall Saturday, January 11, 2020. (Rich Janzaruk / Herald-Times)
Blood drops from the hand of Race Thompson during the Indiana versus Ohio State men's basketball game at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall Saturday, January 11, 2020. (Rich Janzaruk / Herald-Times)
Indiana men's basketball
Miller sees Big Ten play as a 'slugfest'
By Jon Blau The Herald-Times
Jon Blau
Numbers from around the Big Ten paint an ugly picture.
Purdue went to Illinois and mustered just 37 points. Michigan State visited Purdue and finished with 42. Penn State, in its own building, could only manage 49 versus Wisconsin.
"You are playing a different style of game right now, everybody knows how it's going to be played," Miller said Monday on his radio show. "And you have to answer the bell."
If a win over then-No. 11 Ohio State was one round for IU, the second -- a road trip to Rutgers -- won't be much easier. The Scarlet Knights are tied with the Buckeyes for the top scoring defense in the Big Ten, and they will play host to the Hoosiers in a league where visitors currently hold a 5-31 record.
For all of the complaints about IU's not particularly challenging non-conference slate, the vaunted nature of the Big Ten eases most concerns about an NCAA tournament resume. In the most up-to-date NET rankings, the conference has 12 teams in the top 41, meaning all but two of the Big Ten's 14 teams are in good standing as far as tournament bids are concerned.
One big win over a ranked opponent like Ohio State is worth celebrating, but only for a short while.
"You can get consumed with what's ahead or what you just did or what somebody else did ... it's by inches right now," Miller said. "You have to zone in on one opportunity at a time and let the chips fall where they may. It's a very difficult league right now."
With MSU's loss at Purdue on Sunday, the Big Ten's last team with a perfect conference record was brought down to earth. The Spartans are still the only team with one loss, and IU (3-2) is among a group of seven with either two losses or three wins.
Miller was asked during his radio show if five or six losses would be conceivable for this season's conference champ, and, just looking at the early returns, he couldn't rule it out.
"If you are asking me, based on what I'm looking at, what teams are doing on the road, I think 14 wins are going to have you in the hunt," Miller said. "I think the league is more difficult this year than it was a year ago, and I think the number 14 and up is going to be a number that if you can get to it, you are going to be involved in the conversation to win the regular season."
As Miller said, IU can't worry about the conversation. They just have to lock in on each game, each "season," and win that one.
The difference between the Hoosiers of last Wednesday versus Northwestern and Saturday's version was like the literal seasons winter and summer, which went to show how difficult it can be to maintain a consistent edge from one week to the next. On a Wednesday, the Hoosiers lacked focus and togetherness. The following Saturday, they were energetic and cohesive.
Miller was asked how much of his job is playing psychologist, as opposed to just coaching, and he admitted his job is as much about the former as the latter.
"There is always that old adage when you go into a game, 'Don't ever underestimate how messed up the opponent is,'" Miller said. "Everyone's got problems. We all got the same amount of players. We all got the same-aged players. Everybody wants to play and shoot. I think the quest is to have the most tight-knit group that's about the right things, and that's sometimes harder than going out there and shooting jumpers."
A prime example of that has been senior guard Devonte Green, who performed poorly versus Northwestern and then came out and scored 19 points in the win over OSU. After Green's down performance, Miller spoke with him about increasing his effort level in practice. That discussion appeared to pay dividends.
Miller addressed the whole team following the Northwestern game, saying he would play just five in a rotation if he wasn't getting the right effort level from everyone. IU, as a collective, seemed to respond to that message.
"You deal with a lot of ups and downs. Some guys are really confident and some guys aren't," Miller said. "It comes down to communication, it comes down to talking to everybody every day, and you have to have attitudes right. You look at our team, if our attitude is right, we have a chance to be a good team. If we go out there and have three or four guys not really zoned in or doing our part, we can really struggle and get beat by anybody."
Rutgers is more than capable of beating the Hoosiers. The Scarlet Knights are 3-2 in conference, as well, beating a ranked Penn State squad at home before falling to Illinois on the road. It was a low-scoring affair in Champaign, 54-51.
Miller just believes those low scores are inevitable in Big Ten play.
"I don't care who the coach at Indiana is right now or in 700 years, but whenever the Big Ten starts in January, the written rule is everything you try to accomplish from a style of play is out the window because the game is going to be called and played a certain way," Miller said, labeling it a "slugfest."
"That's why the free throw line is so important for us. If we keep getting to the foul line, home or away ... you are getting those easy ones, and you are able to get two points on the board. That's big."
Contact Jon Blau at 812-331-4266, jblau@heraldt.com or follow @Jon_Blau on Twitter.
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