My Two Cents: Khristian Lander Finding His Way, Slowly But Surely

Xavier Johnson was brought in to improve Indiana's point guard play, and he has, but it's also incumbent on young sophomore Khristian Lander to step up his game. So far, we're seeing his growth this week, and that makes the Hoosiers a better team.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Fill the holes. Fill the gaping holes. Mike Woodson knew that was the very first thing he had to do when he was hired as the coach at Indiana last spring.

The mess he inherited needed an overhaul. Not a blow-it-up overhaul, because there were pieces to build around, most notably stud forward Trayce Jackson-Davis. They needed more shooting — enter Parker Stewart and Miller Kopp — and needed another big man to bang Big Ten bodies, which they got in 7-foot South Florida transfer Michael Durr.

But what Indiana needed most to get back to the NCAA Tournament for the first in six years — six friggin' years — was dramatic improvement with the point guard position. Getting Xavier Johnson from Pitt in the transfer portal was a major priority, and Woodson and his new staff got it done.

But there was also the huge matter of the current point guards on the roster getting better. Rob Phinisee and Khristian Lander simply weren't good a year ago, beaten down by a coaching staff that so desperately needed to be shown the door. Despite their talent level, they had zero confidence in their ability to win college basketball games. They were that fragile. 

Woodson liked what he got from a refreshed Phinisee all summer, but it was Lander who would be the project, the slow-and-steady project who showed up at Indiana a year too soon from Evansville a year ago. He's really a true freshman now. Learning as he goes. And with Phinisee hurt, he's had to play big minutes, and he's responded well these past couple of nights.

Growin' up.

"I just think I've matured a whole lot in all aspects, to be honest,'' Lander said. "Defensively, I've gotten stronger, and I've gotten my footwork a whole lot better, taking different angles and stuff like that. 

"Offensively I just feel like (Woodson) has given us the freedom to do what we do, so the offense is free flowing. I feel like I know how to play basketball, so I feel like if I play off my teammates and we play together, then everything is going to come together.''

The biggest difference in Lander — outside of that year on the calendar — is that he does have faith in his abilities now. He's not a fractured, beaten-down young kid anymore. Sure, he's still going to make mistakes — everyone does — but he's going to be better. 

Lander only played a total of 13 minutes in Indiana's first three wins, but when Phinisee was forced out, he had to step up in a big way, and it got accelerated on Sunday when Johnson got into early foul trouble.

He wound up playing 24 minutes and scoring nine points with six rebounds and six assists. His defense was also excellent in the 76-44 rout.

And it was more of the same on Tuesday night when the Hoosiers thrashed Jackson State 70-35. Lander played 17 minutes and ran the show competently enough. He only had three points, but he also had just one turnover after having four the previous game.

Steady hands matter. As does steady instruction from his coaches and teammates. The changes, they are dramatic.

"I just think it's a whole lot more positivity around me this year, a lot more teammates and coaches encouraging me,'' Lander said. "It's nice just having people around me in general that are encouraging me. So I feel like that's just bringing me up more, and then the work that I put in is paying off.

"I feel like whenever my time on the floor is, whenever I'm called upon, I feel like I'm going to be ready at any time. I just feel like I've gotten stronger, gotten a bit faster. Especially going against Rob and X, they're pretty fast and strong guards, so I feel like going against them every day has helped a whole lot.''

There is no question that no one on this roster is benefiting more from the coaching change from Archie Miller to Mike Woodson than Lander is. Fixing his head is one thing, but letting them play in a more free-flowing style fits his skill set so much better.

"Yeah, coach, he definitely just lets us play,'' Lander said. "He lets us make our own decisions, and he believes in us and he thinks we all know how to play basketball and make our own decisions. He just lets us play, and that's pretty much the key to our offense.''

Lander might be third in the point guard pecking order right now — at least for the moment — but what's interesting about this dynamic this season that there is complete buy-in on this roster from top to bottom.

Johnson, who's already played point guard at a high level at Pitt for three years, quickly became close friends with Phinisee and he's doing everything he can to help Lander, who, if we need reminding, just turned 19 years old a few months ago.

He really is just that true freshman he was supposed to be.

"I see a guard that's just come out of high school, he's a five star, he didn't play much last year, but honestly when I came here I wanted to help him out and just help him be a good point guard,'' Johnson said. "I'm not the greatest point guard, but I've played against a lot of point guards and I'm just trying to put my competitiveness in him because I see a bright future in him.''

Woodson admits that he's hard on point guards, because he needs them to run his team. Johnson has done that, despite battling through some early foul trouble in several games, and Lander see it too.

"I've always said next man up, and yeah, he hasn't played a lot, but he was ready to play,'' Woodson said of Lander on Sunday night. "I thought he gave us some positive minutes, did a lot of good things on the floor on both end of the floor. We've just got to get him running our ballclub a little bit better and taking pride in not turning the ball over.

"I like the progress of our ballclub because I think guys are committed individually and they're a ball team, and that's important when you're trying to build winning ways.''

Johnson stayed out of foul trouble on Tuesday night, and had a big night, leading the Hoosiers in both points (14) and rebounds (7), with three assists as well and just one turnover in 25 minutes.

"We brought Xavier here to help run our ballclub, and he can't do it sitting next to me,'' Woodson said. "And being a point guard, there is a lot of things that come with being a point guard. I'm hard on point guards because they've got to run our team and still be able to do the things they're capable of doing, too.

"A point guard, to me, he's got to be able to run offense, he's got to be able to know who needs the ball. If Trayce has got it going, he's got to find ways to get him the ball; same with Race (Thompson). If a guy hasn't had a shot in a while, he needs to know, Hey, I've got to get this guy a shot. That's what great point guards do. I mean, and then he has to defend. I don't let him off the hook there either.''

"But I think (Johnson), Rob, and Khristian are still learning. It's OK because I'm demanding when it comes to that. They probably played for coaches that didn't push them as hard as I'm pushing them, but I expect more and I'm going to keep coaching them that way.''

And isn't that a refreshing change?

Related stories on Indiana basketball

• HOOSIERS BEAT JACKSON STATE: Point guard Xavier Johnson led Indiana with 14 points and seven bounds as the Hoosiers crushed Jackson State 70-35 and raised their record to 5-0 on the season. CLICK HERE
• INDIANA ROUTS LOUISIANA: Indiana led from start to finish in an easy 76-44 win over Louisiana. The Hoosiers held the Ragin' Cajuns to 19 percent shooting and Parker Stewart got hot, hitting his first six shots and leading the Hoosiers with 16 points. CLICK HERE
• GALLOWAY OUT: Indiana sophomore guard Trey Galloway will miss at least a month after undergoing surgery on his fractured right wrist on Friday night. He was injured when he was taken down hard to the floor on a flagrant foul during the St. John's game. CLICK HERE
• INDIANA BEATS ST. JOHN'S: Indiana let a 13-point lead slip away in the second half, but they never trailed and answered the bell every time St. John's got close. They hung on to win 76-74, the third straight win for Mike Woodson's Hoosiers. CLICK HERE
• INDIANA BASKETBALL SCHEDULE: Here is the complete Indiana men's basketball schedule for the 2021-22 season, including gametimes and TV information, plus links to game stories and columns from the games played so far. CLICK HERE