Rob Phinisee Understands His Value, Fine With Adapting to New Role

Rob Phinisee has started 69 games during his career at Indiana, but this year he's coming off the bench. He's handled that change just fine, and understands what he can add to the team in his new role.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Everything is new with Indiana basketball this year, even with several familiar faces still around. Guard Rob Phinisee is back for his fourth year, but it's all different.

Most importantly, he has a new coach. Hoosier legend Mike Woodson, who's ''kind of like an O.G., with the respect level he gets from everybody," is in charge now, replacing Archie Miller. And the changes have been immediate.

He's not a starter anymore, for one, and that's after starting 69 games during his first three years in Bloomington. Sure, there have been plenty of ups and downs during his career, but he had to yield his starting point guard spot to Pitt transfer Xavier Johnson. This year, he's come off the bench in all eight games he's played in. He missed three games with a calf injury.

But don't think for a minute that his mindset has changed. He's still fully intent on impacting the game for the 9-2 Hoosiers, just in a different way. He's that spark off the bench now, that defensive stopper when needed and a calming influence on demand as well.  

He'll make it work too, without complaint.

“That’s the big thing the coaches emphasize with me when I come in the game, to try to pick up the energy on the defensive end,” Phinisee said Tuesday on the eve of the Hoosiers' game with Northern Kentucky on Wednesday night at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. “So whether it’s picking up guys full court, to trying to dictate the offense to get them out of their sets, that’s the big thing I want to do when I come in the game.

“I know I still have a big role on the team. Sometimes I may play 30 minutes a game, sometimes I may play 15 minutes. But my role is to effect the game on the defensive end and then get guys in the right positions and score the ball on offense, so I just really have to lock in on what I’m doing and just keep doing what I’m doing, keep leading and getting better each day.”

Johnson has started all 11 games at the point, with Phinisee coming off the bench when available. They have played together some too, and saw quite a bit of action side by side on Saturday in the 64-56 win over Notre Dame. 

Having two point guards on the floor allows Indiana to play faster. They've been fast friends, too, and enjoy playing with each other. 

"I see two guys who can make plays together,'' Phinisee said. "The game speeds up a little and we can both run the floor and make plays for each other. Obviously, the last game, our shots didn't fall, but I feel like we can make shots, too.''

Phinisee was just 2-for-8 shooting Saturday, but he hit a huge three late to get the Hoosiers started on their final run. He wound up playing 25 minutes, and had six points, five rebounds and five assists, with just two turnovers.

Woodson has been working hard to boost up Phinisee's confidence from the day he got here in late March. And when good things happen with Phinisee on the floor, Woodson loves talking about him.

"He gave us a huge lift,'' Woodson said Saturday. "I need Rob in the worst way. I think he knows how I feel about him in terms of what I think he can do. I've just got to get Rob to believe more that he can do things like he did tonight.

"I mean, he's a hell of a defender, and he can make shots. He can make plays for other people. That's what point guards do. I've just got to get him more comfortable and get him more love and confidence that he can do those things.''

When Dane Fife was hired as an assistant coach last spring, the first player he mentioned was Phinisee, mostly because he always respected the way played against Fife's teams at Michigan State. 

Fife was on Mike Woodson’s radio show Monday night, and he was still gushing about how Phinisee can impact a game on the defensive end.

“I’ve always respected him back when he used to whip us when I was with Michigan State,” Fife said. “I mean, he single-handedly beat us. It felt like two or three games, he just took (Michigan State point guard) Cassius Winston right out of the game.

"I've been trying to help Rob understand that Rob doesn't have to be a big scorer, and I think he knows that, but he doesn’t sometimes understand the impact he can have as a defensive player.”

He also knows that he has to be a factor offensively, mostly by getting the ball to his teammates in the right spots, and generating points, whether he's scoring them himself or facilitating others.

“I don’t really look at it whether I’m scoring the ball or not anymore,” Phinisee said. “I feel like just making the right plays, doing what the team needs me to do, that's what my job is when I'm out there.

Woodson has talked a lot about having to repair the confidence level of his returning players this year. He's never one to bash the previous regime, but he also noticed how fragile some of these guys were too after going 12-15 last year.

That was certainly the case with Phinisee, too. Last year, he really struggled, shooting just 34.7 percent from the field and 26.0 percent from three. That was partly why Woodson and his staff were so aggressive in upgrading the point guard position in the transfer portal.

That's where Johnson entered. But Phinisee is still a critical part of this team. Woodson knows it, Fife knows it and Phinisee knows it, too. 

And he just wants to get better every day. Missing three games with a calf injury slowed him down, but he feels like he's making progress. We saw a lot of that on Saturday.

"I really just have to take it game by game, and I feel like I've slowly progressed these past couple of games,'' Phinisee said. "Whether it's getting a steal or even my teammates hyping me up on the bench, that all really helps me.''

"That's the big thing, adjusting with the new coaching staff because everything is still new. We're still learning, and we're getting better each game. Just taking the open shot and knowing the right shots to make and getting to spots where I know I can make them.''