My Two Cents: Bright Lights Don't Faze Indiana Guard Tamar Bates

Indiana sophomore guard Tamar Bates has had a couple of big shooting nights lately, and the Hoosiers will need another big game out of him on Saturday when they take on Arizona in Las Vegas. The bright lights don't mean anything to him. He's totally focused on the game on this ''business trip.''

LAS VEGAS, Nev. — This is Tamar Bates' first trip to Las Vegas, but all the glitter and glamour doesn't mean a thing to him. He's here to work, so there will be no bells and whistles, just basketball.

Saturday's meeting with No. 10 Arizona is all that matters to him.

"Before we jumped on the plane, we knew this was a business trip,'' Indiana's talented sophomore guard said Friday night when he met the media outside of the MGM Grand hotel here in Las Vegas. "We didn't come her for all the gidgets and gadgets here in Vegas. If you want to do that, you come back to Vegas on our own time. We're here to win a basketball game. We know what the atmosphere is like outside the court, so it's just being smart and not forgetting why we're here.''

Bates, a Kansas City native who played his final year of high school ball at IMG Academy in Florida, has never been here before. It wasn't an option, for a variety of reasons.

"This is actually my first time in Vegas. My AAU team, we never came out here. The one opportunity I did have to come out here, I'm from Kansas, and they were driving. That wasn't my main team, but they wanted me to come play with them, and I said 'I am not getting on that bus. I am not driving to Las Vegas.' ''

Tamar Bates meets with the media outside the MGM Grand hotel on Friday night in Las Vegas. (HoosiersNow.com photo by Becky Rigel)

This is another big test for the Hoosiers, something they lacked in last year's nonconference schedule. Indiana coach Mike Woodson was all about challenging his team more this year, so there are now several high-profile national games on the schedule. They have already beaten Xavier and North Carolina, and now get Arizona here at 7:30 p.m. ET and play at Kansas next Saturday.

This is what it's all about. Big-time players like big-time games. So do the rabid Indiana fans, who are flooding into Las Vegas.

“It's good for our fan base, number one, and if you've got a good enough team that can compete at that level, why not give it a shot,” Woodson said about the tougher schedule. “As a player and as a coach, I've never feared any team or any players, so I think we're good enough to beat anybody in the country if we commit for 40 minutes on both ends of the floor.”

Indiana guard Tamar Bates answers questions on Friday night. (HoosiersNow.com photo by Becky Rigel)

Bates has had a couple of big games lately off the bench. He made five three-pointers on Wednesday against Nebraska and scored 19 points, and hit four threes and scored a career-high 22 points on Nov. 25 against Jackson State.

In between, though, he played only 12 minutes against North Carolina and scored three points and was 1-for-7 from the field in the loss at Rutgers, missing all three three-pointers and scoring just two points. 

Woodson and others have raved about Bates' growth over the summer, and he's a key piece to this team. There's no doubt that they need him every night. 

'There's not a secret formula to it, it's just about putting the work in,'' Bates said when asked about shooting the ball better this season. "That's what my team expects from me, making my shots and helping my team win when I can.

"I really feel like when it comes to me  being more consistent, it's more so when I play consistent minutes, long stretches of time, that I usually perform. The numbers show that. So it's me doing what I can to stay on the floor and produce the way I can. When I make one, it's all about being ready to make the next one. I get the same shots pretty much every game. I just need to be ready to knock them down.''

Bates only scored 125 points all season as a freshman, and he's at 75 already. He's made 13 threes so far, second on the team to Miller Kopp (19). He's more mature this year, and more focused. He went through a lot last year, having a baby and being away from home while adjusting to the college game.

He's grown up now, and people see that in him.

"I had some adversity, but I was able to find myself more and I came out as a better person and a better man now, personally,'' Bates said. "Now that I know I have a bigger role on the team compared to last year, I've got to be available. That's the most important thing, which is why I spend some much time taking care of my body.''

Bates and junior guard Trey Galloway have had to set up the past two games with starting guard Jalen Hood-Schifino couldn't play. He's been dealing with a back issue and missed the Rutgers and Nebraska game. He'll be a game-time decision on Saturday night as well. The plan is for him to work out just prior to the game and see how he feels.

Point guard Xavier Johnson has struggled the past two games with Hood-Schifino out. He's had 13 turnovers in two games and made just 4-of-19 shots and just 1-of-7 threes. It lumps even more pressure on Bates — and Galloway — to step up.

“I think X, the fact that we have been training the last really six months now with two point guards, and we've kind of taken the ball out of X's hands a little bit,” Woodson said. “And (now) not having Jalen on the floor, it put it back in his hands in a dominant way, which is OK But you've got to be smart about some of the things you're doing.”

Bates knows full well that the Hoosiers need to make shots to win, and he's all about that. He also knows that everyone has to buy in on being a solid rebounding team. The Hoosiers are 8-1, but in that one loss at Rutgers they gave up 17 offensive rebounds, including several to guards. 

Bates know that can't happen, especially against Arizona and it's massive front line that includes 6-foot-11 Lithuanian Azuolas Tubelis, who is averaging 20.1 points and 8.3 per game and is shooting 61.0 percent from the floor. Oumar Ballo, a 7-foot center from Bali, is averaging 19.1 points and 9.3 rebounds, and is shooting 76.9 percent from the floor (60-for-78)

"We can't ever get outrebounded,'' Bates. We need to start games out well and be physical on the boards right from the beginning. Arizona, they really like to get out in transition and we have to make sure our transition defense is in check. But we're going to have to score at a high level too.''

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