What Archie Miller Said on His Radio Show 1/18/21

Archie Miller touched on Indiana's loss to Purdue, the team's mental fortitude and preparing for Iowa.

Dylan Wallace | Jan 19, 2021

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Archie Miller joined Don Fischer Monday night for his weekly radio show called "Inside IU Basketball with Archie Miller."

Miller revisited the loss to Purdue and touched on how the team has refocused on its extended time off.

Below are some of the key highlights on Miller's conversation with Fischer:

On what stood out in the loss to Purdue:

"I think some of our problems here in the month of January really crept in. Our fundamental defense has really had some slippage. All you have to do is look at the three-point percentage of our opponents."

Miller said Purdue knocked Indiana back on its heels right from the start when the Boilermakers started hitting three-point shots.

Indiana was just 3-of-18 from three, and the Hoosiers also missed 13 free throws.

"Couldn't make a free throw, and you're not going to win games if you can't make free throws."

Miller said the team needs to put their "hard hat" back on and get a grip on the fundamental defense because it was really good at the start of the season and now it's starting to tail off.

On mental fatigue:

"We really haven't stopped since we left for Asheville, North Carolina."

Miller said it's more mental fatigue than physical fatigue. He pointed specifically to Trayce Jackson-Davis and Race Thompson, who play a lot of minutes, and with Joey Brunk out, they are the only two frontcourt players practicing every day as well.

But he is pleased with the focus of the team as they were reviewing the film of Purdue. Miller believes the team has regained its mental fortitude in a way.

"You have to be up and ready for the games no matter how things are going for you. We have a lot of Big Ten basketball games left. We can get a lot better. We're a good team."

On leadership:

"I don't think we have a guy on our team that doesn't wanna win. We need some more vocal leadership."

Miller pointed to the older players on the team that he wants to step up and hold other players accountable. He also included Jackson-Davis in that list as well.

"We gotta get some of our older guys in particular to take a stand here. I think that'll happen. We have good guys."

Miller said the team has been resilient so far this season, and they will need to continue to be resilient to start pulling out some wins in the Big Ten.

On Iowa:

"Well, it starts with Luka Garza. I think he gets most of the attention, rightfully so."

Miller has noticed that Garza can tire opposing teams out because he moves so much on the floor. He doesn't know if he's seen a big guy move as much on the floor like Garza does.

Iowa's ability to knock down the three ball makes them that much more challenging to defend.

"There can't be a time period of the game where you can have a lapse on either end. Defensively, if you have a lapse or two, they make you pay every time... Offensively, they're as good as there is."

***

Trey Galloway was the player guest on the show. Here's some of the highlights from Fischer's conversation with Galloway:

On what has changed for the team:

"The games are starting to ramp up a lot. The competition has just gotten even tougher. I know that it's really hard in the Big Ten. I think for us, we're starting to come together and really try to better ourselves each game."

On being a freshman:

"As a freshman coming in, it's a lot different than high school. It's a lot to take in. There's times where it's very difficult to stay focused and stay locked in, but my teammates have done a good job helping me overcame some things and some challenges. For the other freshmen, we're all still learning and taking it all in."

On Iowa:

"It's gonna be very challenging. With Garza in the paint, he's a really good player. They have a lot of pieces that are dangerous. They can spread you out. If we prepare and get back to our basics of what we do on defense, I think we'll be prepared to try to stop them."

You can listen to the full radio show below:

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