My Two Cents: Patience Pays Off For Miller With Indiana's Starters

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — The ultimate goal of every basketball coach, from the NBA to peewee ball, is to always have five guys on the court at the same time who can play and contribute in some way, shape or form.

Archie Miller, of course, is no different. His challenge at Indiana has been a roll of the dice since the season started. He has 11 scholarship players, and back in November, Miller was sure that all 11 would play a key role at various points in the season.

That hasn't really happened, of course. Sophomore swingman Damezi Anderson has all but disappeared from the rotation without explanation. Senior forward De'Ron Davis has had moments, but they've been brief, much like his entire career in Bloomington.

And Armaan Franklin, well, he's just a freshman guard and his adjustment period has taken a bit longer. It's not like he plays poorly when he's in there, it's just that he hasn't made a huge splash yet, outside of the Notre Dame game. His future, without a doubt, is still bright.

So, for the most part, Miller has been trying to push all the right buttons with eight guys. And finding the perfect roles for everyone hasn't been easy.

Because of early-season injuries to guards Rob Phinisee and Devonte Green, the starting lineup was something of a moving target the first half of the season. But lately, it's been fairly consistent, with Trayce Jackson-Davis, Joey Brunk and Justin Smith up front, and Phinisee and Al Durham at guards.

Those five have started 15 games in a row, and in Wednesday's 72-67 win over Minnesota, they all scored in double figures, the first time all season that's happened. All five played well — which hasn't happened very often, either.

Many nights, Miller's hands are tied. It's clear that Green's best role is off the bench, and his hot-and-frozen streakiness fits best off the bench, because when he doesn't light a fire, it's easy to sit him right back down. Green has won them some games (see Florida, State, Ohio State and Iowa) off the bench, but Miller's also done a good job of getting him out of there when he's gotten a bit — well, severely — reckless.

It's been the same with sophomore but really a freshman Jerome Hunter. He's has his moments, too, but still can't play for long stretches at a time. And, quite frankly, when Indiana is at its worst this season, it's been when Miller's gotten nothing from the 3 position, either with starter Justin Smith, who should be better, and Hunter having bad nights at the same time.

Which brings us to the one argument that makes sense with Miller's starting lineup and rotation. In the past month, Race Thompson's play has demanded more minutes. He's been that good. And when Brunk started to struggle, it made sense to ask.

Should Race Thompson start ahead of Brunk?

In Miller's mind, the answer has been no, for one most obvious reason. Benching Brunk might mean LOSING Brunk, and he didn't want that to happen. He knew his team couldn't handle that either, because his value is that high.

So what Miller did — and did well, in my opinion — was get Thompson into the game quickly if Brunk staggered out of the gate. Then he would ride Thompson for as long as he could, as long as he was getting good stuff out of him. This past month, Race has delivered in a big way. He's earned the right to stay on the floor.

Before Wednesday, Brunk started every game but played an average of less than 10 minutes each night in the last six outings. During that time, he continued to work, knowing his time would come once again.

He needed that.

Miller needed that, too.

So did this entire Indiana team.

"The bottom line is, here's the deal,'' Miller said after Wednesday's game. "You're in March. If you change your starting lineup, you change your starting lineup with a specific reason or a specific adjustment (in mind).

"I'll tell you this much, the minute you change, you lose guys. There's no reason to do that. Part of it is I think what Joey did tonight, you hang in there. You hang in there. It's not easy to play well every night, but it's easy to play hard every night. I think Joe played extremely hard tonight.''

That's what hitting the right button is all about. No coach — no coach ever — has been perfect with subbing in the right guys. And that's why this pick-and-choose deal with Brunk and Thompson has been fun to watch, because it's been so important.

Indiana can't beat good teams without BOTH OF THEM playing well.

"In general, if we would change it, it would be out of a movement of strength, not out of a movement of weakness,'' Miller said. "I can't stress that enough. If we make a change at halftime, it's a movement of strength, not weakness.

"We've been doing it all year by committee. It's not like our starters always play well or this guy and that guy play well. We have games where Devonte is coming off the bench, he's killing people. I'm pleased with our group. I was really, really happy for Joey to kind of get going offensively again. We need that. We really need that.''

Brunk had a big night, scoring 12 points and getting nine rebounds. (Thompson, by the way, played 13 minutes and made just 1-of-5 shots.) Brunk was the difference, especially on the boards and on defense, frustrating Minnesota's Daniel Oturu much of the night.

"His impact on the game on both ends of the floor, him being able to play as many minutes as he did, was huge,'' Miller said of Brunk. "He finally got it going on offense a little bit, but he rebounded as well.

"The big key to our team is trying to find him, getting him back into rhythm where he's playing longer stretches. He has great touch around the basket. I think recently he started to worry a little bit too much about making it rather than getting a good shot. He's nervous that it's not going to go in. Once he got a couple to go down, I think he settled in, and you started to see him be a little bit more powerful around the rim.''

It's very clear that Indiana needs Brunk at his best down the stretch. Maybe Wednesday night was a sign that he's turned a corner. Miller's patience with him has paid off. It paid off huge Wednesday night and Miller knows his team can't beat a red-hot Wisconsin team on Saturday without a good game from Brunk. The Badgers, after all, are playing for a share of the Big Ten title, and they will be primed to play well.

"It's all confidence, but I think Joe cares a lot and he overthinks it a little bit,'' Miller said. "I think tonight he just started to really play hard defensively. I think that was a big key in him being engaged in the game. Typically, when you're worried about that, other things sort of go your way, which I think happened for him.''

It did. At the perfect time.

Button pushed. Result achieved.

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