What Archie Miller Said on his Radio Show on Monday Night
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Archie Miller talked a lot about consistency and effort during his radio show on Monday night, and he's hoping to see more of both as the Hoosiers head down the home stretch the next few weeks.
Here's what he had to say from the Holiday Inn:
"That's the frustrating part, dealing with the mental stuff,'' Miller said when talking about still having to coach effort. "When we go on the road, we're not playing chopped liver. You have to be ready with your best effort.
"Whether it's turnovers that get you out of synch, or rebounding, or any one thing that gets you out of whack, it happens. We've beaten a lot of good teams at home, and their coaches say the same things we say about the way we lose on the road. Very few times on the road are you playing this level of caliber of team night after night.
"For us, it's understanding that we don't have to play a perfect game, but we have to have a perfect effort game.
"DeRon (Davis) was really good on Sunday, going 9-for-9 from the field, but I thought he played well against Iowa, too. He was injured as a sophomore, and this is really the first time he's been around all year long. He had some really good passes against Iowa.
"You look at those guys and realize those breakthrough moments for them are important. We want to make the most out of it for those two seniors. We want them both to play well.
"Devonte was great at Iowa. He's been a big part of our biggest wins all year, and we need that.
"Minnesota's resume, they've played as difficult a schedule as anyone in the country. They've been able to sweep Ohio State, they've beaten Michigan, they beat Wisconsin by 20. With me, I see a top two or three point guard in Marcus Carr and Daniel Oturu is the most improved guy I've seen. He's a first-team all-conference guy in my book. And they have a slew of other guys.
"Playing in The Barn is always difficult. We've got to play at a higher level there, and we can't turn it over up there. We've got to get Trayce (Jackson-Davis) rolling on the road. In some of our road games, he's been a non-factor. We'll get him going and we'll be a better team for it,
"We were sort of stewing in it after that Purdue game. I thought we had a good practice today. We'll have another good one (Tuesday) and then have a good shoot around at Minnesota. You've got to be ready mentally and we'll have more guys step up and play well.
