My Two Cents: Risk/Reward Balancing Act Will Get Better with Xavier Johnson
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — There is no question that Trayce Jackson-Davis is Indiana's most valuable player, but point guard Xavier Johnson might be their most important player.
The transfer from Pitt who filled a huge void on this Indiana roster, is the head of the snake with the ball in his hands most of the time. And what we learned Wednesday night at Wisconsin is that his decision-making — good, bad or otherwise — is always going to have a huge impact on whether the Hoosiers win or lose close games every night.
Johnson had 10 points, seven rebounds and seven assists in the 64-59 loss where the Hoosiers saw a 22-point first half lead slip away. But he also was just 4-for-16 shooting and had three turnovers. Even worse, he made just 2-of-6 free throws.
Johnson likes going fast, ''playing downhill,'' as he likes to call it. And in the first half, when the Hoosiers were able to get out in transition, he made a lot of great decisions and did a solid job of finding open shooters in a 19-2 run that helped blow the game open. The Hoosiers led 42-20 with a minute and change left in the half.
But in the second half, where Wisconsin made a lot of adjustments defensively, the Hoosiers scored only 17 points. The lead dissipated quickly, and nothing went right. Down the stretch, Wisconsin made shots — and all nine free throws — while the Hoosiers struggled to answer.
It ended in a tough loss and tearful locker room. The Hoosiers let one get away, and they knew it.
Johnson had a one-on-one film session with Indiana coach Mike Woodson on Thursday when they got back home. It wasn't pretty. He was out of control too often, and forced things when he didn't have a good second option. It was quite the learning experience.
"There were a couple of times (where I didn't have a passing options), but watching the film, what I saw is that I just have to make quicker reads when I'm heading downhill,'' Johnson said during a candid conversation on the "Point Guard Podcast'' on HoosiersNow.com "I saw that when we were watching film, that there were things I could have done quicker. We'll get better at it.
"To me, a couple of shots were decent looks, where I was open at 15 feet and I can normally make those shots. It's more about finishing and making better passes off the screen. The thing I learned from watching film was getting Parker (Stewart) and Miller (Kopp) more involved. That's when we made our big run, when they were actively involved and making threes. I need to do more of that. I only forced it up twice. It's just better reads. Honestly, I just took what the defense gave me, because they stuck with the shooters with a guy playing center field at the rim. I'll learn from that, because we play them again.''
The frustrating part about the loss was that the Hoosiers — who hadn't won in Madison since 1998 and had lost 18 straight games to the Badgers at the Kohl Center — looked terrific in that first-half explosion. They made 5-of-7 three pointers, with guard Parker Stewart hitting three of them.
But in the second half, it all changed. Indiana was 0-for-5 from three and never got good looks. They shot just 22.6 percent from the field and Johnson was 1-for-10 shooting himself He had six first-half assists, but just one in the second. Indiana had only nine turnovers on the night, which was great, but shot selection was another issue.
An issue that's just as bad.
"We didn't turn the ball over and we were able to get downhill a lot in the first half,'' Johnson said. "Parker came off a lot of screens and they were shooting the ball. We were making stops and getting rebounds, and that allowed us to get out on the break and make plays. That's a good trait about us, making stops and getting out and running. We do that well.
"They made some adjustments. What led to that was us not getting defensive stops and letting them get offensive rebounds, because we couldn't get out and run. We got a little bit away from that in the second half, but it was a good learning experience. We watched a lot of film on it, and we're going to get better from it.''
Johnson didn't want to talk about the specifics of his one-on-one film session, saying ''it was personal.'' But he learned a lot as well, that forcing the issue on drives isn't always the best thing.
"That's just how I play, getting downhill and getting to the free throw line,'' he said. "We told each other in the locker room, that we were on the road and we weren't going to get some calls. I just have to be better. My session was one-on-one, and I really don't want to talk about that because it was kind of personal. But we went through every read that I made. There's more basketball to be played, and I'm going to get better at it. I'll be better (at making better decisions) along the way.''
Wisconsin's biggest adjustment was not leaving Indiana's shooters. Johnson didn't have any open targets, and tried to do too much. That's part of playing in the Big Ten, dealing with adjustments. Backup point guard Rob Phinisee has seen that in his three-plus years, and knows the challenge that brings.
"It's the type of league we're in. Our league, it's the best coach's league in the country, because they will make adjustments during the game,'' said Phinisee, who had two points, four rebounds and an assist in 13 minutes off the bench. "The older guys, we need to keep putting guys in good positions. We've got to learn from that.''
Wisconsin did a great job of forcing Jackson-Davis off the blocks get forcing others to beat them. It didn't happen.
"They were really pushing Trayce away from the basket,'' Phinisee said. "I feel like we have to do a better job of getting him the ball quicker. They were doubling him every time quickly, and we need to do a better job of getting him the ball in a better spot.
"(Wisconsin's bigs) surprised me a little bit. Trayce played better last year. We had different post looks last year where he caught the ball more in the middle and they didn't double as much. (Wednesday) night, they doubled every time, no matter where he caught it.''
Lessons learned. That's what December is all about. Sure, you'd rather learn in a win, but winning Big Ten games in never easy, regardless of the month.
Learn. Learn. Learn. That's what matters. And let's not forget that Johnson has scored 1,245 points in his career and knows how to play. It's just about getting it done. He's bounced back before. Last year, he had a bad game against Notre Dame and then scored 32 the next night out against Virginia Tech.
"We just have to learn how to get over the hump, because we saw how well we played early against the No. 22 team in the country,'' Johnson said. "We played really well in the first half, and we know we can play like that. We've still got a lot to learn with Coach Woodson's offense. You saw that in the first half, how good we can be.
"What did I learn the most? Just learn how to finish a game. We've got to stay positive and stay together, because we've got a lot of potential and we can do a lot of good things.''
Wisconsin guard Johnny Davis has the ball tipped away from Indiana guard Rob Phinisee. (Mary Langenfeld/USA TODAY Sports)
Phinisee said the same thing. Thursday's film session and his conversations with Woodson on Thursday were enlightening.
"I have to do a better job of coming in and being more of a playmaker with the second unit. I haven't really showcased it this year, but Coach Woodson and I talked a lot about that today,'' Phinisee said. "That's his big emphasis, being that leader and helping out the younger guys. I've seen a lot of defenses and I need to lead the team. Coach Woodson really made a big emphasis on that today.
"From a leadership standpoint, we just need to keep playing our style of basketball. In the first half, we got good matchups. It's all about learning to continue to play your game. "Locker room, it was a moment. You're going to be down after a loss like that. But I feel like the leaders did a good job of keeping everybody together and taking it one game at a time. That's Coach Woodson's big thing, This is a player-led team. It's early in the season still and we can't dwell on it. We have to just learn from it and move on.''
