For a head coach that has seen his team struggle to execute down the stretch in recent games, it was a thing of beauty to watch his team nail the details with precision —
“Rob did a great job,” Indiana head coach Archie Miller said. “We asked Rob to come up and interfere a little bit and get out. The minute he did that, I thought their guy just flinched just a quick second. And the minute he did it, I knew Romeo’s shoulder was going to get by him, just a matter of whether he’d make it or not.”
You cannot downplay the growth by Langford either. It wasn’t the same offensive scheme, but this was exactly the decision he didn’t make in the final seconds of regulation against Iowa last Friday —
“He definitely made an aggressive play,” Miller said. “We talked about it after the Iowa game. Don’t settle. Get to the rim. Sometimes that’s easier said than done, but he made a great play on the finish.”
While Langford first acknowledged the efforts of his teammates to set the play up, he expressed relief and highlighted his willingness to grow as a player when quizzed further on his big moment —
“I mean, just finally I hit one,” Langford said. “I know the past two times I had it in my hand at the end of the game, it didn’t come out as we planned. I just learned from mistakes in the past two, settling for a jump shot, and I felt like they couldn’t stop me getting to the rim. That’s exactly what I did, and I made the shot.”
As Langford, Phinisee and Race Thompson sat down in front of the media after the game, you were reminded how you young this team is with three freshman staring back at you.
Yes, they are young. Yes, there have been setbacks — both with injuries and losses. Lots of losses.
But at least on this night, with the team as healthy as it has been all year, we saw a glimmer of the promise that once surrounded these Hoosiers.
It may not be enough to save the season, but these freshmen are learning, and this team is coming together when they very easily could have mailed it in and moved on to next season.
No, this team hasn’t quit. And it all starts with executing on the tiniest of details.