IU basketball tops Lindenwood: Darian DeVries' postgame insights

Coach DeVries Reflects on Indiana's Win and Team Performance

Indiana men’s basketball secured a 73-53 victory over Lindenwood on Thursday night at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. Following the game, Hoosiers head coach Darian DeVries addressed the media in his customary postgame press conference, offering insights into the team's performance and future adjustments.

Addressing Energy Levels and Game Flow

When asked about the team's energy levels and whether it was surprising that some players appeared flat, DeVries acknowledged the concern but remained optimistic. "Yeah, a little bit. Especially I thought the last couple days of practice our guys, I thought they really learned from some of the things that happened in our last game. I thought they responded really well in practice from an energy level; here are some of the things we got to fix."

DeVries noted that while the players were playing hard, the overall intensity wasn't as high as desired. "It wasn’t — they were playing hard tonight. Just wasn’t the same juice." He emphasized the importance of learning how to win games in different ways early in the season. "These are all things early in the year that as you’re getting going you learn how to win games in a lot of different ways, and that’s an important thing to have and quality to have."

Defensive Adjustments and Second-Half Improvement

DeVries highlighted the defensive improvements in the second half. "I did think our defense again is what changed the game around in the second half. So we were able to get the lead, push back out, and a lot of that was because of defensive intensity just picked up."

He also mentioned that the team's defense was strong in the first half, holding Lindenwood to 17 percent shooting. "That’s back to back games in the first half our defense was really good. Start of the second half on both these games it wasn’t quite as good."

Player Performance and Key Contributions

When discussing Sam Alexis, DeVries praised his contributions. "I love what Sam’s doing. He’s bringing the physicality. Even more so is the rebounding, energy level, enthusiasm. I just like what he’s doing for us right now."

DeVries also highlighted Alexis's defensive impact, noting his four blocks and ability to protect the rim. "He had four blocks again today. That’s that type of rim protects we need from him and he’s doing a great job with it."

Regarding Lamar's shooting performance, DeVries encouraged the player to keep shooting. "If he was 4 for 17 tonight that means there is an 11 for 17 coming soon. He can let them rip whenever he wants. Like we always tell our guys, basketball is basketball. The best players in the world have off nights. He had an off-shooting night. That means we got a good one coming."

Offensive Adjustments and Team Development

DeVries discussed the team's offensive strategies, particularly their perimeter switching. "Yeah, I thought we were able to get a few things there that were better. Got some backdoor opportunities, layups. So I thought there were some good things there."

He noted that the team has been focusing on improving these adjustments. "It’s something we’re putting a lot more time into because it’s not how we play defense, so what we’ve done all summer and fall, even though we worked on it at times, when we go against each other we’re working on ourselves."

Learning to Win Through Adversity

When asked about addressing a flat team and the importance of learning to win during tough stretches, DeVries emphasized the need for resilience. "It’s just learning as a group when the offense isn’t going, just to really embrace the defensive side and let that be our identity and let that be where your enthusiasm comes from."

He added that the team did a good job in the first half, holding Lindenwood to 17 percent shooting. "We’ll take that on a lot of nights."

Observations on Recent Games

DeVries compared the team's performance in recent games to the first three games of the season. "A little bit how we’re being guarded. Like we talked about, the switching. We don’t get to move it quite as easily. In some of the actions where they’re not switching, you set a pin down and now a guy comes off a screen and he’s got an advantage because his guys is trailing; versus when they switch it they are coming off a taking away that next pass, so now you got to get to a second action."

He concluded by stating that the team is working on improving these aspects. "It just takes a little bit for us as an offense right now. That’s what we’re working hard at getting better at, is how do we exploit that and use that to our advantage. Like I said we’ll get there. Just hasn’t been very clean these last couple games."