With the 2018-19 IU men's basketball season about to officially begin Thursday with an exhibition against Southern Indiana, IU Coach Archie Miller found himself in a familiar spot Monday night.
The second-year Hoosier coach sat in a chair next to IU radio announcer Don Fischer for the new season's first episode of "Inside IU Basketball with Archie Miller."
Here are three notable moments from the hour-long show, which also featured an appearance by graduate forward Evan Fitzner.
1. IU played well in a closed-door scrimmage against Loyola-Chicago.
It was known as a secret scrimmage, but word got out earlier this month that IU and Loyola University Chicago would play a scrimmage closed to the public Oct. 28 in Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
IU won the scrimmage 70-48.
Senior forward Juwan Morgan scored 13 points and had 16 rebounds, while freshman guard Romeo Langford had 19 points and 10 rebounds.
IU led 36-15 at halftime and finished the game with 47 rebounds to Loyola-Chicago's 27.
Last season, the Ramblers were the surprise story of the NCAA Tournament, reaching the Final Four before losing to the Michigan Wolverines.
"We got our money's worth," Miller said. "We had to guard an extremely skilled team that ran really good stuff and spaced the floor."
Miller said Loyola-Chicago challenged IU's on-ball defense, ball-screen coverages and IU's general ability to play really hard. But, he said the Hoosiers were bigger and more athletic than the Ramblers, which allowed Miller's team to get more rebounds.
On offense, Miller said IU wasn't "as fluid as we want to be," and the team still has a long way to go in terms of chemistry. In particular, he used IU's half-court offensive execution as an example of something IU must improve.
Defensively, Miller said Loyola Chicago "did things we never saw before," and he was pleasantly surprised by the effort level from IU on defense.
"We held a good offensive team to a really poor day," Miller said.
2. Miller provided injury updates on De'Ron Davis, Devonte Green and Race Thompson.
Depth has been a major talking point for the Hoosiers this offseason, and it looks like it will come into play at the start of the season.
Both junior guard Devonte Green and redshirt freshman forward Race Thompson did not play in IU's scrimmage against Loyola-Chicago due to "some nagging injuries," Miller said.
Miller also said IU may have to go a little bit of time without Green and Thompson.
Langford and sophomore guard Al Durham were expected to compliment Green and senior guard Zach McRoberts to start the season, but Green's injury opens the door for freshman guard Rob Phinisee to get more immediate playing time.
At the forward position, the recovery process is continuing for junior De'Ron Davis. A torn Achilles tendon ended his 2017-18 season in January, and Davis is still trying to get back to full speed for the upcoming season.
Miller said Davis was given full clearance to practice without restrictions last week, and then he practiced several days in a row and in five-on-five drills.
Davis played about 10 minutes in Sunday's scrimmage, but he didn't play more than two minutes in a stretch, Miller said.
As IU enters the bulk of its Big Ten Conference schedule after Christmas, Miller said Davis hopefully will be playing himself back into shape.
3. The way the Hoosiers practice is important to Miller.
Between incoming freshmen and the addition of Fitzner as a graduate transfer, IU is adding six new players to its roster.
With IU's "first true film session" set to occur in the next few days, Miller said he hopes IU's new players will be able to see the good and the bad things so far.
"If you ask me one thing about this team, what's one hope?" Miller said. "I hope we're a great practice team. I really hope that our team embraces the practice sessions."
Miller said there will be opportunities for players to jump into "impact moments" during the season — whether due to injuries or foul trouble for other Hoosiers.
"They won't be ready unless they do it," Miller said. "To do it, they have to be really getting after it every single day with the ability to put pressure on each other."
