As IU was getting acclimated to Portland State University’s full-court press in the first half, junior guard Al Durham received the inbounds pass and was quickly trapped along the baseline.
As he lobbed it over the two Viking defenders, sophomore guard Rob Phinisee received the pass and quickly turned up court splitting two oncoming defenders as he sprung free of the trap and jump started an IU three-on-one.
Phinisee drove toward the free-throw line, forcing the last remaining Portland State defender to pick him up and swing the ball to junior Justin Smith in the corner who laid it off to junior center Joey Brunk for the easy layup.
The second-year guard from Lafayette, Indiana, finds himself in an odd siutation as the elder statesman of the point guard position for IU and is tasked with being a calming presence on the court.
Unlike then-freshman Romeo Langford who never seemed to get flustered or show any emotion, Phinisee shows energy and excitement on the court but still is able to be even-keeled throughout the game.
Against Portland State’s full-court press, Phinisee took the responsibility of being the primary ball-handler and never got sped up by the constant pressure. He made smart decisions moving the ball up the court and found his open teammates to spring multiple fast breaks.
While Phinisee didn’t make the biggest influence in the scoring department, IU’s offense ran much more smoothly while he was on the court.
IU attacked the basket early in the shot-clock, and Phinisee showed his ability to beat his man off the dribble, drawing second defenders and finding the open man to create easy offense as Phinisee finished the game second on the team in plus/minus with a plus-11 rating and led the Hoosiers with seven of the team’s 11 assists.
On the defensive end, Phinisee looked more like the player he was last season as he makes his way back from a lower-abdominal injury.
Late in the game, Phinisee was able to finally put the clamps on junior guard Holland Woods, as on multiple possessions he stifled the talented guard forcing two desperation shots: one that miraculously found the bottom of the net and another that resulted in a shot-clock violation.
“He’s really important,” Durham said. “You see what happened once he got on the defender. He got a stop. He brought energy to us. He lifted us up, lifted the arena up.”
In a talented yet inexperienced backcourt, Phinisee is going to have to play with maturity beyond his years.
Against Portland State, he showed once again that he can.
“When you get in tough ones, you’re going to go with guys that have been there,” IU head coach Archie Miller said. “Rob has been there.”
