He was, just yesterday, it seems, the wunderkind, the reigning basketball legend in a state that idolizes that officeholder. He had been exalted since junior high, which is when Bob Knight first dropped by to watch him, and by the time he made his inevitable move to Indiana, he was accorded that honor granted but a few. He was-like Ali and Pele, like Magic and Michael-identifiable by a single name. He was, simply, Damon.
But Damon Bailey is a junior now, and as he and the Hoosiers await their game Tuesday night at Michigan, all those accolades lie behind him, mere memories of glory days past. His collegiate career is what counts now, and that is hardly as gaudy a thing.
He has, instead, only occasionally fulfilled the expectations once held for him, which is no real surprise. Those expectations were extreme, authored by the blind fervor of fans. But what has surprised even him, what has bedeviled him, has been his struggle to master notions that are concurrently easy to understand and difficult to reflect.
Working hard all the time. That is one of them. Preparing mentally for every game. That is another. Thinking and concentrating constantly. That is a third. “It doesn’t really sound that hard,” says Bailey. “Someone at home’ll be thinking, `Ah, I can go out and do something as hard as I can.’ Well, do it for six months, and there’s going to be a day or two when you don’t feel like doing it.”
His performances, then, have often recalled those loose bits of colored glass encased in the end of a kaleidoscope. Twist once, and it is last February, and there is Damon Bailey playing 36 minutes, scoring 17 points and handing out five assists in Indiana’s victory over Ohio State. Twist again, and it is a fortnight later, and there is Damon Bailey playing 12 minutes, scoring no points and handing out one assist in Indiana’s loss to Michigan.
Twist once more, and it is two Sundays ago, and there is Damon Bailey playing lazy defense, creating little offense, scoring but three points during 30 lackluster minutes in Indiana’s loss to Kentucky. Twist a final time, and it is last Wednesday, and there is Damon Bailey coming off the bench, catalyzing those around him, scoring a team-high 21 points during 29 lustrous minutes in Indiana’s victory over Iowa.
“I really don’t know what it was,” is what he said of his inconsistency before this season’s start. “I’m not going out and scoring 31 one night and scoring none the next night because I’m lazy, or don’t want to. If I knew what the problem was, I’d correct it.
“I don’t know whether it was maturity, or what it was. If I knew what it was, I’d be getting 30 every game. I think it showed I had the talent to do the things I wanted to do, but maybe I didn’t have the mental ability or the mental preparation to do it every game. That’s something I have to do better this year.”
Are you doing it better now? he is asked.
“Off the Kentucky game, no,” he says, managing a weak smile. “But on the whole, yeah. I’ve let it slide a couple times, but I’m feeling pretty happy. But I’m not totally happy. It’s still something I’m working on.”
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“Well,” Bob Knight says, and then pauses. He is discussing one of his favorite topics, kids learning what it takes, and now he is considering just how long the process takes. “Well. Some kids never understand,” he goes on.
“Now Bailey, he has really had a tough, tough situation. All of his physical characteristics enabled him to be an exceptional high school player. He was strong, really strong. He could jump really well. He was a tough kid. And all those physical characteristics enabled him to overpower kids in high school. They just couldn’t handle him.
“Well. Those same physical characteristics are really neutralized when he comes to college. Now. He’s a very smart player. But being a very smart player wasn’t the first and foremost thing that got him by as a high school player. So he has to make-and this would be really hard for any kid, and it’s been a tough thing for him-he has to make a transition from being able to overpower kids to where he’s got to outthink them and outplay them.
“That’s a lot to ask of a kid. But obviously we’ve got to ask it of him if he’s going to develop into the kind of player that we want him to be. I really think he’s at a point now where he understands that. I’m not sure he fully understood that until we got through two years of play.”
“The thing he tells me the most,” says Bailey, “is play hard. For 18 years, I thought I did play hard. But if Coach doesn’t think I played hard, it doesn’t matter what I think, or if I think I’m playing hard. I’m going to have to play up to what his standard of hard is.
“But it’s hard to do once you get to this level simply because you’ve probably been doing it one way for 18 years, not really worrying about it, just going out and playing. If you’re going to a place like Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, whatever, if you’re going to go to a tradition-rich school, you’re probably a lot better than anybody you ever played in high school. So things come easily to you, and I think that’s what happened to me.
“Things came easily to me for 18 years, and all of a sudden I get here, and Coach wants me to be mentally prepared for every game. Well, in high school, I didn’t have to be mentally prepared for every game. I could go out and score 30 about anytime I wanted. That’s why I say it’s hard to do once you get here. Old habits are hard to break. It’s hard to get ready to play not only every game, but every day in practice.
“You just have to really think about it. You’ve got to discipline yourself. There aren’t any drills, any meditation, that you can do. You’ve just got to think about it every day.”
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This knowledge, like any that is worthwhile, is well-earned, and does not come without scrapes, scars and a bit of dross on a once-glittering legend. Just last week, off his poor performance against Kentucky, Bailey again found himself coming off the bench, a role he has now filled in eight of the Hoosiers’ 15 games this season. Last season he reached double figures 21 times, but mixed in was a trio of games he ended with a doughnut.
He feels he is practicing harder this season, playing smarter than last season, and he is leading the Hoosiers in assists with 60. But he also is averaging only 11.6 points per game, fifth best on the team, and mixed in with those 21 he put up against Iowa and the 28 he put up against Penn State on Saturday are five games when he failed to reach double figures.
The struggle continues then, yet surely not as blindly as in the past. For now Bailey can see the level he seeks, and at last he understands just what is needed to reach that plateau. Those are no longer problems.
But old habits are hard to break-he notes that often-and even now and then, added to that truth is another, even balder one. “If there’s an easy way to do something, 99 percent of the people will do it,” is how Bailey finally puts it. “So you set your mind to play hard every game, but that’s hard to do.
“I also don’t think you have to do it to be a good player. But I think if you want to be a great player, I think you do.”
