Postgame Quotes
2/19/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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Head Coach Tom Crean |
Opening statement...
Well, unfortunately for us, the shots we made the other night and the shots we've been making, they didn't go. We didn't get as many attempts, and we probably spent a little too much time trying to drive and create things rather than just make it simple, and really drive it for that next kick. I think we're conscious of trying to get fouled, and we knew that the foul line is so important in this game, and it's so important to Purdue. They're undefeated when they win the free-throw game, and they got that again tonight. But we missed a lot of the shots.
They looked down right there, and it would be one thing if they were all challenged, and unfortunately for us, they were open. We took a few that weren't right. Took a few we'd like to have back, but that's going to be part of the game.
We gave up too many points in the post, and it wasn't just the post ups, it was the rebounding, and we didn't rebound the way that we needed to. Our front line did not -- it's one thing to give up the points, but we've got to get some defensive boards. So the defensive rebounding, it hurt us. It definitely hurt us. We can't play along that front line and have Emmitt, Collin and Hanner combine for two boards. That's just not going to get it right.
So we've got to keep going. We're capable of better, and we've got to do better, and we will. It's unfortunate that a great crowd and great energy that we fell short. They played hard, we played hard. We could have played a little better, but bottom line, a couple of those shots go down, it's a different story for us. At the end of the game when it's a two-point game, we wanted to come and push and get into a pick-and-roll, and we should have done a better job waiting for the screen and making recognition.
Again, it's not about the two or the three because we wanted to push. If it wasn't there, we'd have time for a timeout, but we've got to let the screen get there. And I think it was James at that point get to the corner to create the space, and our theory is usually in that kind of a situation in a break play like that, just get the spots and get that screen in the middle of the floor. We were having good success with the screen in the middle of the floor, but it didn't get there. We shot it a little quick and we can't get the board. But that's part of it. We want to play with freedom, and that's part of it.
It seemed like early in the game it was faster and it seemed they slowed it down?
I think we slowed it down. I don't know if it was them as much as we did. No, I don't think we were moving the ball as quick as we needed to there. It seemed like we were sitting in that 23 range for a while, and no question we were trying to dribble. We were trying to create some contact. We're trying to get them moving rather than just do what we do.
In all honesty, I probably should have subbed a couple guys and probably should have gotten Yogi out at one point there because he was trying on do too much with the ball rather than just let it happen. But we figured it out, and we usually do. We complicate our own matters, and that's what we don't need to do. When we're playing a simple game of drive, kick, play to the corners, cut, move, we're pretty good. When we don't do that, we make it harder.
And you have to move them. They're big and long, and they play good help defense and they're always protecting the big guys. They know we want to attack them. But you have to attack them off movement and not off one or two passes. Our first half, our big problem was we're 1 of 11 not using the paint. That's a recipe that's not good for us. When you don't have a true post-up game like us, you've got to get through the paint. You have to play through the post. We just didn't do enough of that and we hit that little lull that you're talking about, but we didn't do enough of that.
The score was tied and they got two free lay-ups right in a row there?
When I called timeout? Are you talking about in the second half? Yeah, as I subbed, as you might remember there. We got a little -- that was not by design. That was not by design to let them come down the lane. We needed to do a better job of standing there. Was that the question?
Yeah, just to follow, was it people in the zone?
Yeah, it was moving out of the way. It is what it is. I don't think it's any big secret. We didn't stand our ground. When they're coming down the lane, you've got to have better -- I mean, you're in the zone for a reason. At that point it was a 1-3-1, so you have to play the middle. We have the middle and the back, we're not in that defense. We're not really going to the corner with that back man. So you have to stand in there and take your ground or hold your ground, and that's why I subbed there.
On production from the bench:
Yeah, I haven't studied the box scores much. Yeah, that's not good. Not as good as it needs to be, but I haven't really looked through that. I'm a little more concerned about the rebounding because I think we missed open shots, but we've got to get better rebounding out of our front line. Again, when you're dealing with the front line the way you are with them, you've got to do a better job of limiting it to one shot. That's why when we've had success, we've out rebounded people and held them, shot for the most part and then we get some offensive scores. So I'll go through the box score later and see how that shapes up. But that's my initial thoughts on it.
Speaking of rebounding, between the Minnesota game and tonight, was it the 7-footers?
Well, it's a different game for one thing. You don't pick up from where you left off for another thing. The ball bounces differently. That's another part of it. But I would probably say we weren't as aggressive on the glass as we needed to be, and I think we missed some blockouts. But, again, I don't want to say that whole heartedly until I really look at the film. But my memory serves me correct, we missed some blockouts.
But it's hard. When you're dealing with big guys and they're really doing a good job of focusing and regarding the three. You think you hold the team to 2 of 18 from the three and you're going to have a pretty good chance of winning the game. But we didn't do a good enough job of limiting them. When you're in position, you've got to get everybody into the glass.
So without seeing the film, I would say that in answer to your question, every game is different. But I would say we probably weren't around the rim as much as we needed to be when the shot went up.
How does Hanner sustain that tempo?
Well, I think the whole thing for Hanner comes down to consistency. I don't think there is any question about that. It's not going to -- we're not going to move forward with one rebound in 17 minutes. Offensively he was pretty good, and he's just got to -- there are going to be some fouls. I mean, there is a lot of contact. They're aggressive. Bottom line, he's got to continue to use his second and third efforts to go up and get balls. You're playing defense, a shot goes up, you have to go up and grab the ball.
He'll get back into that. You know, even when he was healthy, we were a little bit by committee in there. You have the ability to do different things with Collin, and at times Stan defended the post pretty well. So they're hard to deal with, and those two are hard to deal with. Again, it's not the points tonight to me as much as it was their second shots, because that's such a high percentage shot. If you work and try to be aggressive and make it a tough first shot, at times we did, at times we didn't. But the second shot, those are pretty easy shots, and he was a part of those as well.
In the first half, your biggest lead was 12, and you went on an 11-3 run. You did the same thing in the second half. Later you went on an 11-3 run, how do you account for that?
Well, the flow of the game was just I don't have a specific answer because I don't have the running scoring total there. I would say we executed pretty well. Even when we were missing shots, I felt good about that. The time I was most upset is when they got the lay-up with the dunk down the middle. I mean, that can't happen. But we got that adjusted. We toughened up and we got better.
But again, I would just say when the ball is moving and we're making that quick pass and we're making it one dribble early, which is a big thing for us, big thing to me, then we're better. But I've got to go back and look at the flow of the game to give you a more specific answer. I don't have that photographic memory, I'm sorry.
What needs to happen?
Well, I don't think we took that many threes. I don't think it's going to change and we're going to stop shooting threes and we missed open threes in a big sense. I think we've got to get some rebounds, some offensive rebounds. Collin Hartman didn't have an offensive board. Some of it is bounces and we'll watch the film. I think we'll see the hustle on the glass wasn't what it needed to be.
Again, it's offensive rebounding, it's making the next pass. When we got in the middle pick-and-roll, we got a lot of good stuff. I don't want to take anything away from their win because they earned it. They did a really good job. About you we missed some open shots, bottom line. We come out of a timeout and we're running an action. We slip the screen. Robert's got to drive to the lane. He tries to throw it back to Troy and Troy's not free. The play is for Robert to go.
Sometimes with young guys that concentration and that focus when it's going fast is just not what it needed to be. Those are a couple things that would have given us a basket, might have given us a three somewhere.
The bottom line is when the ball is going through the paint, I think I said this before about the other night, there is only one play that was really designed to get us three. That was it. Everything was movement, spacing, flow, back cut, back pass, transition, offensive boards whatever it is. That is the biggest thing for us. It's really not a number of threes or number of twos. It's getting through the paint and getting the best shot.
The last three minutes one guy took all your shots. Was that by design?
No, no, I think that's probably just the way it happened.
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Indiana Player Quotes |
Can you talk about trying to control them away from the basket?
BLACKMON: Really, we felt like we defended the three really well, which was our game plan. But when the shot went up, guys weren't blocking out, they got a couple of rebounds and that's what got them going from the beginning. I think Haas was leading them in scoring.
This is the second consecutive time struggling from behind the arc against this team. What do they do defending the perimeter against you guys that worked so well?
FERRELL: I think we just missed a couple shots. We just weren't down, ready to shoot, per se. Maybe not taking open shots, the ones that we had, just not being focused when we were shooting.
It seemed like the first ten minutes you guys played at the pace you guys like. Did they do anything to kind of press their defense?
WILLIAMS: That was more of us stopping ourselves. Like you said, the first eight to ten minutes, we were playing at our pace. We had things going our way. We slowed down and there was a stretch we didn't score. We still got 23 for a while. We just took ourselves out of that pace.
On their post players making it hard to get shots in the lane:
FERRELL: Yeah, I'd say so. It does make it hard for us to go down there and try to finish it around the rim when they have two seven footers because they're basically just closing out on everybody. So what we've got to do is attack the big, look for the roll, keep your dribble and try to find everybody.
On that last one, was that a set play or were you trying to find everybody?
FERRELL: That was a bad shot, that's what it was.
Why was it a bad shot?
FERRELL: Time and score, down two, had lots of time left on the clock. Maybe should have pulled it out. Just trying to go to the floor again.
Yogi, what do you have to do in games like this?
FERRELL: We've got to fight. Tonight we felt like we came to play. Played really well to an extent, but at the end of the day, our fight didn't match theirs. I feel like playing Purdue and especially a big rivalry, we've got to go and match the intensity and just fight a little harder.
James, the kids of Ft. Wayne guarded you hard tonight. Do they know some of your moves more than the other guys do?
BLACKMON: Yeah, I guess they do watching me playing with them growing up. But what they did a lot was denying the ball so I couldn't touch it and that's what they tried to do the whole night.
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Head Coach Matt Painter |
On why it is a big win for the team:
Obviously getting any road win, especially when you're fighting to get to the NCAA tournament . We've come a long way from where we were non-conference. We've had some good wins and we've had some tough loses. Our guys have since then really fought and defended better. It was kind of the fashion that we won this game was huge for our team because I thought we got some good looks from the perimeter. I thought Mathias and Stephens had some looks that could have opened this game up a little bit. We just couldn't knock it down. They probably feel the same way on the other end, you always feel that way with your team. They hung in there, we kept getting key rebounds and key stops.
You can't defend Indiana on a walk-throughs and watching film. They break you down, they drive the basketball. They probably drive through the ball more than any other team in college basketball. So they make you go in to help and make you go out to help. Then they throw it across court when they do that and then they'll cut backdoor and Troy Williams will jump over the rim. And James Blackmon can shoot and Yogi Ferrell can shoot. Everybody they play can shoot outside of a couple guys. It's a tough thing to do. It costs you some baskets during the game because you try your best in practice to play like that and you can't. Just like they try to assimilate the size that they don't have, they can't do that in practice. It's a tough thing, you can talk through some things but when it gets down to it you've got to be able to keep them in front and guard them.
On NCAA tournament chances:
You know what, I feel like (you have to ask yourself) if you're in if you lose every game from here on out and they'd still put you in. So if we did that, we wouldn't be in. But we've gotten four road wins now in conference play, this being the biggest one. We've still have work to do. I believe that and that's how I try to handle it, even though I haven't been in this position a lot.
Just tell your guys, "If you lose the rest of them and you're in, then". But who are you if that's the way you go about it as a player. You want to go to the next game and stay locked in. For what we've been through the last two years, to go to another game and a Big Ten game and not just give a great effort would really shock me. These guys have really played hard and hung in there. Our effort has been pretty good.
On difference in second half:
Getting stops and limiting their transition game. Actually, we did a poor job of stopping the basketball against a few players. Troy Williams got on the break, so they scored a couple baskets on transitions due to mistakes from us. Just being able to do that. Dominate the glass. If you're dominating the glass, they aren't getting those second chance opportunities. Limiting those transition opportunities was the difference.
On how win was bigger than any other game:
The magnitude of it. You're on the bubble and fighting for a win on the road against your rival. They are really good. Not too many people are going to win here, if any more people. We are very fortunate. We know how tough it is. I felt like we played them at the right time. I felt like it was perfect that they hit 18 three's against Minnesota because you don't normally have that type of back-to-back game. So that's what I told our guys. The timing was just right for us.
