Postgame Quotes

Feb. 8, 2015

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  Head Coach Tom Crean

The loss of Dean Smith, I knew him a little bit, but I can't say I had a friendship with him. But I was an assistant coach at Western Kentucky, Michigan State. In fact, Tom Izzo's second college game was against Dean Smith in North Carolina.

But what stood out to me with him, meeting him on Nike trips when I was at Marquette, was on a committee with him once for an award, he always made a coach feel like a coach. That's big-time when you have a guy that's at that status because we all know that he's a coach. He would make other people feel like they were a coach just by referencing to you, asking you about your team.

There's so many things that he brought to the game, there's so many things that he brought to coaching, and it's been well-documented. I think it will live out for a long, long time.

I think when you start to think about what he did with situations, what he did with strategies, what he did with offense and defense, all the different things that he did, those things will stand the test of time.

The other thing that will stand the test of time is the unselfishness that his teams played with. I'm sure it wasn't easy. He had some of the greatest players in the world. Bottom line, those teams were unselfish. They were the model of unselfishness in so many years for coaches, young coaches, for everybody to look at.

The biggest thing that always stood out to me, one thing I've never forgotten, is reading one time where one of the his former players in a book said that Coach Smith has three or four favorite players, but the difference is every one of his former players think they're one of those three or four. I thought that was the greatest thing you could ever say about a coach.

Certainly he'll be missed. Like I say, I don't profess to know him remotely close to what other coaches and his players know. But our respect is high. Our condolences are with his family, his wife, all the players and coaches that were with him. He brought so much, so much to sports and to basketball and to coaching.

As far as today, one of the biggest things over the last three years, the difference in the three games over the last three years has been one free throw attempt with Michigan, over the last five years it's been seven free throw attempts. That's how close the games have been.

We certainly didn't anticipate anything different than that. We knew they would come in with great tenacity, energy, togetherness, all the things that John has built there. We knew they would come in with that, especially after the way they played on Thursday night. They couldn't have been happy with that. Much like we felt like we were getting with Rutgers last weekend after playing Michigan State. It was two teams that came in to battle.

I don't think any of us would take these games and call these our best games of the year. But I know our guys fought and his guys fought. I think that's the bottom line. Fortunately we were able to have the ball one last time and we were able to get one more stop.

The free throw difference for us in the second half ended up being the difference in the game. We got six more free throw attempts, we made four, we win the game by three. All those things matter.

What we're trying to get our team to understand is that whatever your mindset is about, what you're going to do offensively or what you think the game is going to turn out, you're only as good as your ability to adjust, you're only as good as your ability to make the plays that need to be made when they need to be made.

We executed better coming out of timeouts. We stayed locked in. We stayed focused. We made our mistakes. We recovered from them. That's where our maturity is growing.

Again, there's a lot of learning points from this game, as there is from every game. It was a tale of two halves, especially with the scoring.

The bottom line is the way they're changing defenses, there's different attack points. When our guys figured that out, we had success. When there's 1-3-1, we have to attack from this way, when they're 2-3, we have to attack from this point. When they're man-to-man we want to get to this.

All ends up with getting the ball in the paint, getting the ball reversed and making the next pass. That's what it all comes down to.

Proud of our efforts, proud to have that win against a team that was very hungry. We'll look forward to getting ready for Maryland.

Anything in particular that you've taken from Coach Smith?
Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. I think the driving thing would be how much time he spent on situations. I'm sure there were a lot of coaches that spent that time, but he was the one that really dove into it.

You don't see it in every team, but you definitely see it with Roy's teams, when Bill Guthridge was there. There was always an answer and strategy for everything. They spent a considerable amount of time, when you look back at the books with his practice plans.

I think we all could stand, me included, to go back and study some of those principles because he was the ultimate in making sure that you were unselfish with your teammates. He really was.

It wasn't about the scoring averages, but about the way they rewarded each other with the point after the pass, the humbling things they made the young guys do. Those are all still things that can be done.

But I would say the situations to me, as good as he was, the ability to change defenses, and then the unselfishness. It is good or it is cool, whatever term you want to use, all right, to be a really great player, have a great team, but make sure that your teammates get the credit. That's some of the stuff I've really taken from following him.

How has this team been keeping its confidence?
I think they're playing through the fatigue. They're playing through the lulls. When we do that, you're constantly trying to fight off that mental fatigue. I think every team does. It's the time of the year. For the young teams, I'm sure John's team is going through it because they're so young. He has key freshmen and sophomores that are playing considerable minutes with considerable responsibility. It's not just the responsibility of scoring, it's the responsibility of what they have to do defensively.

With us, we're a game plan team, so we can do something entirely different defensively for a game. Really we're getting to the point now where we're adding to the different bases we have with our defenses, whether it's a 2-3 zone, our combination, our man-to-man. We're adding to it.

But that takes a lot of mental wear and tear. I think the fact that they are playing through that ... we were really good today coming out of timeouts, that's a big step, and we executed end of the half. Yogi improvised, made a tremendous read when Collin got the read because they jumped into a different zone.

I think they're growing with that. But they've come back. We've had three really demanding days. It was a lot less five-on-five, let's get ready for a game. We're always fundamental, but I think it was a lot more about the details. They're learning they can't get bored with that because that's what wins and loses games.

We'll be able to show that off the film. Our coaches did a phenomenal job. They got this thing done on Wednesday, I went recruiting in New York, but it was another place in here for a couple days. Steve, Tim with the scouts, Chuck, just a tremendous job. I think that's a big part of this.

I tell these guys all the time, We got five former head coaches in that room, plus me it's six. They've sat in that chair. When they're telling you something, they're not telling you something they hope happens, they're telling you something they've seen happens. I think that's really important for us.

You talked a lot about maturity on and off the floor. Are there moments whether it's in the game or film study where you watch the film and say, This wouldn't have happened last year?
Sure. I'm proud of these guys, knock on wood, cover it again, they're growing up. That doesn't mean we're not going to have another mistake. But they're making tremendous strides on and off the court. I'm proud of what they're doing.

I'll give you a great example. I said it to him after the game. A year ago, Troy made a mistake, something went wrong, okay? A year ago it would have taken four or five minutes to get him back into it. He was ready one play later. A year ago I would take him out of the game. It doesn't mean it went right, that it was perfect, he just grew through it. That's what you want.

That's the biggest thing. There's countless ways they're growing up on the court, off the court. We just need to keep doing that every day.

About Hanner, were you trying to get him in each half?
Yes and no. We have to feel it. We weren't sure till yesterday. He didn't get up and down the court. We knew there was certainly a chance on Thursday and Friday, but it was more after practice yesterday, Okay, we're going to be able to put him in. It would have been great to get him extended minutes, but he wasn't ready for it.

He just wasn't as fluid with it. But he's been through it now. We'll get a couple days of work and we'll need him on Wednesday night and next Sunday.

So yes and no. That's why I went with Stan in the second half defensively inside. We weren't doing a good job with their five man. The number one good thing those guys do is rebound the basketball, and today they did more than that. We let Donnal step in and hit a three. We know he's a three-point shooter. Did a good job on Bielfeldt. Ricky Doyle played the majority of the minutes.

We covered that screen on the backside for three days, and all of a sudden we're running into it. Then we get a help, they get a layup. Those are the kind of mistakes we haven't grown out of yet, but we can continue to learn from.

So it really just became about really having great awareness at that position. Hanner has missed too much time. It wouldn't have been fair to him. If he got off to a good start, maybe it would have been a little bit different. It wouldn't be fair to him to have that responsibility because they're doing so many different angle screening things with Ricky Doyle that we prepared for but didn't cover well.

On Blackmon's injury...
He injured his ankle. It was just one of those things where he couldn't put enough pressure on it to perform on Tuesday. We kept him out of practice on Sunday and Monday. I tried at the walk-through before the game.

It was really what he could deal with pain-wise. It was just too much. So you don't want to injure it worse, and you don't want him to be favoring it. It becomes what he can deal with type of thing.

So we kept him out a little bit. He's recovered. Had some freshness. A guy getting a couple days, it's like going on a three-week vacation body-wise.

He did a good job in the second half because the game became about getting it into the short corner and getting it into the middle, the drive. We went through a span of not getting close enough to the bonus, then we really got fouled, so we had to crank it up so we could win the three-point part of this game. It appeared very much it was going to come down to that at the end.

  Indiana Player Quotes

James, talk about sitting out last game.
BLACKMON: So excited to get back out there. It was so hard to sit out, especially against Wisconsin, since they're the top team.

Coming in I worked hard on the defensive things, things I had to know to get back into it. They helped me get going from right off tonight.

Talk about last year's struggle against Michigan.
FERRELL: I say the difference has been mindset, our mental mindset going into a close game like that. You got to get a stop, whatever is necessary to get it. We go out there and we fight for each other and we fight for the team. We come out with the outcome we want.

WILLIAMS: Last year, at the time of the game, wasn't in the game. He got in all the people at the end of the game that would do that for us. We're just happy that changed this year.

Do you ever look back at film and look at what could be different?
FERRELL: I say the biggest thing from last year to this year is making more simpler plays, not trying to make the home run play. Driving in, just hitting the open guy, not trying to throw a crazy like behind-the-back pass. We can throw a pass to another pass for a shot. We call it the Indiana assist. Doing basically whatever we can to help the team win.

How much does it help the team having James Blackmon back in the lineup?
FERRELL: Yeah, just another guy they have to guard. We definitely missed James in Wisconsin because that would have opened up the floor more

I say he definitely helped us in this game.

Troy, what was the difference for you after halftime?
WILLIAMS: The short alley. Just stayed in, kept moving, got back cuts, dunks, got fouled a couple times.

I guess I got comfortable out there, got the steal for the three-pointer. I guess after that I just got more comfortable.

Yogi, what does it mean to you moving forward with Hanner?
FERRELL: For us moving forward, just got to get back in shape, got to get back in game shape. I know he played a couple stretches tonight.

He's definitely going to help us. We need that big body down there. Hanner helped us with wins at Illinois and Nebraska. To have him back, we're going to need him.

What does this mean to you?
WILLIAMS: I mean, builds everybody's confidence. Some people like break down or whatever, but we just stay with it in practice, stay with it on the court, off the court. Just feels better.

You talk about not looking too big picture in the middle of the season. You still have Maryland. But do you feel like coming through this you have played well enough to move to an easier schedule in Big Ten play?
FERRELL: These last couple games we have are basically going to define who we are. That's where teams get made basically, going from here on.

Last couple stretches, we have to have the best focus we've had all year, last couple weeks. Every game we play from here on now is a championship game. Every possession is a championship possession. Once we get those, win those, we'll eventually be in the championship game.

What is it like being in this position at this point in the season?
FERRELL: Yeah, we didn't really look too much where everybody picked us. They picked us low in the Big Ten. Expectations are high. Just gave us a little bit extra chip on our shoulder to go out there and prove everybody wrong. They don't know us. But they’re getting ready to find out.

 Head Coach John Beilein

Opening statement:
Very similar story to our Wisconsin and Michigan State game. We’re proud of how our kids played and how hard we worked. Would love to have some possessions back that I know we will learn from. Indiana is a big matchup problem for everybody. Yogi is such a good player. There’s few point guards that I could say are playing as well as he is. He made big shots and he made big passes, he split the double team and got a layup for them. He is really a high level IQ. Our kids feel really bad about this but we’ll grow from it.

On Zach Irvin improvements:
He’s doing much better just picking his spots. He saw a shot fake or two today which was really big, so he’s learning those things and exploring different options to be much more than a shooter. He showed some of those things today, plus he made some really tough outside shots that we needed at big times. He’s become more confident off playing off-screens. He’s been more of a spot-up guy and that’s the growth that we have to have with him to get him open.

On last shot:
You know we had a bunch of shooters on the floor. It’s very tough in transition. We try to get into position and try to get Zak the first look. Actually Mark was going to pop, he didn’t pop, but he popped the second time and then we went one, two, three and we got him open. So we’re looking for Zak but they’re not going to let Zak get too open. So, we found the next option. I was really proud of Aubrey because he made the right play forwarding it to Muhammad.

On steps will he take moving forward:
I love that Mark could come in and get those offensive rebounds. We’re not a great rebounding team but it is a step forward for us to go and Ricky get the rebounds that he had. When people switch screens like they do, we weren’t going to try and do anything else. We’d like to have more success, but they are making big steps and again, Spike Albrecht made big shots, big foul shots for us. We had some great opportunities, but we were 15-of-20 from the foul line it seems like those five were big misses. We had some other opportunities that I think we could have been in that game but the ball didn’t bounce our way.

On showing resilience in games:
That’s our story. We’re getting a little tired of it but it beats the alternative of giving in. So, we’re making progress in both victory and defeat. We don’t like growing in defeat but I believe we are.

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