Postgame Quotes vs. SIUE

Indiana vs. SIU Edwardsville
Dec. 2, 2016
Postgame Quotes

Indiana Head Coach Tom Crean
COACH CREAN: One of the main questions you get whenever a good player is out is how do you make up for it.

And there's never really any answer. The bottom line is no one is ever really going to come in and just move in and get the points for that player. It's got to come from a lot of different areas.

But that was proven differently tonight. Because as I said, with Juwan, losing OG in this game, Juwan rebounded for two tonight.

And that was one of the most -- that was a tremendous hustle moment. Because everybody left it all out there on Wednesday night. And he was as spent as any of them and was banged up. We've got many of guys that are banged up after a game like this.

But he came out and brought it. And I was worried about our start, one way or the other it could have gone either way. We did something yesterday that I've never done in 18 years as a coach – we didn't practice live the day before a game. Certainly that is different. But when you play a game, have a day off, game the next day, really the majority of the team didn't do anything live. They didn't put anything -- we watched a lot of film.

Some guys said that we wanted to get shots up and movement for them and things of that nature. But the bulk of the main guys playing didn't do anything and we didn't do it today. Because I was certainly concerned about our energy.

But we had a slow start with our movement. We were getting good shots, other than maybe one, and then we picked it up. And then that energy and that second wind came, because this is -- they want to play basketball the rest of their lives, this is what you've got to get used to.

With Wednesday, especially with the emotion of that, to turn around and play with the level of effort and grit and edge that they played with tonight was fantastic.

They knew my respect level for this team. They don't know Jon Harris like I know him. They understood I have a lot of respect for him, just like I have for them, because he was on my first three teams at Marquette. And he was on a staff of mine that went to the Final Four and been involved in his coaching life ever since. Just proud of him, completely proud of what he's doing with that team.

And we have a lot of respect for them. And the one that some of you will remember is I likened that team to an Eastern Washington from a couple of years ago where they came in here, they executed, played with great edge and they made shots and they played fast and we ended up losing that game.

We didn't want anything like that to happen. Our guys really responded today. And a lot of good basketball in a lot of ways. And especially a night when some of your better shooters aren't having great, great shooting nights.

But we played a very good hustle game,19 free throws in a row, something like that. Which was very good for us. Guard rebounds. We didn't have any points that we gave up in the first half. So there were some really good things.

And we'll spend a little bit of time on this and get ready to turn around and play on Sunday.

Q. You talked earlier about De'Ron's conditioning. Is he getting closer?
COACH CREAN: I think you're seeing it. I'm sure it's getting better. We've had him on a hockey shift schedule longer tonight. And it just worked out that way.

And he's got to keep -- we've got to keep pushing it. Again, we weren't sure he was going to play today, based on the other night.

So OG's was the most obvious. But there were a lot of guys -- I mean, I've coached a lot of games as an assistant and as head coach, and I've not been part of many that had that level of intensity, effort, energy, toughness and talent, all at the same time. And that's what the respect for Carolina, too. That's why it was such an incredible game.

But De'Ron did a good job of, especially after not doing anything yesterday except for walking through, and very little today. But he did an excellent job with what the game was giving him. I'm going to make a couple of adjustments for him to make it a little more conducive to where his skill level is right now, especially on the offensive side.

But he played well. And I think it will continue to grow as he gets healthy and as he gets into even better shape and he understands how hard he has to play for how long.

And that's a big thing right now for a young guy, especially for a young guy that wasn't here all summer and is coming off the injuries.

Q. Juwan talked about he was thinking too much with his shot. Is this one of the looks you see in practice from him?
COACH CREAN: Yeah, I think he was -- I think when he's on the attack with the ball and I think some of the -- it shows up in his footwork at times, when he's been called for travels, when he hops, because that's not how he practices. That's not what we do.

It's not how he plays. But I think sometimes that happens. But you can go through shifts in that where guys are really becoming complete players. Remember now we started -- he's played point guard for us at different times even as a starter. So we're throwing a lot at him.

But he's capable of it. But he is -- his level of hustle and effort to rebound the ball, to do things defensively. And when you take OG out of the lineup, you take so much athleticism, versatility, you take the shooting, take the rebounding, the defense out.

So that's hard. And I thought our guys tried to do a really good job of making up for that. And Juwan did even more there. But the rebounding and that level of hustle really showed up. And when you focus all the things that don't involve shooting, it's usually pretty indicative you're going to shoot the ball and it's just amazing how that works.

But that's a lot older than all of us, that adage. It's true. When you focus on the things you can control, all of a sudden the ball's moving, and there's an old saying that the ball finds energy.

And it's a good saying. And it makes a lot of sense. And I think he was a part of that tonight. And he was rewarded for it for all that hustle.

Q. You've been saying earlier in the season improve the post play, emphasis on that?
COACH CREAN: There's a lot of emphasis on that. It's just different. It depends on how the post is being played more straight behind. So it's even more indicative that we want to get it in.

We probably made it a little harder than it had to be early in the first half because it was opened on the single side more. And what we've tried to do and what we tried to have a carryover from the other night was get it back when the ball has been reversed, like in a situation where you're in a screen and roll. Roll, get it reversed, get it back, get the guy sealed. That's what we tried to do the other night.

We probably did too much of that where we could have thrown it off the single side, the shake, thrown it right from there and played; and we started to make that adjustment more. We want to feed the post.

We've got tremendous numbers when we go through the paint. And they're great numbers. So we want to make sure that that ball as much as possible is touching the paint. One reason that I wasn't that concerned about our slow start was the ball was going through the paint at the beginning of the game. And as long as that's happening, things are good.

Q. Using a walk-through more for practice moving forward during a busy week, is this something you continue to do during the busy part of the season?
COACH CREAN: We've done that -- I've held guys out at different times. But this is just a different scenario. They spent so much Wednesday night. And it was just a matter of making sure that we were really fresh. And we weren't that fresh.

I mean, it's hard to be that fresh turning around after that game. But we tried to do the best we could. And I give Lyonel (Anderson), Mario (Hull), Tim Garl, Dr. Rink, Dr. Ahlfeld, Dr. Headdy a ton of credit. They're in there as much as any of the players. We've had players in there a long time.

You get a guy -- we had guys back in here rehabbing at 9:00 Thursday morning that didn't leave until sometime after midnight because of all the stuff they were doing in there. It's hard. That's the thing.

So we just want to keep it managed the best that we can, because it's all about having that energy. But they have to have a certain amount of -- they've got to get that out of their system a little bit. We've got to run. And we didn't yesterday. I knew it was going to affect us one way or the other. That's a long answer to I don't know. I don't know. It's all spur of the moment.

Q. The OG thing, is it a long-term thing?
COACH CREAN: I don't think it's long-term. But he's going to be sick being in that chair. We don't do any boot shooting at least not efficiently, any boot shooting, because it's just -- there's no carry-over to that. We started right away yesterday on his arc, working on his dribbling. And he's doing all the stuff that he's got to do and he's just got to heal.

We'll get a little more of an indication tomorrow. But we're certainly not banking on him. I wouldn't rule him out like officially. I can't do that on Sunday. That wouldn't be made until tomorrow or Sunday.

But I'm not banking on him. I'd say that in here. But we'll see. Every ankle responds differently. We've got -- but Tim does a great job. And the players do a great job -- the ones that do -- the ones that do a really great job of making sure they're not only doing what they've got to do in here but they're not getting carried away outside of here. They're following the procedures, the icing and the foot up and whatever he gives them. Those are the guys that usually come back a little quicker.

Q. James had nine rebounds. What makes him so strong?
COACH CREAN: He's strong. Good point. Strong. I think when he's aware of it. There's been some nights he hasn't. And when he's aware of it -- he was a good rebounder last year. He was rebounding the ball well when he got hurt.

But he is quick. He's got a good vertical. He's got strong legs. And he understands that it's an absolute emphasis. We got better because of playing -- not only did he win the game, not only did we learn things but we got better. We got better inside those practices because here's these emphases that we have: The weak side blockouts have to be better. Guard rebounding has to be better. We've got to be inside.We don't want to be just free throw lining in, we want to be underneath that with our defensive rebounding.

It becomes -- you get more and the carry-over is good. And they know it's working. And we're subbing if you're not.

So it's at times. But for us he understands it. And he's doing a great job with it.

Q. Can you tell us anything about Sunday?
COACH CREAN: We haven't talked about tomorrow. But I think they're well coached. I know they gave Illinois a tremendous battle. The other night, we were in here late for a lot of reasons, but really, really late watching film of Edwardsville.

I'm sure there will be some of that tonight. And we'll have a better view moving forward. Illinois -- I've seen some of that. I know they went into Illinois and got after them.

So we won't take them lightly. We'll get it all figured out the best we can. What we're not doing, even with Carolina, we're not spending so much time on all the different things that we get away from what the base is.

And I think we're trying to do a good job on personnel. We're trying to do a good job on what their action, really what they want to get from them and really understand, trying to understand what their strengths are.

The next big thing for our defense is going to be to understand who we're closing out to. We're not in overhelp, but we're going to keep seeing people that are going to penetrate and create some help so we make sure we know who we're rotating out to, what those strengths are.

In a short work week like this, or short game planning situation like this, that's harder to get to. Hopefully we can get better guys, get a little more time in between games.

Indiana Players - Juwan Morgan and De'Ron Davis
Q. Talk about OG being hurt.
JUWAN MORGAN: I think it goes across the board for everybody on the team. When somebody goes down, we all have to be ready to step up. I don't think it takes just one person to do everything that OG does for us. But I think collectively we all have to do that for him.

DE'RON DAVIS: Same thing. We've all got to do our own aspect of the game, 1 through 16 we've all got to contribute to the game.

Q. Juwan, how do you get in such a rhythm; didn't miss a shot the whole game.
JUWAN MORGAN: I think just mentally I've been thinking too much about shooting, things like that. I just got back to what I was at last year and things that helped the team and I didn't have to make plays or anything. And if I ran hard and set a screen, I knew my teammates would find me and things like that.

Q. You both had career highs.
JUWAN MORGAN: For me I feel like for me scratching the surface. My teammates look to give me the ball. And I look to have big games. But it was just a good night for us as a team.

DE'RON DAVIS: I just think we have to continue to grow and build and the aspects of the game, I don't think that would be the last time that will happen for either one of us.

And I think any given night, it can be anybody's time. Like for James (Blackmon Jr.) and Rob (Johnson), their shots were contributing. Rob was locking it on the defensive end. James was finding all the bigs in the post. Just those little things, when you're not able to do one thing, you have another thing to contribute to the team. I think that's really important.

Q. De'Ron, how big was the game against North Carolina for your confidence, made some big plays against arguably one of the best teams in the nation. How big was that for your confidence?
DE'RON DAVIS: Really big. That just shows that I can play on this level. And I go against great players every day in practice. And JMO (Morgan) and Thomas Bryant, they all push me in practice. Coming down the court, makes the game easier.

Q. Talk about fatigue in this game.
JUWAN MORGAN: I think it's pretty taxing as far as our stamina and things go, but I think it's more mental than physical. Of course the games are hard. The practices, we're not killing each other or anything, but being able to lock on what each and every player does, what team does, and having that mental part of the game is really important just as important as the physical part of the game.

DE'RON DAVIS: Same what JMO said. Coaches do a good job on our preparation towards the game. Like JMO said, we're not killing each other in practice. We do extra stretching, watch a lot of film, and treat our bodies right just because of the long week we have.

Q. James thought the other night that you guys need to bring your own energy, not really rely on the crowd or whatever. But when the atmosphere is not like it was the other night, is it harder to get into the game against an opponent like that?
JUWAN MORGAN: No, we have respect for every team, and we have respect for the game. Just like you said, when the crowd isn't into it like they are against North Carolina or teams like that, we still have to play our game. We can't let that get to us. We have to bring our own energy and we have to get stops. We still have to hit the post and things like that, just like we would if North Carolina was in here.

Q. De'Ron, are you starting to find your own rhythm?
DE'RON DAVIS: Yes, I am. But like I said earlier, my teammates is finding me, everybody was moving and cutting around me. And as the season is going, I'm going to continue to get better and so is my team.

Q. De'Ron, talk about Juwan being locked in tonight.
DE'RON DAVIS: Yeah, I'm looking at that. He was locked in. I've been focusing all week really being on the boards and just being locked into everything we're doing, being the great leader he was, he came out and led us today as you can see. He was all over the boards today. It was a big accomplishment.

Q. Where have you seen De'Ron grow the most?
JUWAN MORGAN: I think just his confidence. I've had the pleasure of playing against De'Ron since I was in eighth grade and he was in seventh grade. He was playing up, and I played him in a tournament in Kansas City. And even then he was just, you could tell the potential that was there. And when he first got here, he was talking about how down he was about not being able to score sometimes because we didn't take it easy on them. Like every time he got the ball, I was attacking him every single time. And during the heat of the moment I was telling him he can't guard me and stuff, but after practice I was telling him, 'we've got to work on this because we need you, we're going to need you to play right away.'

He took that to heart and he started going against himself, looking at himself in the mirror, saying this is what I've gotta do. And I think that's really showed up in these last few games.

Q. Free throws, you guys were 19 for 19 at one point. Does that kind of focus help you knock them down?
DE'RON DAVIS: It felt good. But that's a focus throughout the whole season. When it comes down to the clutch, you've gotta make free throws. And as far as the team collectively, I think after practice we just really get free throws in, just late-game situations.

Q. De'Ron, you've been very successful. What do you think has been the key?
DE'RON DAVIS: Well, you know, just having two bigs that can play inside out. Trying to work on moving around the perimeter, making my way into shape. Towards the end of the season, when I'm in better shape and better conditioning and we can do more things on the outside, we're unstoppable.

We've got JMO. We've got a pretty big team, but me and Thomas, and Thomas knocking down the 3. If they throw it into me, they're going to double or leave Thomas open. So it's a pick-your-poison-type thing.

Q. De'Ron, what accounts for your number of post moves?
DE'RON DAVIS: Just like JMO said, when I first got here, I couldn't really score. So that's what we do. We go out and practice. Granted, today, I should have used my left hand a little bit more. But you spin back left, your left hand is there. So I'm just trying to -- how do you say -- expand my game and continue to get myself in a little bit better shape.

Q. De'Ron, talk about enthusiasm with Thomas; you were a little fired up.
DE'RON DAVIS: Yeah, TB is a very energetic dude. We all need that. It goes back to the point of bringing our energy. We were just trying to hype everyone up.

SIU Edwardsville Head Coach Jon Harris
Opening statement…
"Disappointing loss. Obviously a tremendous basketball team, there's a reason they are ranked No. 10 in America. I did think, in the first half, the difference in the ballgame was our turnovers. We turned the ball over seven times real early in the first half and that was the difference in the game. They got out in transition, then they got their head up and started moving the ball. We did a much better job at settling down at the end. Again, we let them get going and that was the difference and the separation early."

On De'Ron Davis and Juwan Morgan's performance…
"Unexpected somewhat, yeah. Obviously those guys are talented ballplayers. I watched them a lot in high school growing up and I follow Indiana. They had OG (Anunoby) go down and those guys raised their level. That's the one thing we talk about in our locker room, you never know when your number is going to be called. You have to scratch and claw and push everyday and those guys have obviously done that. They were able to come out when their team needed them the most and stepped up and played big plays for them."

On impressions of Indiana…
"A great team. I really think they're a high level offensive team. I think their bigs are a little bit better than what I gave them credit for. I'm not trying to be disrespectful but sometimes it's hard to gauge on film. Those guys are really good ballplayers. Obviously, their rebounding numbers are really good, +14 or +15 per game on the season. But now once you get thrown into it with them, you're trying to rebound with those guys, they're coming. They are relentless on the backboards and that's going to win them a lot of games. If you can defend and rebound at a high level, you'll win a lot of games."

On his relationship with Coach Crean…
"Great. A special relationship and that's why we played this game. It's honestly not a easy game to play. We are both competitors and when that ball tipped, we both wanted to win the game. At the same time, he didn't really want to beat me and I didn't really want to beat him. We've got a really good relationship and he's been a big part of my growth as a head coach in this profession. I've learned a lot from him, so we'll continue to keep tabs and keep in touch for sure."

Indiana University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Thomas Bryant

De'Ron Davis

Juwan Morgan

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