Indiana University Athletics
Postgame Quotes vs. Austin Peay
12/22/2016 9:49:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Indiana vs. Austin Peay
Dec. 22, 2016
Postgame Quotes
Indiana Head Coach Tom Crean
COACH CREAN: I thought this was a week that our guys just continued to get better and better, and we would see it from Sunday when we got in the film room, we got on the practice court. And they're working at a really good pace. Our practices have been sharp, short but sharp and efficient. They're spending a lot of extra time in the gym.
And one of the things I'm most proud of this team, and it was the same way last year, is they have prepared with a diligence in every game. And it didn't matter if it was Carolina or Kansas, it didn't matter who it was. Obviously they know some teams and know some players better than others. But they have come into every game locked to the key personnel, to the key attributes of that personnel, to the key things they want to do.
Doesn't mean we've always been successful. But really, really proud of their preparation. And very, very importantly we got better this week in the sense of pressure. Our deflections were good, our activity was good. Our break was much better this week.
Obviously when the ball is moving, 50 assists in two games, that's a great sign. And we're never overly -- I'm never overly worried about assists because of the way we drive it and the way we play out of the post and things and the offensive rebounding. But I thought we finished the week in a strong way against a team that we have a lot of respect for. Especially with their ability offensively.
And we wanted to get him in the game by putting him on Robinson there at the very beginning. And our plan was to rotate a couple of guys, Juwan being one. But he went down and he couldn't return in the game. And that didn't help us.
And I thought other guys stepped in and did a good job. So we got better inside of the game. We shot the ball extremely well, obviously. And I think it was just very indicative of how the ball was moving and the way Rob shot it the way James shot it, the way Josh moved it. I thought Thomas was a tremendous facilitator tonight of moving the ball.
And what did OG do? He had a big task defensively. Different guys. But when the ball is moving like that, good things are going to happen. And that's exactly how it was this week.
Q. Talk about how Josh has, his role continues to change, but just how much of a facilitator was he?
COACH CREAN: He continues to expand his game. I think so much of it happens in speed. And he played very fast and quick tonight. And that's really important. He's moving the ball. Sometimes he'll get in the middle of the lane and there's a little too much traffic.
But when he's playing out of the corners, when he's playing in the spin action, when he's driving it on the baseline, when he's driving it off the wings, off the break and he's delivering it and his head is up, I thought he played -- pace is -- it's speed when you can change speed, change directions, he's doing a much better job of that.
And I've said this before: We're constantly on him and working to build his stride and to get out and play even faster. And he did a really good job of that this week and tonight.
And at the same time you have to guard him because he's going to make 3s as well. He can get to the rim. We've got to continue to build his pull-up game. And he's very comfortable shooting 3s.
Q. The Don't Hop sign. What was that for?
COACH CREAN: That's just -- that was a -- I don't want to say millennium, because I don't really know what that means. That was a new wave way of trying to get my point across of don't hop defensively. Take steps. So I'm not sure I'll bring it out again. But you remember it when you see that.
COACH CREAN: I don't know. It's just a reminder. We still fouled the kid coming down the lane a couple times. But we have a tendency -- Josh has a tendency, sometimes, it's the same thing with the stride, to not really step; he'll hop. And sometimes it happens on offense [indiscernible] and we're constantly looking for that. I know. We're looking for the guys that are hopping. We don't use the rabbit, but it's just a reminder. I thought it was something different. We've used props before. That's all it was.
Q. Talk about Josh's, what have Rob and James been for him, how have those three developed? Even dating back to last year, a strong dynamic between the three of them, maybe even dating last year when Josh had to sit out?
COACH CREAN: I think they get along great. There's no question about that. And then in the gym. I think the synergy is forming.
He doesn't have the luxury of two plus years like Rob and James have together. But it's certainly coming. And it's certainly moving in the right direction. I think as Devonte and Curtis get involved on that, we play so many other guys on the perimeter.
And I think that's really, really important. I mean, when you're trying to get guys to really move and use the whole court, that stuff is really, really important.
If you're just coming down the run and set point, makes this pass, then he cuts, we don't do a lot of that. Sometimes we do. So much is more based off movement. And that's why it's crucial for the development, future development.
Q. De'Ron's passing, is it something you recruited him for, is that something he's always had?
COACH CREAN: Especially from the high post. We haven't really utilized him from up there. Yeah, he can always pass off the high post. He's got great feet.
It's a matter of him continuing to understand. We're very demanding of him, building his athleticism on the court. And as you can see with his pick-and-roll coverage with the quick feet, quick hands, he's got great eyes. He's got very good vision, so he can see. Just sometimes he plays too straight up and we've got to continue to work through that.
But as he gets understanding, as he gets even -- gets in the speed condition -- he's in good condition, but getting into the speed where he can really, really drive the ball off that into hand-offs and things like that, it will be even more. I think in due time he's going to become very good at passing off the dribble.
Cody didn't have that until his sophomore year. Not like he had it his sophomore year.
Thomas is part of the development process. But as far as him being able to see out of the post, the elbow of the high post, he's very good there.
Q. Juwan, was that more of a precautionary?
COACH CREAN: No, he definitely hurt his ankle tonight. He wasn't able to go back in. So I'll get an update here a little bit later.
Q. Talk about Robert's maturity.
COACH CREAN: No question, he works extremely hard. And he's phenomenal. He shot it in the walk-through. We don't walk through very long anymore at all on game day. But he had been in here -- he had been here earlier in the day.
But even in the walk-through, knocking everything down. I would have been shocked tonight if he didn't shoot well. But what he's doing is he's efficient. He's getting his dribble out.
He's taking what's there, whether it's one or two dribbles on the pull-up. The one pick-and-roll where he missed the one off the pick-and-roll, that was a footwork deal. And I had no problem him taking that shot, but it's a matter of footwork. Sometimes he doesn't always get his left/right down the way it needs to be. But he's doing that more often. He's very, very efficient with his dribbles.
There's not a lot of waste in there, too. Not a lot of herky jerky. He doesn't just play in a straight line, can't move forward as a player, if you're just a straight line dribbler or if you're just somebody that can just change direction. You've got to be able to do both. And I think he's really getting to the point where he can do both. He's getting good shots and he's a product of very good ball movement.
Q. As far as Newkirk development, nuances, things like that. Is that part of it, as far as assists go?
COACH CREAN: Yeah, that's all part of it. Absolutely. I'm not looking at anything that I say, wow, we did it; we've reached these -- the numbers are great. But the one good thing about these guys is they go into that film room and win or lose they know that it's going to be -- there are going to be things we can take out of it. And Josh really, over the last three weeks or so, has -- a lot of it has been centered on him.
It's centered on everybody. It's not like we single it out. But there's so much more in the sense of I don't want to say speeding up his process but making sure that the expectations and what he's capable of doing right now are there and holding him to that.
But at the same time I sent him a message today that said just simply just attack and play the way you know how to play.
Sometimes he overthinks it. And the other day, if I would have had him do it, he took the practice film upstairs to watch some of the new things and look at other things to make sure he knew where everybody was supposed to be.
You know what, that's great. You want that. But you also want him to just go out there and play on instinct too. And that's what we need.
He was so upset with himself the other night on the turnover in the middle of the lane in the game on Monday. It's like: Relax. You know? It's okay. We don't look them over. But don't beat yourself up. He's just got to play with the game mentality and we'll figure the rest of it out, as well as when he's playing fast.
Indiana Players - Robert Johnson, James Blackmon Jr. and Josh Newkirk
Q. Talk about the career high in assists. What was really working for you as far as that?
JOSH NEWKIRK: I think I played -- I was more in attack mode, and when I saw the defense colliding I just made the simple pass.
Q. How much did you feel like you were going to be able to exploit the zone to shoot 3-pointers?
JAMES BLACKMON JR.: Really just moving the ball, we wanted to get it inside to guys like Thomas (Bryant) and De'Ron (Davis) because they're so good at passing the ball as well, also Juwan (Morgan) and (OG Anunoby). So we go inside and out and keep the floor space and just keep ball movement and reversing the ball and it got easy for us.
Q. James, talk about shooting 3s.
JAMES BLACKMON, JR.: Yeah, once you see one or two go down, the rim gets a little bigger. But I never want to switch my mentality to just start shooting 3s or things like that, go inside-out first.
Q. Josh, coming into that offense, what was the mindset. You mentioned pace.
JOSH NEWKIRK: Just getting higher on my downhill and just staying aggressive, not looking timid out there and just getting into the open gaps and these guys hitting shots.
Q. Robert, talk about the 3-point defense.
ROBERT JOHNSON: I think we've been focusing on taking that away from teams and not letting guys get in certain areas where they can get open shots, like defense, are a couple of things we've really been focusing on.
Q. Josh, the two guys on either side of you, just how important are they? With all the experience, all the games they have under their belt, obviously they scored a lot of points tonight. How important are they in just lead by example, OG, whatever?
JOSH NEWKIRK: They're real important and if something is not going right, I can look to my right or my left and those guys, they definitely keep me going, keeping me confident. So I mean vice versa. So we definitely work well together. We communicate well together and we just like to playoff each other.
Q. You had a career high in the first half. What was working for you?
ROBERT JOHNSON: I was just getting a lot of open shots. Like JB said, we were going inside and out and whenever we do that those are always -- it's what we take. So did a good job of moving the ball and I got some open shots.
Q. Robert, seems like just about every game you get one of the first baskets or you get off to a good start. Is that something that you really focus on or does that just happen?
ROBERT JOHNSON: It just happens just the way we move the ball. It can be any guy at any time. So when you see an opening you just gotta take it.
Q. Josh, talk about your defensive mentality.
JOSH NEWKIRK: We definitely want to be the first team ready on defense. So just locking in, knowing personnel, knowing what our man is going to do and knowing how we're going to guard, I think that's been a focus for us, and being alert.
Q. Josh, Coach talked about how you just take time, game time, what are the nuances of each other, where guys want the ball where they don't. How much does that play when you're the primary ball handler?
JOSH NEWKIRK: Just as we play more together, I start to get a feel what teammates like the ball and just where they like to move off the ball and stuff like that. So I think it's just playing with each other and just communicating and talking.
Q. For any of you guys, how do you feel like the preconference schedule to this point has prepared you for the Big Ten schedule?
JAMES BLACKMON, JR.: I feel it prepared us really well. We had a lot of big games, a lot of good competition. Going forward we want to focus on one game at a time because we know every night we're in for a battle.
Q. To follow up on a couple things Josh talked about, for either of you have guys, even going back to last season, how much have you tried to support him or just advice or guidance whenever he seeks it, especially as he's stepped into such a big role this season?
JAMES BLACKMON, JR.: Really, it's easy, because he has a lot of confidence in himself. So I never really see him like that. It's just like when things happen, next play mentality. We all three tell each other that. So it's not a hard thing to do at all to get him going.
Q. Apparently Coach held up a sign that said Don't Hop on it.
JOSH NEWKIRK: Sometimes during games I hop on defenses that are sliding our feet. So that's what that was for.
Q. James, can you talk about Devonte's half-court shot.
JAMES BLACKMON, JR.: Not really. It was a great shot.
Q. Robert, can you talk about your shot selection?
ROBERT JOHNSON: Yeah, I think it's a little bit of both. I think it's times where I could have been a little more aggressive in (indiscernible) games, but at the same time I think guys have done a good job of, like I said earlier, and just finding me when I'm open.
Q. James, talk about the Big Ten season.
JAMES BLACKMON, JR.: I'm looking forward to it a lot really, what I've been looking forward to since the beginning of this season. But it's hard not to look forward to games and not look over one team. But now that it's here continue to work hard in practice and out of practice and just take care of business when it comes.
Austin Peay Head Coach Dave Loos
Q: Coach you collapsed a little bit on the inside, it seems like they let some early threes by Indiana and then Indiana got on a roll.
COACH LOOS: We thought we had to play at a certain tempo and I liked the tempo. I liked how the game was going early, but we got to the point where Indiana was 10-17 from the three so we had to get out of it . We knew we were going to have some issues. We had some problems guarding and they kind of picked us apart after that.
Q: Is it hard with a guy like Blackmon to also guard a guy like Robert Johnson who is pretty capable?
COACH LOOS: They are all hard to guard, I tell you we didn't have a good match up out there.
Q: What can you take away from this game for your team?
COACH LOOS: I thought at the beginning of the game the tempo was good. We don't play a lot of teams like Indiana in our league, but I think we showed them that we could play that tempo if we have to. Hopefully next time we play them they won't go 10 for 17.
Q: Down 17 at half by that three pointer by Indiana after the first half you guys shot 48% I mean what else could you guys do?
COACH LOOS: Yeah, everything was going reasonably well given the situation, but when they scored that shot it kind of took the wind out of our sails.
Q: From a personnel perspective, what sort of unique challenges does Indiana present in a game-plan perspective?
COACH LOOS: Well, you have to start with Bryant. He is a handful and we don't see that very often, if at all. As I said, we did not have a good matchup out there, which is why we went to the zone.
Q: They had OG Anunoby guarding Josh Robinson up top for a little while, how does that disrupt an offense to have that kind of blank up top?
COACH LOOS: It does disrupt it. Josh got 21 points, but his shooting was not what it normally is. It was because they have that length and athleticism to get in his face.
Q: What do you think of Indiana's potential going forward, they obviously have some newcomers, like Newkirk and Bryant's a year older, so what is the feeling you get from that team?
COACH LOOS: I love that team. I think they have great talent, they are well coached, and they play well together. They had 22 assists tonight and we had 4, which tells you that they played together, they moved the basketball, and they got it from side to side. I really like their team.
Dec. 22, 2016
Postgame Quotes
Indiana Head Coach Tom Crean
COACH CREAN: I thought this was a week that our guys just continued to get better and better, and we would see it from Sunday when we got in the film room, we got on the practice court. And they're working at a really good pace. Our practices have been sharp, short but sharp and efficient. They're spending a lot of extra time in the gym.
And one of the things I'm most proud of this team, and it was the same way last year, is they have prepared with a diligence in every game. And it didn't matter if it was Carolina or Kansas, it didn't matter who it was. Obviously they know some teams and know some players better than others. But they have come into every game locked to the key personnel, to the key attributes of that personnel, to the key things they want to do.
Doesn't mean we've always been successful. But really, really proud of their preparation. And very, very importantly we got better this week in the sense of pressure. Our deflections were good, our activity was good. Our break was much better this week.
Obviously when the ball is moving, 50 assists in two games, that's a great sign. And we're never overly -- I'm never overly worried about assists because of the way we drive it and the way we play out of the post and things and the offensive rebounding. But I thought we finished the week in a strong way against a team that we have a lot of respect for. Especially with their ability offensively.
And we wanted to get him in the game by putting him on Robinson there at the very beginning. And our plan was to rotate a couple of guys, Juwan being one. But he went down and he couldn't return in the game. And that didn't help us.
And I thought other guys stepped in and did a good job. So we got better inside of the game. We shot the ball extremely well, obviously. And I think it was just very indicative of how the ball was moving and the way Rob shot it the way James shot it, the way Josh moved it. I thought Thomas was a tremendous facilitator tonight of moving the ball.
And what did OG do? He had a big task defensively. Different guys. But when the ball is moving like that, good things are going to happen. And that's exactly how it was this week.
Q. Talk about how Josh has, his role continues to change, but just how much of a facilitator was he?
COACH CREAN: He continues to expand his game. I think so much of it happens in speed. And he played very fast and quick tonight. And that's really important. He's moving the ball. Sometimes he'll get in the middle of the lane and there's a little too much traffic.
But when he's playing out of the corners, when he's playing in the spin action, when he's driving it on the baseline, when he's driving it off the wings, off the break and he's delivering it and his head is up, I thought he played -- pace is -- it's speed when you can change speed, change directions, he's doing a much better job of that.
And I've said this before: We're constantly on him and working to build his stride and to get out and play even faster. And he did a really good job of that this week and tonight.
And at the same time you have to guard him because he's going to make 3s as well. He can get to the rim. We've got to continue to build his pull-up game. And he's very comfortable shooting 3s.
Q. The Don't Hop sign. What was that for?
COACH CREAN: That's just -- that was a -- I don't want to say millennium, because I don't really know what that means. That was a new wave way of trying to get my point across of don't hop defensively. Take steps. So I'm not sure I'll bring it out again. But you remember it when you see that.
COACH CREAN: I don't know. It's just a reminder. We still fouled the kid coming down the lane a couple times. But we have a tendency -- Josh has a tendency, sometimes, it's the same thing with the stride, to not really step; he'll hop. And sometimes it happens on offense [indiscernible] and we're constantly looking for that. I know. We're looking for the guys that are hopping. We don't use the rabbit, but it's just a reminder. I thought it was something different. We've used props before. That's all it was.
Q. Talk about Josh's, what have Rob and James been for him, how have those three developed? Even dating back to last year, a strong dynamic between the three of them, maybe even dating last year when Josh had to sit out?
COACH CREAN: I think they get along great. There's no question about that. And then in the gym. I think the synergy is forming.
He doesn't have the luxury of two plus years like Rob and James have together. But it's certainly coming. And it's certainly moving in the right direction. I think as Devonte and Curtis get involved on that, we play so many other guys on the perimeter.
And I think that's really, really important. I mean, when you're trying to get guys to really move and use the whole court, that stuff is really, really important.
If you're just coming down the run and set point, makes this pass, then he cuts, we don't do a lot of that. Sometimes we do. So much is more based off movement. And that's why it's crucial for the development, future development.
Q. De'Ron's passing, is it something you recruited him for, is that something he's always had?
COACH CREAN: Especially from the high post. We haven't really utilized him from up there. Yeah, he can always pass off the high post. He's got great feet.
It's a matter of him continuing to understand. We're very demanding of him, building his athleticism on the court. And as you can see with his pick-and-roll coverage with the quick feet, quick hands, he's got great eyes. He's got very good vision, so he can see. Just sometimes he plays too straight up and we've got to continue to work through that.
But as he gets understanding, as he gets even -- gets in the speed condition -- he's in good condition, but getting into the speed where he can really, really drive the ball off that into hand-offs and things like that, it will be even more. I think in due time he's going to become very good at passing off the dribble.
Cody didn't have that until his sophomore year. Not like he had it his sophomore year.
Thomas is part of the development process. But as far as him being able to see out of the post, the elbow of the high post, he's very good there.
Q. Juwan, was that more of a precautionary?
COACH CREAN: No, he definitely hurt his ankle tonight. He wasn't able to go back in. So I'll get an update here a little bit later.
Q. Talk about Robert's maturity.
COACH CREAN: No question, he works extremely hard. And he's phenomenal. He shot it in the walk-through. We don't walk through very long anymore at all on game day. But he had been in here -- he had been here earlier in the day.
But even in the walk-through, knocking everything down. I would have been shocked tonight if he didn't shoot well. But what he's doing is he's efficient. He's getting his dribble out.
He's taking what's there, whether it's one or two dribbles on the pull-up. The one pick-and-roll where he missed the one off the pick-and-roll, that was a footwork deal. And I had no problem him taking that shot, but it's a matter of footwork. Sometimes he doesn't always get his left/right down the way it needs to be. But he's doing that more often. He's very, very efficient with his dribbles.
There's not a lot of waste in there, too. Not a lot of herky jerky. He doesn't just play in a straight line, can't move forward as a player, if you're just a straight line dribbler or if you're just somebody that can just change direction. You've got to be able to do both. And I think he's really getting to the point where he can do both. He's getting good shots and he's a product of very good ball movement.
Q. As far as Newkirk development, nuances, things like that. Is that part of it, as far as assists go?
COACH CREAN: Yeah, that's all part of it. Absolutely. I'm not looking at anything that I say, wow, we did it; we've reached these -- the numbers are great. But the one good thing about these guys is they go into that film room and win or lose they know that it's going to be -- there are going to be things we can take out of it. And Josh really, over the last three weeks or so, has -- a lot of it has been centered on him.
It's centered on everybody. It's not like we single it out. But there's so much more in the sense of I don't want to say speeding up his process but making sure that the expectations and what he's capable of doing right now are there and holding him to that.
But at the same time I sent him a message today that said just simply just attack and play the way you know how to play.
Sometimes he overthinks it. And the other day, if I would have had him do it, he took the practice film upstairs to watch some of the new things and look at other things to make sure he knew where everybody was supposed to be.
You know what, that's great. You want that. But you also want him to just go out there and play on instinct too. And that's what we need.
He was so upset with himself the other night on the turnover in the middle of the lane in the game on Monday. It's like: Relax. You know? It's okay. We don't look them over. But don't beat yourself up. He's just got to play with the game mentality and we'll figure the rest of it out, as well as when he's playing fast.
Indiana Players - Robert Johnson, James Blackmon Jr. and Josh Newkirk
Q. Talk about the career high in assists. What was really working for you as far as that?
JOSH NEWKIRK: I think I played -- I was more in attack mode, and when I saw the defense colliding I just made the simple pass.
Q. How much did you feel like you were going to be able to exploit the zone to shoot 3-pointers?
JAMES BLACKMON JR.: Really just moving the ball, we wanted to get it inside to guys like Thomas (Bryant) and De'Ron (Davis) because they're so good at passing the ball as well, also Juwan (Morgan) and (OG Anunoby). So we go inside and out and keep the floor space and just keep ball movement and reversing the ball and it got easy for us.
Q. James, talk about shooting 3s.
JAMES BLACKMON, JR.: Yeah, once you see one or two go down, the rim gets a little bigger. But I never want to switch my mentality to just start shooting 3s or things like that, go inside-out first.
Q. Josh, coming into that offense, what was the mindset. You mentioned pace.
JOSH NEWKIRK: Just getting higher on my downhill and just staying aggressive, not looking timid out there and just getting into the open gaps and these guys hitting shots.
Q. Robert, talk about the 3-point defense.
ROBERT JOHNSON: I think we've been focusing on taking that away from teams and not letting guys get in certain areas where they can get open shots, like defense, are a couple of things we've really been focusing on.
Q. Josh, the two guys on either side of you, just how important are they? With all the experience, all the games they have under their belt, obviously they scored a lot of points tonight. How important are they in just lead by example, OG, whatever?
JOSH NEWKIRK: They're real important and if something is not going right, I can look to my right or my left and those guys, they definitely keep me going, keeping me confident. So I mean vice versa. So we definitely work well together. We communicate well together and we just like to playoff each other.
Q. You had a career high in the first half. What was working for you?
ROBERT JOHNSON: I was just getting a lot of open shots. Like JB said, we were going inside and out and whenever we do that those are always -- it's what we take. So did a good job of moving the ball and I got some open shots.
Q. Robert, seems like just about every game you get one of the first baskets or you get off to a good start. Is that something that you really focus on or does that just happen?
ROBERT JOHNSON: It just happens just the way we move the ball. It can be any guy at any time. So when you see an opening you just gotta take it.
Q. Josh, talk about your defensive mentality.
JOSH NEWKIRK: We definitely want to be the first team ready on defense. So just locking in, knowing personnel, knowing what our man is going to do and knowing how we're going to guard, I think that's been a focus for us, and being alert.
Q. Josh, Coach talked about how you just take time, game time, what are the nuances of each other, where guys want the ball where they don't. How much does that play when you're the primary ball handler?
JOSH NEWKIRK: Just as we play more together, I start to get a feel what teammates like the ball and just where they like to move off the ball and stuff like that. So I think it's just playing with each other and just communicating and talking.
Q. For any of you guys, how do you feel like the preconference schedule to this point has prepared you for the Big Ten schedule?
JAMES BLACKMON, JR.: I feel it prepared us really well. We had a lot of big games, a lot of good competition. Going forward we want to focus on one game at a time because we know every night we're in for a battle.
Q. To follow up on a couple things Josh talked about, for either of you have guys, even going back to last season, how much have you tried to support him or just advice or guidance whenever he seeks it, especially as he's stepped into such a big role this season?
JAMES BLACKMON, JR.: Really, it's easy, because he has a lot of confidence in himself. So I never really see him like that. It's just like when things happen, next play mentality. We all three tell each other that. So it's not a hard thing to do at all to get him going.
Q. Apparently Coach held up a sign that said Don't Hop on it.
JOSH NEWKIRK: Sometimes during games I hop on defenses that are sliding our feet. So that's what that was for.
Q. James, can you talk about Devonte's half-court shot.
JAMES BLACKMON, JR.: Not really. It was a great shot.
Q. Robert, can you talk about your shot selection?
ROBERT JOHNSON: Yeah, I think it's a little bit of both. I think it's times where I could have been a little more aggressive in (indiscernible) games, but at the same time I think guys have done a good job of, like I said earlier, and just finding me when I'm open.
Q. James, talk about the Big Ten season.
JAMES BLACKMON, JR.: I'm looking forward to it a lot really, what I've been looking forward to since the beginning of this season. But it's hard not to look forward to games and not look over one team. But now that it's here continue to work hard in practice and out of practice and just take care of business when it comes.
Austin Peay Head Coach Dave Loos
Q: Coach you collapsed a little bit on the inside, it seems like they let some early threes by Indiana and then Indiana got on a roll.
COACH LOOS: We thought we had to play at a certain tempo and I liked the tempo. I liked how the game was going early, but we got to the point where Indiana was 10-17 from the three so we had to get out of it . We knew we were going to have some issues. We had some problems guarding and they kind of picked us apart after that.
Q: Is it hard with a guy like Blackmon to also guard a guy like Robert Johnson who is pretty capable?
COACH LOOS: They are all hard to guard, I tell you we didn't have a good match up out there.
Q: What can you take away from this game for your team?
COACH LOOS: I thought at the beginning of the game the tempo was good. We don't play a lot of teams like Indiana in our league, but I think we showed them that we could play that tempo if we have to. Hopefully next time we play them they won't go 10 for 17.
Q: Down 17 at half by that three pointer by Indiana after the first half you guys shot 48% I mean what else could you guys do?
COACH LOOS: Yeah, everything was going reasonably well given the situation, but when they scored that shot it kind of took the wind out of our sails.
Q: From a personnel perspective, what sort of unique challenges does Indiana present in a game-plan perspective?
COACH LOOS: Well, you have to start with Bryant. He is a handful and we don't see that very often, if at all. As I said, we did not have a good matchup out there, which is why we went to the zone.
Q: They had OG Anunoby guarding Josh Robinson up top for a little while, how does that disrupt an offense to have that kind of blank up top?
COACH LOOS: It does disrupt it. Josh got 21 points, but his shooting was not what it normally is. It was because they have that length and athleticism to get in his face.
Q: What do you think of Indiana's potential going forward, they obviously have some newcomers, like Newkirk and Bryant's a year older, so what is the feeling you get from that team?
COACH LOOS: I love that team. I think they have great talent, they are well coached, and they play well together. They had 22 assists tonight and we had 4, which tells you that they played together, they moved the basketball, and they got it from side to side. I really like their team.
Players Mentioned
Forward
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
/ Men's BasketballIUWBB Highlights vs. Western Michigan
Thursday, December 04
FB: Under the Hood with Indiana Football - Big Ten Championship (Ohio State)
Thursday, December 04
IUBB v MINN Highlights
Wednesday, December 03
FB: Isaiah Jones Media Availability (12/2/25)
Wednesday, December 03