Postgame Quotes - Indiana at Ohio State
3/4/2017 6:03:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Postgame Quotes
March 4, 2017
Indiana head coach Tom Crean
Opening Statement:
"Thad Matta is a coach I have a tremendous amount of respect for. In my mind, when he is eligible, he has earned his way to the hall of fame. I have always felt like that, especially since he has been here. You could see it at Butler, but you could really see it at Xavier. Certainly what he has done here is amazing.
"We all hit skids. We have a lot of respect for them, for him and for his coaches. We knew we were going to have to play really well. I'm proud of the way our players played. They were locked in. We have had a long week, but we had a great couple of days getting ready for this.
"Getting ready for games has never been our issue, it has been some of the fouls and turnovers. A couple things that stood out to me on the stat sheet was that the foul shooting was about the same and we did give up as many points off turnovers.
"I'm proud of this team and to be associated with the coaching staff that I have. I thought Rob Judson did a phenomenal job preparing us for this game. Everybody had the team ready at a high level. But they had themselves ready. Their engagement was high. We could have tipped this game off at 8:00 a.m. and our guys would have been ready to go. They were fantastic.
"We knew we beat a good team. We knew we beat a team that wasn't going to go away. And we beat a team that has a lot of offensive firepower. They are another team, like us, that is capable of winning against just about anybody, but at the end of the day, it comes down to your decision making and things like that. I'm sure we have both dealt with that this year, so this is a great win for us."
What does your team learn after OSU came back to take the lead and then you take the lead back and get the win?
"I think we scored on seven straight possessions after that. That's a great confidence builder for us. I have tremendous confidence in them, but it's great for them to see that they can put the stops together and make the baskets. We were really sharp coming out of timeouts. We played a lot in flow today.
"I think we will see that our first steps were pretty good. Defensively sometimes, our first steps were not as good – like in the ball screens. We didn't get over or under them as well as quickly as we needed to. The first step and the ball movement, those mean so much. Also being down and ready to shoot. And I think with the way they played – they never saw any panic in me or the coaches – and then they played like they had great confidence."
How big was it for Robert Johnson to have a game like this?
"You could say that he was due, and you would be right. It's just an anomaly that he hasn't played as well with his shooting. It is heart-breaking sometimes when he is missing shots because, outside of James Blackmon Jr. and Robert Johnson and Josh Newkirk would be in this group too – they work so much extra on their shooting. It's almost to the point where we have to say just relax. But Rob was good, his first step was good and defense got him going. I'm really happy for him because that's the kind of player that he is. It's unfortunate that that's not always seen when he is missing some shots. He is a humble guy. He's a team guy. It was fun to watch him play today."
Robert Johnson
On his solid play today:
"I think my teammates did a good job of finding me and getting me involved early. And I just wanted to come out aggressive and attack."
What was working for you that allowed you to shoot so well?
"I think I was just in the flow of things, offensively and defensively. I think I had the right mindset from start to finish today and that helped me make shots."
On limiting turnovers today:
"That's something the coaches have told us is the main point if we want to turn things around and string some wins together. It's a good thing that we made some progress on that."
James Blackmon Jr.
How big is it to get this win heading into the Big Ten Tournament?
"It's really big. With a team like us, we can get hot real fast. It can be a start to a run if we all buy in."
What was said in the huddles after Ohio State took the 1-point lead in the second half?
"They are a good team, so we knew they were going to fight back. So we just had to withstand that and come together and finish it out."
March 4, 2017
Indiana head coach Tom Crean
Opening Statement:
"Thad Matta is a coach I have a tremendous amount of respect for. In my mind, when he is eligible, he has earned his way to the hall of fame. I have always felt like that, especially since he has been here. You could see it at Butler, but you could really see it at Xavier. Certainly what he has done here is amazing.
"We all hit skids. We have a lot of respect for them, for him and for his coaches. We knew we were going to have to play really well. I'm proud of the way our players played. They were locked in. We have had a long week, but we had a great couple of days getting ready for this.
"Getting ready for games has never been our issue, it has been some of the fouls and turnovers. A couple things that stood out to me on the stat sheet was that the foul shooting was about the same and we did give up as many points off turnovers.
"I'm proud of this team and to be associated with the coaching staff that I have. I thought Rob Judson did a phenomenal job preparing us for this game. Everybody had the team ready at a high level. But they had themselves ready. Their engagement was high. We could have tipped this game off at 8:00 a.m. and our guys would have been ready to go. They were fantastic.
"We knew we beat a good team. We knew we beat a team that wasn't going to go away. And we beat a team that has a lot of offensive firepower. They are another team, like us, that is capable of winning against just about anybody, but at the end of the day, it comes down to your decision making and things like that. I'm sure we have both dealt with that this year, so this is a great win for us."
What does your team learn after OSU came back to take the lead and then you take the lead back and get the win?
"I think we scored on seven straight possessions after that. That's a great confidence builder for us. I have tremendous confidence in them, but it's great for them to see that they can put the stops together and make the baskets. We were really sharp coming out of timeouts. We played a lot in flow today.
"I think we will see that our first steps were pretty good. Defensively sometimes, our first steps were not as good – like in the ball screens. We didn't get over or under them as well as quickly as we needed to. The first step and the ball movement, those mean so much. Also being down and ready to shoot. And I think with the way they played – they never saw any panic in me or the coaches – and then they played like they had great confidence."
How big was it for Robert Johnson to have a game like this?
"You could say that he was due, and you would be right. It's just an anomaly that he hasn't played as well with his shooting. It is heart-breaking sometimes when he is missing shots because, outside of James Blackmon Jr. and Robert Johnson and Josh Newkirk would be in this group too – they work so much extra on their shooting. It's almost to the point where we have to say just relax. But Rob was good, his first step was good and defense got him going. I'm really happy for him because that's the kind of player that he is. It's unfortunate that that's not always seen when he is missing some shots. He is a humble guy. He's a team guy. It was fun to watch him play today."
Robert Johnson
On his solid play today:
"I think my teammates did a good job of finding me and getting me involved early. And I just wanted to come out aggressive and attack."
What was working for you that allowed you to shoot so well?
"I think I was just in the flow of things, offensively and defensively. I think I had the right mindset from start to finish today and that helped me make shots."
On limiting turnovers today:
"That's something the coaches have told us is the main point if we want to turn things around and string some wins together. It's a good thing that we made some progress on that."
James Blackmon Jr.
How big is it to get this win heading into the Big Ten Tournament?
"It's really big. With a team like us, we can get hot real fast. It can be a start to a run if we all buy in."
What was said in the huddles after Ohio State took the 1-point lead in the second half?
"They are a good team, so we knew they were going to fight back. So we just had to withstand that and come together and finish it out."
Players Mentioned
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