Crean Transcript - Big Ten Tournament Teleconference
3/6/2017 12:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
BLOOMINGTON, Indiana - With the 2017 Big Ten Tournament getting underway this week in Washington, D.C., all 14 men's basketball head coaches joined a teleconference on Monday to preview the tournament. Below is a transcript of what Indiana head coach Tom Crean had to say:
Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament Press Conference
Indiana head coach Tom Crean
March 6, 2017
Opening Statement:
"We're going to be playing one of the most dangerous teams, not only in the league but in the country, with the way that Iowa's been playing. We saw first-hand a couple of weeks ago, they're just getting nothing but better. They're shooting the ball at an incredible rate, especially in their last five games they're in the mid-forties right now. They're getting to the foul line; they got to the foul line against us in a very close game. Peter Jok is playing tremendously and their young guys have had a chance to play all year long and continue to improve. So, big keys in that game are going to be obviously limiting the fouling and dealing with all the different defenses that they play in the sense of their press, their zone, their man-to-man, all of which are very good. They're very good on the offensive board so we need to do an excellent job there. Our focus, obviously, you want to go in and be prepared for everything that you could possibly see. But, you can never get away from the most important thing, which is your first opponent. We'll spend our time making ourselves better this week and getting ready for Iowa."
How do you approach this next week? Is it a situation where you look at it as a new season, or are you kind of asking the guys to wipe the slate clean at all?
"No, I don't deal in those type of situations, I think they know that. Their energy's really high, extremely high, and there's no doubt about that. They're smart. The most important thing they need to do is just keep improving, that's what it's been. That's what we try to stay as focused on as we possibly can through everything - through the game planning and preparation and film work on past games and future games, it still always comes down to a level of improvement that you're capable of making. That's really what the focus is. They're well aware of what time of year it is and where we're going and they'll have a great feel for Iowa and it certainly helps that we just played them in that sense but, it's really just staying totally focused on how we can improve."
On what led to Robert Johnson having the breakout game at Ohio State:
"Well, I think his defense got him going, which is the most important thing. He didn't really do anything, shot-wise. He's an excellent shooter, he just hadn't been shooting it that well. I thought his defense was outstanding and I thought offensively, his first step - and for the for the majority of them all of their first steps - were very good in the sense that they are very focused on it.
"I thought he did an excellent job of moving without the ball, not only having the ball in his hands, but moving without the ball and getting open. He always practices well, but there's no question that the two days going into that game, there was a different level of defensive mindset for him. I think that it's another great lesson: no matter where you're at in your game offensively, you can always find a way to improve it if you're focused on everything but, and that means the defensive part, the rebounding part, the moving without the ball part, you know those types of things, and he did all of that."
Maybe you could give me a sense of where your team has grown in these last two weeks and how that might help you against Iowa.
"Well, they don't get their head down, and I think that's the most important thing. We've had so many close games, including the one at Iowa and they may be dejected for a little bit, they may be disappointed, but they don't let discouragement kick in. What happens is we come back and we get better. I think all of these close games have helped us, they don't really flinch for lack of a better term, that's probably the best term I can probably think of.
"Even the other day against Ohio State, we had a great lead, we lost the lead and got down one in the second half, and we went out and scored on seven straight possessions. In the Northwestern game, it was a 7-0, 8-0 run to end the game. I think the resiliency that they've gained, from going through everything that they've dealt with this season has helped them.
"There's no question that we're getting healthier, James Blackmon and Juwan Morgan, people of that nature. That's the most important thing, and if we get better defensively, and as we get better moving without the ball offensively, and as we get better at being a step ahead defensively, that will help us not have the fouls that we've had that have hurt us at times. Those are still the things that we've got to continue to improve on a great deal and hopefully we will."
We know about Jok, is there anyone else of these young guys that stand out to you?
"No question about it, they score a ton of points off their bench. I think right now, they're scoring almost thirty points a game, the last five games, off their bench. So, Baer is outstanding, we view him as a starter, whether he's a sixth-man starter, he's certainly one of the most versatile guys in this league. Jordan Bohannon is playing outstanding, Tyler Cook is playing outstanding. Tyler reminds me of, he looks like OG Anunoby, in the sense of the strength of the body. Looks young, but just has that very strong body, and he's really learning how to use it, much like OG learned last year.
"Those guys are doing an outstanding job. Fran's such a great coach, and he finds a way to make guys better. They've got shooters. They've got the guy that they can really count on to carry them through things in Peter Jok. They've got a lot of other guys, especially the young guys that have really had an opportunity to go through the growing pains in this league now, and they're playing with a ton of confidence."
When you were preparing for Ohio State, just wondering what you thought of Williams, obviously you held him in check he only had three points. What did you see in a guy that can shoot the ball but that hasn't done a lot lately, how much did you focus on him?
"Oh we did, no question about it. He can get it going. They have so many guys that can get it going offensively, that can score 20+ on any given night. You have to prepare for that. The bottom line for him is that he's very good without the ball because he moves so well off the screen. You've got to find him in transition, you've got to find him certainly in the corners, but he's so good at moving without the ball and using the screens to get through that he doesn't need a lot of space to separate and get a shot up once he's come off that screen. So there was a lot of focus on him and we treat him like the great shooter that he is and we were very urgent with that.
Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament Press Conference
Indiana head coach Tom Crean
March 6, 2017
Opening Statement:
"We're going to be playing one of the most dangerous teams, not only in the league but in the country, with the way that Iowa's been playing. We saw first-hand a couple of weeks ago, they're just getting nothing but better. They're shooting the ball at an incredible rate, especially in their last five games they're in the mid-forties right now. They're getting to the foul line; they got to the foul line against us in a very close game. Peter Jok is playing tremendously and their young guys have had a chance to play all year long and continue to improve. So, big keys in that game are going to be obviously limiting the fouling and dealing with all the different defenses that they play in the sense of their press, their zone, their man-to-man, all of which are very good. They're very good on the offensive board so we need to do an excellent job there. Our focus, obviously, you want to go in and be prepared for everything that you could possibly see. But, you can never get away from the most important thing, which is your first opponent. We'll spend our time making ourselves better this week and getting ready for Iowa."
How do you approach this next week? Is it a situation where you look at it as a new season, or are you kind of asking the guys to wipe the slate clean at all?
"No, I don't deal in those type of situations, I think they know that. Their energy's really high, extremely high, and there's no doubt about that. They're smart. The most important thing they need to do is just keep improving, that's what it's been. That's what we try to stay as focused on as we possibly can through everything - through the game planning and preparation and film work on past games and future games, it still always comes down to a level of improvement that you're capable of making. That's really what the focus is. They're well aware of what time of year it is and where we're going and they'll have a great feel for Iowa and it certainly helps that we just played them in that sense but, it's really just staying totally focused on how we can improve."
On what led to Robert Johnson having the breakout game at Ohio State:
"Well, I think his defense got him going, which is the most important thing. He didn't really do anything, shot-wise. He's an excellent shooter, he just hadn't been shooting it that well. I thought his defense was outstanding and I thought offensively, his first step - and for the for the majority of them all of their first steps - were very good in the sense that they are very focused on it.
"I thought he did an excellent job of moving without the ball, not only having the ball in his hands, but moving without the ball and getting open. He always practices well, but there's no question that the two days going into that game, there was a different level of defensive mindset for him. I think that it's another great lesson: no matter where you're at in your game offensively, you can always find a way to improve it if you're focused on everything but, and that means the defensive part, the rebounding part, the moving without the ball part, you know those types of things, and he did all of that."
Maybe you could give me a sense of where your team has grown in these last two weeks and how that might help you against Iowa.
"Well, they don't get their head down, and I think that's the most important thing. We've had so many close games, including the one at Iowa and they may be dejected for a little bit, they may be disappointed, but they don't let discouragement kick in. What happens is we come back and we get better. I think all of these close games have helped us, they don't really flinch for lack of a better term, that's probably the best term I can probably think of.
"Even the other day against Ohio State, we had a great lead, we lost the lead and got down one in the second half, and we went out and scored on seven straight possessions. In the Northwestern game, it was a 7-0, 8-0 run to end the game. I think the resiliency that they've gained, from going through everything that they've dealt with this season has helped them.
"There's no question that we're getting healthier, James Blackmon and Juwan Morgan, people of that nature. That's the most important thing, and if we get better defensively, and as we get better moving without the ball offensively, and as we get better at being a step ahead defensively, that will help us not have the fouls that we've had that have hurt us at times. Those are still the things that we've got to continue to improve on a great deal and hopefully we will."
We know about Jok, is there anyone else of these young guys that stand out to you?
"No question about it, they score a ton of points off their bench. I think right now, they're scoring almost thirty points a game, the last five games, off their bench. So, Baer is outstanding, we view him as a starter, whether he's a sixth-man starter, he's certainly one of the most versatile guys in this league. Jordan Bohannon is playing outstanding, Tyler Cook is playing outstanding. Tyler reminds me of, he looks like OG Anunoby, in the sense of the strength of the body. Looks young, but just has that very strong body, and he's really learning how to use it, much like OG learned last year.
"Those guys are doing an outstanding job. Fran's such a great coach, and he finds a way to make guys better. They've got shooters. They've got the guy that they can really count on to carry them through things in Peter Jok. They've got a lot of other guys, especially the young guys that have really had an opportunity to go through the growing pains in this league now, and they're playing with a ton of confidence."
When you were preparing for Ohio State, just wondering what you thought of Williams, obviously you held him in check he only had three points. What did you see in a guy that can shoot the ball but that hasn't done a lot lately, how much did you focus on him?
"Oh we did, no question about it. He can get it going. They have so many guys that can get it going offensively, that can score 20+ on any given night. You have to prepare for that. The bottom line for him is that he's very good without the ball because he moves so well off the screen. You've got to find him in transition, you've got to find him certainly in the corners, but he's so good at moving without the ball and using the screens to get through that he doesn't need a lot of space to separate and get a shot up once he's come off that screen. So there was a lot of focus on him and we treat him like the great shooter that he is and we were very urgent with that.
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