Indiana University Athletics
Coach Crean Talks Hoosier Hysteria, First Four Days of Practice
10/15/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Oct. 15, 2012
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Indiana head coach Tom Crean met with members of the media on Monday to discuss Hoosier Hysteria coming up this weekend as well as a number of other topics from the first four days of practice.
Here is a partial transcript of what Coach Crean had to say:
On the excitement for Hoosier Hysteria:
"I'm excited for it for a lot of reasons. Number one: because there's so much build-up for it. It's always been exciting, going back to year one, but I've never heard it talked about like it is right now. I think it will be huge for recruiting, I don't think there's any question about that. We moved it back a week with one goal in mind: to give every student at Indiana the opportunity to be at it because of the fall break (last week). I think we'll have a lot of fun.
"I'm looking forward to seeing the timeline tonight and seeing what we need to tweak and what we need to add. I think our crew has done a great job of putting it together. We've had more crowd control conversations than we have ever had, but at the same time, there is going to be room for everybody. I think by the way they're opening the doors there won't be that mad dash and I hope we just absolutely pack it. And I hope that everybody that runs the fire department took a trip to the Bahamas this week so we can have standing room only in there and not have anything to think about in there. Just let them all come in and have a great time. It will be a fun night. It will be very unscripted for the players; just them have a great time. Now practice that afternoon will be a little different, but I think it will be fun."
On where he sees the most progress so far:
"I think there's progress everywhere, I really do. And today we practiced for about an hour and fifteen minutes, and we had a full practice on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night. So at some point the practice is always going to hit a wall and the mental toughness part of getting over it is so crucial, and that's where your defense has got to be there consistently. I think whether it's the talk, whether it's the hands being active, whether it's your weak-side defense, whether it's your ability to block out or challenge shots: all those things go together. What it really comes down to is: are we doing that when we get tired? And we're getting better at it, but that's something we've just got to build on every day because we've spent so little time on any type of full-court work in the pre-season. But we've spent more and more time on full-court work since practice started. I think we're better in every area, but it will truly be tried and tested based on when they're under fatigue day after day. I'll have a better understanding of that probably in about a week to two weeks."
On whether there are specific things the team needs to do to be better defensively:
"No, I think it's everything. I think we're already better because there's more length and more athleticism. Over the last four days just looking at how hard it is for people to score at the basket is a big thing. I think we can put a lot of pressure on the ball. The biggest thing for me is going to be like it was last year: can our transition defense keep taking steps? Can our shot clock defense keep taking steps? Because in-between, I think we're going to be able to create a little havoc. But it's when the breakdowns come.
"Today we threw things out there at them that we had not even really taught. We hadn't spent any time on full-court pressure since the summer, and we hadn't spent any time on our switching game until the season, since maybe the VCU game. To me, that's where we "try to create a little chaos" here and there and see how they react to that, and then going back and studying it on film. That's what's good about this time of year."
On getting the freshmen up to speed with everything:
"No, I don't worry about any of that. We've got a deep team, and all four new guys can play. They're going through the trials and tribulations of day-after-day having to bring it. They have to bring that intensity level, bring that mental toughness. All four can play, and I think our coaching staff does a really good job of understanding that and reminding them of that. I think our players really get that. There's a mutual respect amongst this team, and it was there last year for the most part, but it's really there right now. You saw just how excited they were with Peter (Jurkin) doing something at the end of practice, and they really care about these guys, so I'm not worried about that. What they have to understand is that bringing it day after day is what's going to give them the opportunity for the minutes, and I think they're seeing that."
On the work ethic and focus being very good so far in practice:
"Oh yeah, absolutely. The work ethic has been tremendous, no question about it. Focus is really good. I have not even really tried to bring a lot of chaos to the practice, in terms of situations and things of that nature yet; that will come. It's just a matter of doing it at a high level day after day if they really want to be good. That's what we've got to see. But there's no question four days in and through this whole pre-season that their focus level and their work ethic has been really good."
