Preview Quotes: Crean, Ferrell, Zeisloft
11/19/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 19, 2014
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The Indiana Hoosiers (2-0) will host the Southern Methodist University Mustangs on Thursday, Nov. 20 at 8 p.m. in Assembly Hall. Indiana's head coach Tom Crean along with Kevin Yogi Ferrell and Nick Zeisloft met with the media to preview the game and other topics. Read on to see what they had to say...
Head Coach Tom Crean
Opening Statement:
"A couple quick updates - as far as Devin, J.D. just told me it's out that he's been released. I knew today would be the day, I didn't know the exact time. He'll start being in outpatient now back in Indy for the time being. That time remains to be seen how long that will be, but that gets him back home. On behalf of all of us here, just the like the hospital in Bloomington, the Indiana Rehabilitation Hospital, has been absolutely fantastic. It's been great to watch them work, to see how they've worked not only with Devin, but to observe them with other people. This whole situation he's been around true, true professionals whether it's in Bloomington or Indianapolis and I know that will continue to be the be same now as he goes through the outpatient part of it. There are really no more updates for the what the next step is much past that."
"As far as us, there's no question this is going to be an incredibly challenging game in many areas for us and we'll get into them in a little bit. For us, we're starting to formulize an offensive identity and I think when we look at our backcourt right now, what we envision is starting to come into place and we're basically playing with three point guards. The point guard for us is always somebody who can do numerous things - score, shoot, pass it, drive it, facilitate, defend, whatever it is. I think right now with the way the ball is moving, with the way James is moving the ball, the way Robert is moving the ball, the way Yogi and certainly Nick, but he doesn't have the ball in his hands quite as much in a sense of facilitating. But the ball is moving well and then you add guys like Max, who's continuing to get better there, Troy and Stan in to the equation now, ball movement should be a strength for us. It has to be."
"The next big part of it is going to be body movement because that's the next attribute for our team to get better, offensively, is to move as well without the ball. Sometimes in the screening, sometimes in reading how we're being played and that just opens up the court that much more for us. Our players are working extremely hard on improving on both ends of the court, there's no question that in every aspect they'll be challenged on Thursday night with SMU. They're an extremely talented in all five positions team, they have very good depth - the kind of depth that you want because the depth is a little bit older and it's guys that have played bigger minutes for them in the past that understand what they're role is. Guys like (Sterling) Brown, (Ben) Emelogu - I look at Cannen Cunningham as like a sixth starter. Their talent is really good. I've spent a lot of time over the preseason watching their games from last year, certainly more intently the last couple days, watching their first two games. I'm not sure against Gonzaga the other night if anybody would have gone in their and had much different of a result with the way Gonzaga played.
" SMU brings a lot of everything - not a little of everything - but a lot of everything. They can really score inside, they're tremendous defensively, their length is outstanding, they get really good guard play, they've got three-point shooters and again, they can go into the bench. They're going to bring a very physical and aggressive attacking style to us which is going to be a tremendous challenge on any night, but especially with as young as we are and especially with the newness that so many guys have right now. In a sense it's a great - I hate to call it a test because it's the next challenge ahead of us - but I know we're excited to play it, guys have looked forward to it and I hope we have just a phenomenal crowd because I think we're going to see one of the better teams in the country in SMU. We want to get to that place, we want to get to where we have consistency and reliable depth like they have. We want to get to where we're a multi-faceted offensive team where we can get to the rim, where we can get the foul and free throw attempts up, we want to get to the point where we're even more connected defensively. Right now, because of our size, we have to do a few different things, there has to be some different schemes here and there when you're going against different sizes of teams and we'll see a big one tomorrow night. It's a great, great time for us to play this game. It comes right in the mix of a lot of game but we're certainly well-aware of what they're capable of and how good they are."
"When it comes to Coach Brown, I was thinking about this - I can't think of anybody I have learned more from or that has been better with me that I didn't work for. I've got some friends I've learned a lot from and some that aren't friends that I learned a lot from, but Coach Brown is in the Hall of Fame as a coach and, I don't think there's any question that he could be in the Hall of Fame with a second bust as a contributor to the game. He has been so good to so many coaches and he's spawned that with other coaches. Guys like John Calipari are very, very good with other coaches and always trying to make guys better and you see that in what they do with clinics, and the way they open practices and things of that nature. Coach Brown has been one of those guys who's been at the height of his profession for so long, but he's always been an open book in helping coaches learn, grown and improve. One of the great things about his success is how willing he is to continue to learn and improve. One thing I learned early on with him, he can take what he sees from you and he can help you make it even better. It's going to be an incredible challenge and, at the same time, a great honor for all of us to coach against him and his staff tomorrow."
On takeaways the team can gather from the SMU-Gonzaga game on Tuesday:
"They had to guard their post so low, Gonzaga is very, very big and they have Kyle Wiltjer who can play in and out. (Domantas) Sabonis is tremendous for a young player. There's another team - they're extremely talented at all five positions. They can come off the bench. What they did as Kevin Pangos got hot, I think he's capable of doing that on any given night but he ran the team. To play 33 minutes and have no turnovers against that team and to have the assists that he had and to go 5-of-8 from the three-point line and to have the ball move the way that it moved. We showed some of that yesterday but we'll continue to show more of that today. If there's a takeaway, it's how great they were at moving the basketball. They certainly had some really options to go to inside that caused some problems for SMU."
On how well Hanner Mosquera-Perea needs to play Thursday:
"We need Hanner to just be consistent. We need it to day-by-day, not a day-to-day Hanner, but a day-by-day Hanner and there's a big difference. Day-by-day means he's getting better constantly and he's improving and they we don't put a speedrush on it or have expectations that he's not ready for. We worked very, very hard at that. He's working extremely hard at that - spending more time watching extra film and try to learn, try to apply it. We just need to stay on that pace with him right now and not rush it."
On the challenges posed by SMU's Nic Moore:
"He's fearless. He has incredible toughness - he can score at the rim, he can score at the pull-up, he can score deep from three. He makes the easy pass, he's not one of those guys who's over-dribbling and thinking `shot first, shot second, pass distant third. He's taking the basketball play and he's making the basketball play. I think that's where they've done such a good job with him. He's got tremendous fearlessness on defense. We're going to see some tremendous on-ball defenders this season, especially this preseason when you start to think about Louisville and you start to think about Pittsburgh, but SMU will take a backseat to no one when it comes to on the ball pressure and I think Nick leads the way with that. He's a well-rounded player, he's a veteran, he's a proven winner and he makes a lot of things happen for that team."
On how Troy Williams, Stanford Robinson and Emmitt Holt will work into the rotation:
"Right now, I haven't made any decisions on that and it's really not as relevant as who finished the game for us. It may or may not change and that's not being evasive, it's just not on the top of the list. We'll have a playing group, more or less, today when we scrimmage and see how that goes but really it's about who's going to finish the game. That's the most relevant thing tomorrow night - inside of the game."
On how Kevin Yogi Ferrell plays off the ball:
"Most game plans are built, I would think, and I can't speak on behalf of them, but most game plans are built on where Yogi is. I think at the same time, when you add guards like we have, they're on the page to. But the more Yogi moves without the ball, the more he gets the ball into different situations, the more effective he is. I think it's very easy to key on him early when he has the ball in his hands and it stops at any point in time inside those slots. I think it's so important that the ball continue to move and that he be the beneficiary of the movement and everybody else plays in that. We're not there yet, spacing-wise, and I see it, it's not one of those things that's a magic wand and all the sudden they've got it. You got to continue to do it, you got to continue to understand that spots just have to be filled. It's not like `this guy's in the corner, this guy's here.' Spots are just filled. You fill those spots and you play out of it. You recognize how you're being played and you recognize how the drives are. I like the fact that all along, we really wanted to develop a group of guys who could make decisions, could facilitate offense and, at the same time, could get offense for themselves and others. I think that's where we're heading with that group - I don't think we're there yet, but that's where we're heading. Yogi obviously can already do that. The more other guys are able to facilitate offense for others, the better they're going to be at being complete guards."
On how Williams, Holt and Robinson have been developing in practice:
"Well, they've actually probably done more, especially on game days. Friday we had two different individual sessions with those guys. There have been no wasted days with them. They practice just like everybody else does. Sometimes the day before the game we go into where they might have played scout team to help us prepare and that's made our scout team pretty good. It was never about getting away from playing Indiana basketball. There are times we have to make that reminder, that even though you're doing what the scout team guy may do, you're still trying to make right play. That's all part of the maturity process.
"Spending a lot time in refining their game, spending time with the extra work, even guys who aren't playing a lot of minutes. We spend a lot of time in fundamental development in the course of a practice day, but on game day when it's a three hour time limit no matter what you do, it's a great time to get those guys that aren't playing a lot of minutes or guys like Troy, Stan and Emmitt to get a lot of extra work because obviously they didn't in the game. We tried to make sure that even though they haven't been visible, their a big part of the process in the back with making points, taking things from the game that they can apply to their teammates and hopefully things they can apply to themselves. I know they've missed it. I've seen no lack of work, nothing other than even more of an appreciation for what the game means when you don't have the game to play.
" Time will continue to tell but they've worked extremely hard and I have no doubt that, inside of that time, they've worked to get better. They just don't get the game experience of that. Anytime you bring somebody back in your team, they have to get with the team. It's not like the team comes back and gets around them. They have to fit in to what we're trying to do. That doesn't happen easily, but it has to happen. So we've got to work through that and see how all that goes and blend them in."
On how Mosquera-Perea's consistency has developed:
"It's all part of it. When you start to have success, you either get complacent with it, think it's going to happen and it goes away or you get hungry for more. We've had a very good process with him and we've always felt like we had a good plan for him in the past. Due to different circumstances, due to who was in front of him, due to his inconsistencies, it became a day-to-day deal. But day-by-day means that everyday there's certain things that you know you can call upon. It doesn't necessarily mean you're going to score a lot of points or that every rebound is going to come your way, but that you're going to bring that consistent level of effort, energy, awareness, trying to build simplicity into it and then I think your confidence gets up.
"You can't move onto another role until you master the one you're in; well he's defining his role right now. We don't have a role defined for him per se, but to come and play with confidence, I think the other night one of the things I really take away from this is he's improving in longer stretches. The first couple of minutes into the game, it was almost like he didn't have a second wind, I thought I was ready to take him out. The third, fourth, fifth minute he's going at a much harder pace. It didn't have anything to do with scoring points, which I usually see when guys get their wind real quick when they make a bucket. He just continued to play hard. That's the consistency level he's got to have.
"I don't think I subbed him until the 11-minute mark if I remember correctly, which I never thought we were going to do that in the past. To me, that's improvement. It may not show up constantly in a box score and it may not show up constantly in mistake-free basketball, but it's showing up in effort and those things are going to lead us to being better down the road. Does he need have to have a good game for us tomorrow night? Everybody does, everybody does. It's not going to be where it's one or two people are going to defend the paint or defend the perimeter, we've got to be really good inside that paint area tomorrow to keep them from scoring, to keep them from over-penetrating but at the same time, get out to the shooters.
With the dynamics of having three point guards who change roles, how hard is it to get that timing down?
"Just playing together. It really takes shape when there's not a lot of overthinking because it's still new. This is only getting ready for the third official game James and Robert play and it's not easy. You can't judge freshman based on successes or non-successes early on. You've got to judge them over a period of time and how they continue to get better. Do they bounce back after a tough game? Do they continue to get better? Those kinds of things. With the exception of a couple of guys who play most of the game around the basket, it's very hard to stay on a consistent level. What we want them to do is stay consistent with how they move the ball, how they attack the defense, how simple they make the game, how ready they are to shoot, whether they are looking for opportunities, whether they see the rim but also see the open man. Those types of things. Those types of adjustments are what you're more concerned about, rather than do they know every part of the playbook. What's relevant now is if they continue to play through success and mistakes."
SMU going to Gonzaga, does that help prepare them?
"I would imagine it would. That crowd looked incredible. I hope we are just like that. You could tell from television that they were very excited. Gonzaga knew that they had a really good team coming in there. I think our people will understand the same thing. It's a really good team that we are bringing in here. As far as this next stretch of games, is it optimal? It is what it is. Ask the players if they want to play games and they say they love it. As for the coaches, you have to make sure that you aren't getting away from making your team better, and not just turning it into preparation time. I thought the best preparation for us yesterday was to watch film and not practice. We've got to teach them how to do it off film too. The point is, you're not going to have really long practices when you're going through these types of games. But they've got to have retention and at the same time play with confidence. And this helps them with that. There's some coaching and adjusting on the fly, but at the same time, you're keeping them excited to play and understand the value of each game and how each game truly matters. Every game is different in the sense of preparation, including this one. We want to learn and improve, but at the same time, win games."
About Devin, you've always been good about not giving too much of a diagnosis, but you have talked about how things are moving along quickly. How promising is it that he's able to go home this soon?
"I can't speak on that. That's not anything that I would go back and share because it's not my right. I want to keep having a baseline on how we can help him best. The bottom line is that he's been in great hands. I couldn't begin to judge. Do I see somebody that is getting better? Absolutely. Do I see somebody who excited about the future, anxious to be back but at the same time he knows he will have to go through some long days? Absolutely. I can't imagine all the things that he is going through right now. We all want him to get better. Even if it's getting back here once and awhile to be around us, that'd be great. But he's still in the long haul, I am not sure, the experts know. I don't know the definition of it. We're dealing with a traumatic brain injury. The fact that he's progressed to the point where he can go home, that's good. And he will continue to take the next steps. There's no way to put a timeline on that. If the doctors aren't putting a timeline on it, then there's no way we could. We just continue to support him as he moves forward."
Junior guard Kevin "Yogi" Ferrell and redshirt junior guard Nick Zeisloft
What kind of challenges does SMU present?
FERRELL: "They play very well defensively. They get the ball, they get steals and they get out fast. They've got a great guard, Nic Moore. That main thing will be to take care of the ball."
On SMU's point guard, Nic Moore?
ZEISLOFT: "He's a great player. Very strong with the ball, a great decision maker and obviously a good shooter. We've got our work cut out for tomorrow tonight to get him slowed down."
Yogi, have you ever played against Nic Moore?
FERRELL: "I don't think so. I can kind of remember one game, but I don't know if he was playing with the juniors and seniors all-star game when I was a junior. I was a junior then, so I can't remember if he was playing for the seniors that game."
On playing a good team like SMU early in the season:
ZEISLOFT: "Definitely it's a good test for us. We will see where we are as a team. They are very athletic and long and we haven't really seen an opponent like that thus far. So it will be a good test for us tomorrow night."
FERRELL: SMU is ranked top 25 in the country so we've got to go in with the mindset of playing physical. Like Nick said, it's going to be a great test for us to see where we are.
On getting Troy Williams, Stanford Robinson and Emmitt Holt back?
ZEISLOFT: "I know they are anxious to get back. We are anxious to have them back too. We've been wanting them to be with us the whole time and unfortunately, they couldn't be. We're glad to have them back and they will add a lot to our team."
FERRELL: "We are really happy to have those guys back. Troy and Stan can get in there and rebound for us. They will mix well with us in helping us spread out the court. Pretty happy to have them back."
On being able to play off the ball as well as point guard at times:
FERRELL: "I do like playing off the ball a lot. I feel like guys can't key in as much on defense. Like I said before, I just get lost in the game. Rob and James can drive it in and find me. It isn't much of a challenge because I feel like I have done both before. It's rewarding, and as good as our team is we can feed off each other and find open shooting."
On playing three games in five days:
ZEISLOFT: "It definitely is a big deal for us. We've got to take care of our bodies and also be mentally ready for each game because they are hitting you pretty quickly. You've got to take it one game at a time and once one is done, have that fast transition into the next game."
