Indiana University Athletics
Big Ten Media Day Notebook: Lacrosse, Dunks and Consistency
10/15/2015 5:04:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Before last weekend, Tom Crean didn't have any connection to Johns Hopkins men's lacrosse coach Dave Pietramala other than he respected his work from afar.
Two hours of conversation changed that.
Crean and his team spent time with Pietramala during a weekend leadership and bonding trip to Baltimore, Md. During fall break. He and his players had positive reviews of the trip, saying Pietramala left them with advice they'll rely on throughout the season.
"It was just two people reaching out to one another, and it could not have gone any better," Crean said. "It was an incredibly invaluable part of the trip. It was an incredibly valuable two hours."
Pietramala is the winningest lacrosse coach in No. 1 Johns Hopkins program history. He's guided the Blue Jays to 14 NCAA tournament appearances since 2001, including seven appearances in the final four, two national championships and two national runner-up finishes.
Pietramala is known around coaching circles as being one of the best motivators, senior forward Max Bielfeldt explained. He's studied the New England Patriots practice and has a winning track record to back up his teachings.
"Honestly, hearing from him was one of the best parts about the trip," senior guard Nick Zeisloft said. "You really hear a lot of things Coach Crean emphasizes from him as well. Just hearing it again from another coach was good for us."
Pietramala emphasized the value of communication, or as he called it, "conversation."
Bielfeldt said the major takeaway from listening to Pietramala was that the best teams don't communicate with one another, they hold conversations. The difference being the tone the players talk to one another with and the emphasis they put on particular words.
One of the keys, Pietramala told Indiana, was to use names in everything on the court. The subtle change of saying, "Yogi" or "Nick" before a command creates responsibility and increases awareness.
Pietramala used the analogy that single men don't communicate with single women they're interested in. They have conversations. His theory is that teammates should be the same.
"When you're on defense, it's really the same thing," Bielfeldt said. "You know, like 'Yogi, switch over here,' or 'Yogi, you need to be over here.' Whatever it is, instead of just saying it, their ears perk up and they're getting to the right place."
Senior guard Kevin Yogi Ferrell admitted that he was skeptical when he first heard the team would be spending time with a lacrosse coach because he's not a fan of the sport, but he said his tone changed about two minutes into hearing Pietramala speak.
Ferrell said it was obvious that Pietramala was one of the best coaches in the nation in the way he carried himself. He told the players that their flaws in preseason can easily become flaws in the regular season and the postseason. Fixing them together as a team will ultimately make them better off down the line.
"I thought it was pretty cool to go there," Ferrell said. "I thought we all learned a lot from one of the best there is."
Ferrell opens up about his dunk
Three weeks ago, a video emerged online of Ferrell dunking over strength coach Lyonel Anderson at practice.
Ferrell, who's listed at 6-foot, crossed over in front of a cone to his left, went down through the lane, saw Anderson jumping up late and threw down a right-handed dunk. As the ball hit the floor on the way through, Ferrell's teammates mobbed him in the corner of the gym at Cook Hall.
"That was me feeling really good one day," Ferrell said. "They'd never seen that out of me before. I kind of surprised myself."
Ferrell hasn't dunked in a game during his college career. He said the last time he dunked during his career was as a high school senior and not to expect too many dunks throughout the upcoming season.
So what made the difference?
"The day before, we had hot yoga," Ferrell explained. "Ever since I did that, I think hot yoga's the trick. At first, I wasn't with hot yoga. I didn't like it. Ever since then, I felt like that's definitely going to be a part of my routine now."
Consistency is key
When asked what the key to the season was, Zeisloft didn't hesitate with an answer.
"Consistency," he said.
Admittedly, Zeisloft said many teams at the Big Ten's media day would say the same. It's not a secret formula or anything like that, he said, but Indiana needs to do a better job of managing its high points and low points during games.
"Honestly, it's probably one of the toughest things to have," Zeisloft said. "But we need that this year. Whether it be a 10-0 run or a 0-10 run, we need to stay the same and play our game. I don't think we always did a good job of that last year, but it's going to change."
