Indiana University Athletics
Postgame Quotes: Indiana vs. Ottawa
11/3/2015 10:29:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Indiana Head Coach Tom Crean
Opening Statement…
The highlights of the night for me are the way we came back. There's so many things that happen in a game when momentum is up for grabs. We got up 12 in the first half, we didn't close it, we didn't close the door on them. We had some turnovers, some home run-type plays rather than coming down. At the same time it was simultaneous with wanting to get in the bonus. We didn't do it as quick as we would have liked. We adjusted in the second half.
The second half wasn't as much about the bonus being a factor as much as it was playing through fatigue, trying to bring fatigue to the game. Then the last 10 minutes of the game to score 25 points basically I think we were 2.5 points a possession in the last nine and a half minutes, whatever it was, and basically I think we stopped it on 13 or 14 possessions.
To me that's the sign of things that we've got to learn. Like I said to them after the game, the quicker you form an identity that you can carry with you, home, road, no matter who you're playing, the better off you're going to be.
It's hard to do. But the bottom line is creating an identity with the defense, with the pressure, not only bringing fatigue to the game but playing through it on our end and then getting good quality shots, playing with tremendous energy.
I thought that we did that. We managed minutes with guys in a good way. It was the most minutes Collin Hartman has played since he got injured. His first day of any type of contact was the last two days. So he did a nice job.
We can talk about individual players if you want to. Bottom line for us, we took a team that is outstanding, number one in their country, just like we're going to see next week with Bellarmine, number one in Division II, by design, to give ourselves a chance to go against those types of teams.
We'll learn from this. We'll learn from them. A lot of adjustments inside of the game. Guys had to guard different matchups constantly because of their ability to shoot the ball and because the way they were looking for their matchups.
Couldn't have asked for more. Tremendously well-coached team. Very good players. Obviously well-tested because they're playing so many games.
Probably the way our guys played, improvement-wise in the game, especially the last 10 minutes.
On if this year's team is more physical on the glass…
I don't know yet. We got young guys. It may look like it tonight. I'm not sure if is going to look like that when we match up with other teams in the non-conference. I'm not sure it's going to look like that when we play against Maryland, Purdue, Michigan State, Iowa and people like that. Bottom line is we have to be. We have to play with aggressiveness, we have to play with tremendous energy. We have to have more guys to the glass. There were a couple times it looked really impressive with the effort we were showing on the offensive board, with Thomas, with Max, certainly with Troy, but we have to get more from others. That's going to have to be a huge part of it for us.
We're going to take threes. We didn't shoot great tonight by any stretch of the imagination, but most importantly neither did they. They were averaging 14 threes coming into the game.
There's going to be long rebounds, but there's also going to be rebounds at the rim and we have to be able to be a factor on both sides. That's definitely something that I hope we're seeing improvement in that throughout the year, but this is a good start.
On the quality of Ottawa as an exhibition opponent…
Yeah. They're well-coached. They came out in the second half and they read the matchups. They have Plunkett, who going into the game, of his 66 shots, 59 of them had been threes. We didn't want Thomas in the post because it's so much of a four-on-one team. They did an excellent job of looking for the matchups. He gets it. I mean, it's fun to watch him. It's fun to watch his films.
But to me Thomas happened to make those adjustments inside of the game and then not overhelp, then at certain times overhelp and recover. That's invaluable for him because he's going to have to guard numerous people for us. Sometimes it will be a post-man. In this league and in this non-conference schedule, you're going to see a lot of multi-dimensional forwards you'll face. He's one of them.
That to me was good. They knew exactly what they wanted. They passed the ball. I wasn't exaggerating with the way they passed. We wanted to pressure the passes. No question we got spread out a little bit, had too much help. But I liked our recovery.
The fact they missed some open shots, I'm not sure how he feels. They missed some open shots in the second half. I think fatigue might have had something to do with that.
At the same time we challenged shots. We didn't give a lot of open shots in a game like that. Really, really happy that we chose to play them. We would play them again. We would like to play Carleton again. For those of you that went over last summer, you know exactly what I'm saying.
I was reading a stat where Carleton and Ottawa played last year, they played in front of 12 and a half thousand people where the Ottawa Senators play NHL hockey. They're used to doing some things. It was great to have a team like that to face tonight.
On Max Bielfeldt being in the starting lineup…
I told the team before the game, it's the truth, we don't have a starting lineup. Nobody's unseeded Yogi for that position. But we don't really have a starting lineup right now. We have tremendous competition in the guard spots. We're going to have it in the forwards. All the forwards are going to have to play. There's going to be nights it's going to be very matchup oriented. Predictions on lineups will be just that, predictions.
So we'll do different things. I wasn't displeased with that lineup at all. The starting lineup was our number one plus-minus lineup of the night. We'll see down the road. If that's the starting lineup next week, would it be a shock to me? I'm not saying it wouldn't, I'm not saying it would. It's really irrelevant. Combinations are relevant. Who plays well with who is relevant. Who finishes is extremely relevant. That to me is going to be key.
On position-less basketball…
Well, if Thomas can get out and guard the way that he did. There can be a lot of improvement there. Plunkett really was behind him. He was behind the 3-point line most of the night. We gave up too much ground there. That will be something for him to learn.
We moved it around. I was really proud of Thomas when we came out of timeouts and we moved him around on purpose. So he was literally playing spots on the court that he's not played in practice. It's a great time to do that to see how he adjusts to that.
Last year we weren't a great after timeout team on new things. We were a pretty good after timeout team on stuff we did. We weren't as good of a team of coming out on things we saw inside of the game. We wanted to do some of that tonight. He adjusted to that well.
That's all part of playing position-less basketball to me. That part of it, they can all shoot, they're getting better with their handle, though at times it didn't look like that tonight. We still misread traps, we misread when it was time to split, when it was time to take on the forward. We missed some simple passes. But I get that.
If we can get to a point where we can guard different positions, then that really leads you to another place offensively, and I hope we can get there.
On adjusting to playing with size on the inside…
I'll have to watch the film. I don't think we graded out high in the backcourt guys of getting to the offensive glass. We're trying to do things like that this year to utilize our athleticism. When you play a smaller lineup, Troy has no choice. I mean, he's got to be on the glass. It's one of his strengths.
We've got to get more rebounds, not just long rebounds, but we've got to get more tough rebounds, inside the paint, inside the arc from our guards based on where they're at at the time.
When it comes to position-less, once the ball gets down the court, we don't really have what you would call a point guard. The point guard to me is the one that throws the ball ahead the best on the break after made baskets. Other than that, it's really moving, it's free flowing with the exception when we want a matchup.
But there was an aggressiveness from Thomas, from Troy, from Max to a degree, from Yogi, Collin to a degree, but he was a little rusty. That was one of the biggest things he did to get on the court last year, was his offensive rebounding.
We get ourselves to a point where we get very aggressive no matter who is on the floor of getting to the offensive glass, staying back, staying in no man's land, we'll get better.
On what changed going into the second half…
I think we were very conscious of it. Very, very conscious after our first half of getting up 12 and not taking advantage of the situation. That's really big for us right now because we want our foundation to be really strong. Being able to play with a lead, just like being able to come from behind, there's an art to both, right? It all comes in the sense of, all right, how well are we taking care of the ball? We don't want to play slow, but we don't want to make home run-type plays, we don't want to make plays that aren't there, we want to make simple plays.
At the same time we want to get the ball inside to the post so we can play inside-out. I think we did a better job at that, but it was frankly better defense. Better defense longer periods of time led to easier baskets for us.
On Bielfeldt and Bryant playing together…
I'll have to watch the film. I think the plus-minus showed good. They spent some time in practice together, but a lot of times they're battling each other. That will play out over a period of time.
But the numbers look good. Now we'll see if the film backs it up. I thought they were comfortable with each other.
It's going to be really, really important for Max to be a true quarterback. He doesn't have to be the baby-sitter or the big brother of the young guys, right? But he does have to be the quarterback. Because he's very smart, he's changing his role, he can do things.
He had 14 deflections tonight. He might tell you he's done that before, but I'd like to see visual proof of that. 14 deflections, pretty impressive for him. Those kind of things, you get that kind of activity from Max and from Thomas, that's going to be good for us.
Thank you.
Postgame Player Quotes (Indiana)
On the key in the second half when Ottawa closed the gap and IU put them away…
JAMES BLACKMON, JR.: Our key was the game plan, which was our defense. I feel like we picked it up the whole time second half. The first half we had a couple lapses, then just talked it out and went out there and did it.
MAX BIELFELDT: Definitely playing our team defense, being a unit, whether it's guys being in the gap, helping each other out. Switching was a lot smoother. Everybody was talking better in the second half. You could see it.
On the play of Thomas Bryant…
BIELFELDT: Thomas, he always plays with incredible energy and incredible heart. He was showing why he's so highly regarded out there. He was just working his butt off, going on the glass, getting those rebounds, second-chance points. His ability to get his own miss is really unique, scary ability. It's really tough to defend.
On playing Ottawa this season after losing to them in 2014…
BLACKMON: The guys that were here last year, we all talked about that, to the freshmen, to Max. We knew how much it meant to us. When they made that run on us, we talked it out and said, 'If this is a close game at the end, they could go on a run.' We wanted to shut that down.
On facing a high-quality opponent…
BIELFELDT: I would say so. You could tell they got a couple games under their belt. They went out there, they were running stuff smooth, playing really well together, knew where the person was before he was there. That's why it took us a little while to get going. It was kind of our first game playing against somebody else. I think we did adapt really well kind of going back and forth in the first half, adapted really well to push that out and show what we can do.
On playing with Bryant...
BIELFELDT: I love playing with Thomas. He's such a physical presence down there. I kind of bring a physical presence in a different way. Me and him down there, it's fun to be rebounding buddies almost. He's definitely an easy guy to play with. We definitely played well together and practice together.
On Bryant's energy…
BLACKMON: I definitely feed off of it, too, with all my teammates. But Thomas does and Max as well. It's so much different with them two in there. It seems like everything is carved out when shots go up. It makes it easier for us. I'm going in there crashing the glass, it's already wide open, so it makes it easier for all of us.
On the key to shutting down the 3-point shot…
BIELFELDT: We definitely focus in practice on trying to put ball pressure around the 3-point arc. They're a good 3-point shooting team. If they get going, they have a chance against a lot of teams in this country.
I think just our ability to take our matchup, kind of not over-help. They really thrive when someone has to help someone else, hitting that open man. I think we really managed that a lot better, kind of took it away in the second half especially.
On limiting the turnovers in the second half…
BLACKMON: Yeah, that was the main point as well, just as much as the defense. He talked about it, then we just talked to each other and said, 'Let's fix it.' I don't think it happened a lot after that.
On playing with a bigger lineup this season…
BLACKMON: I feel like the rebounding went well first. Our defense, as well. We have shot-blockers. I have confidence with guys when I know Thomas and Max got my back. And our guards, we can interchange. Me and Yogi switched off so many times tonight. It's just everything is a plus when we can do that.
On having bigs that stretch the floor…
BIELFELDT: It's key. If you have a big, you have to respect them out there. That's why Wisconsin was so hard to guard last year, because they had those guys that could stretch the floor. Puts pressure on the defense. What I was saying earlier with the rotations, if you have a guy or two out there that you don't respect, you can pack it in, make it harder on the other guys. Having the ability to stretch the floor, this entire team can shoot, having that ability is special.
On the play of the defense…
BLACKMON: I feel like it's really great because we work on it every single day in practice. I give it about a 90 or 85. So we want to get to 100 obviously.
Ottawa Head Coach James Derouin
On how the game got away from them…
I thought our guys came out a bit shaky. They were a bit intimidated by some things and they made some mistakes that are a little abnormal for our team. But our toughness shined through as we got back and finally made some shots and got some stops and even some defensive rebounds. When we went into half time, we were feeling pretty good because I didn't think we played particularly well but it was still an eight-point game. We shot well, we rebounded well but we still felt like we were in striking distance. In the second half, we started off pretty strong and then there was a stretch I think from six or seven to about 14, 15, 16. Some calls, some loose balls, our body language changed. It was a downhill run from there. They started feeling the momentum and starting making some shots, hitting tough shots and it was hard getting back when the momentum shifted.
On difference between playing Indiana this year compared to last…
What comes to mind first is the size. On the offensive glass, they were missing a big when they played us last year and of course now they have added a freshman center. I think especially on the glass they were outstanding – 18 offensive rebounds – those extra possessions were huge. Then of course the defense, especially their defensiveness was much tighter. They didn't have a training camp in August. They've had training camp to work on that. Their closeouts on our shooters were something they focused on for us. They know we shoot the ball well – that was the big difference. The glass and their defense was a lot tighter on their man-to-man.
On the second half…
It seemed like there was a lid on it for a while. We couldn't get anything to drop, even a free throw. We felt like nothing could go in. Although defense was stronger, I think we got some really good shots that were pretty standard to make. Shooting 24.5 percent as a team from the three and to shoot 19 percent, it's frustrating but you have to make shots to compete with a team like this and work with the size and the depth that you have.
On moving forward...
When you play top Division I NCAA talent, they expose even the slightest weakness that you might have. We play an undersized, high intensity game and we struggle on the glass. When we play a team who waves off the glass, if we're not boxing out and not doing the things we need to and our weaknesses get exposed. As a coach, I know have the tape to say this is what happened. There were some body language issues – how are you going to respond when we're down? We're not down very often by 15 or 20. But later on how can we work on it, that's why I love playing these teams. They already know their weaknesses but until they're exposed they won't buy into what you're trying to tell them. I have 40 minutes of tape to show them exactly what I've been trying to tell them and hopefully they'll believe me. That's why it's important.
On the atmosphere of Assembly Hall...
I think we came out a little nervous, our ball-handling was a little uncharacteristic. But then I think we settled in. I'm not sure if our shooting was as a result of the environment or the defense. When you don't make shots, coaches will try to figure out what happened but for the most part they handled it well. I was expecting for it to be a little more hostile to be honest. It was a good environment and we have some big games back at home that get some pretty big crowds so again another reason this game helped us move forward.
Opening Statement…
The highlights of the night for me are the way we came back. There's so many things that happen in a game when momentum is up for grabs. We got up 12 in the first half, we didn't close it, we didn't close the door on them. We had some turnovers, some home run-type plays rather than coming down. At the same time it was simultaneous with wanting to get in the bonus. We didn't do it as quick as we would have liked. We adjusted in the second half.
The second half wasn't as much about the bonus being a factor as much as it was playing through fatigue, trying to bring fatigue to the game. Then the last 10 minutes of the game to score 25 points basically I think we were 2.5 points a possession in the last nine and a half minutes, whatever it was, and basically I think we stopped it on 13 or 14 possessions.
To me that's the sign of things that we've got to learn. Like I said to them after the game, the quicker you form an identity that you can carry with you, home, road, no matter who you're playing, the better off you're going to be.
It's hard to do. But the bottom line is creating an identity with the defense, with the pressure, not only bringing fatigue to the game but playing through it on our end and then getting good quality shots, playing with tremendous energy.
I thought that we did that. We managed minutes with guys in a good way. It was the most minutes Collin Hartman has played since he got injured. His first day of any type of contact was the last two days. So he did a nice job.
We can talk about individual players if you want to. Bottom line for us, we took a team that is outstanding, number one in their country, just like we're going to see next week with Bellarmine, number one in Division II, by design, to give ourselves a chance to go against those types of teams.
We'll learn from this. We'll learn from them. A lot of adjustments inside of the game. Guys had to guard different matchups constantly because of their ability to shoot the ball and because the way they were looking for their matchups.
Couldn't have asked for more. Tremendously well-coached team. Very good players. Obviously well-tested because they're playing so many games.
Probably the way our guys played, improvement-wise in the game, especially the last 10 minutes.
On if this year's team is more physical on the glass…
I don't know yet. We got young guys. It may look like it tonight. I'm not sure if is going to look like that when we match up with other teams in the non-conference. I'm not sure it's going to look like that when we play against Maryland, Purdue, Michigan State, Iowa and people like that. Bottom line is we have to be. We have to play with aggressiveness, we have to play with tremendous energy. We have to have more guys to the glass. There were a couple times it looked really impressive with the effort we were showing on the offensive board, with Thomas, with Max, certainly with Troy, but we have to get more from others. That's going to have to be a huge part of it for us.
We're going to take threes. We didn't shoot great tonight by any stretch of the imagination, but most importantly neither did they. They were averaging 14 threes coming into the game.
There's going to be long rebounds, but there's also going to be rebounds at the rim and we have to be able to be a factor on both sides. That's definitely something that I hope we're seeing improvement in that throughout the year, but this is a good start.
On the quality of Ottawa as an exhibition opponent…
Yeah. They're well-coached. They came out in the second half and they read the matchups. They have Plunkett, who going into the game, of his 66 shots, 59 of them had been threes. We didn't want Thomas in the post because it's so much of a four-on-one team. They did an excellent job of looking for the matchups. He gets it. I mean, it's fun to watch him. It's fun to watch his films.
But to me Thomas happened to make those adjustments inside of the game and then not overhelp, then at certain times overhelp and recover. That's invaluable for him because he's going to have to guard numerous people for us. Sometimes it will be a post-man. In this league and in this non-conference schedule, you're going to see a lot of multi-dimensional forwards you'll face. He's one of them.
That to me was good. They knew exactly what they wanted. They passed the ball. I wasn't exaggerating with the way they passed. We wanted to pressure the passes. No question we got spread out a little bit, had too much help. But I liked our recovery.
The fact they missed some open shots, I'm not sure how he feels. They missed some open shots in the second half. I think fatigue might have had something to do with that.
At the same time we challenged shots. We didn't give a lot of open shots in a game like that. Really, really happy that we chose to play them. We would play them again. We would like to play Carleton again. For those of you that went over last summer, you know exactly what I'm saying.
I was reading a stat where Carleton and Ottawa played last year, they played in front of 12 and a half thousand people where the Ottawa Senators play NHL hockey. They're used to doing some things. It was great to have a team like that to face tonight.
On Max Bielfeldt being in the starting lineup…
I told the team before the game, it's the truth, we don't have a starting lineup. Nobody's unseeded Yogi for that position. But we don't really have a starting lineup right now. We have tremendous competition in the guard spots. We're going to have it in the forwards. All the forwards are going to have to play. There's going to be nights it's going to be very matchup oriented. Predictions on lineups will be just that, predictions.
So we'll do different things. I wasn't displeased with that lineup at all. The starting lineup was our number one plus-minus lineup of the night. We'll see down the road. If that's the starting lineup next week, would it be a shock to me? I'm not saying it wouldn't, I'm not saying it would. It's really irrelevant. Combinations are relevant. Who plays well with who is relevant. Who finishes is extremely relevant. That to me is going to be key.
On position-less basketball…
Well, if Thomas can get out and guard the way that he did. There can be a lot of improvement there. Plunkett really was behind him. He was behind the 3-point line most of the night. We gave up too much ground there. That will be something for him to learn.
We moved it around. I was really proud of Thomas when we came out of timeouts and we moved him around on purpose. So he was literally playing spots on the court that he's not played in practice. It's a great time to do that to see how he adjusts to that.
Last year we weren't a great after timeout team on new things. We were a pretty good after timeout team on stuff we did. We weren't as good of a team of coming out on things we saw inside of the game. We wanted to do some of that tonight. He adjusted to that well.
That's all part of playing position-less basketball to me. That part of it, they can all shoot, they're getting better with their handle, though at times it didn't look like that tonight. We still misread traps, we misread when it was time to split, when it was time to take on the forward. We missed some simple passes. But I get that.
If we can get to a point where we can guard different positions, then that really leads you to another place offensively, and I hope we can get there.
On adjusting to playing with size on the inside…
I'll have to watch the film. I don't think we graded out high in the backcourt guys of getting to the offensive glass. We're trying to do things like that this year to utilize our athleticism. When you play a smaller lineup, Troy has no choice. I mean, he's got to be on the glass. It's one of his strengths.
We've got to get more rebounds, not just long rebounds, but we've got to get more tough rebounds, inside the paint, inside the arc from our guards based on where they're at at the time.
When it comes to position-less, once the ball gets down the court, we don't really have what you would call a point guard. The point guard to me is the one that throws the ball ahead the best on the break after made baskets. Other than that, it's really moving, it's free flowing with the exception when we want a matchup.
But there was an aggressiveness from Thomas, from Troy, from Max to a degree, from Yogi, Collin to a degree, but he was a little rusty. That was one of the biggest things he did to get on the court last year, was his offensive rebounding.
We get ourselves to a point where we get very aggressive no matter who is on the floor of getting to the offensive glass, staying back, staying in no man's land, we'll get better.
On what changed going into the second half…
I think we were very conscious of it. Very, very conscious after our first half of getting up 12 and not taking advantage of the situation. That's really big for us right now because we want our foundation to be really strong. Being able to play with a lead, just like being able to come from behind, there's an art to both, right? It all comes in the sense of, all right, how well are we taking care of the ball? We don't want to play slow, but we don't want to make home run-type plays, we don't want to make plays that aren't there, we want to make simple plays.
At the same time we want to get the ball inside to the post so we can play inside-out. I think we did a better job at that, but it was frankly better defense. Better defense longer periods of time led to easier baskets for us.
On Bielfeldt and Bryant playing together…
I'll have to watch the film. I think the plus-minus showed good. They spent some time in practice together, but a lot of times they're battling each other. That will play out over a period of time.
But the numbers look good. Now we'll see if the film backs it up. I thought they were comfortable with each other.
It's going to be really, really important for Max to be a true quarterback. He doesn't have to be the baby-sitter or the big brother of the young guys, right? But he does have to be the quarterback. Because he's very smart, he's changing his role, he can do things.
He had 14 deflections tonight. He might tell you he's done that before, but I'd like to see visual proof of that. 14 deflections, pretty impressive for him. Those kind of things, you get that kind of activity from Max and from Thomas, that's going to be good for us.
Thank you.
Postgame Player Quotes (Indiana)
On the key in the second half when Ottawa closed the gap and IU put them away…
JAMES BLACKMON, JR.: Our key was the game plan, which was our defense. I feel like we picked it up the whole time second half. The first half we had a couple lapses, then just talked it out and went out there and did it.
MAX BIELFELDT: Definitely playing our team defense, being a unit, whether it's guys being in the gap, helping each other out. Switching was a lot smoother. Everybody was talking better in the second half. You could see it.
On the play of Thomas Bryant…
BIELFELDT: Thomas, he always plays with incredible energy and incredible heart. He was showing why he's so highly regarded out there. He was just working his butt off, going on the glass, getting those rebounds, second-chance points. His ability to get his own miss is really unique, scary ability. It's really tough to defend.
On playing Ottawa this season after losing to them in 2014…
BLACKMON: The guys that were here last year, we all talked about that, to the freshmen, to Max. We knew how much it meant to us. When they made that run on us, we talked it out and said, 'If this is a close game at the end, they could go on a run.' We wanted to shut that down.
On facing a high-quality opponent…
BIELFELDT: I would say so. You could tell they got a couple games under their belt. They went out there, they were running stuff smooth, playing really well together, knew where the person was before he was there. That's why it took us a little while to get going. It was kind of our first game playing against somebody else. I think we did adapt really well kind of going back and forth in the first half, adapted really well to push that out and show what we can do.
On playing with Bryant...
BIELFELDT: I love playing with Thomas. He's such a physical presence down there. I kind of bring a physical presence in a different way. Me and him down there, it's fun to be rebounding buddies almost. He's definitely an easy guy to play with. We definitely played well together and practice together.
On Bryant's energy…
BLACKMON: I definitely feed off of it, too, with all my teammates. But Thomas does and Max as well. It's so much different with them two in there. It seems like everything is carved out when shots go up. It makes it easier for us. I'm going in there crashing the glass, it's already wide open, so it makes it easier for all of us.
On the key to shutting down the 3-point shot…
BIELFELDT: We definitely focus in practice on trying to put ball pressure around the 3-point arc. They're a good 3-point shooting team. If they get going, they have a chance against a lot of teams in this country.
I think just our ability to take our matchup, kind of not over-help. They really thrive when someone has to help someone else, hitting that open man. I think we really managed that a lot better, kind of took it away in the second half especially.
On limiting the turnovers in the second half…
BLACKMON: Yeah, that was the main point as well, just as much as the defense. He talked about it, then we just talked to each other and said, 'Let's fix it.' I don't think it happened a lot after that.
On playing with a bigger lineup this season…
BLACKMON: I feel like the rebounding went well first. Our defense, as well. We have shot-blockers. I have confidence with guys when I know Thomas and Max got my back. And our guards, we can interchange. Me and Yogi switched off so many times tonight. It's just everything is a plus when we can do that.
On having bigs that stretch the floor…
BIELFELDT: It's key. If you have a big, you have to respect them out there. That's why Wisconsin was so hard to guard last year, because they had those guys that could stretch the floor. Puts pressure on the defense. What I was saying earlier with the rotations, if you have a guy or two out there that you don't respect, you can pack it in, make it harder on the other guys. Having the ability to stretch the floor, this entire team can shoot, having that ability is special.
On the play of the defense…
BLACKMON: I feel like it's really great because we work on it every single day in practice. I give it about a 90 or 85. So we want to get to 100 obviously.
Ottawa Head Coach James Derouin
On how the game got away from them…
I thought our guys came out a bit shaky. They were a bit intimidated by some things and they made some mistakes that are a little abnormal for our team. But our toughness shined through as we got back and finally made some shots and got some stops and even some defensive rebounds. When we went into half time, we were feeling pretty good because I didn't think we played particularly well but it was still an eight-point game. We shot well, we rebounded well but we still felt like we were in striking distance. In the second half, we started off pretty strong and then there was a stretch I think from six or seven to about 14, 15, 16. Some calls, some loose balls, our body language changed. It was a downhill run from there. They started feeling the momentum and starting making some shots, hitting tough shots and it was hard getting back when the momentum shifted.
On difference between playing Indiana this year compared to last…
What comes to mind first is the size. On the offensive glass, they were missing a big when they played us last year and of course now they have added a freshman center. I think especially on the glass they were outstanding – 18 offensive rebounds – those extra possessions were huge. Then of course the defense, especially their defensiveness was much tighter. They didn't have a training camp in August. They've had training camp to work on that. Their closeouts on our shooters were something they focused on for us. They know we shoot the ball well – that was the big difference. The glass and their defense was a lot tighter on their man-to-man.
On the second half…
It seemed like there was a lid on it for a while. We couldn't get anything to drop, even a free throw. We felt like nothing could go in. Although defense was stronger, I think we got some really good shots that were pretty standard to make. Shooting 24.5 percent as a team from the three and to shoot 19 percent, it's frustrating but you have to make shots to compete with a team like this and work with the size and the depth that you have.
On moving forward...
When you play top Division I NCAA talent, they expose even the slightest weakness that you might have. We play an undersized, high intensity game and we struggle on the glass. When we play a team who waves off the glass, if we're not boxing out and not doing the things we need to and our weaknesses get exposed. As a coach, I know have the tape to say this is what happened. There were some body language issues – how are you going to respond when we're down? We're not down very often by 15 or 20. But later on how can we work on it, that's why I love playing these teams. They already know their weaknesses but until they're exposed they won't buy into what you're trying to tell them. I have 40 minutes of tape to show them exactly what I've been trying to tell them and hopefully they'll believe me. That's why it's important.
On the atmosphere of Assembly Hall...
I think we came out a little nervous, our ball-handling was a little uncharacteristic. But then I think we settled in. I'm not sure if our shooting was as a result of the environment or the defense. When you don't make shots, coaches will try to figure out what happened but for the most part they handled it well. I was expecting for it to be a little more hostile to be honest. It was a good environment and we have some big games back at home that get some pretty big crowds so again another reason this game helped us move forward.
Players Mentioned
Forward
/ Men's Basketball
Center
/ Men's Basketball
Forward
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