Indiana University Athletics
Postgame Quotes: Indiana at Duke
12/3/2015 1:37:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Indiana Head Coach Tom Crean
Opening Statement:
"We were not nearly good enough on the ball tonight defensively, which forced us to help, which is what we don't want to do against a team that has shooters like that. We never really made them feel us presence wise. For that matter, we didn't have a lot of trouble scoring ourselves, but we didn't put enough pressure on them. The glass, the length and the strength, and the experience of that front line on the boards really hurt us. We didn't get enough guard rebounds to make up for it, but offensively we were able to move the ball. When we made the next pass, when we spaced it, we did a good job with that, but we didn't get enough stops. We didn't get enough stops in a row. We didn't create enough pressure on them to put them in enough uncomfortable situations. When you get caught over-helping on a really good passing team, which they are, that creates problems. That's not how we want to guard. That is not how we practice guarding. We're not a team that wants to over-help and then be in a rotation. We're a team that wants to do a much better job of guarding the ball. That is the biggest problem that without seeing the film, that I think we've got to really, really get a lot better at is that individual determination of guarding the ball, finding the screens, and keep ourselves out of help situations. I'll give them a lot of credit. They shot the ball at a really high rate. If you shoot the percentage we shoot on the road, with the exception of the threes in the second half, that's usually going to be a pretty good percentage, but we let them have too much. The length, again like I said, we hadn't seen that length. Our young guys had not seen that length, in the sense of Thomas [Bryant]. It'll be December 3rd here in about 30 seconds. It's early in the season. We've got to continue to really work hard to get better. I think we'll get a lot better. We're anxious to get back and learn from this one and get ourselves back on the practice court and continue to improve in all aspects of the game."
On how the team needs to improve their defense:
"Guard the ball better. We need to guard the ball better. We need to make sure we're not playing angles and giving up position, as much as getting up into the ball and putting really good pressure on the ball."
On the help defense:
"We don't want to leave shooters as much. We just have to guard the ball better. We did not guard the ball as well, that's going to create the help that we don't want to have to have. We really want to do a good job with an early stunt, get back to the shooters, especially with a team like this. When we've done that in the past, we've been pretty good at it. Again, it all starts with ball pressure and keeping the ball contained. We just weren't consistent enough, close in the first half and then the second half not really at all and that's where we have to improve. But it's December 3rd and we've played 8 games. I love their work ethic in practice. We need to play like we practice, and that's a lot easier said than done when you're playing a team with that experience and that size up front. They played like it. I told Mike [Krzyzewski] before the game that his team was really tough and you can see that on the film. They're every bit of that and I'm sure they'll get better too. They've got two really, really experienced front line players with a lot of talent in that back court."
Duke Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski
Opening Statement:
"We played really well tonight and we played well from start to finish against a really good team".
On playing Indiana:
"Playing Indiana, they are such an explosive offensive team. [Kevin Yogi] Ferrell is one of the best guards in the country and he sets these guys up so well. The limited amount of time that we had for practice, that is what we practiced on, just to try and cut down on his assists. He had only five, but in some games he can have 12, and they can end up being 36 points because he kicks it out for those threes.
"We did a pretty good job on [James] Blackmon, he only had four threes and he is one of the best-three point shooters and [Troy] Williams is one of the best athletes. They are good, and a tough team to defend, but we are also a tough team to defend because we have scorers. Brandon [Ingram] started the game so well and played a really good game, but his start gave us energy."
On Duke's cohesiveness:
"One of the great things about our group is how happy our upperclassmen are, when the freshmen do well. It's unbelievable. You can see that they were just so happy for Brandon and it got them excited. The performance of Matt [Jones] and Amile [Jefferson] was spectacular. They were veteran, veteran good players. We won a big game, we beat a really good team and I am proud of my team. This is a tough week for us, with the week before exams and for them to be focused like they were tonight is terrific."
On why Duke was so efficient:
"We shared the ball well and for whatever reason, Amile became like a point guard, which just kind of happened because they do a bunch of different things defensively. They man, zone, combination, they're playing man, then they go zone. So you need an alert player, and Amile in that position, when he had the ball, was able to make plays and he made them. Amile has been an outstanding player for us. He is averaging a double-double, he is one of the top offensive rebounders in the country and we don't set anything up for him. The two veterans, those two kids were sensational tonight both Matt and Amile."
Opening Statement:
"We were not nearly good enough on the ball tonight defensively, which forced us to help, which is what we don't want to do against a team that has shooters like that. We never really made them feel us presence wise. For that matter, we didn't have a lot of trouble scoring ourselves, but we didn't put enough pressure on them. The glass, the length and the strength, and the experience of that front line on the boards really hurt us. We didn't get enough guard rebounds to make up for it, but offensively we were able to move the ball. When we made the next pass, when we spaced it, we did a good job with that, but we didn't get enough stops. We didn't get enough stops in a row. We didn't create enough pressure on them to put them in enough uncomfortable situations. When you get caught over-helping on a really good passing team, which they are, that creates problems. That's not how we want to guard. That is not how we practice guarding. We're not a team that wants to over-help and then be in a rotation. We're a team that wants to do a much better job of guarding the ball. That is the biggest problem that without seeing the film, that I think we've got to really, really get a lot better at is that individual determination of guarding the ball, finding the screens, and keep ourselves out of help situations. I'll give them a lot of credit. They shot the ball at a really high rate. If you shoot the percentage we shoot on the road, with the exception of the threes in the second half, that's usually going to be a pretty good percentage, but we let them have too much. The length, again like I said, we hadn't seen that length. Our young guys had not seen that length, in the sense of Thomas [Bryant]. It'll be December 3rd here in about 30 seconds. It's early in the season. We've got to continue to really work hard to get better. I think we'll get a lot better. We're anxious to get back and learn from this one and get ourselves back on the practice court and continue to improve in all aspects of the game."
On how the team needs to improve their defense:
"Guard the ball better. We need to guard the ball better. We need to make sure we're not playing angles and giving up position, as much as getting up into the ball and putting really good pressure on the ball."
On the help defense:
"We don't want to leave shooters as much. We just have to guard the ball better. We did not guard the ball as well, that's going to create the help that we don't want to have to have. We really want to do a good job with an early stunt, get back to the shooters, especially with a team like this. When we've done that in the past, we've been pretty good at it. Again, it all starts with ball pressure and keeping the ball contained. We just weren't consistent enough, close in the first half and then the second half not really at all and that's where we have to improve. But it's December 3rd and we've played 8 games. I love their work ethic in practice. We need to play like we practice, and that's a lot easier said than done when you're playing a team with that experience and that size up front. They played like it. I told Mike [Krzyzewski] before the game that his team was really tough and you can see that on the film. They're every bit of that and I'm sure they'll get better too. They've got two really, really experienced front line players with a lot of talent in that back court."
Duke Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski
Opening Statement:
"We played really well tonight and we played well from start to finish against a really good team".
On playing Indiana:
"Playing Indiana, they are such an explosive offensive team. [Kevin Yogi] Ferrell is one of the best guards in the country and he sets these guys up so well. The limited amount of time that we had for practice, that is what we practiced on, just to try and cut down on his assists. He had only five, but in some games he can have 12, and they can end up being 36 points because he kicks it out for those threes.
"We did a pretty good job on [James] Blackmon, he only had four threes and he is one of the best-three point shooters and [Troy] Williams is one of the best athletes. They are good, and a tough team to defend, but we are also a tough team to defend because we have scorers. Brandon [Ingram] started the game so well and played a really good game, but his start gave us energy."
On Duke's cohesiveness:
"One of the great things about our group is how happy our upperclassmen are, when the freshmen do well. It's unbelievable. You can see that they were just so happy for Brandon and it got them excited. The performance of Matt [Jones] and Amile [Jefferson] was spectacular. They were veteran, veteran good players. We won a big game, we beat a really good team and I am proud of my team. This is a tough week for us, with the week before exams and for them to be focused like they were tonight is terrific."
On why Duke was so efficient:
"We shared the ball well and for whatever reason, Amile became like a point guard, which just kind of happened because they do a bunch of different things defensively. They man, zone, combination, they're playing man, then they go zone. So you need an alert player, and Amile in that position, when he had the ball, was able to make plays and he made them. Amile has been an outstanding player for us. He is averaging a double-double, he is one of the top offensive rebounders in the country and we don't set anything up for him. The two veterans, those two kids were sensational tonight both Matt and Amile."
FB: Nico Radicic - Spring Practice No. 11
Tuesday, April 21
FB: Drew Evans - Spring Practice No. 11
Tuesday, April 21
FB: Bray Lynch - Spring Practice No. 11
Tuesday, April 21
FB: Spring Practice - Curt Cignetti Press Conference
Thursday, April 16