Indiana University Athletics
Tom Crean Previews Matchup at Rutgers
2/21/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 21, 2015
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BLOMINGTON, Ind. - Read what head coach Tom Crean had to say as he previewed Sunday's game at Rutgers (5:15 p.m.; BTN).
Opening Statement:
“A couple things coming back from Purdue and watching that game; I would say that offensively, as much as anything else, we didn’t let the game continue to come to us the way that it needed to. And a couple times when you have a good help defensive team like that, that also puts good ball pressure on you, you’ve got to keep it moving and a couple of times we didn’t do that. And when we did, it was good. But the bottom line is you’ve got to keep the ball moving and especially with the way we play offense. And that creates more offensive rebound opportunities for us.
“Defensively, we defended well enough to win. We did not rebound well enough to win. And a couple of times the pressure around the ball wasn’t what it needed to be and it got inside. And a couple of times when we are trying to circle up our coverage inside, because with our size you can’t just guard those guys one way. You can’t just guard them three quarter, with a front, play behind and if you get into a big post double situation, now you’re giving them not only open threes which we didn’t give them much of obviously with the percentages the way they were but giving them cuts to the basket. And the layups beat you and you don’t want to give up post up easy baskets and layups. And a couple of times we gave up a couple of those. Looking back at the film, the play where John Octeus got the dunk. I mean it’s got to either be a block or a charge and I didn’t have as good a view of that during the game but Collin was in position. So, it’s either got to be a three point play or wave the basket off and I wish that one would have been different. Bottom line is we just didn’t do things as well as we needed to do. Our screening wasn’t as good outside of troy. Troy did a very good job screening hence he was open a lot more. We need to get better at that. That’s something Hanner needs to improve upon quickly and again that is the game rhythm. I think you asked the question about what it’s going to take for him to get back into it but simple things like that are a huge part of that.
As far as Rutgers, they are a dangerous, dangerous team. I’ve coached in that building and when they’ve got it going in there it is very, very hard place to play. It’s an excellent home court for them. They’re a very good team. They’re the same team that was in here a couple weeks ago. You don’t play their record, you don’t play their percentages, you play the players. We had a very tight game with them a couple weeks back. They’ve been in some very close games and they’ve also had some tough losses but they can score. They are more at full strength than they were when we played them the first time with more depth, more bodies, and more people who are contributing for them. We’ll have to play extremely well. Yesterday was spent making sure that we review the film and getting into Rutgers later on but really getting back to making sure our speed game is where it needs to be in the half court and in the full court which increases our defensive pressure. And again, it wasn’t as much the post-ups or a part of it but the ball pressure we needed to have to make it harder to get in and circle up the post were a little more crucial and that hurt us a little bit defensively. But love their attitude. They’re lifting right now and then we’ll practice. We’ll keep our fingers crossed to get out of here with an on time departure and a smooth landing.
On using the positives from the last road game at Maryland in this game:
I don’t think like that. I think you just can’t. You’ve got to stay in the day. We’re not getting into Northwestern. I’ve watched Northwestern but we are not doing anything with Northwestern until we get back. And you can’t help but see those teams when you’re watching other teams and it’s the same thing for our players. They see them. It’s all about making sure our execution is right right now. We’ve got to make sure our transition defense is right. We’ve got to make sure we really understand Rutgers’ personnel. So it’s not about getting ahead of yourself and I hope I never get distracted enough as a coach or as a coaching staff or allow a team to get distracted enough to think ahead. It’s got to be where you are at that point. And certainly you know the schedule and who you play. But you’ve got to stay right where you need to be and that right now is to make sure we are ready to pay tomorrow in best possible way.
On Hanner Mosquera-Perea’s injury having an effect on his conditioning:
“Absolutely. He has to push himself even harder and sustain it. That’s the big thing. It’s got to be sustainability right now and really handle the simple things. They’re not simple. They’re hard to do since because there is physical contact but they’re things that you do a lot - the screening, the moving, the being in position defensively. His conditioning is not where it needs to be yet but that’s not anybody’s fault. That’s the way that it is. Because he literally was just shooting free throws. There wasn’t a lot of stuff you could do with his cardiovascular lower body and certainly some upper body things but not with his lower body because of the knee. So, that will come back and it’ll help us. And I think he saw in film and I think he knows he is capable of more.
On getting Hanner to play well for longer stretches of the game:
“Just stay consistent with his athleticism and stay consistent with his offensive and defensive stance. Consistent with his awareness of what he need to do defensively and then offensively continue to move him. He’s a movement guy and at the same time we can go to him in the post more. But it really for the most part is staying out of foul trouble and continuing to be able to pay those kinds of stretches. And maybe it’s got to go back a little bit to the way it was at the beginning where it is a little more of that hockey style where the spurts are shorter to get that bigger burst. But you’ve also got to have good cardiovascular conditioning to do that so it remains to be seen.”
On whether Rutgers has changed anything since the two teams met the first time:
“No, they’re still running their offense. They are a rhythm team and Etou really came out well and shot well against us. I think he has continued to play well and they have Mike Williams back, so no they’re running their offense.
“Myles Mack can break you down, he can break a defense down, he can break a defender down. And they want to drive the ball, but they’re running their offense crisp. Against Iowa, Iowa made shots and they missed some shots. There was some transition involved and they attacked their zone well. Iowa changed defenses and they did good things, but they just didn’t make as many shots. They got down because Iowa got the transition game going fairly early. But to me they’re a good team, just like everybody in this league.”
On whether Hanner will be in the starting lineup:
“I’m not sure right now on that. In practice, we broke up the teams yesterday to make it more competitive in a full court, so it wasn’t a starting lineup versus second lineup or anything like that at. So truly I’m not sure on that yet.”
On whether Sunday night games are tough to adjust to:
“No, not at all. You have to do a little more, creatively, for nine o’clock games. But other than that, you adjust your schedule to whether its noon or nine o’clock. At this time of year they’re pretty much used to anything.”
On getting into a rhythm with games and practices this late in the year:
“I think early on, I get into more segments, but not now there has to be a great balance for us as it relates to skill development. We have to make sure we are not getting away from any of that and making sure that the system is right with our execution. At the same time, there are always specifics to the game and because we are such a game plan defensive team and game plan offensive team to a degree, but not nearly as much as defense, there’s really not a lot of time to think about other things.
“Earlier in the season when you’re really trying to get good at different things, it’s a little bit different, but at this time of year, the only thing you’re looking ahead to is your practice schedule personally for me I’m not trying to speak on behalf of anybody else, that’s really what it comes down to. And you get a real good feel for where guys are improving and where they need a little extra work in something. You can watch the game where there’s a little slippage but we’re trying to include that in the practices and then I certainly grab guys at different segments of practice or right after practice. We have different work out groups now, as we get going with Devin, so we can get things done specifically. So there’s a plan ahead for that. But as far as getting ready for each and every game it’s not lets really work on this because in a week we’re going see this from that team. It’s not like that not at this time of year.”
On how Hartman is continuing to progress while playing this season and whether he is still monitored:
“We do, we do. He needs to be more aggressive. His aggressiveness is a big part of when we’re good and when we’re not as good and chasing down rebounds and moving without the ball. He played tentatively the other night, and he can’t do that. He missed Troy the other night coming out of a timeout for a wide open layup on an out of bounds play that was the second option. He has to have great awareness and we expect a lot out of him because he’s capable of a lot. So we haven’t changed as far as what we do with his practice times and I continue to follow Tim Garl. I guess that would be an answer to the earlier question with injuries that there’s a little look ahead. Other than that, he takes it all in. He gets it. He just has to apply it a little bit better and a little more consistently because when he does, we’re pretty good.”
On whether he has to monitor Hartman’s minutes due to his injury:
“No I don’t think so. We watch his practice time, so I don’t think we’re in a minutes quandary. Tim (Garl) does a really good job of that. You have to have people watching specific things in the games, so he’s always watching those types of things.
“I’m watching fatigue level, but I’m not necessarily fixated on ‘what’s the injury look like right now?’ or “how should he be recovering from that?’ That’s what Tim does or Dr. Rink or Dr. Ahlfeld. So I listen to those guys. It’s like the other night Troy got hurt, came back he’s going to be ok, but we’re going to wait till the end of the half they told me. So I said lets wait till the second half, I don’t question those things. I wish they’d say he’s ready to go in right now, but you don’t question them. You have to have everybody tuned in to what their specific role and job is during the game.”
