Indiana University Athletics
VIDEO: End Of Year Wrap-Up
5/5/2015 3:12:00 PM | Men's Basketball
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - As the 2014-15 academic year comes to a close on campus this week with final exams, Troy Williams, Nick Zeisloft, Robert Johnson and Collin Hartman met with members of the media to provide an update on what the team has been working on since the end of the season in addition to other topics.
On the expectations for next year being different than this past season:
Zeisloft: "That's a very good point. We, as a team, have a lot of expectations for next year. We're going to work day in and day out to reach those expectations. We're really glad to have everyone come back, and we're very excited about the new pieces coming in."
Williams: "We just want to do the same thing--working out, lifting--nothing new. We have the same mindsets. We just have new people coming in, and that's it. We're going to keep doing everything the same."
On what kind of individual work he will do to get better this summer:
Williams: "We're going to head home. I'm going to try and rest a bit and enjoy my family time. I haven't been home since the beginning of the year. After that, we're just going to get back to it. We'll go work out like we always do, and work with John Lucas. I'm going to hone some point guard skills, since I don't know when I'll be put in that situation again. I might play more point guard next year; I may not. Shooting, of course, as well as making smarter decisions."
On last summer's workout and shooting 10,000 three-pointers and whether he will stick with that again this year:
Williams: "I'll most likely do something similar, but change it up a bit."
On his feedback from NBA teams:
Williams: "Of course, shooting--I didn't shoot a lot. I mean, I had great numbers, but I shot so many threes. Other than that, I need to work on my core strength. Those were the top two things."
On one of the keys to next year being better team defense:
Hartman: "We just have to focus on our defense every day. We've already been working on it as a team. We're getting back to the basics day in and day out. We have our own expectations as a team and those things never change. We just have to instill our culture to new guys and keep carrying out our culture here."
On whether having more depth next year could lead to better defense:
Hartman: "It can't hurt. We have new guys coming in, and we have different game plans for every game as a team. It changes all of the time. We have our basic, core defensive principles, but they change game-by-game through our game plan. We just have to lock in and be able to focus on particular games."
On possibly having a team that could press other teams more and still have the length in the back to defend the basket:
Johnson: "I definitely like it a little bit more, just for the simple fact that, when you press, it speeds up the game. So we're able to get out on the open court and play more. We've got a shot blocker back there [Bryant]. That allows you to put more pressure on the ball, so I think that will be good for us."
On the recent open gym sessions with Oladipo, Watford, Vonleh, etc.:
Zeisloft: "It was great having those guys back. It's always fun playing against different competition as well, not just your teammates. We compete against each other everyday, and it's always fun to have guys of that caliber come in and make open gym sessions more exciting too."
On the possible change from 35-seconds to 30-seconds shot clock for next year:
Williams: "We practice with a 24-second shot clock--"
Zeisloft: "--every day..."
Williams: "Nothing is quicker than that, so we'll be used to it."
Zeisloft: "If anything, it may help us a bit, too."
On the expectations for Yogi Ferrell returning for his senior season:
Hartman: "Just doing what he's capable of, doing what he's expected to do, lead the team, and be a team leader. He'll set a good example for everyone else on the team. He'll play within what he does best, try not to anything too special, and keep working on his game. He's a great player, a great point guard, a great teammate, and a great friend. He's like a brother to everybody on this team, and he's just got to keep doing what he's doing and not get distracted by everything. Just keep doing what he's best at."
On playing even faster this next year:
Johnson: "Going back and looking at film, we've already broken down a lot of things that we did offensively. There are still areas where we could play much faster offensively, especially on the break--getting the ball out quicker, and pushing the ball up the floor by whoever is handling the ball. Defensively, we could put more pressure on the other team and try to speed them up and increase the game speed."
Do you guys get the feeling that you're going to press this year?
Johnson: "I definitely think we will, at least a little bit. I'm not sure on a game-by-game basis, whether that will be our forte or our go-to defense. But I definitely think we'll see a little bit of pressing."
