Indiana University Athletics
Tom Crean B1G Teleconference Transcript (Dec. 12)
12/12/2016 1:25:00 PM | Men's Basketball
The first Big Ten Coaches Teleconference of the 2016-17 season took place on Monday (Dec. 12) and Indiana head coach Tom Crean was the first coach up. Below is a transcript of what Coach Crean had to say:
Opening Statement:
We are looking forward to the week to have an opportunity to get better and work on things. Obviously, we are in exams this week, like many others are. It's a chance for our team to continue to improve before we have an onslaught of games, starting with Butler on Saturday and then we play the following Monday and Thursday before we break for a few days. Then we get ready for Nebraska in our Big Ten opener. Then we play Louisville up in Indianapolis on the thirty-first and then Wisconsin again on the third. The schedule is coming quickly. So it is an important week for us to get better and continue to heal up.
Your team is second in the nation in rebounding margin right now. Talk about your guys' aggressive approach on the glass this season. What has been the difference there:
It's certainly an emphasis of the program and the staff. When the players see the value of it and they see what it does for our fast break, what it does for our free throw free throw attempts, what it does for our put-backs. I think it's really important. But it also says a lot about the competition. When you talk about the people like Kansas and North Carolina early on that are just formidable, those and rebounding emphasis are just as big as anything. That's been a big part for us. And I think the fact that we are being more physical when the shot goes up, and we are being more active, especially with our guards, is really important for us to continue and improve.
Do you think you have a familiarity at Bankers Life by playing other games there already:
It's always different for the first year players. It's a great environment. It's extremely well run. Everyone inside of the Bankers Life organization and the Pacer's organization does an incredible job of putting it together. The Crossroads' committee does a great job. I'd say we are familiar with it, and we enjoy playing there.
How did what you hoped this team might look like now, when you began the year, match up to what you see right now:
I don't know if I did. You just want to keep getting better during the year. I think our situation is so different because we had so many health issues to people coming off of surgeries. I think the fact they progressed, the way that they have is really good. I don't think we have the synergy or the connectedness on the floor sometimes with the stuff that goes with players being used to playing with each other constantly. I think that takes time for that to happen. You can see it sometimes in the turnovers where a guy thought he was going to cut and he didn't cut. All of the sudden you turn it over. They are out of the unselfish mode, but sometimes, nevertheless, they create a mistake because they don't have that innate feeling that comes with each other when they play numerous times. I think that doesn't just gets developed in practices and games. It gets developed over the summer, it get's developed over the fall. We miss that. It's going to take sometime for us to get there. I love their attitudes, and I love the fact that they are improving. I think our ability to play tough and hard and play with grit is expanding all the time.
What are you guys going to do to keep fresh with a basically a week off with finals and getting ready for the holidays:
I think that's a good word, fresh. We got to make sure we are sharp in practice, that our intensity is high, and that we really continue to understand game situations more and more. Get even more detailed on offense and defense. Improve constantly. I think the team gets a lot of energy from how much better they are getting. I think as long as we keep that moving at a good pace, that's good for us.
You guys got a really big win over North Carolina at home. Has that helped you guys keep going in the right direction with that big win:
I think so, absolutely. In a game like that, you can either build on it or you can rest on it. I don't think our guys ever rested on it whatsoever. I think they built on it. I think we had games the following Friday and Sunday, and we played extremely hard. We played fatigued at times, but we played extremely hard. We did a very good job defensively. Even though we made mistakes, it wasn't out of effort, handwork, or good intent.
Opening Statement:
We are looking forward to the week to have an opportunity to get better and work on things. Obviously, we are in exams this week, like many others are. It's a chance for our team to continue to improve before we have an onslaught of games, starting with Butler on Saturday and then we play the following Monday and Thursday before we break for a few days. Then we get ready for Nebraska in our Big Ten opener. Then we play Louisville up in Indianapolis on the thirty-first and then Wisconsin again on the third. The schedule is coming quickly. So it is an important week for us to get better and continue to heal up.
Your team is second in the nation in rebounding margin right now. Talk about your guys' aggressive approach on the glass this season. What has been the difference there:
It's certainly an emphasis of the program and the staff. When the players see the value of it and they see what it does for our fast break, what it does for our free throw free throw attempts, what it does for our put-backs. I think it's really important. But it also says a lot about the competition. When you talk about the people like Kansas and North Carolina early on that are just formidable, those and rebounding emphasis are just as big as anything. That's been a big part for us. And I think the fact that we are being more physical when the shot goes up, and we are being more active, especially with our guards, is really important for us to continue and improve.
Do you think you have a familiarity at Bankers Life by playing other games there already:
It's always different for the first year players. It's a great environment. It's extremely well run. Everyone inside of the Bankers Life organization and the Pacer's organization does an incredible job of putting it together. The Crossroads' committee does a great job. I'd say we are familiar with it, and we enjoy playing there.
How did what you hoped this team might look like now, when you began the year, match up to what you see right now:
I don't know if I did. You just want to keep getting better during the year. I think our situation is so different because we had so many health issues to people coming off of surgeries. I think the fact they progressed, the way that they have is really good. I don't think we have the synergy or the connectedness on the floor sometimes with the stuff that goes with players being used to playing with each other constantly. I think that takes time for that to happen. You can see it sometimes in the turnovers where a guy thought he was going to cut and he didn't cut. All of the sudden you turn it over. They are out of the unselfish mode, but sometimes, nevertheless, they create a mistake because they don't have that innate feeling that comes with each other when they play numerous times. I think that doesn't just gets developed in practices and games. It gets developed over the summer, it get's developed over the fall. We miss that. It's going to take sometime for us to get there. I love their attitudes, and I love the fact that they are improving. I think our ability to play tough and hard and play with grit is expanding all the time.
What are you guys going to do to keep fresh with a basically a week off with finals and getting ready for the holidays:
I think that's a good word, fresh. We got to make sure we are sharp in practice, that our intensity is high, and that we really continue to understand game situations more and more. Get even more detailed on offense and defense. Improve constantly. I think the team gets a lot of energy from how much better they are getting. I think as long as we keep that moving at a good pace, that's good for us.
You guys got a really big win over North Carolina at home. Has that helped you guys keep going in the right direction with that big win:
I think so, absolutely. In a game like that, you can either build on it or you can rest on it. I don't think our guys ever rested on it whatsoever. I think they built on it. I think we had games the following Friday and Sunday, and we played extremely hard. We played fatigued at times, but we played extremely hard. We did a very good job defensively. Even though we made mistakes, it wasn't out of effort, handwork, or good intent.
Thursday, August 13
Thursday, August 13
Wednesday, August 12
Wednesday, August 12