Indiana University Athletics
Postgame Quotes: Indiana at Penn State
2/7/2016 12:36:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Postgame Press Conference vs. Penn State
Indiana head coach Tom Crean
On Thomas Bryant getting off to a slow start:
"He got off to a slow start because he had foul trouble. We have to do a better job of getting him the ball. And he has to do a better job of escaping the contact. But he had some foul trouble that we had to deal with and that's why I didn't start him in the second half. We didn't want to get his fourth right away."
On OG Anunoby defending Brandon Taylor:
"He got tired. We have to have more. That's been the basis of our team, that different guys have brought that energy. We did not answer the bell on Brandon Taylor the way that we needed to. We compared him to Nigel Hayes and we basically had the same result. We have to do a better job.
"But he did a good job, but at times I thought there were some stretches where he was really good. We started him in the second half with that matchup in mind and we probably should have played him more because he was the one guy that was really competing and trying to keep him from getting the ball.
"With guys like Brandon Taylor, who is a 4-year player, they have some veteran guys that have done a good job here and he has gotten a lot better. You have to do your work early on a player like that and when he catches it, it is very, very hard to guard him. But we lost a little concentration on how we wanted to defend him, especially with other people. So it is very hard to guard a player of that size and strength 1-on-1, but I thought OG did a really good job of trying to battle there."
On getting into the bonus early in the second half and whether the team continued to attack after that:
"I think we missed the post too much. I think the turnovers to start the game hurt us. And then I know we turned the ball over a ton, but we made some turnovers that we just can't make. We just have to get back to practice and get those fixed."
On the turnovers being a result of Penn State speeding IU up, according to Penn State's Brandon Taylor:
"I will watch the film. I saw a different game. I saw us come out and have some unforced turnovers. But he might be right. They are the winners and they get to see what they see and I will watch the film and see what we have to get better at. I thought there were a couple times where we tried to make some plays that weren't there.
"We were willing ball-movers, but we didn't have the cutting that we usually have. And I think it was a little bit of our timing (was off) as much as anything else. We didn't cut on them, especially the way we were getting fouled. Every time we made a hard cut, we got fouled. That's what you have to be able to do because they are going to foul. We probably needed to get more movement and that's the one thing that we got away from tonight – the off the ball random, yet organized, cutting."
On whether the team was forcing the issue or they just didn't find a rhythm:
"I don't know. When you get on the road – we have had four wins on the road – they come a lot of different ways and those experiences should help us. And tonight, frankly, when we weren't making as many shots as we needed to make, it affected us on the defensive end. We don't over-help and they made some shots because we were late getting out to the shooter, which is ridiculous. We don't come off guys. And then that's what I'm saying with the concentration and the focus wasn't as good. We really had a good week of preparation and I didn't even remotely look at this like they weren't locked in. But our focus in the heat of the moment at times, we didn't stay true to what we do. And one of the biggest things we do on defense is we anticipate the screen, we get over the screen and we got caught on that a couple times on ball screens. And we came off shooters. And then we didn't do our work early enough on Taylor and didn't come down with the coverage that we needed. We were just a little bit out of sync on that. We have had other games, like Tuesday night (at Michigan), where we were outstanding at that. So it's not like we haven't done it and can't do it. But we just didn't do as good of a job tonight."
Indiana head coach Tom Crean
On Thomas Bryant getting off to a slow start:
"He got off to a slow start because he had foul trouble. We have to do a better job of getting him the ball. And he has to do a better job of escaping the contact. But he had some foul trouble that we had to deal with and that's why I didn't start him in the second half. We didn't want to get his fourth right away."
On OG Anunoby defending Brandon Taylor:
"He got tired. We have to have more. That's been the basis of our team, that different guys have brought that energy. We did not answer the bell on Brandon Taylor the way that we needed to. We compared him to Nigel Hayes and we basically had the same result. We have to do a better job.
"But he did a good job, but at times I thought there were some stretches where he was really good. We started him in the second half with that matchup in mind and we probably should have played him more because he was the one guy that was really competing and trying to keep him from getting the ball.
"With guys like Brandon Taylor, who is a 4-year player, they have some veteran guys that have done a good job here and he has gotten a lot better. You have to do your work early on a player like that and when he catches it, it is very, very hard to guard him. But we lost a little concentration on how we wanted to defend him, especially with other people. So it is very hard to guard a player of that size and strength 1-on-1, but I thought OG did a really good job of trying to battle there."
On getting into the bonus early in the second half and whether the team continued to attack after that:
"I think we missed the post too much. I think the turnovers to start the game hurt us. And then I know we turned the ball over a ton, but we made some turnovers that we just can't make. We just have to get back to practice and get those fixed."
On the turnovers being a result of Penn State speeding IU up, according to Penn State's Brandon Taylor:
"I will watch the film. I saw a different game. I saw us come out and have some unforced turnovers. But he might be right. They are the winners and they get to see what they see and I will watch the film and see what we have to get better at. I thought there were a couple times where we tried to make some plays that weren't there.
"We were willing ball-movers, but we didn't have the cutting that we usually have. And I think it was a little bit of our timing (was off) as much as anything else. We didn't cut on them, especially the way we were getting fouled. Every time we made a hard cut, we got fouled. That's what you have to be able to do because they are going to foul. We probably needed to get more movement and that's the one thing that we got away from tonight – the off the ball random, yet organized, cutting."
On whether the team was forcing the issue or they just didn't find a rhythm:
"I don't know. When you get on the road – we have had four wins on the road – they come a lot of different ways and those experiences should help us. And tonight, frankly, when we weren't making as many shots as we needed to make, it affected us on the defensive end. We don't over-help and they made some shots because we were late getting out to the shooter, which is ridiculous. We don't come off guys. And then that's what I'm saying with the concentration and the focus wasn't as good. We really had a good week of preparation and I didn't even remotely look at this like they weren't locked in. But our focus in the heat of the moment at times, we didn't stay true to what we do. And one of the biggest things we do on defense is we anticipate the screen, we get over the screen and we got caught on that a couple times on ball screens. And we came off shooters. And then we didn't do our work early enough on Taylor and didn't come down with the coverage that we needed. We were just a little bit out of sync on that. We have had other games, like Tuesday night (at Michigan), where we were outstanding at that. So it's not like we haven't done it and can't do it. But we just didn't do as good of a job tonight."
Players Mentioned
Forward
/ Men's Basketball
Center
/ Men's BasketballFB: 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