Indiana University Athletics
Postgame Quotes: Indiana at Iowa
3/2/2016 12:34:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Postgame Quotes
Indiana Head Coach Tom Crean
March 1, 2016
Opening Statement
"First, I would like to say that Iowa is one of the toughest challengers not only that we've faced this year but that we have face in many years because they can beat you in so many different ways and you look at the fact of the games that they've had starting with ours that have come down to the last possession or the last few seconds of the game -- I think that's what this league does. I think this league puts you in so many situations that you experience so many different things that you learn and you grow from it and I think Iowa will do the same thing. I think we've had some of those same things happen this year and that's the reason these guys are champions, because they've responded to every experience and they've gotten better from it and I think Iowa is the same way. It is very hard, he's a great coach, as good as there is, and they can hurt you in so many ways and what they do is they raise your antenna up on both ends of the court; it's a mental challenge because you've really got to be able to get back on them and at the end of the day you can't win if you don' rebound.
The numbers were close, they're really good. Our guys have responded all year and that's the key and so I'm not going to do a lot of talking in past tense or future tense. The game was really a lot like the rest of our season, there was a lot of different things inside of us but at the end of the day you've got to put shots together, you've got to make shots, and that's exactly what they were and we did that against a team that can do the same thing in the case of Iowa and certainly we'll see much the same thing when we play Maryland on Sunday.
As far as winning the championship with this group, I probably don't have all the words figured out for that year I just know it's an absolute honor to be with them every day and I love them as much now as I loved them in the Duke locker room because I believed in them then. We had a lot of room to get better, there's no doubt about that and certainly we weren't at that place yet but the ingredients were there. The ingredients of workers, the ingredients of guys that cared about one another, guys that wanted to improve, guys that were working hard, and it continued to get better and better and the reason it got better and better is because they treat every day for what it is and as corny as it sounds they treat every day like it's the most important day they have and they've shown that or I don't think we could win a championship in this league without it. They have not over looked, they haven't stayed behind, they haven't looked ahead, they've been absolutely focused on what they need to do to get better that day and hopefully we've got a lot more basketball in us because I really enjoy being with them.
On "sweetness" of winning an outright title on the road:
"I think it is because of the challenge of who we were playing and all we've done is play the game that's been on our schedule. Once the non-conference games are off, then it's what the Big Ten gives you and when you play Iowa like this and to beat somebody that you have so much respect for, I have a tremendous amount of respect for (Fran) on a professional level. I have equal respect on a personal level, he and his wife and family, in the case of Fran so to win like that and when you respect you feel for them too so I really do. Those players at Iowa have put so much into it and they've been great models of this league. I'm sure they're good models of Iowa but they've been great models for college basketball in the way that they play and so to win a game like that against that kind of challenge that's something that will be even sweeter much like it was that year we beat Michigan when they had so much on the line. So when you're winning a title against a team that's got the same thing at stake, that's a big deal.
Senior Kevin Yogi Ferrell
On winning the Big Ten Regular Season Title outright:
Ferrell: "It's special, man. All our hard work paid off. We stayed together the entire year, had a few losses here and there, but I felt like we battled back. The way we prepare, the way coaches prepare for us, is at a high level. The way we prepare ourselves is at a high level. Just the way we talk before the game, when we're on the bus or in the hotel room, we're just building that bonding and connectivity, and it just carries out onto the court."
When you guys got down two with four minutes left, what were you saying to the guys to try to keep it together?
Ferrell: "We just couldn't get discouraged. Iowa is a great team, especially while playing at home. We knew they were going to make a run. They punched us back and we just had to punch back a little harder. I felt like we stayed with it, got a few key rebounds, and O.G. [Anunoby] and Juwan [Morgan] played like monsters tonight. For them to be freshmen, to play the way that they played, I'd say they were definitely the MVPs of this game.
Coach has talked a lot about you in the last few weeks about how you've been playing. What has he meant to you in terms of keeping you focused and on course?
Ferrell: "He never gave up on us. He kept believing in us, and what he wanted to do was prove the doubters wrong. We were following his lead. The way he goes out there, his calmness out there in those huddles, he never got worried. I feel like, when we look back at him, in his eyes we see he believes that we can win. When we see that, I feel like all of us believe we can win."
On his three-pointer in the final minute of the game:
Ferrell: "I felt like all my shots were great that I was shooting before. It was winding down in the shot clock, I felt like [Mike] Gesell's hands were down and that I had an open three, and I shot it."
When it left your hands, did it feel like it was in?
Ferrell: "Honestly, I didn't know. Shooters just shoot. I missed a couple of close ones throughout the game, so I knew I had to make one for us every now and then."
Junior Troy Williams
On Indiana's balanced effort:
Williams: "Everybody came in and played really big minutes. O.G., Juwan, Thomas Bryant, and Max Bielfeldt played really big minutes."
How big was it with the foul trouble? Some of the rotations out there were not your usual rotations. What did it say about the balance and the cohesion of this team that you were able to play through some of those lineups you're not used to?
Williams: "We work on it in practice every day. We don't always go first group, second group, and all that. It's just random matchups, we all just play five-on-five and go after it. Anything coach wants us to do at practice, at any given moment, you're ready to go on the court."
What does this mean to you with how you started the season, how you've suffered a couple of injuries, to get an outright Big Ten Championship?
Williams: "It means a lot to me. As a player, as a human being, it means a lot to me in all aspects. The way I view it is, it's even bigger for the program, our seniors, and for everybody."
Since that Michigan State game, it seems like you've been a totally different player. What has changed about your approach?
Williams: "I'm just being more aggressive. I kept re-watching film from the Michigan State game, and I didn't play the same in that game. I wasn't myself in that game. I've made sure not to return to that, and it's showing."
Freshman Thomas Bryant
What does it mean to come in and be such a big part of a season like this?
Bryant: "It means a lot. From the very start, when I first came here for the summer workouts, I just wanted to try to do the best I can to contribute to the team. I followed the leaders like Yogi, Troy, Nick [Zeisloft], they took me under their wings and showed me the ways, and I took what I could from it and helped the team."
With all the adversity that you've been through, how did you end up putting this together to win an outright Big Ten Championship?
Bryant: "We always believed in ourselves. Everybody on the outside can talk, but we know what we do on the inside. We know how much work we put in, day-in and day-out. We all believe in ourselves and it all falls into place, just like it did today."
How special is Yogi as a player?
Bryant: "He's very special. There's nobody like him. When I look at point guards around the country, Yogi doesn't get the respect that he should. When you see this guy's work ethic, and how much he loves this game, and how much he teaches players like me, you've got to show this guy so much respect. People have to realize that this guy is the real deal."
Senior Nick Zeisloft
On playing through foul trouble:
Zeisloft: "It happens. You have to play through it. We did have a few too many hands in plays, and over-the-backs, and we probably should've been more disciplined on that. But we stuck with it and got the win, and that's what it takes on the road."
On reflecting on the last outright Big Ten Championship win at Michigan:
Zeisloft: "On my recruiting visit they played that video, of IU winning the Big Ten Championship, and that's what I've wanted since coming here. Last year I wanted it, and we fell short early. We had a chance today, and we had to take it. You have to finish the game, finish the conference, and we had the chance. I know we had one more game to take care of for winning it outright when we had the chance to do it."
How far have you guys come as a group on your way to winning the outright Big Ten Championship?
Zeisloft: "We just stay with things. We stay with it every day, we get better every day as a team, and listen to the coaches. We have the utmost respect for all of them, and they got us to this point. They're always going to say that it's the players that win these games, but really without them we're nothing. They stuck with us, and we stuck with the process every single day, and those two things are why we're here."
Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery
Q. Obviously, Peter had a good look at it there. Is that how you drew it up?
COACH McCAFFERY: Yeah, I mean, really smart play by Woodbury there, calls the timeout with 2.1. Lot of guys grab it, lay it in. That was one second to go and down 1, you have no chance, so we had another clean look at the 3. Pete did a great job getting open. Zach did a great job finding him but it didn't go.
Q. Can you talk about the other guys off the bench? Wagner?
COACH McCAFFERY: Oh, fabulous. So proud of those guys. Ahmad was struggling yesterday walking around. He said, coach, I'll be ready. He was fabulous. Baer was great, Christian Williams was great. I thought Dom Uhl's energy level, though he doesn't have a lot to show for with the stats, I thought he really gave us great effort.
Q. When they went up 14, what were they doing?
COACH McCAFFERY: They were moving the ball. I mean, Yogi's a handful. I mean, he's going to keep it, he's going to drive it, he's going to come off the ball screen going the other way and driving under the basket, throw it out. They do a good job moving the ball, and they're a hard team to defend because they have drivers and shooters and they share the ball.
Q. Coach, what did you tell these guys after the game?
COACH McCAFFERY: I was proud of them. You've got to be honest with them. The only real negative I saw was they score 7 of the first 8 to start the second half. That was disappointing, but I wouldn't say that our effort was horrendous. It wasn't commensurate with what was needed down 6. We needed a little bit better. Give them credit. They scored. They moved the ball. They got on the glass. They didn't get on the glass for the first one. We did a good job keeping them off the glass. They got on the glass after the start of the second half. After that we got ten stops down the stretch and they did a lot of good stuff, shared the ball, executed.
We executed all of our plays, all of our late-game stuff. It was frustrating because we had really good looks that didn't go in. But what you want to be able to do is make sure all five guys are where they're supposed to be executing, and I was really proud of them for that.
Q. Was that play before the Pete shot, was that for Zach to take that?
COACH McCAFFERY: No, it was multiple options, multiple options. Because we had all of our shooters in. I think what happens, if you get locked into one option on a play late, they start switching and you've got to take the one you chose, and he had just made one.
Q. You've had a chance to play these guys twice. What do you think the key things are that make them good? What are the key things that stand out to you?
COACH McCAFFERY: They've got tremendous athleticism. They've got size, and they really, I keep saying, they move and share the ball well. The ball -- I don't see any selfishness at all there. I think Tom's done a great job. I think Yogi's done a great job. He's a difficult guy to get under control, because you really need more than one guy to do it, but they have too many other weapons.
So Mike probably has done as good a job as anybody moving his feet, but he's not just a driver. He's not just a three-point shooter. He's got in in-between game, he spins, shoots runners and he finds people and he plays at a great pace.
Q. Coach, how confident are you that you guys will be able to turn things around?
COACH McCAFFERY: Well, I think we already have. So I'm not worried about that at all.
Q. What do you mean by that?
COACH McCAFFERY: We played well. I mean, we lost to a really, really good team.
Q. You're happy with Jarrod's aggressiveness?
COACH McCAFFERY: Yeah, it was frustrating for him because he got 17. I wanted him to get 20 or more. But I thought early on he was really trying to drive it, shoot it, I was proud of him.
Q. Can you talk about the minutes Christian gave you?
COACH McCAFFERY: Christian's a different kind of player. He gave us fabulous minutes because we put him in at the wing, we put him in at the point, defensively, a huge steal late. He got off the glass. He can help you in a lot of ways. He really played with the confidence that you need to play with to win.
Q. Do you feel like this group, you talked about a veteran group that can handle success, now they've had a little bit of skin.
COACH McCAFFERY: Well, as long as we're going in the right direction. I thought we were better at Wisconsin games than we were at the Penn State game. We go on the road and we're in a position to win, couldn't make a shot down the stretch. Same thing happened today, so that's disappointing. But we played two really good teams, three in a row, and we're in a position to win. We fought.
Like I said, we got out-rebounded. 16 assists, nine turns, but it's reflected in the numbers that we're not making shots, but we're executing. So it's not like we're taking bad shots and missing them. We're taking good shots and missing them.
Indiana Head Coach Tom Crean
March 1, 2016
Opening Statement
"First, I would like to say that Iowa is one of the toughest challengers not only that we've faced this year but that we have face in many years because they can beat you in so many different ways and you look at the fact of the games that they've had starting with ours that have come down to the last possession or the last few seconds of the game -- I think that's what this league does. I think this league puts you in so many situations that you experience so many different things that you learn and you grow from it and I think Iowa will do the same thing. I think we've had some of those same things happen this year and that's the reason these guys are champions, because they've responded to every experience and they've gotten better from it and I think Iowa is the same way. It is very hard, he's a great coach, as good as there is, and they can hurt you in so many ways and what they do is they raise your antenna up on both ends of the court; it's a mental challenge because you've really got to be able to get back on them and at the end of the day you can't win if you don' rebound.
The numbers were close, they're really good. Our guys have responded all year and that's the key and so I'm not going to do a lot of talking in past tense or future tense. The game was really a lot like the rest of our season, there was a lot of different things inside of us but at the end of the day you've got to put shots together, you've got to make shots, and that's exactly what they were and we did that against a team that can do the same thing in the case of Iowa and certainly we'll see much the same thing when we play Maryland on Sunday.
As far as winning the championship with this group, I probably don't have all the words figured out for that year I just know it's an absolute honor to be with them every day and I love them as much now as I loved them in the Duke locker room because I believed in them then. We had a lot of room to get better, there's no doubt about that and certainly we weren't at that place yet but the ingredients were there. The ingredients of workers, the ingredients of guys that cared about one another, guys that wanted to improve, guys that were working hard, and it continued to get better and better and the reason it got better and better is because they treat every day for what it is and as corny as it sounds they treat every day like it's the most important day they have and they've shown that or I don't think we could win a championship in this league without it. They have not over looked, they haven't stayed behind, they haven't looked ahead, they've been absolutely focused on what they need to do to get better that day and hopefully we've got a lot more basketball in us because I really enjoy being with them.
On "sweetness" of winning an outright title on the road:
"I think it is because of the challenge of who we were playing and all we've done is play the game that's been on our schedule. Once the non-conference games are off, then it's what the Big Ten gives you and when you play Iowa like this and to beat somebody that you have so much respect for, I have a tremendous amount of respect for (Fran) on a professional level. I have equal respect on a personal level, he and his wife and family, in the case of Fran so to win like that and when you respect you feel for them too so I really do. Those players at Iowa have put so much into it and they've been great models of this league. I'm sure they're good models of Iowa but they've been great models for college basketball in the way that they play and so to win a game like that against that kind of challenge that's something that will be even sweeter much like it was that year we beat Michigan when they had so much on the line. So when you're winning a title against a team that's got the same thing at stake, that's a big deal.
Senior Kevin Yogi Ferrell
On winning the Big Ten Regular Season Title outright:
Ferrell: "It's special, man. All our hard work paid off. We stayed together the entire year, had a few losses here and there, but I felt like we battled back. The way we prepare, the way coaches prepare for us, is at a high level. The way we prepare ourselves is at a high level. Just the way we talk before the game, when we're on the bus or in the hotel room, we're just building that bonding and connectivity, and it just carries out onto the court."
When you guys got down two with four minutes left, what were you saying to the guys to try to keep it together?
Ferrell: "We just couldn't get discouraged. Iowa is a great team, especially while playing at home. We knew they were going to make a run. They punched us back and we just had to punch back a little harder. I felt like we stayed with it, got a few key rebounds, and O.G. [Anunoby] and Juwan [Morgan] played like monsters tonight. For them to be freshmen, to play the way that they played, I'd say they were definitely the MVPs of this game.
Coach has talked a lot about you in the last few weeks about how you've been playing. What has he meant to you in terms of keeping you focused and on course?
Ferrell: "He never gave up on us. He kept believing in us, and what he wanted to do was prove the doubters wrong. We were following his lead. The way he goes out there, his calmness out there in those huddles, he never got worried. I feel like, when we look back at him, in his eyes we see he believes that we can win. When we see that, I feel like all of us believe we can win."
On his three-pointer in the final minute of the game:
Ferrell: "I felt like all my shots were great that I was shooting before. It was winding down in the shot clock, I felt like [Mike] Gesell's hands were down and that I had an open three, and I shot it."
When it left your hands, did it feel like it was in?
Ferrell: "Honestly, I didn't know. Shooters just shoot. I missed a couple of close ones throughout the game, so I knew I had to make one for us every now and then."
Junior Troy Williams
On Indiana's balanced effort:
Williams: "Everybody came in and played really big minutes. O.G., Juwan, Thomas Bryant, and Max Bielfeldt played really big minutes."
How big was it with the foul trouble? Some of the rotations out there were not your usual rotations. What did it say about the balance and the cohesion of this team that you were able to play through some of those lineups you're not used to?
Williams: "We work on it in practice every day. We don't always go first group, second group, and all that. It's just random matchups, we all just play five-on-five and go after it. Anything coach wants us to do at practice, at any given moment, you're ready to go on the court."
What does this mean to you with how you started the season, how you've suffered a couple of injuries, to get an outright Big Ten Championship?
Williams: "It means a lot to me. As a player, as a human being, it means a lot to me in all aspects. The way I view it is, it's even bigger for the program, our seniors, and for everybody."
Since that Michigan State game, it seems like you've been a totally different player. What has changed about your approach?
Williams: "I'm just being more aggressive. I kept re-watching film from the Michigan State game, and I didn't play the same in that game. I wasn't myself in that game. I've made sure not to return to that, and it's showing."
Freshman Thomas Bryant
What does it mean to come in and be such a big part of a season like this?
Bryant: "It means a lot. From the very start, when I first came here for the summer workouts, I just wanted to try to do the best I can to contribute to the team. I followed the leaders like Yogi, Troy, Nick [Zeisloft], they took me under their wings and showed me the ways, and I took what I could from it and helped the team."
With all the adversity that you've been through, how did you end up putting this together to win an outright Big Ten Championship?
Bryant: "We always believed in ourselves. Everybody on the outside can talk, but we know what we do on the inside. We know how much work we put in, day-in and day-out. We all believe in ourselves and it all falls into place, just like it did today."
How special is Yogi as a player?
Bryant: "He's very special. There's nobody like him. When I look at point guards around the country, Yogi doesn't get the respect that he should. When you see this guy's work ethic, and how much he loves this game, and how much he teaches players like me, you've got to show this guy so much respect. People have to realize that this guy is the real deal."
Senior Nick Zeisloft
On playing through foul trouble:
Zeisloft: "It happens. You have to play through it. We did have a few too many hands in plays, and over-the-backs, and we probably should've been more disciplined on that. But we stuck with it and got the win, and that's what it takes on the road."
On reflecting on the last outright Big Ten Championship win at Michigan:
Zeisloft: "On my recruiting visit they played that video, of IU winning the Big Ten Championship, and that's what I've wanted since coming here. Last year I wanted it, and we fell short early. We had a chance today, and we had to take it. You have to finish the game, finish the conference, and we had the chance. I know we had one more game to take care of for winning it outright when we had the chance to do it."
How far have you guys come as a group on your way to winning the outright Big Ten Championship?
Zeisloft: "We just stay with things. We stay with it every day, we get better every day as a team, and listen to the coaches. We have the utmost respect for all of them, and they got us to this point. They're always going to say that it's the players that win these games, but really without them we're nothing. They stuck with us, and we stuck with the process every single day, and those two things are why we're here."
Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery
Q. Obviously, Peter had a good look at it there. Is that how you drew it up?
COACH McCAFFERY: Yeah, I mean, really smart play by Woodbury there, calls the timeout with 2.1. Lot of guys grab it, lay it in. That was one second to go and down 1, you have no chance, so we had another clean look at the 3. Pete did a great job getting open. Zach did a great job finding him but it didn't go.
Q. Can you talk about the other guys off the bench? Wagner?
COACH McCAFFERY: Oh, fabulous. So proud of those guys. Ahmad was struggling yesterday walking around. He said, coach, I'll be ready. He was fabulous. Baer was great, Christian Williams was great. I thought Dom Uhl's energy level, though he doesn't have a lot to show for with the stats, I thought he really gave us great effort.
Q. When they went up 14, what were they doing?
COACH McCAFFERY: They were moving the ball. I mean, Yogi's a handful. I mean, he's going to keep it, he's going to drive it, he's going to come off the ball screen going the other way and driving under the basket, throw it out. They do a good job moving the ball, and they're a hard team to defend because they have drivers and shooters and they share the ball.
Q. Coach, what did you tell these guys after the game?
COACH McCAFFERY: I was proud of them. You've got to be honest with them. The only real negative I saw was they score 7 of the first 8 to start the second half. That was disappointing, but I wouldn't say that our effort was horrendous. It wasn't commensurate with what was needed down 6. We needed a little bit better. Give them credit. They scored. They moved the ball. They got on the glass. They didn't get on the glass for the first one. We did a good job keeping them off the glass. They got on the glass after the start of the second half. After that we got ten stops down the stretch and they did a lot of good stuff, shared the ball, executed.
We executed all of our plays, all of our late-game stuff. It was frustrating because we had really good looks that didn't go in. But what you want to be able to do is make sure all five guys are where they're supposed to be executing, and I was really proud of them for that.
Q. Was that play before the Pete shot, was that for Zach to take that?
COACH McCAFFERY: No, it was multiple options, multiple options. Because we had all of our shooters in. I think what happens, if you get locked into one option on a play late, they start switching and you've got to take the one you chose, and he had just made one.
Q. You've had a chance to play these guys twice. What do you think the key things are that make them good? What are the key things that stand out to you?
COACH McCAFFERY: They've got tremendous athleticism. They've got size, and they really, I keep saying, they move and share the ball well. The ball -- I don't see any selfishness at all there. I think Tom's done a great job. I think Yogi's done a great job. He's a difficult guy to get under control, because you really need more than one guy to do it, but they have too many other weapons.
So Mike probably has done as good a job as anybody moving his feet, but he's not just a driver. He's not just a three-point shooter. He's got in in-between game, he spins, shoots runners and he finds people and he plays at a great pace.
Q. Coach, how confident are you that you guys will be able to turn things around?
COACH McCAFFERY: Well, I think we already have. So I'm not worried about that at all.
Q. What do you mean by that?
COACH McCAFFERY: We played well. I mean, we lost to a really, really good team.
Q. You're happy with Jarrod's aggressiveness?
COACH McCAFFERY: Yeah, it was frustrating for him because he got 17. I wanted him to get 20 or more. But I thought early on he was really trying to drive it, shoot it, I was proud of him.
Q. Can you talk about the minutes Christian gave you?
COACH McCAFFERY: Christian's a different kind of player. He gave us fabulous minutes because we put him in at the wing, we put him in at the point, defensively, a huge steal late. He got off the glass. He can help you in a lot of ways. He really played with the confidence that you need to play with to win.
Q. Do you feel like this group, you talked about a veteran group that can handle success, now they've had a little bit of skin.
COACH McCAFFERY: Well, as long as we're going in the right direction. I thought we were better at Wisconsin games than we were at the Penn State game. We go on the road and we're in a position to win, couldn't make a shot down the stretch. Same thing happened today, so that's disappointing. But we played two really good teams, three in a row, and we're in a position to win. We fought.
Like I said, we got out-rebounded. 16 assists, nine turns, but it's reflected in the numbers that we're not making shots, but we're executing. So it's not like we're taking bad shots and missing them. We're taking good shots and missing them.
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