Post Game Quotes

Tom Crean’s post game quotes from iuhoosiers.com

"Opening Statement:“I thought our effort tonight, especially on the defensive end, was outstanding. And you judge it on whether or not you get better during the game, and that’s exactly what our guys did. They had 46 deflections in the second half to give us 71, which, I’ve never been a part of a team as a head coach or assistant that had those kinds of deflections. That was outstanding. That’s always the barometer of an active defense. I thought our feet were very active tonight, I thought our bodies moved, we didn’t get caught in too many over-helping situations – a little bit early – and we move the ball really well. We had some turnovers that for the most part I would bite my lip on when we’re up like that because they’re making plays throughout the game, but when this game was still hanging in the balance and we continued to build the lead, we were playing really, really sound basketball.”“A lot of good basketball from a lot of people. One individual I would mention right now, because his stat line doesn’t say it, but Jeremiah Rivers comes in and dictates the tempo and pressure of the ball, which was our number one key, to get after Blackmon full court as much as possible, and he has a +21 in the game. That’s just leadership. When you’re getting all this different role playing our of your team and they continue to impact each other, not only the game and they make each other better inside the game, that’s a sign of progress.”“Probably the thing I’m most excited about with this group is really strong resolve coming off a loss. We took Thursday off because we needed to take a day off this week. I think half the guys were in Cook Hall or Assembly at some point in time. We had an excellent practice yesterday; very competitive, battling type of pbactice. They came back last night and had a good walk-through and film session. They come in today, they’re excited and they played with great energy. So, it’s not necessarily who you play after you come off a tough game. As I say to them all the time, you’re constantly finding out who you are in terms of when adversity hits and in terms of when success comes. That’s what your measure is. That’s what they need to hear constantly and that’s what they need to keep understanding. But, that resolve to come back from a tough game Wednesday night and get totally locked in to how to get better, not just necessarily to win a game, is what I’m most pleased with tonight.”On the team’s approach following a loss:“It’s all about believing you can win and it is about believing you should win. It’s being able to look at the tape and understand why you did it. But, they bought into what needed to be fixed in a hurry and now we’ve got some time over the next couple of weeks to get better at that. I’ve said it so many times we need to learn how to win, and before you learn how to win, you need to have to hate to lose. There are very few people in the world who don’t enjoy winning and there are absolutely a lot of people who thrive on it. There are very few people who absolutely hate to lose. You need to have to have a team full of guys who are like that in order to be successful. It can’t just come from coaches, it can’t just come from the fans, it can’t just come from the family members, and it just has to come from within. And you have to drive each other and that’s what they are doing and they are learning that. It’s moving forward for us because we’ll be facing it again as the season goes.On the production from Verdell Jones III:“I think it’s like everyone else; there are a lot of things to get better at. What I told him is I thought he attacked off of the pick and roll was as good as he has been all year and one of the better times here at his time in Indiana. So he is getting better and he is getting stronger with the ball, he is using his shoulder more. I thought he pushed the ball well tonight. I thought he defended it at a high rate; he got a season high in rebounds. That’s good; he’s coming off five rebounds the other night. I almost fell out of my chair when he got his second offensive rebound of the year, since I’m sitting in my chair so much this year. Bottom line, he is really getting better and I thought he responded in the second half the other night and certainly throughout the game tonight. But if I had to pick one thing offensively, it would be the pick and roll. If I had to pick one thing defensively it would be the rebounding.”On the bench production in the first half:“Derek (Elston) was going to start tonight but his stomach was aggravated a little bit and I thought he played through it and he had a +19. So that’s what you want, you want guys who know it’s not just coming off the bench it’s how well they play with others, the impact they play their game with their energy and their ability to execute. That was a very hard playing team, this was the biggest deficit of the loss they had. We’ve given them their biggest deficit of the season. About two weeks ago, the played Dayton and they were within a 3-point shot from beating Dayton at Dayton. We knew we were playing a very hard-playing team. They were a very aggressive, athletic team. Our guys were going to have to match that and that is sometimes harder then guarding the proto-type five-man, so to speak; the big guys who aren’t as mobile. They are a little easier to block out, when you have to block out speed and quickness constantly that challenges your ability to be a rebounder. I thought those guys came in and did a good job at that, as well. We have had some really good lineup combinations and that was certainly one of them.”"