Crean’s Post Game Comments

Here is what Coach Crean had to say following the Hoosiers loss to Penn State last night per iuhoosiers:

Opening Statement:

“Well the one thing you never want to do to a team when they are on the road is let them come in and have hope right away and we did that. We were a step slow on some shots and they made shots. They’ve got three guys that score the bulk of their points and we let those guys get going. Some shots didn’t go for us, but we got our energy picked up. I don’t think there was one doubt in our mind. I know there wasn’t in mine and I could tell by the way that the players play that we were going to come back in the game.

“This is one of those games that the other team has got the final score in their favor, but we lost the game because I do really believe we lost some belief at the very end of this game that we could come back and finish it off. We’ve got to grow through that. That’s where the old wounds and the old scars of getting close and not being able to pull it off came back and got us and we’ve got to grow through that. That’s been the basis of my entire conversation with this team is that we’re not going back to those days and we’re not going to relive those.

“I think we were spent and we put a lot of energy into coming back. We had some things not go right. That’s the game and we’ve got to learn how to do that and the 2:28 mark to me was where we lost, maybe belief’s not the right word, maybe we lost our hope. They come out, we foul, they go to the line, they get a big offensive rebound late in that series, and they did an excellent job. Talor Battle is Talor Battle, he makes big plays and certainly (David) Jackson and (Jeff) Brooks had great games. Those are veterans. Those are guys that have been down the road, but we let them have way too many open shots early. They certainly didn’t have as many late. Our spirit and energy got us back in the game and then we were a little zapped at the end and some things didn’t go right for us and that’s what we’ve got to grow through.

“They did an excellent job. They did a really good job on Christian (Watford). It was a combination of building their defense around him and the fact that he had back spasms throughout the game. I give him credit for trying to gut it out and play through it as much as he did. That’s where a lot of that lies, in the sense of him not having a great night. There’s a lot of progress that can be made with this team and the correction part of it is what we’ve really got to understand and buy into. We’re not going to get ourselves into an up and down mode. We’re going to get it corrected it and keep moving forward with it and that’s exactly how we’re going to coach it and that’s exactly the players that I’m looking to see that back in their eyes. I’m not looking to see a 2:28 time-out with a `we just can’t get over the hump’ look because that was the past repeating itself of the guys that have been through what we’ve gone through the last couple years and we can’t let that happen and I won’t.”

On getting in an early hole and coming back:

“Tonight was different though. I’ve got to go back and watch the tape of the first half. I’m not as clear on that right now. We got too impatient offensively in Las Vegas and then our pick and roll coverages were bad. Here we were a step slow and our communication, which is what I want our whole thing to be built on, recognition on offense and communication on defense, it really got us early on. We went zone, probably should have gone a little earlier with it. We were right there, we just had some miscommunications and boom, they’re good enough they’re going to make shots if we’re late. Holes are a part of it, but the key thing is, and you said, we’ve come back in every one of them. We’ve got to learn to get over the hump and we haven’t been able to do that and that’s a big part of this.

“My father-in-law equates it to third-and-one in football. Third-and-one on defense, it’s the hardest play, third-and-one on offense, it’s the hardest play. Well there are certain plays at the rim that are like that in the course of a game, but third-and-one or third-and-two, however you want to look at it, when it’s 2:28 and it’s a four point game we still got to believe that we’re going to win the game. I’m being completely honest with you. I’m not making excuses, any of that, it’s just that we’ve got to learn how to do that and we’ve got to grow into that.”

On if someone needs to step up at key moments of games:

“That’s a team thing. I don’t think it’s a situation where it’s just one guy because they all want to do it. They all mean well. It’s not like they come over and say `the game’s over, we can’t win.’ It’s just that they start to lose that hope, but it’s got to come throughout the game. The time is irrelevant. Same thing happened to us in the Kentucky game. We got down eight, it was late in the game and I’m looking at them and I’m starting to lose hope because I don’t see it in them. We’ve just got to grow through that. We’ve just got to get over the hump in a couple of these games and that will help this program grow and like anything else it’s an experience thing.”

On needing to get more from the frontline:

“There’s no question and they might be playing small. All season long I’ve said it’s not about positions, it’s about production, performance. I say that and we’ve got one of the biggest and best frontlines in the country coming in here on Friday night, but we just get ready to figure out how we’re going to do it. It’s not any one position. We can talk about the frontline and we can say this, we can say that.

“We’ve just got to play better. Derek Elston also out in Vegas had 15 points early on in the game. We went small tonight. We went with energy. I don’t know if we’re going to be able to do that all the time. Like I said to Tom Pritchard, hey Friday night could turn and you might be 24 minutes instead of four minutes. It’s just the way that it is. So we need to get better in every facet. I’m not trying to stand up here and say that we don’t, but again, when our energy is there and the bench has got to continue to bring this to light. It’s just that belief system that goes into it.”

On if players are trying to do too much late in games:

“I’ve got to go back and look at the film on that, probably, but we missed some big plays. I know Christian got frustrated a couple of times when the ball got dropped in there late. That’s going to happen. You know what, it’s a missed block out on a free throw. Those are the things that you cannot let happen. Giving up a dribble, giving up that one dribble because we try to teach our guys that when you can guard one dribble then you’ve got a chance to get help and when you can guard two dribbles you can play all night. When you give up that one dribble which creates that help to come and you’ve got to play catch up on it, those are the kinds of things that hurt us. There was a long time in there, without knowing the book yet, that we were playing pretty good defenses, but we made mistakes and they were effort, they weren’t attitude related, they were effort and belief related. If you go to the foul line at the end of a game and you’re still really believing you can win that game there’s no way they get the rebound. Those things bother me as much about a frontline as what we’re not scoring. We’ve just got to learn to grow through that, we really do.”

On Victor Oladipo’s energy on the floor:
“Victor’s an energy guy. Our whole thing with Victor is to instead of making great plays, learn to play great and he’s starting to play better, there’s no question about it. He brings an energy source and I know what position he is and I know what position he’ll have a chance to play in his future in the NBA, but what position he is right now makes no difference. We just need him to be on the court creating things and we need Will (Sheehey) too. Will was banged up since Vegas and we’re going to really need him on Friday night as well.”