Video: Tom Crean on loss at Iowa
Coach Tom Crean met with the media following Indiana’s 78-66 loss at Iowa on Sunday night. Watch the full press conference in the embedded media player below: (Special thanks to HawkeyeDrive.com for assistance with footage.)
Quotes after the jump.
Opening statement:
“The overall disappointment in the game is the way we didn’t rebound or block out the way we needed to. That’s how you establish the tempo of the game. We knew we’d be pressed, we knew they’d be aggressive on the glass and we didn’t answer that bell. It was 11-to-1 second chance points in the first half, they doubled us over the game. We were better with it, but it was never where it needed to be. We did not attack pressure the way we had practiced and prepared for or the way we’ve been attacking it the last few weeks. So those are always disappointing things when you don’t carry out what you needed to carry out.
“But this wasn’t going to be a game about any one individual or any two individuals in any certain way. It was going to have to be a good team effort. We made a good run in the second half and cut it to ten. We were playing in shifts, we were playing in quick segments to try and get back into the game and I’d like to have a couple of substitutions back, basically. But I didn’t and at the same time we allowed some buckets.
“And then Matt Gatens, who was the most determined player on the floor in my opinion the whole day anyway, just took it to another level. And sometimes with guys on him and sometimes when we were a step late. But he got extremely hot. It broke our backs in the sense of coming back. We continued to play hard but when we cut it to ten we still felt like we were right there in the game. We felt like we could continue to pressure them and then when he hit those shots, we just couldn’t overcome it. But it started with our lack of ability on the glass and our lack of attacking the pressure the way that we needed to. And that’s where we’ve gotta improve as we get ready for the next game.”
On the problems Iowa’s zone created:
“We weren’t in the right spots a couple times. We really weren’t. You’ve got to make shots, but we wanted to get the ball inside, get it swung. And again we didn’t have great flow because there were a couple of guys where it just wasn’t their day to be on the court for an extended period of time, they just weren’t playing as well.”
On the early turnovers:
“We just didn’t attack pressure. We were straight-legged. We didn’t attack pressure the right way. We didn’t look for the opening that we’d worked and prepared for. That’s where the disappointing thing is on the day. It’d be different if it was something we hadn’t worked towards. There’s places that we attack and there’s places that we don’t. We started trying to hit it in areas that we knew they would take away. We got it adjusted a little bit but we just weren’t as aggressive in the attack mode as we needed to be against the pressure and against the zone.”
On whether the early fouls knocked Jordan Hulls off his game:
“It probably knocked him off his game quite a bit because it just wasn’t his day for the most part though he had an even plus/minus. They looked to go at him and Iowa does a good job of that. They game plan for people, but again, the fouls, that hurt him and we’ve gotta sit him extended minutes in a game like this when he’s one of our best guys against pressure. That hurts. No question about it.”
Filed to: Iowa Hawkeyes, Tom Crean