Northwestern Postgame: Tom Crean
Watch what Indiana head coach Tom Crean had to say following the Hoosiers’ 70-64 loss to Northwestern on Saturday at Assembly Hall in the embedded media player below:
Tom Crean Archive
Video: Tom Crean previews Northwestern
Tom Crean talks about the week off for Indiana and previews tomorrow’s game against Northwestern in his Friday afternoon press conference, which you can watch below courtesy of IU Athletics on YouTube:
Crean: IU-Louisville series not on immediate horizon
One of the questions Tom Crean is frequently asked when he travels to the southern part of the state is this: “When is Indiana going to start playing a series with Louisville?”
Such was the case again last night, when Crean traveled to Jeffersonville to speak at a Rotary Club event. And here’s how Crean answered the question, according to Rick Bozich of The Louisville-Courier Journal:
“That’s a possibility. There’s no question we want to do it at some point in time. I don’t know if it’s going to happen quickly. Our schedule’s gotta balance out a little bit right now. Next year we play Notre Dame in Indianapolis, we play at Evansville, we have Butler at home at the end of a tournament. We have Kentucky at home, we’ll have a Big Ten-ACC Challenge game, either home or on the road. I’m not sure with a young team like that, especially with the young freshmen that we’ll have, I’m not sure that we’ll want to play too many tough games. But I’d love to get something going with Louisville at some point. I always said to Rick (Pitino) and his staff, as we got down the line and got more competitive, we’d want to revisit that and we’re getting closer to that.”
As much as fans would like to see this series sooner rather than later, Crean’s logic for not pursuing it immediately makes sense. The addition of Notre Dame and Butler will improve the competitiveness of next year’s schedule and the Big Ten-ACC Challenge meeting is only going to get tougher for IU as the program returns to prominence.
With that said, we’d like to open this up for a broader discussion and pose this question: Is there an opponent (Louisville included, if that’s your preference) you’d like to see the Hoosiers start playing regularly?
Michigan Postgame Video: Tom Crean
Thanks to our friends at the terrific Michigan hoops blog, UMHoops, for postgame video of Tom Crean following Michigan’s 73-69 win over Indiana on Saturday at Crisler Arena:
You can watch John Beilein’s press conference over at UMHoops.
Michigan Postgame Comments: Tom Crean
(Photo via Indiana Public Media on Flickr.)
Here’s a transcript of Tom Crean’s comments to Don Fischer following the Hoosiers’ 73-69 loss to Michigan at Crisler Arena on Saturday afternoon:
On whether he was disappointed with Indiana’s start in the first half
“No question. First and foremost and like I said to them, aren’t we getting tired of being the team that plays real hard and makes comebacks and gets real close? I mean at some point we’ve got to get tired of that. And it’s never, ever about playing hard. And yesterday’s practice was a great example. And I walked out on this team at the very end of it because I was so disgusted with nobody grasping what I was talking about in this sense. We practice hard and play hard every day. There’s not a doubt about it. This is one of the hardest playing teams I’ve ever coached. But this is not a team that has any opportunity to ever back away from having a combative mindset when they practice. A combative temperament. It’s not just a basketball temperament. That sometimes is overrated. It’s a combative and it’s even more than competitive. When we’ve done that and we’ve built on that and when we’ve taken that to games, we’ve played very well. And what you saw in the comeback was a combative team. Very, very combative. We got calls, we were aggressive and it’s a disappointment because right now, we don’t understand that, we don’t put game plans together in like seven minutes. When we say we need to go inside, when we say we need to drive the ball, when we say we need to get to the rim, it’s not because it sounds good, it’s because that’s the way to win. And we start out this game as we want to attack and pressure and get transition defense and we took two three’s to start the game. That’s not how you can win in this league. And we’re going to keep pushing it and keep driving it. And those that figure it out and can deal with it, will be a part of the resurgence of this program and those that don’t they’re not to be able to play in this because we can’t be a team that plays half way. We’ve got to be all out, all the time.”
Purdue Postgame Comments: Tom Crean
Here’s a transcript of Tom Crean’s comments to Don Fischer following the Hoosiers’ 67-53 loss to Purdue at Mackey Arena on Tuesday night:
On Indiana’s effort
“These guys really battled and the crowd was not a factor to them. They were ready to go. We’ve had a couple of really good days, they responded to the challenges that have been put forth to them, but they challenged each other. My coaching staff did just an incredible job of creating intensity and making them better over the last couple of days and them responding to it. And them holding each other accountable. And frankly Don, this is what’s so disheartening sometimes in coaching because we play this way, this physical, we win the game on Saturday by double digits. I mean no offense to Iowa at all and the way that they played, but when we play with this kind of toughness and spirit, we’re a different team and it just shows that we don’t have the maturity yet to do this day in and day out and that’s a tough deal. Eventually it’s going to come and we’ve got to get to it as quick as we can.”
Tom Crean talks Tuesday’s game at Purdue
(Photo credit: Jamie Owens)
No media availability today, but IU media relations passed along the following comments from Tom Crean on tomorrow’s game at Purdue.
On The Hoosiers
“We are coming off of four straight games that were decided on the final play. I think we have shown great resolve, regardless of the outcome, to recognize that each game following takes on a greater importance and the focus has to be on our ability to come out with the proper mindset each practice. If we do that, we are having much more success in taking our efforts in practice and applying them to game situations.”
Keys for the Hoosiers
“I think we have to have a rebounding mentality first and foremost. Our defense has to become a positive for our offense. We have to attack and get to the free throw line. Defensively, we have to communicate and help and not allow them to get the type of plays that will raise the intensity of their crowd to another level.”
On Tuesday’s Game
“Right now, I would challenge anyone on the quality of play that is taking place in our league. Every game is being played like a rivalry game. The coaches and players in the Big Ten all understand the importance of each league game. I would expect more of the same tomorrow night.”
