Former IU coach Tom Crean breaks down the roster on Hoosier Hysterics podcast
Former IU coach Tom Crean was the guest on this week’s Hoosier Hysterics podcast.
In the later part of the episode, Crean, an ESPN analyst, was asked for his thoughts on this season’s IU team and roster.
Here’s a transcript of Crean’s comments, which include a ton of insight on the personnel:
On why he feels good about this season’s IU team and how he sees the new players integrating with the newcomers:
“I’m going to start with what has to improve. And I think the guys that they got, and then we can get into specifics if you want, but I think what has to improve from watching so much, and again, I’m watching as an analyst, I’m really not, you know, my guys aren’t there anymore. Once Robert Johnson and Newkirk left and guys like that, they’re not there. To me, they’ve got to pass the ball better. They really do. Passing has gotta be at a premium for that team because I do think they can shoot it better.
“I think, again, their spacing is going to be crucial, the ball moving is going to be crucial. I think they’re going to have guys knock down some open shots, OK, like Mackenzie (Mgbako), can he knock down open shots or is he going to try to manufacture shots? Is he going to try to take shots dribbled into a guy with 19 seconds, 18 seconds on the shot clock? That doesn’t work. But if you get the guy, you kick it to him and you get him an open 3, he got better at doing those things.
“I think that part of it is going to be really, really crucial. I think getting (Oumar) Ballo to, and I would bet that they’re going to do this, I would bet that the conditioning aspect and getting him to be able to play harder is going to be there. I think that’s what he needs and I think that’s what Indiana will need. Getting him to be a multi, even at his size, getting him to be a multi-dimensional defensively. Making sure he’s good with his hands in the pick and roll. Make sure he can guard at least a dribble. Make sure he can hedge and recover and get back. Maybe he won’t be the rim shot blocking presence that Kel’el Ware was or maybe he won’t be the positional defender that Trayce Jackson-Davis was, but he’s got to be a combination of that with that size and ability at the rim to create some distortion and distort those views and protect it.
“I like the kid from Illinois (Luke Goode). Again, there’s no reason, for Indiana to succeed, and they have it now, there’s no reason they can’t get more open shots with that team that they have. (Kanaan) Carlyle, I’ve loved him since he was a freshman in high school. He’s one of the hardest playing, toughest minded, get after you, guard the ball… but he plays at one speed, right? They’re going to have to be able to get him to change some speeds. I love the guy, I really do. That whole group. Isaiah Collier, Carlyle, that whole group. We were recruiting them hard (at Georgia). I like Carlyle.
“(Myles) Rice, I think is a key in that he’s gotta be… I’ve watched him for a long time, too, because he played with Jabari Smith in high school. A couple of things he’s gotta get better at. The shot has gotta get better. The footwork of the shot, the stepping into the shot, the consistency of the follow through of the shot. Getting better when… he can really pound the dribble to get to the rim, he’s gotta get that pound to get his shot off. He’s gotta be… I shouldn’t say he’s gotta be, I’m not coaching him, I don’t mean it that way, he’s at his best when he’s not just looking for his shot. Let’s put it that way and then he’s moving the ball. I think he can pass in the pick and roll. I think he can throw it ahead.
“The areas that I think could hurt Indiana is if they’re not as good at being able to play through the length. Like Rice has struggled against length, he’s struggled with bigger guards, he’s struggled at the rim. Having a plan for that. That’s one reason we taught the ice action, the drive under the board action with Yogi (Ferrell) because Yogi wanted to go to the rim but Yogi wasn’t strong enough to deal with some of that length. So Yogi could create more movement, create more open looks for others and for himself by driving it under the board and all of the sudden Yogi became such a better layup maker because he wasn’t always trying to challenge the defense. Little things like that that you have to do, I think that’s going to be really, really important for them.
“But I think when you look at their ability to shoot the ball this year. If Mackenzie gets ready to shoot, gets good shots, (Trey) Galloway can shoot the ball, Goode can shoot the ball. Carlyle can shoot the ball. Myles Rice has gotta get better as a shooter to keep it honest so there’s not that drop off help, get it to the elbow help that can happen. I like their team.
“(Malik) Reneau has gotta make a jump. He’s gotta get a right hand. If you look at his charges at the end of the year. If you go back to the Nebraska game, he didn’t score the last 16 minutes of the game. I don’t even know how many (fouls) he played with, but like, some of his charges later in the year, he wouldn’t put the ball in his right hand, right? And score going to the bucket with his right hand. All of the sudden he’s trying to turn his body, there’s a charge. Those are the things that have to happen. But they have to happen at every program, not just Indiana. Weak hand development, focus on those types of things, being ready to shoot, improving your passing, those are the fundamentals that every program in America has got to be locked into. And I’ve never seen Mike (Woodson) practice, I’ve never seen Indiana practice, I would think they are. Those are the keys for that team to get better because I think they’ll defend just fine. I think they’ll have depth. But being able to play through contact, being able to play through the length, being able to keep their balance when they get hit, you know, all of those kind of things are going to be key.”
On if there’s any concern with playing two bigs:
“If they didn’t get better, yeah. And again, I haven’t seen those guys and I really haven’t heard anything about those guys. I say all of this not knowing the players and not knowing anything about their summer. So I’m just giving you from last year. They have to improve. Reneau has gotta become a consistent outside shooter. Two bigs is fine if you’re creating help. Trayce Jackson created help because he could pick you apart. And you had to bring help to the post.
“Ware could step out and make a few more shots. Not to the level that he thought he could, but you still had to guard him out there.
“I’ll use this as an example and this is more of a general 1-2. People play five-out and they play high-low… when your bigs or your big doesn’t have to be guarded away from the basket, OK, you’re basically playing four on five if he can’t shoot and he can’t really hurt people with passes… and I’m not talking about passing out of the post. If he can’t really pass from the elbow or the top of the key area. If he can’t execute a great handoff which drives into the handoff man’s defender to create some type of help from his man. If you can’t pull the other bigs up to guard, you’re playing four on five consistently. I lived it early on at Indiana. Right, we lived that. You have gotta be so creative if they don’t have to guard your bigs past the elbows, past the 3-point line. Again, I’m just using that as a general statement. I think Reneau got better as a shooter. He’s gotta be able to feel the game better, right? Play random basketball better, do more than just rely on his left hand. And players get like this. They get, OK, are you left hand dominant or are you left hand dependent? And there’s a big difference. There’s a huge difference. And I use that as a general statement because I coached like that forever. That was one of the obsessions with things that we did was being able to go with both hands, score with both hands, dribble with both hands, pass with both hands, defend with both hands. It’s such a huge part of it. I think that’s going to be the key no matter what lineups Indiana plays.
“They should have a really quick, fast team, potentially, no matter who they have in the game. And that’s even with Ballo really not the best runner. It’s hard to guard him. The break at Arizona two years ago was ridiculously good. And he was a big part of that. He was a big part of that. Because they threw it ahead. They had Tubelis, they had Ballo, I’m not saying he’s a speedster, he’s not Cody Zeller but he doesn’t have to be, right? He can get in the lane, he can seal and you can’t get around him. And they got so many guys that can make plays. They should have a lot of fun coaching that team.”
Filed to: Tom Crean