Here is Tom Crean's complete Q&A from today's Big Ten conference call:
Opening statement...
"We're extremely excited to get a win like we had yesterday with Illinois. It was a great game if you're watching it from an entertainment perspective and if you're watching it as a fan of the game. They did some really good things; I thought we did some really good things. There's a lot of learning for both teams and really at the end of the day, we were just able to make one more run. Our guys showed poise, I liked our leadership on the floor and in the huddles with our team. The fact that we continued to execute. There were a couple different times in the game where we could have gotten down and given in, and we didn't do that. That's a sign of the maturity I think that we're gaining, which is really important and we're looking forward to this week."
On the versatility of the front court...
"That's the spacing aspect of it on offense. We can't give up things defensively, we don't have in height and maybe length, so that's where our movement has got to be good. We've got to mix up how we play, people, our coverages have got to change a little bit, we have to be even a stronger defensive rebounding team with our guards. But, offensively we can do more things as far as where they're at on the court, especially when the ball gets moving. I thinks that what we tried to work on the last few days, that's what we've done with Collin (Hartman) before, but now we're trying to do it a little bit more and we'll see how it goes. But, the bottom line is you've got to be able to defend, you've got to be able to rebound. When those things are happening, the offensive part is secondary. But, if the defensive rebounding is sound, then you can be a little bit more creative on the offensive side."
On Emmitt Holt's confidence in his ability to drive the ball...
"I think he will be. We see it in practice, there's no doubt about that, he's getting better with it all the time. Again, it becomes just a part of him moving against a moving defense and not necessarily a set defense where they would necessarily see it coming. So, we've been able to do that with all of our forwards over time. Cody (Zeller) became an excellent driver, certainly Noah (Vonleh) got better with it, Christian (Watford) became an outstanding driver. It's just all part of what we're trying to do with developing them in practice. There's stuff that we do as far as drills and expectations and target areas we're trying to hit in practice of what they're able to do from week-to-week and then it just becomes a matter or 'are they comfortable doing it in game?' We're getting there.
On Maryland's impressive start to the season...
"I don't know Mark (Turgeon) very well, but I have a lot of respect for him. I've had enough conversations to know he was really excited about his team in the offseason and I think that's playing out. What they have is tremendous versatility, they have a lot of matchup issues all over the court, they're getting outstanding guard play from not only (Melo) Trimble, who is playing incredibly well, but the freshmen guards, (Richaud) Pack is playing well and certainly (Jaren) Nickens and (Dion) Wiley can shoot the ball, but what you have with (Jake) Layman, (Dez) Wells, (Evan) Smotrycz, they're inside people. There's a lot of versatility. I think what I see when I watch them is an incredibly good screening team. Almost everybody on the court can not only shoot the ball, but they can handle the ball so they get a lot of good drives in, they get a lot of good isolations. They've got an incredibly hard matchup in Dez Wells because of not only the way he can drive it, shoot it and score it, but because of the ways he can pass it, especially from the low post.
The versatility of their team on offense and defense, they've got really good length, they don't take a lot of chances defensively, those types of things are making them really good. I think if there's one stat that's glaring, it's how many free throws they're getting attempted and how many they're making. They're doing a great job in this league of getting to the line and capitalizing on it."
On the team handling expectations and playing for a share of the Big Ten lead...
"We just practice and we go in everyday. There's no talk of any of that. The focus will be so much on how much better we can get this week and how much better we'll have to get to play Maryland and then to have to turn around and go to Ohio State on Sunday. We're truly in no position where we're getting ahead of ourselves in any stretch. We haven't all year and we're certainly not going to start now."
On if off-court adversity has helped bring the team together on the court...
"I'm sure it has. I don't think there's any question about that. I don't think you can have some of the things we've had to deal with this year and not go one of two ways. I think this team has continued to bond and grow up. We have a lot of young guys on our team, I think there's only 10 teams, according to the KenPom Ratings, that have less experience than us in all of Division I. So, you really have no choice but to grow up and get better. That's what we're constantly striving for everyday and making sure we're maxing the day out the best way that we can, not getting ahead of ourselves, learning from the last game, getting ready for the next game by what we do in that practice and taking everything very serious on a day-to-day basis."
On comparing Maryland's Melo Trimble to Kevin Yogi Ferrell's play as a freshman...
"Yogi did an awful lot for us as a freshman and was playing on the No. 1 team in the country with some veterans that made the game easier for him, but he made the game easier for them as well with the way that he moved the ball, the way that he can make open shots, the way that he defended. I would say Trimble is doing all of that. The Maryland team is one that has a lot of moving parts on it offensively and defensively. There's a lot of creativity that Mark has with the way that they're guarding, the way they're playing offensive and I think he flourishes in that because he can score at the basket, he can score in the middle of the lane, he can shoot 3's obviously, he gets other people shots, he changes speed and directions extremely. Those are all things I think Yogi did pretty well at the same point."
Opening statement...
"We're extremely excited to get a win like we had yesterday with Illinois. It was a great game if you're watching it from an entertainment perspective and if you're watching it as a fan of the game. They did some really good things; I thought we did some really good things. There's a lot of learning for both teams and really at the end of the day, we were just able to make one more run. Our guys showed poise, I liked our leadership on the floor and in the huddles with our team. The fact that we continued to execute. There were a couple different times in the game where we could have gotten down and given in, and we didn't do that. That's a sign of the maturity I think that we're gaining, which is really important and we're looking forward to this week."
On the versatility of the front court...
"That's the spacing aspect of it on offense. We can't give up things defensively, we don't have in height and maybe length, so that's where our movement has got to be good. We've got to mix up how we play, people, our coverages have got to change a little bit, we have to be even a stronger defensive rebounding team with our guards. But, offensively we can do more things as far as where they're at on the court, especially when the ball gets moving. I thinks that what we tried to work on the last few days, that's what we've done with Collin (Hartman) before, but now we're trying to do it a little bit more and we'll see how it goes. But, the bottom line is you've got to be able to defend, you've got to be able to rebound. When those things are happening, the offensive part is secondary. But, if the defensive rebounding is sound, then you can be a little bit more creative on the offensive side."
On Emmitt Holt's confidence in his ability to drive the ball...
"I think he will be. We see it in practice, there's no doubt about that, he's getting better with it all the time. Again, it becomes just a part of him moving against a moving defense and not necessarily a set defense where they would necessarily see it coming. So, we've been able to do that with all of our forwards over time. Cody (Zeller) became an excellent driver, certainly Noah (Vonleh) got better with it, Christian (Watford) became an outstanding driver. It's just all part of what we're trying to do with developing them in practice. There's stuff that we do as far as drills and expectations and target areas we're trying to hit in practice of what they're able to do from week-to-week and then it just becomes a matter or 'are they comfortable doing it in game?' We're getting there.
On Maryland's impressive start to the season...
"I don't know Mark (Turgeon) very well, but I have a lot of respect for him. I've had enough conversations to know he was really excited about his team in the offseason and I think that's playing out. What they have is tremendous versatility, they have a lot of matchup issues all over the court, they're getting outstanding guard play from not only (Melo) Trimble, who is playing incredibly well, but the freshmen guards, (Richaud) Pack is playing well and certainly (Jaren) Nickens and (Dion) Wiley can shoot the ball, but what you have with (Jake) Layman, (Dez) Wells, (Evan) Smotrycz, they're inside people. There's a lot of versatility. I think what I see when I watch them is an incredibly good screening team. Almost everybody on the court can not only shoot the ball, but they can handle the ball so they get a lot of good drives in, they get a lot of good isolations. They've got an incredibly hard matchup in Dez Wells because of not only the way he can drive it, shoot it and score it, but because of the ways he can pass it, especially from the low post.
The versatility of their team on offense and defense, they've got really good length, they don't take a lot of chances defensively, those types of things are making them really good. I think if there's one stat that's glaring, it's how many free throws they're getting attempted and how many they're making. They're doing a great job in this league of getting to the line and capitalizing on it."
On the team handling expectations and playing for a share of the Big Ten lead...
"We just practice and we go in everyday. There's no talk of any of that. The focus will be so much on how much better we can get this week and how much better we'll have to get to play Maryland and then to have to turn around and go to Ohio State on Sunday. We're truly in no position where we're getting ahead of ourselves in any stretch. We haven't all year and we're certainly not going to start now."
On if off-court adversity has helped bring the team together on the court...
"I'm sure it has. I don't think there's any question about that. I don't think you can have some of the things we've had to deal with this year and not go one of two ways. I think this team has continued to bond and grow up. We have a lot of young guys on our team, I think there's only 10 teams, according to the KenPom Ratings, that have less experience than us in all of Division I. So, you really have no choice but to grow up and get better. That's what we're constantly striving for everyday and making sure we're maxing the day out the best way that we can, not getting ahead of ourselves, learning from the last game, getting ready for the next game by what we do in that practice and taking everything very serious on a day-to-day basis."
On comparing Maryland's Melo Trimble to Kevin Yogi Ferrell's play as a freshman...
"Yogi did an awful lot for us as a freshman and was playing on the No. 1 team in the country with some veterans that made the game easier for him, but he made the game easier for them as well with the way that he moved the ball, the way that he can make open shots, the way that he defended. I would say Trimble is doing all of that. The Maryland team is one that has a lot of moving parts on it offensively and defensively. There's a lot of creativity that Mark has with the way that they're guarding, the way they're playing offensive and I think he flourishes in that because he can score at the basket, he can score in the middle of the lane, he can shoot 3's obviously, he gets other people shots, he changes speed and directions extremely. Those are all things I think Yogi did pretty well at the same point."
