Yes, he said, IU’s in a stressful situation. Yes, his players know that.
The Big Ten Tournament brings the season’s first single-elimination format. For an IU team toeing the line between the NCAA Tournament and a trip to the NIT, it’s become the highest-pressure of situations.
“I think they’re aware of that,” Crean said. “Absolutely, to a degree.”
Six weeks ago, the Hoosiers’ postseason fate was in their hands. IU wasn’t fighting for its NCAA Tournament life, but it was in contention for a top-four Big Ten finish and the double-bye in the conference tournament that comes with it.
But not anymore. Losing eight of 12 games will do that.
Now, IU’s in need of a win. Crean’s solution to the pressure? More pressure.
In IU’s only game against Northwestern this season, the Hoosiers offense went stale. They went more than 10 minutes without scoring in the second half and fell behind by as many as 14 points.
The deficit forced IU to scramble, with Crean switching his team into a full-court press.
What resulted was a final four minutes of IU’s most ?active defense of the season. The Hoosiers created three Wildcat turnovers and allowed just one basket.
It wasn’t enough to come back and win the game, but it was a first glimpse of what IU can turn itself into — a swarming, trapping, high-pressure type of defense that makes up for its lack of size.
It’s a game plan Crean said he’s going to have to use to avoid a disastrous one-and-done showing in the Big Ten Tournament.
“It’s something we’re probably, definitely going to have to do more of to bring pressure to the backcourt, for one thing,” he said. “We probably do need to pressure more, especially on the ball, and look for different trapping situations, because the guys are pretty good at it.”
Full-court pressure may be the best fix for a Hoosier defense that’s been notoriously bad this season. IU allowed 71.8 points per game, last in the Big Ten and more than three full points behind the next-worse defense. Opponents shot 45.5 percent from the field and 51.4 percent from inside the arc, both conference worsts.
At least part of the blame can be placed on a front line that’s diminutive by Big Ten standards. The Hoosiers’ average height — a kenpom.com statistic averaging the height of a team’s forwards and centers, weighted for playing time — was the second-smallest in the conference this season.
Small teams are often overmatched in half-court sets, so the solution may be to turn games into full-court affairs. That doesn’t mean IU can let up when the game slows down, though.
“Your press is only as good as your ability to stop them when you get back in the half-court,” Crean said. “You’ve got to be able to get back and make them take a tough shot.”
Crean said any high-pressure game plan would hinge on the ability of his big men to control the back end of the press. If things break down and the opponent gets past the first line of traps, the last defender becomes vital.
“When you’re in that back line of the press and it’s 2-on-1, you’ve really got to be able to make some reaction decisions quickly, because those things turn into and-ones or they turn into two points.”
It’s an all-or-nothing approach to defense, but it may be an all-or-nothing situation for this IU team. A win probably seals the Hoosiers’ berth in the NCAA Tournament. Two wins almost certainly does it. Lose to Northwestern, though, and it’s out of IU’s control.
But Crean isn’t worried about that, he said. The focus remains on Northwestern, on working pressure into the defensive game plan and on winning one game at a time.
“This is where you preach marathon,” he said. “Now it starts to be a little more of a sprint. You don’t want to get away from the marathon, you’ve got to keep working through. But now is where you’ve got to sprint through, and you can’t let the little things distract you.”
