After losing against Penn State on Saturday, IU practiced harder Sunday than it had in a long time.
During his radio show Monday night, IU Coach Tom Crean said he ran a more physical and tougher practice after the loss. He also said the Hoosiers were more than okay with this.
“Our guys really hurt from that game the other day,” Crean said. “We battled extremely hard Sunday night. We didn’t have to pull teeth to get a really strong, physical practice. They were ready to go.”
It was the little things that went wrong at Penn State, Crean said. The Hoosiers didn’t make shots, shooting only 36 percent from the field.
They also allowed too many open looks to the Nittany Lions, Crean said. While Penn State only shot 41 percent from the field itself, that was enough to be the difference in the game.
So the Hoosiers got back to the small things and made practice simple Sunday, in addition to the increased intensity and physicality.
“It was a little longer and a lot more physical, a lot more scrimmaging,” Crean said. “There was also a lot of teaching to it. Like I said to those guys, I said, ‘There’s an eighth-grade aspect to this right now.’ That’s exactly what we’ve got to do is get back to making this game simple.”
The practice continued through the Super Bowl, so Crean said he hoped his players had recorded the game if they wanted to watch it. But with a game against Iowa looming, he said, the practice time was more important.
Two different games for Yogi Ferrell
Senior guard Yogi Ferrell played two very different games last week, Crean said. Against Michigan, he adjusted inside the game both offensively and defensively to help start what would amount to a 28-0 run.
The change came after a timeout Crean called because the Hoosiers had missed an opponent coming off a screen.
That was the only point he thought IU could lose against Michigan.
He said if Ferrell especially was losing focus, the Hoosiers would be in trouble. But after the timeout, Ferrell adjusted his play.
“He responded quickly, he knew it was a mistake and things came together from there,” Crean said. “We did a much better job of staying in front of the ball, so we didn’t have to over-help.”
Against Penn State, however, Ferrell was too careless with the ball. He turned the ball over five times while totaling only five assists.
“The five turnovers are not how we’re going to win,” Crean said.
No difference in preparation for Michigan and Penn State games
Crean said one of the reasons the loss and effort against Penn State was surprising was because there were no warning signs in the preparation.
The intensity levels of the practices and attention to detail in the film sessions before the Penn State game was the same as it was before the Michigan game.
The difference came once the game started.
“We just didn’t play with the same level of confidence when things weren’t going our way,” Crean said. “We got off of our coverages and then we started to over-help, and they made shots that they hadn’t been making.”
Another reason for the loss was because Penn State just played better than it has all season, Crean said.
“I had a friend of mine in the league tell me that they played their best game,” Crean said. “We knew they were pretty good. You can’t play the records. You just can’t. They’ve got Big Ten players just like everybody else.”
