Conference Chatter

CHICAGO -- The old saying goes, "There's no 'I' in team." \nAnd after last season's 14-15 season for the IU men's basketball team, getting back to the team aspect is one of the Hoosiers' priorities, juniors Bracey Wright and Marshall Strickland said at Big Ten media day.\nIndividuality came to a head toward the end of last year and in the Big Ten tournament, when the Hoosiers' postseason hopes were all but eliminated. After all the losses last year, it was hard for the team to stick together, Strickland said.\n"By that time we were done," he said. "Our season was basically over. We had all fallen apart. We were a bunch of individuals playing on the court by that time."\nWright said he agrees with Strickland's sentiment. The junior from The Colony, Texas, said not playing as a team was the biggest mistake IU could've made.\n"You could see it when we played certain games," Wright said. "Toward the end of the year, when people started to believe that we weren't going to go anywhere, everybody was for themselves."\nWright's solution to the problem was to stay away from playing individually, and hopes this season the team members won't be in a similar situation.\nLosing was a unique feeling for IU basketball. It was IU coach Mike Davis' first losing season as a head coach and the first time IU failed to make the NCAA tournament since 1985. \nWith the pressure of winning at IU, Davis said as the losses grew, the team's confidence fell.\n"It's no different than anyone that's struggling to win games," Davis said. "It's hard to stay focused. It's hard to keep your confidence going if you're losing. You know we were 3-7 our last 10 games and we're at Indiana. When you're at Indiana, the expectations are definitely high. We tried to do everything possible to get it back. We just never regained it."\nTo rectify the situation, the Hoosiers have taken steps to reignite team togetherness. Strickland said the team sat down after the season and focused on fixing the problem. \nDavis has increased competition in practice while maintaining that a player wouldn't play because the player thought he should play, but because of the hard work he had shown.\nAs an example, Davis pointed to sophomore guard Errek Suhr, a rarely used walk-on guard last season who played his high school ball at Bloomington High School North.\n"We have a guy right now in Errek Suhr who is in the top eight in our rotation," Davis said. "In the offseason conditioning program he was better. In practice, he's only had one or two bad days. If guys want to be in the top eight rotation, than they have to show concentration and focus everyday in practice."\nWith the addition of five freshmen and two transfers from Auburn University, concentrating and focusing in practice might be the only way to get on the court. In the Hoosiers' preseason practices, Davis has said that improved competition among the players should lead to an improved IU team.\nIt's all about competition in practice, Davis said.\n"You watch practice this year and you walk in and you see Lewis Monroe who started three years at Auburn," Davis said. "You see Marco Killingsworth who was a three-year starter at Auburn. You have people competing against each other."\nLast season, competition at the guard spot wasn't often seen. Strickland and Wright dominated most of the playing team along with indefinitely suspended senior Donald Perry. With senior Ryan Tapak's performance at the Big Ten tournament as well as the addition of freshman A.J. Ratliff and the emergence of Suhr, the point looks to have increased man power.\nStrickland, who was credited by Davis as being the most improved player this offseason, said he doesn't feel the pressure of having to look over his shoulder.\n"I know it's still my team," Strickland said. "I've earned it all summer and all preseason. I know it's my turn and I've gotten even better. I think I can be on the court as much as I want to be."\nBut when the pressure mounts after a few losses, Davis said the team should learn from last season to not read, think or talk about what's being said about them.\n"Just focus on what's important," Davis said, "and what's important is being a good basketball team."\n-- Contact sports editor John Rodgers at jprodger@indiana.edu.