Crean, Hoosiers hope to improve against IUPUI

One game into the season, Tom Crean and his players have found plenty of flaws in their own play.

“(We’re) up against a lot of challenges, but I don’t think any of our teammates aren’t up for it and our coaches as well,” junior guard Devan Dumes said after IU’s 83-65 victory in its season-opener against Northwestern State.

Crean smirked when asked if things went according to plan Saturday.

“They never will,” he said. “I don’t know what the plan is. No way it can go 100 percent.”

Crean and his players were happy to open the season with a win, but they remained critical of their play at times during their postgame press conference.

Here are five challenges the basketball team faces, diagnosed by the Hoosiers themselves.

PLAYING WITH ENERGY
The masked duo of guards, sophomore Brett Finkelmeier and freshman Daniel Moore, provided a spark Saturday, playing a combined 25 minutes off the bench.

Moore finished with six points and three assists, and Finkelmeier’s awareness led to three steals and four rebounds. Crean would like to see more of that.

“Those two putting pressure on the ball is pretty good,” Crean said. “That’s the only way we can play.”

CRASHING THE BOARDS
The Hoosiers might have had the closest thing to a size advantage they’ll have all season, but the Demons still out-rebounded them 52-41.

Freshman forward Tom Pritchard led the team with 10, and freshman guard Nick Williams added eight.

“There’s a lot of stuff we have to work on – obviously offensive rebounding is a big one right now,” Pritchard said. “I’m sure Coach will figure it out, and we’ll work hard in practice for it.”

Northwestern State finished with 27 offensive rebounds to IU’s 14.

‘RAZOR-THIN’ FRONTLINE
After starting four guards in both exhibition games, Crean inserted senior forward Kyle Taber into the starting lineup Saturday in favor of freshman guard Matt Roth.

But the team’s lack of size forced Crean to put Pritchard, already with two fouls, back on the floor midway through the first half.

“With a veteran team, I would never have done that, but we have no choice,” Crean said. “Number one, we need him, and number two, he has to learn to play with them.”

THE HURRYIN’ HOOSIERS
With a guard-heavy roster, Crean said the Hoosiers are going to run this season.

“We want to get our easy baskets when we can,” he said. “There are two things that separate guards and people who handle the ball a lot. It’s their vision and their decision-making.”

As for transition shot selection, Crean said, “It’d be different if we were taking bad hurried shots, but if we’re playing at a fast past and getting good looks, that’s another story.”

The Hoosiers outscored the Demons off fast-break points, 24-18. IU only had 10 the game before in an exhibition match against Bemidji State.

LACK OF EXPERIENCE
Dumes, Finkelmeier and Taber were the only Hoosiers not playing in their first game against a Division-I team Saturday.

The team only had Sunday and Monday to prepare for its second game of the season today against IU-Purdue University Indianapolis, a D-I team that won 26 games last season and narrowly lost to Crean’s then-No.13 Marquette squad last season, 76-68.

“I don’t think we have any time to grow up,” Pritchard said. “This first game was helpful to find out what it’s like in a college situation. The games are going to get tougher. We’re going to have to play harder.”