Hey folks,
The computer's dying, so I'm going to have to miss the last couple of questions. Below is the whole live blog, might want to brush your teeth or make a pizza or skim through "War and Peace" before you read it, 'tis lengthy.
It's in reverse order, from latest entries to earliest. Enjoy.
Question: How did you support your student section at previous coaching stops? Answer: Crean says the student section is the "energy train." He says the Marquette student section got t-shirts and were encouraged, and older fans caught on, wanting their own thing. Crean needs fans there early. "Students drive the whole energy. ... That's what makes Indiana Indiana." --------------------------------------------------------------------- Question: How do you get out-of-state recruits to play 'the Hoosier way'? Answer: IU recruits guys who get excited about being in Assembly Hall, and aren't intimidated. Crean says "tradition" always comes up in talking to potential recruits about their impressions of Indiana. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Question: How do smaller players like Nick Williams guard in the post with toughess? Answer: 1) Need toughness, "That' kid's raised on winning." 2) "He'll do whatever it takes to be successful right now." 3) "We don't have a choice," to which there erupts great mirth in the crowd. "Malik Story's going to have to do the same thing." --------------------------------------------------------------------- Question: How can you as a coach unify students? Answer: Students have to show up before the game, they can't arrive late. Fans being in their seats and screaming really early in the night, well before the game, the effect can't be overstated. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Question: Which coach are you looking forward to facing the most? Answer: Crean says he respects everyone in the league, but he's not going to be too friendly to anyone. He said he's looking forward to facing an old friend, Tom Izzo, but he doesn't think you really focus on one coach persay, but rather every coach. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Question: What words of encouragement do you have for someone that has lost faith in Indiana basketball? Answer: "Everybody's got a chance to watch this thing grow again." "You're gonna have some stories. And when you talk about stealing wins, and you talk about willing teams to victory ..." --------------------------------------------------------------------- Question: Who is a past coach who has mentored you? Answer: More than anyone, Jack Harbaugh, his father-in-law, had an effect on what kind of coach Crean developed into. "There is no way I would make a huge decision without him." --------------------------------------------------------------------- Question: How do fans help in recruiting? Answer: Bringing recruits to football games is even a huge deal. Crean says he knows how the students intimidate opponents, there can be no value placed on how valuable they can be in recruiting. "The fan base and the student base is as big a part of the tradition as anybody." --------------------------------------------------------------------- Question: What's your favorite-ever IU game? Answer: The 1976 National Championship game, which Crean says "hooked" him on IU. That and the 1987 Final Four, which was the first final he ever saw as a coach. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Question: Could you get students back behind the baskets? Answer: Crean says he doesn't know enough about the seating situation to take a position, but he said not all student tickets are sold out, which is right now the marketing department's whole focus. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Question: This person thanks Crean for what he has done, and asks how he can rebuild the program? Answer: There are bridges that need to be rebuilt, and tradition that needs to be restored. Crean also says he wants to get people to IU games that wouldn't have had a chance to otherwise. He also says players have to appreciate the opportunity they have to play at IU rather than taking it for granted. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Question: What kind of priority do you place on keeping in-state talent in IU? Answer: Crean says having Dominic James at Marquette was a perfect example of that problem, which Crean says is now "a huge focus." "I feel that we have done very well in the '09 class for how we have recruited this state," Crean said, adding that he has even hosted eighth graders on visits recently. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Question: What do you like most about IU? Answer: "I love the fact that we're gonna raise a family here." Crean said there are boundless opportunities for his family in what he terms a "comfortable place to live." --------------------------------------------------------------------- Question: How do you keep your players focused on basketball with everyone talking about how bad they might be? Answer: Crean said his players need to stay focused on reality and on "maxing out" in the regular season "on national television." He said IU is still a great program, but he and his coaches are keeping more short-term goals than ever before in his coaching career. "Take it day by day. Don't have a script written out for two weeks, two months, really even two days." --------------------------------------------------------------------- Question: Where you asked to come to IU before they hired Kelvin Sampson? Answer: Crean said he was not, but "everything happens for a reason." --------------------------------------------------------------------- 7:56 -- "It's gonna be something that you've never seen. What that is, I have no idea."
Crean's thanking all the people in the crowd for coming out, and he said he's looking forward to seeing them all again at Hoosier Hysteria, the open scrimmage and the haunted hall of hoops? Do tell Tom Crean. And with that, he's done, to thunderous applause. Here come the Qs? --------------------------------------------------------------------- 7:53 -- Crean says there's a picture in the basketball offices of a post-game scene in 1975 that has nine different players, eight of which went to the NBA. The other, Jim Crews, is now an NCAA head coach. His point: Those hard-working, strong-willed kinds of players are what IU is looking for. --------------------------------------------------------------------- 7:50 -- Philosophy on recruiting: "Let's go find guys who were raised on winning. Let's go find guys who put winning first." --------------------------------------------------------------------- 7:49 -- Crean said every wall in the locker room but one is dedicated to IU's tradition, in an attempt to create a "standard" for his players and his program to look to every day.
Crean also said he wants the following Ts" -toughness -technique -tenacity --> Crean calls this a "Playstation society," where you can hit reset all the time. You can't do that in real life, according to Crean, so you have to have tenacity. -togetherness/teamwork --------------------------------------------------------------------- Tom Crean gives his list of things a player needs to bring to his program (In reverse order, so's you can read 'em better) 3) Compete. Seems simple enough. (And then there were technical difficulties with Crean's earpiece, at which time he revealed he majored in parks and recreation in college.) "We tried that for two different days," Crean said of the first couple of times he and his coaches tried to practice a full 100 percent like a team. "It didn't go so well." 2) Come to work with energy in everything you do from when you wake up to when you go to sleep. "That's what separates so many people. The energy level you bring to the table, that's where you're at." 1) People have to come in to do their job mentally prepared. That means in practice, in class, in school, at work, anywhere else. --------------------------------------------------------------------- 7:35 -- "We have to lead the way in doing what's best for Indiana. What's that mean, I'm not quite sure." --------------------------------------------------------------------- Crean says he expects his players to go to class and succeed in school. He said the Hoosiers had 19 F's when he and his staff took over last April. --------------------------------------------------------------------- And now he speaks on that hot-button issue ... Kelvin Sampson. Well, sort of. It's no one's fault Crean says, or at least no one still here. Excusing the administration, the players, the fans and pretty much everyone else, the aforementioned name is noticeably and obviously missing. But Crean is moving on.
"We have to all deal with it and move on, and that's what I'm excited about, because we are." --------------------------------------------------------------------- 7:28: Crean says he's not taking any fans for granted right now, with things the way they are within the program. Still, he doesn't want it to stop there. He said he and his marketing staff are focused on always making fans feel like they're wanted.
"We want it to be an exciting time, because man, we're gonna need you." --------------------------------------------------------------------- 7:26: "That's what we've got to build again," Crean said. "That's part of the tradition. ... That's what I want you to feel, because that's what I want you to be a part of."
That's Crean talking about students and fans making Assembly Hall the toughest place in the country to play again, just the way it was during the glory days of Bob Knight. --------------------------------------------------------------------- 7:22 "I would never in my wildest dreams thought I had the chance to coach at Indiana," Crean said of his 10-year old self. He said that's when he became an IU basketball fan, lured by intensity and Bob Knight's "god awful ugly plaid coat."
Crean said as he grew up, he realized how important understanding and embracing traditions can be to a budding program. He talked about the contributions of former players, managers and other support staff, using Tim Garl as an example. --------------------------------------------------------------------- 7:15 -- CARE --> Coach attitude and respect every day. That's what Crean said he and his coaches try to preach every day. Put it down. He's also talking about "pride" involved with IU basketball, from the perspective of students, alumni, former players and fans.
Crean added that he's not Bob Knight in personality, but he has the same respect for the tradition and the legacy of the program. He says that tradition is what fans, students, etc. will remember forever.
"Those will be your memories," Crean said. --------------------------------------------------------------------- 7:09 -- After a rather lengthy rendition of the IU fight song, Crean finally took the stage to his customary applause in front of a half-full audience. He's talking about how thrilled he is to be talking to the students.
"When I look out here and I see you ... we're thinking about the future," Crean said. "We're thinking about what we can get done from this today."
And he demands applause for Bill Cosby. It's true. --------------------------------------------------------------------- 7:05 -- The gang's all here, including me, Kirby, Dollinger and Chris Korman from the HT, and we're all pretty much Interneting the crap out of this entire evening. Andrew Dahlen is at the podium now, presumably about to introduce Tom Crean, so let's get this started.
