Crean pitted red against white in a first-to-five game of full-court press, telling his players to deny the inbound pass and keep the offense from scoring. A stop counted as a point for the defense, and a score counted as a point for the offense.
All of the guys showed a tremendous amount of hustle. In one play, every player on the floor was on the ground in a fight for a loose ball, from Bobby Capobiancco to Jordan Hulls.
Jeremiah Rivers is a defensive standout, as most of us knew, but also has some tight dribbles and explosiveness that he showed off against Hulls in one of the breaks.
Crean stressed that the players should not hold on to jerseys, saying his players were too good of athletes for that. He really seems to emphasize the athleticism and building that up.
