CREAN TALKS ABOUT NCAA RULING ON GUY-MARC MICHEL
Outside of a prepared statement given last Tuesday, IU coach Tom Crean spoke for the first time about Guy-Marc Michel becoming ineligible by the NCAA.
Crean said even though he has respect for the process and the NCAA, he was still disappointed in the final ruling.
"I have trouble seeing any wisdom in the decision. I really do," Crean said. "I have great respect for how we handled it at Indiana. I have great respect for the council we got legally to work with it.
"It's an unfortunate situation. It's just extremely disappointing that there wasn't any leniency given at all given the situation based on the circumstances."
Michel, though he cannot play in games, will still be a major contributor to the team this season. He will be a vital player in practice and can help the team grow.
"He's going to continue to be a huge part of the program," Crean said. "He'll be with us every step of the way. That's what I hope he'll continue to do."
HOOSIERS NOT LOOKING PAST SAVANNAH STATE
Despite a 1-8 record thus far this season for Savannah State, IU coach Tom Crean said his squad is prepared for a challenge in Saturday's 6 p.m. matchup against the Tigers.
"They are much improved," Crean said. "They have style, they have a pace they want to play at, and they have three really good players. We've really got to make sure that we continue to execute on the offensive end and show improvement in the areas that we weren't good in the other night."
Those three players Crean referred to might include Jovonni Shuler, Preston Blackmon and Jyles Smith
Shuler and Blackmon pace Savannah State with 18 and 11.3 points per game, respectively. Smith leads the Tigers in rebounding with 6.7 rebounds a contest.
Savannah State is coming off a 41-39 loss to Fairfield on Thursday night.
ELSTON, CAPOBIANCO, PRITCHARD LOOK TO BOLSTER OFFENSE
In IU's loss to Boston College on Wednesday, junior forward Tom Pritchard had only two points on one field goal attempt. Sophomore forward's Bobby Capobianco and Derek Elston combined for 7 total points.
To IU coach Tom Crean, that's just not going to cut it.
"They flat out need to score more," Crean said. "There is no question about that."
Crean said there were a variety of ways they can better integrate themselves into the offense: run the court better, get offensive rebounds and put-backs, and improve on rolling into the defense.
"One of the things we don't have right now is a pure penetration that forces the bigs to step up and help, which opens up those easy shots," Crean said. "They have to score more and rebound better. There's room for improvement in all three of them."
CREEK GETTING BACK TO FULL HEALTH
Sophomore guard Maurice Creek said he entered the season around 95 percent.
On the court, he's shown glimpses of last year but still does not appear to be completely the same.
Creek said on Friday, though, that he's progressing every single day and can now do things he was unable to a month ago.
"I can finally say I'm doing that," Creek said. "We're just going to take it one step at the time. I was driving the ball hard the other night, and that was something that I haven't done in a couple of weeks."
Against Boston College on Wednesday night, Creek had the tough challenge of guarding the Eagles' top scoring threat, Reggie Jackson. Jackson, whom IU coach Tom Crean said could be an NBA guard, finished with 27 points on 9-14 shooting.
Nonetheless, Creek said he is confident guarding the other team's best scorer.
"He's a great player and hit some tough shots the other day," Creek said. "There are going to be days like that. But at the same time, I got to know that I can step up on that level. They gave me the spotlight, so I got to take it."
Last season defense was arguably Creek's greatest attribute. Crean said while the scoring was obviously lost after the knee injury, the team lost "a lot" on the defensive end.
Creek said that he is close to the level defensively that he was at last season.
"I'm not 100 percent, but I can say that at this rate I'm almost back to normal," Creek said. "Sometimes I'm slow when I turn and twist, but that's just me coming back and getting a feel for the game. Like I said, it's not going to take long to get back to normal"
