Here are some quick comments from Tom Crean on the Hoosiers trip to Raleigh, N.C. to take on North Carolina State (5-1) tomorrow night at 7:15.
Crean on his general thoughts on the Wolfpack:
"This team is very impressive to watch on film. They've had some really tough games. They've had some games where they had to find a way to win. They are very explosive. This team can play a lot of different ways. They can play very fast but they can also pound it in and they can beat you in a possession game as well. The one thing they may do as well as anything is offensive rebound, so that's going to be a challenge."
On N.C. State's team:
"They are extremely good inside. They have a tremendous point guard (Lorenzo Brown) that can get into the lane, create havoc and score baskets. They have Scott Wood who is shooting as well as maybe anybody in the country right now at 58 percent. They cause a lot of problems for us, there's no question about it. Plus, it's a road game."
On the keys to his team getting a victory:
"No. 1 it's got to start with taking care of the ball on the road and make sure that we are moving the ball offensively. Defensively we have to get back in transition, it all starts with that. It will be a major challenge for us tomorrow night, no doubt about that."
On N.C. State forward C.J. Leslie who is a potential NBA 1st round draft pick:
"It's very hard to prepare for that. It's like preparing for a 6-foot-8-inch Victor (Oladipo). His second and third efforts are tremendous. His first effort is very good, his first step is very good but its the second and third effort from him that I think separates him. He's tremendous around the basket. He can drive the ball. The first step gets him fouled. You have to constantly be aware of him.
On. N.C. State forward Richard Howell who stands 6-foot-8-inch, 250 pounds and is the team's second leading scorer at 13.7 points per game while leading the team with 8.8 rebounds:
"The one guy that is maybe the guy that causes maybe the most match-up problems for us though is Richard Howell. He's really, really good, fierce around the bucket, can step out and shoot, rebounding at a high level."
On the challenge of rebounding against such an athletic front line:
"We've got to rebound the ball better, there is no doubt about that. We've got to block out better. We got tougher and blocked out better in the second half but it wasn't nearly good enough in the first half against Butler and we knew that. If you don't make first contact, that's a problem. Well in this game if you don't make first contact, they will just jump over you and that's something this team hasn't seen yet. Guys in this program have seen it, but this team hasn't seen that. They haven't gone up against that, so that's huge right there in itself. Much like the other night, we have to get guard rebounds"
On the importance of frontcourt play from IU's standpoint:
"I think the other night that we were able to play Tom (Pritchard) and Cody (Zeller) together was good. I don't think there is any question that is something that could happen more down the road. I think it's more of see how the game is going, feel it out. It's not going to be a game for the faint-hearted underneath the basket. You are going to have to make contact and Tommy is a fierce competitor and aggressive. He'll rebound, he's not afraid to get hit, he's not afraid to hit first. I would expect his personality and his senior experience to help us in this game."
On the difference in this road test compared to Evansville:
"I don't think we will have 2,000 people from Washington, Indiana at this. It will be different but it's good. The Big Ten is like that. This is a big test for us knowing that we will have another one in Conseco (Notre Dame on Dec. 17) where we will definitely be in a different area but we'll have Indiana fans before we go up to Michigan State (Dec. 28) and the Big Ten schedule we have. We are going to have to play. It's November. Let's go see where we stand and let's go in there knowing that the task is high. We have to have great concentration and focus. We want to go play and we want to play with confidence but there's got to be a lot of intelligence in this game because they (N.C. State) turn the turnovers into dunks and not every team can do that. When you are in this league they can, and this team is certainly no different."
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