In the team's press conference Friday night previewing their game Saturday night against North Florida, but IU Coach Tom Crean and his players addressed the lack of leadership on the court in the second half against No. 4 Syracuse Tuesday night in IU's 69-52 loss at the Carrier Dome.
But more importantly, Crean said that his players didn't need much reminding on what went wrong Tuesday. This week, after returning from New York, they've refocused and said they're ready for a North Florida team that plays very deep into their lineup - they play 11 players in their rotation. The Ospreys also are scoring more than 70 points a game and have faced tough competition thus far this season in losses to Florida, Ohio State and Alabama.
Here's what Crean and IU players senior guard Evan Gordon and freshman forward Troy Williams had to say:
Crean on moving past the loss to Syracuse:
"I think we've had a few days where we're going to completely focus on getting better completely focus on improvement and I think that's what we've done...We've had a couple good days to prepare for this game...We've just got to completely stay locked into what our improvement is like."
Crean on what North Florida does well:
"They run a lot of pick and rolls. They run a lot of screening actions. The biggest thing to me is guarding the dribble on the defensive end because they isolate very well...They've got good balance with their scoring, and they really offensive rebound."
Crean on preparing a young team to face the Ospreys:
"This will be a great experience for these guys of really grasping that there are a lot of concepts we've got to be attached to...It's very important we understand spacing. It's very important that we know the shooters."
Williams on what the Hoosiers need to do to shutdown North Florida:
"They're a highly talented team. They get a lot of threes up. They've got one of the leading 3-point shooters on their team, so we're just looking to close out on their shooters and have a good game and that starts on defense."
Gordon on his impression of the Ospreys from watching game tape:
"They're a fast paced team. They get it out on the break if you score on them or if they get it in transition, so we've got to work on getting back and setting our defense."
