Crean wants IU to slow it down

Source: Herald-Times, Bloomington, Ind.迷你倉將軍澳Jan. 04--Indiana coach Tom Crean wants his team to play fast, because, as the group is currently constituted, it really has no choice.With one reliable post scorer in freshman Noah Vonleh and one consistent outside shooter who also happens to be the point guard in Yogi Ferrell, the Hoosiers don't have the weapons necessary for games played strictly in the half court. They do have speed and length and leaping ability, and all of that works well in transition, so they run whenever they can.But Indiana has also committed 63 turnovers in its past three games heading into today's 2 p.m. matchup with No. 5 Michigan State at Assembly Hall. That tells Crean that the Hoosiers need to take it down a notch. It doesn't mean he wants them to morph into Wisconsin, but it does mean they need to be less out-of-control.The Hoosiers play at the 13th fastest tempo in the country, averaging 73.2 possessions per game, according to KenPom.com. They also turn the ball over on 22.1 percent of their possessions. Just 26 of the 351 teams in Division I give it away more. There is something of a connection there."Some of our decisions are very indecisive," Crean said. "Some (of our turnovers) are trying to make plays that aren't there. Some are going too fast."Said freshman guard Stanford Robinson: "He's talking about the home run plays, we're trying to make too many of those. The simple play, the slow-down play is what he's talking about. As simple as we can be and stop trying to make home-run plays and let those just happen."Whether it's in transition or in the half court, the Hoosiers are trying to skip steps to score, driving into traffic or trying to force the ball into windows that either close quickly or were never open to begin with. Sometimes they don't process whether their teammate is truly ready to catch a pass or consider how to get a defender to move before throwing the ball in his direction."You can't cheat the fundamentals of the game," Crean said. "A lot of times for players, they just want to skip. They want to skip from A to D knowing that B and C are as important as anything you do to get to that point."So Crean wants the Hoosiers to pull back a bit, even while still pushing the pace."It needs to slow down a little bit," Crean said. "Let's trust our secondary sometimes a little bit more than we trust our initial pass on the break. Or, let's get the ball reversed two or three times. Those things take some time. I can't tell you when it's going to click. It does, but it just takes time to get to that."It would help if it clicked faster. The Hoosiers (10-4) have already suffered a Big Ten defeat and their schedule doesn't get any easier in the coming weeks. The Spartans (12-1, 1-0 in the Big Ten) held the No. 1 spot in the nat倉on for most of November, and they've won five straight games since stumbling against North Carolina on Dec. 4. They're coming off a 79-63 win over Penn State in their Big Ten opener."They've got one of the best teams in the country," Crean said. "I think they are playing better than they were even at the beginning when they were No. 1. ... They're very similar to where we were a year ago."That's certainly true in the sense that they have arguably the most talented roster in the conference, including two possible NBA Draft lottery picks and even more eventual pros.Sophomore guard Gary Harris, the former Hamilton Southeastern star and 2012 Indiana Mr. Basketball, isn't quite as efficient as he was a year ago when he was Big Ten Freshman of the Year. He is still leading the squad with 17.4 points per game, even though he's only shooting 40.3 percent from the field and 31.2 percent from beyond the 3-point arc.Senior point guard Keith Appling is putting up the best numbers of his career with 15.8 points and 4.8 assists per game. Junior forward Branden Dawson is second in the Big Ten in rebounds with 9.3 per game, to go with 11.1 points per game. Sophomore guard Denzel Valentine has earned a starting role and is doing a little of everything with 7.5 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game.Senior center Adreian Payne, meanwhile, might be the Spartans' best pro prospect. The 6-foot-10, 245-pounder has 17.0 points and 8.1 rebounds per game, and he's stepped out to hit 16 of 35 3-point attempts."There's so many players on the court that can play," Crean said. "They're rarely putting anybody out there who can't make shots. So I think that helps, because you can't build your defense around stopping (Payne), because then they're going to carve you up with threes. You can't go out and pressure, because then they're going to go around you."Which is why it's best not to turn over the ball to them.MICHIGAN STATE (12-1, 1-1 in the Big Ten)P No. Name Ht. Cl. Av.F 22 Branden Dawson 6-6 Jr. 11.1F 5 Adreian Payne 6-10 Sr. 17.0G 11 Keith Appling 6-1 Sr. 15.8G 14 Gary Harris 6-4 So. 17.4G 45 Denzel Valentine 6-5 So. 7.5INDIANA (10-3)P No. Name Ht. Cl. Av.F 0 Will Sheehey 6-7 Sr. 10.7F 5 Troy Williams 6-7 Fr. 7.9F 1 Noah Vonleh 6-10 Fr. 12.3G 11 Yogi Ferrell 6-0 So. 17.7G 33 Jeremy Hollowell 6-8 So. 8.0COACHES: Tom Izzo, 451-179 in 19th season at Michigan State; Tom Crean, 94-86 in 6th season at Indiana, 284-182 in 15th season overall;WHEN: 2 p.m. today.WHERE: Assembly HallSERIES: Indiana leads, 68-48.LAST MEETING: Indiana won 72-68 on Feb. 19, 2013 in East LansingBROADCASTS: CBS; WHCC 105.1 FM.Copyright: ___ (c)2014 the Herald-Times (Bloomington, Ind.) Visit the Herald-Times (Bloomington, Ind.) at .heraldtimesonline.com Distributed by MCT Information Services24小時迷你倉