Hoosiers scrap past Illinois for key win
By CHRIS GOFF
ISL Editor
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Tom Crean doesn’t care about winning ugly when it comes to how his Hoosiers look on the basketball court. He doesn’t care if viewers shield their eyes or if things get messy over the course of a 40-minute affair in the Big Ten, just that his players are on the right side of the scoreboard when the horn sounds. That’s why he and his team were so pleased with Sunday afternoon’s 56-46 win over Illinois. Playing after a tantalizing 71-66 defeat at No. 3 Michigan State, trudging toward the midway point of an 18-game conference schedule, Crean’s bunch stayed in the postseason hunt by fighting through a contest short on aesthetics.
“When you’ve got two teams trying to win as bad as they both were today, it’s not going to be pretty,” Crean said. “It’s just not.”
That attitude trickles down.
Crean recruits talented kids with hype, expectations and a healthy amount of ego, but his gift as a coach is motivating these players to embrace a program Crean is fond of referring to as “blue-collar.” Indiana plays hard every time out and Crean finds the right players for his system — ones willing to do dirty work along with all of the more romantic aspects of the sport.
One of those skilled buy-ins is freshman Stanford Robinson, the kid who wasn’t even in the rotation for the first month of the season. Robinson has been a recent revelation for Crean and the Hoosiers, as proven again by the fact that he gathered 10 points and five rebounds in Sunday’s win. Robinson has fully adopted Crean’s mentality.
“We all ride up on that defensive edge,” Robinson said. “That’s what I see, and that’s what I like doing. I take pride in guarding my man and when I bring energy on the court. When we get that defensive edge, it’s kind of hard for us to lose. I honestly think my role is just to lock up, play defense.”
Robinson’s ability to create his own shot is key, but his self-image is right in line with the agenda Crean sets in his locker room. The latest game was another example of that thinking paying off. Each side was missing shots, each was hungry for a win, but the Hoosiers did just enough to squeeze one out.
“Games like this exponentially raise their confidence level,” Crean said. “I’m not big on that phrase ‘winning ugly’ because I think when you’re in as good a league as this, any win is a big win. I thought our guys took the disappointment from Tuesday night from a game we all felt we could win and transferred that into some great energy and work the last couple of days to get ready for what we knew would be a desperate team, and we played with that same level of desperation.”
The Hoosiers know they have a lot of work left to do to make the NCAA tournament but continue to adhere to Crean’s message of daily improvement.
“We just have to go out there and give it our all,” Yogi Ferrell said. “I think we’re doing a great job of forming our identity. We’ve got to have a defensive mindset.”
From the very beginning of the season, Crean sold his players on hustle, grit and determination as keys, and singled out rebounding as the tangible embodiment of those traits. He praised his team on Sunday for rising to the challenge posed by an Illinois team that hits the glass hard at all five positions. The Hoosiers rolled to a 42-28 rebounding advantage, limiting the Illini to just four offensive boards.
“We concentrate a lot on blocking our man out,” Austin Etherington said. “When we hit a guy, we preach to go get the ball after you do it. It’s just something we preach on defensively, not give up second-chance points, and it seems to be working for us.”
For his part, Crean stays positive and expresses continued belief in this particular team despite ups and downs. He hears people question his lineups and Indiana’s youth or personnel. Crean believes he is instilling toughness — both mental and physical — in this group.
“Bottom line: The players are improving, and with a lot more room for improvement,” Crean said. “So we’re working hard at it. We’re working hard at our defense. They’re gaining more confidence because of it. As long as we continue to really strive to be better fundamentally, I think along the way we’ll be able to steal some games here and there. It’s a long season. Our program is always going to be about improvement level.”
Follow Chris Goff on Twitter: chrisgoff_ISL.
