Tom Crean
Overall: Hard to play at the level that MU has been playing at. Hard to maintain a top notch level. MU didn't keep that up all night, and got away from guarding the way they should for a while. Will take tomorrow off, and then get going again for South Florida.
On keeping intensity up though games: On Monday they talked about how they weren't beyond beating themselves yet. MU isn't there, and they can improve on rebounding, shot selection, etc. MU knows they're in the hunt, it's hard to sustain the intensity. Focus today was on not settling - wanted to to attack and see where they could take it. Players never played like game was in doubt, and MU showed maturity by showing they didn't think they were going to lose.
ON McNeal's day: Every player goes through a period when things aren't going great. Showed McNeal a highlight tape of himself today. Sometimes he can go too fast, but tonight he did a great job. Proud of him. The stat sheet for the whole team looks great. Didn't like giving up 52% in the second half though.
Assist / Turnovers: DJ only had 1 TO in last 75 minutes. Doing a great job. Jerel had 10 assists - great. Some TOs (at end) were too easy.
On Lott: Got some minutes for him, he works extremely hard. He's been phenomenal on the bench, practices hard every day. Glad to give him a chance to score.
On Hayward: asking a lot of him. From guarding a big in Kendall, to a short 3pt shooter. Need him to get to the backboards. When he gets subbed out, it's usually because he forgets that. Would have had a double digit points if he made his FTs.
On David: Wanted to play well. Had a former teammate on SHU.
Wouldn't be in a position to win 5 games in a row without all these guys playing together.