Video, Quotes: IU players react to win over Nicholls State

  • 12/20/2013 9:35 pm in

Jeremy Hollowell (14 points), Yogi Ferrell (16 points, eight assists and three rebounds) and Will Sheehey (14 points) met with the media following Indiana’s 79-66 win over Nicholls State on Friday at Assembly Hall.

Watch their postgame comments in the media player below:

A full transcript is available after the jump.

Yogi, in the second half you guys started to kind of pull away a little bit. Talk about that.

Yogi Ferrell: I felt like we did a good job of getting the ball out quick when they scored and just pushing the ball and finding different outlet. We just kind of flowed really, didn’t want to run too many sets, we just kind of wanted to move the ball, play inside out really.

What took so long to get the team going?

Will Sheehey: Well, we’re playing faster. We’ll correct the turnovers. 20 is obviously too high for our team, but we’re playing a different pace. We’ve been practicing at a different pace, so we’ll get it fixed.

Talk about the full court pressure.

Will Sheehey: Yeah, we haven’t really worked at it too much. We’re going to continue to work on it in practice, get it to somewhere we can use time and time again. Yeah, it’s going to be a part of our game, we’re just going to continue to work on it.

Was there a sense that you needed to do something when hit your two threes to put Nicholls State away?

Will Sheehey: Yeah, there’s always points in the game where you can kind it pick it out and see where you can pick and choose, where you can really open the game up. Yogi made a great play on one of them, found me, and when he gets in the lane and makes plays for everybody else, it’s pretty easy to play.

What worked with the press?

Jeremy Hollowell: We were trying to just basically take time off the shot clock for them. I know we got one shot clock violation due to our pressure on the ball. We just want to get after people. We don’t want to let other people set the pace. We want to set the pace for the game, so getting up in them and getting to the ball is something that we’re going to work on and maybe look more to do.

Was this a game where you tried to break out of the usual mold of this year’s team?

Jeremy Hollowell: Yeah, we mixed it up defensively. We tried to get off the press. Played a lot of guys, so we were just trying to really get up and get after them, go to exhaustion, play as hard as you can and get a sub in and just continue to pressure the ball. We knew they ran a lot of motion, a lot of cuts, so we were switching and things like that.

Was it tough to get a flow for the game when you have so many people playing?

Will Sheehey: No, not really. We have 18 guys for a reason. Those guys need to come in and play as hard as they can and give certain guys breaks and whatnot. No, I don’t think so. I think that the 18 guys on the team just have to be ready to come out any time because obviously they have a chance to play.

Was it part of the game plan to have so many people play tonight?

Will Sheehey: Not necessarily, but everyone has to be ready to play. I mean, the reason why you’re on the team is to play in the game. I think that everyone is pretty much ready to play, I thought. Guys come in, play hard, play on defense first and then their offense will come.

Talk about the turnovers.

Will Sheehey: We’ll be fine with the turnovers. We’ll cut them down.

Talk about staying with Nicholls State’s cut and motion.

Jeremy Hollowell: Well, we were in a defense where we had Noah helping out down low so we were really trying to pressure the ball and take away the back press like you said, they ran a lot of motion, a lot of cuts. But it’s the same thing we’ve been doing, switching out. We can use that to our advantage with our team and our length, doing the same thing, really.

What are some of key points you want to accomplish heading into the break?

Yogi Ferrell: Well, we definitely want to go out pretty strong really this week, and then have a couple days of practice and see what we need to work on and get ready for a tough conference to play in.

What do you like about the group and what does the team need to work on as you head into Big Ten season?

Will Sheehey: Well, this is the most I’ve played. Everyone has got to know their limits. Everyone has got to really find out what their role is on the team. I like that we can play so many guys. Obviously we played a lot tonight. I like our versatility, as well. You know, we need to work on being more disciplined, and we will.

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