Every week, the Big Ten coaches do a conference call discussing their past games, next opponents and the league as a whole. Some highlight from Monday's call:
Indiana's coach Tom Crean on the Hoosiers' two losses last week: "I think the intensity is good, but I think the urgency and awareness is not where it needs to be. I think it's sometimes a matter of getting through screens, getting out of rotations, being in the right position. There's a lot of little thing that go into it … and (Sunday) we started out by not blocking very well. … It's not one glaring area, it's a lot of little areas that need to be shored up."
Iowa coach Fran McCaffery on whether he can tell before games whether he'll get the good team or the struggling one: "I think you have a sense more so when you're going to play well than when you're going to play not so well. I feel like over the years that's something I've been able to more honestly assess. And even then, it doesn't always happen, but it usually does if I have that feeling. I really felt like we were going to play well against Michigan. I think it would stand to reason – we had played so poorly against the previous two teams. But I thought we showed great maturity and refocusing for the Michigan game."
Illinois' Bruce Weber on Brandon Paul's 43-point game: "I don't think there's any doubt – he's shown flashes of that since he's been here, since high school, since we recruited him. His problem has been consistency, probably shot selection and just a sense of urgency. He'll have five minute bursts in practice where he dominates and he just doesn't do it consistently. His first game as a freshman in Assembly Hall I think he hit five threes in the first half and the next game hit I think three or four. And then he went cold for not just days or games, but for weeks. So it's just getting that maturity and that consistency and that drive to do it every game. He has the talent and ability, He's one of our best defenders – he can do a lot of things and he has the potential. Now, 43 points, that's only happened once in the last 20 years, so it's still a special night."
Purdue's Matt Painter on preparing for teams. "You see the up and down of each team in this league and you could say the same thing about us. If you put in one film you're think we're great, if you put in another film, you'd think we're not so great."
Michigan State's Tom Izzo on the Michigan/Michigan State rivalry (the two teams play Tuesday night): "Anytime you've got two teams in the same state that are 50, 60 miles from each other, you've got extra incentive, extra rivalry but at the end of the day you've got to make sure you keep that intact a little bit more in basketball compared to football because you've got to play the game, make shots and do the things you've got to do, you don't just get to hit somebody. The rivalry is important, definitely it means more and yet I think keeping it intact in incredibly important in this game."