ROSEMONT | When asked to comment on the "bumps and bruises" his team endured during the 2008-09 basketball season, Indiana coach Tom Crean quickly corrected his questioner.

"We had body parts removed," Crean joked during Thursday's Big Ten basketball media day. "We were in cement boots trying to catch up."

His first Hoosiers team never really did gain ground on the other 10 conference squads. Forced to deal with fallout from the brief, but ill-fated coaching stint of Kelvin Sampson and an exodus of several players, Crean watched Indiana win just six times overall last winter and only once in Big Ten play.

"We couldn't compete on the rebounds," Crean said. "We didn't run well enough to get easy baskets in transition, and we certainly didn't defend well enough to create enough scoring opportunities off turnovers."

"I think it was very tough last year," sophomore guard Verdell Jones III said. "When you're used to winning (in high school), it was real hard.

"Indiana has such a great history and fame behind the name, and it's been tainted the past few years. It's really hurt the fans. I think the Hoosier fans were supportive of our situation, but I think probably 95 percent of them were skeptical about what was going to happen."

As a new season arrives, the outlook has brightened somewhat in Bloomington. While Indiana's success level in 2009-10 isn't likely to conjure up memories of past glory years, there is reason for hope.

Nine letterwinners return to the roster, and their ranks will be bolstered by two freshmen -- Maurice Creek and Christian Watford -- who were rated among the top 45 players nationally in the Class of 2009 by two highly respected scouting services. The Hoosiers will also benefit from another season under Crean, whose last seven Marquette teams all won at least 19 games.

"I think Tom Crean did an excellent job trying to re-energize the team," Illinois coach Bruce Weber said. "I think they'll take a step forward, but how big a step depends on the league."

Indeed, Indiana will be attempting to gain its footing in a conference that is particularly deep in talent this season. As Penn State coach Ed DeChellis stated, "You could be an 8-10 team in this league this year and be very good."

Crean won't venture a guess as to how the Hoosiers might fare statistically -- "I wouldn't do a numerical goal with what I thought was a Final Four team; I'm certainly not going to do one with what we're dealing with," he said -- but he doesn't hesitate to say there'll be improvement.

"We're going to be better," he said. "I don't think there's any question about that. We'll focus on what we can do in the sense of getting better competitively and sustaining all the things that have to be sustained for a team to grow and make progress."

"Hopefully, we'll shock a lot of people this year," Jones said. "When you see you're picked (to finish) 11th in the Big Ten, I think that's great motivation."

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