Friday, November 12
Bloomington, Ind.
7:00 PM
Indiana University
vs
Northern Illinois
Hoosiers Aim to be Better Against Northern Illinois
11/12/2021 1:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
By Pete DiPrimio
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Mike Woodson won't lose perspective.
Amid all the good feelings of his return to his Cream 'n Crimson roots, after getting a victory in his college coaching debut, even if it went from blowout to cliffhanger faster than a Trayce Jackson-Davis block-to-dunk sprint, he understands one over-riding coaching truth:
It's not about him.
"This team allowed me to go into the NBA and have a successful career," he says. "Now I'm back. It's a special time for me.
"But this is not about me. It's about the 17 guys who are wearing this uniform. We're trying to get them back on top and teach them how to win games."
Woodson was taught by one of college basketball's all-time best, Bob Knight, and the result was a Big Ten championship, a conference MVP award, All-America recognition, and a lot more.
"I played here many, many years ago," he says. "Those were good times. I'm trying to get this team to where it was back in the day. That would be nice."
Now comes a Friday night game against Northern Illinois (1-0), and the hope is that the lessons from beating Eastern Michigan 68-62, specifically in what went right in building a 21-point, second-half lead and then what went wrong in blowing 20 of those points.
"It started on defense," senior forward Race Thompson says. "We were up by 20 and got comfortable. We can't do that. They hit a couple of shots. We had to step it up. When we get the lead, we have to keep going."
The key for Woodson is always -- always -- defense.
"If we can build a defensive foundation," he says, "we'll be in every game and give ourselves a chance to win.
Indiana rocked Eastern Michigan hard in the first half, holding it to 19 points and contesting everything.
That made a big impression on Eagles coach Stan Heath.
"Mike is going to do a fantastic job here. He is already putting his stamp on the program. We couldn't even score in the first eight minutes, so defensively you are seeing what those guys can do."
Offensively, IU had moments against Eastern Michigan where you could see what Woodson envisions, an offense that flows smoothly from inside to out, where everybody is a threat to score, and opponents' mistakes quickly become Hoosier points.
"When it did hop," Woodson says, "it looked pretty good."
The catalyst remains forward Trayce Jackson-Davis. Get him the ball and either he scores or sets up teammates to score.
"Trayce is going to get double-teamed," Woodson says. "We know that.
"When the ball comes out of there on the first pass, that shot (a three-pointer) is a lot of times open."
It was open on Tuesday night, but the Hoosiers only made four of 24 perimeter attempts. The solution, Woodson says, is not take fewer, but to work harder to make more.
"We've got to keep shooting them because that's part of the game. We do have to play inside/out and get better ball movement. But that's on me. I've got to get them to that point.
"This team is learning. It's my job to make sure they know what the hell they're doing. We had a lot of dry moments offensively. We've got to go back to the drawing board and fix it."
Jackson-Davis' improved fitness meant he didn't need a second-half break, crucial given Eastern Michigan's big run.
"I think I played the whole second half," he says. "That's another thing with my conditioning, just being able to stay on the floor because my team needs me."
That was a halftime-point of emphasis from Woodson and assistant coach Kenya Hunter.
"In the first half, I was a bit stagnant, letting it come to me, not trying to take over," Jackson-Davis said.
"Coach Woody and Coach Hunter told me, you need to get it rolling. That's what I did. Especially down the stretch, I was looking for my teammates or get easy buckets. I saw Race twice, and he did what he had to do to get the necessary shots to score."
Xavier Johnson transferred from Pitt to make a big point-guard difference, and he did with 14 points, three assists and two rebounds. But a couple of early turnovers caused Woodson to briefly take him out of the game.
"Coach told me to stop being so cool with the ball," Johnson says. "That's what I did. I just played my game and went to work."
As for Northern Illinois, the Huskies are coming off a 71-64 upset victory at Washington Tuesday night.
Behind Trendon Hankerson's six three-pointers and 28 points, Northern Illinois built a 16-point halftime lead, and withstood a Washington rally before closing it out.
Northern Illinois, which also got 11 points from Anthony Crump, was picked to finish 12th in the 12-team Mid-American Conference, one spot behind Eastern Michigan. It has a new coach in Rashon Burno, a former Arizona State assistant coach, and a new approach that demands full Hoosier attention.
"We saw the upset," Thompson says. "It's not about that. It's about how we play and approach the game."
As you'd expect, it starts with defense.
"We have to lock in, keep playing defense," Thompson says. "Talk during team huddles. Preach to each other to keep it up."
As far as the offense, Thompson adds, "At times we did a good job, and it showed. At times we got a little bit slow. We have to speed up the pace. We weren't sprinting off the screens. We weren't going the speed we have to go. We'll be better at that on Friday."
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Mike Woodson won't lose perspective.
Amid all the good feelings of his return to his Cream 'n Crimson roots, after getting a victory in his college coaching debut, even if it went from blowout to cliffhanger faster than a Trayce Jackson-Davis block-to-dunk sprint, he understands one over-riding coaching truth:
It's not about him.
"This team allowed me to go into the NBA and have a successful career," he says. "Now I'm back. It's a special time for me.
"But this is not about me. It's about the 17 guys who are wearing this uniform. We're trying to get them back on top and teach them how to win games."
Woodson was taught by one of college basketball's all-time best, Bob Knight, and the result was a Big Ten championship, a conference MVP award, All-America recognition, and a lot more.
"I played here many, many years ago," he says. "Those were good times. I'm trying to get this team to where it was back in the day. That would be nice."
Now comes a Friday night game against Northern Illinois (1-0), and the hope is that the lessons from beating Eastern Michigan 68-62, specifically in what went right in building a 21-point, second-half lead and then what went wrong in blowing 20 of those points.
"It started on defense," senior forward Race Thompson says. "We were up by 20 and got comfortable. We can't do that. They hit a couple of shots. We had to step it up. When we get the lead, we have to keep going."
The key for Woodson is always -- always -- defense.
"If we can build a defensive foundation," he says, "we'll be in every game and give ourselves a chance to win.
Indiana rocked Eastern Michigan hard in the first half, holding it to 19 points and contesting everything.
That made a big impression on Eagles coach Stan Heath.
"Mike is going to do a fantastic job here. He is already putting his stamp on the program. We couldn't even score in the first eight minutes, so defensively you are seeing what those guys can do."
Offensively, IU had moments against Eastern Michigan where you could see what Woodson envisions, an offense that flows smoothly from inside to out, where everybody is a threat to score, and opponents' mistakes quickly become Hoosier points.
"When it did hop," Woodson says, "it looked pretty good."
The catalyst remains forward Trayce Jackson-Davis. Get him the ball and either he scores or sets up teammates to score.
"Trayce is going to get double-teamed," Woodson says. "We know that.
"When the ball comes out of there on the first pass, that shot (a three-pointer) is a lot of times open."
It was open on Tuesday night, but the Hoosiers only made four of 24 perimeter attempts. The solution, Woodson says, is not take fewer, but to work harder to make more.
"We've got to keep shooting them because that's part of the game. We do have to play inside/out and get better ball movement. But that's on me. I've got to get them to that point.
"This team is learning. It's my job to make sure they know what the hell they're doing. We had a lot of dry moments offensively. We've got to go back to the drawing board and fix it."
Jackson-Davis' improved fitness meant he didn't need a second-half break, crucial given Eastern Michigan's big run.
"I think I played the whole second half," he says. "That's another thing with my conditioning, just being able to stay on the floor because my team needs me."
That was a halftime-point of emphasis from Woodson and assistant coach Kenya Hunter.
"In the first half, I was a bit stagnant, letting it come to me, not trying to take over," Jackson-Davis said.
"Coach Woody and Coach Hunter told me, you need to get it rolling. That's what I did. Especially down the stretch, I was looking for my teammates or get easy buckets. I saw Race twice, and he did what he had to do to get the necessary shots to score."
Xavier Johnson transferred from Pitt to make a big point-guard difference, and he did with 14 points, three assists and two rebounds. But a couple of early turnovers caused Woodson to briefly take him out of the game.
"Coach told me to stop being so cool with the ball," Johnson says. "That's what I did. I just played my game and went to work."
As for Northern Illinois, the Huskies are coming off a 71-64 upset victory at Washington Tuesday night.
Behind Trendon Hankerson's six three-pointers and 28 points, Northern Illinois built a 16-point halftime lead, and withstood a Washington rally before closing it out.
Northern Illinois, which also got 11 points from Anthony Crump, was picked to finish 12th in the 12-team Mid-American Conference, one spot behind Eastern Michigan. It has a new coach in Rashon Burno, a former Arizona State assistant coach, and a new approach that demands full Hoosier attention.
"We saw the upset," Thompson says. "It's not about that. It's about how we play and approach the game."
As you'd expect, it starts with defense.
"We have to lock in, keep playing defense," Thompson says. "Talk during team huddles. Preach to each other to keep it up."
As far as the offense, Thompson adds, "At times we did a good job, and it showed. At times we got a little bit slow. We have to speed up the pace. We weren't sprinting off the screens. We weren't going the speed we have to go. We'll be better at that on Friday."
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