Indiana University Athletics
#IUBB Media Availability - Nov. 16
11/16/2021 3:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Below is a full transcript of the Zoom press conference with Indiana head men's basketball coach Mike Woodson on Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2021.
Head Coach Mike Woodson
Q. On getting Parker Stewart and Miller Kopp out of their offensive funks…
WOODSON: It's not nothing new. They've got to put more time in the gym, which they've been doing, shooting the ball.
Our offensive flow has just got to be -- they've had good looks. They just haven't knocked the shots down. A lot of that is you got to show them some love and get them some confidence and run some plays for them, a few plays for them to get them going.
But, again, I'm not going to go overboard or overreact about it. At the end of the day, they have shown that they can make shots in practice. I think Miller was pretty good in the Bahamas. Until he got hurt, he made shots. And Parker has made shots, you know. And I just got to get them comfortable in what we're doing and feel good about when they let the ball go, they know it's going in the hole.
That's kind of on me a little bit. But those two guys got to continue to put the time in the gym, which they have been doing, and shooting the basketball and hopefully it will come around for them.
Q. On the unique style of St. John's…
WOODSON: You have teams that's going to press, you have teams that's going to play half court zone, you see a little bit of everything in college basketball.
And our guys, we've been working all year on pressing. We've just got to hope when they throw it on us, our guys are comfortable in making the reads and getting the ball out of the double teams and getting the ball up the floor to try to create a scoring opportunity.
But it's a part of college basketball. You can't run from it. And, sure, we've been working against half court zone. I'm not a big zone guy myself, personally, but I have some of my assistant coaches work with the second unit in zone situations and guys with the first unit and we try to create the atmosphere where we are getting trapped and going against certain types of defenses.
It's going to be an interesting game to see where we are. I'm kind of anxious just to get to the game to see how we're going to fare against their traps and getting the ball up the floor and doing what we do.
Q. On the point guard position…
WOODSON: I'm happy with the makeup of our point guards. I haven't played Khristian Lander very much, but I thought when he came in the other night, he was ready to play. And that's all you can ask for from a coaching standpoint.
But I think Rob Phinisee and Xavier Johnson are kind of holding it down a little bit in terms of how we want to play. Rob has been kind of a stabilizer for us when he comes in the game, while X is starting to find his groove a little bit. The last game he played really well for us and made all the right plays that we needed him to make as a point guard.
But again, we haven't witnessed this kind of pressure. Like I said, I'm kind of anxious to see where we are to see how our guards and just our players in general react to pressure.
Q. On potentially playing New York City/Madison Square Garden…
WOODSON: I spoke with my Knick family about possibly here in the future bringing the game to -- I would love to do that. I think I owe that to Jim Dolan and that Knick organization.
Our team has gone to New York a few times. We were out there for the NIT when I was here. I know coach has taken the team out a number of times as well when he was coaching here.
But it would be nice for our ball club to go back east and play in New York. So only time will tell. We've just got to put something together and make it happen.
Q. On Race Thompson…
WOODSON: I think if his minutes go up a little bit more, I think all his numbers will expand. I'm really at a good place with him right now and how he's playing.
His leadership on the defensive side of the ball has been really, really good for our ball club because he's kind of directing traffic and helping guys who probably have struggled a little bit in the defensive system. He's kind of been like the mouthpiece and the centerpiece in terms of getting guys where they need to be.
But I like how he's been playing though. He's done a lot of nice things. Unfortunately, in the first game he got into foul trouble, and I had to pull him. But this last game, he was solid again.
We're going to need it from he and Trayce Jackson-Davis as we navigate through this season, man, because they're two big pieces to the puzzle.
Q. On having the full team healthy…
WOODSON: It's been very competitive, chippy. Everybody wants to play, and I get that. We can't play everybody. Although the other night, we were able to get everyone in the game because of the blowout. I thought everybody stepped up and played well when they got in the game.
That's kind of how practice has been. Guys have been very competitive and going at each other. It's kind of nice to see. It keeps everybody on their toes in terms of who's going to play and who's not going to play.
Tomorrow's game will be interesting to just see where we are as a ball club and see how we handle their pressure.
Q. On the tempo of the St. John's game…
WOODSON: My thing is when teams press, I convert back to when I was in college. When teams pressed us, man, that was an open-door season for to get up and down the floor and play.
We used to lick our chops back in the day when we got pressed or teams played half court zone against us because we kind of liked it.
I'm telling our guys, hell, you get pressed, you've got to make them may on the other end for pressing. So, it might cause us to speed up and play a little more up tempo, but that's okay. It's a part of it. I don't want to break the press and just play half court. If we've got an opportunity to go score the ball, that's what I want us to do.
Q. On Xavier Johnson becoming more consistent…
WOODSON: I think he's making some nice strides. The point guard position is a tough position for me because I'm just so demanding on them doing the right things to help all the other pieces that go along with your team.
And he's learning, man. I don't think he's ever been asked to do a lot of the things that I'm asking him to do. And that's a part of being a good point guard. You need good point guard play in college basketball to be effective, I think.
And if I can keep Rob and Khristian on board and doing the things that they need to do when they play with Xavier kind of leading the charge with that first unit, then I think we'll be in positions to win ball games.
Q. On Jordan Geronimo…
WOODSON: We're going to see. I'm not scared to play any team in college basketball, and I'm not scared to play my guys.
So, you can always put them in, and you can always pull them when they're not doing what they are asked to do. But Geronimo is going to be in that second unit when I sub him in the game. And it's going to be interesting just to see how he responds.
Listen, he's getting an opportunity to play and he's very excited and upbeat about that. I have faith in him. We just -- only time will tell. Just got to wait and see how he responds.
MODERATOR: All right. Coach, thank you.
WOODSON: All right, guys. Take care. See you tomorrow.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
Head Coach Mike Woodson
Q. On getting Parker Stewart and Miller Kopp out of their offensive funks…
WOODSON: It's not nothing new. They've got to put more time in the gym, which they've been doing, shooting the ball.
Our offensive flow has just got to be -- they've had good looks. They just haven't knocked the shots down. A lot of that is you got to show them some love and get them some confidence and run some plays for them, a few plays for them to get them going.
But, again, I'm not going to go overboard or overreact about it. At the end of the day, they have shown that they can make shots in practice. I think Miller was pretty good in the Bahamas. Until he got hurt, he made shots. And Parker has made shots, you know. And I just got to get them comfortable in what we're doing and feel good about when they let the ball go, they know it's going in the hole.
That's kind of on me a little bit. But those two guys got to continue to put the time in the gym, which they have been doing, and shooting the basketball and hopefully it will come around for them.
Q. On the unique style of St. John's…
WOODSON: You have teams that's going to press, you have teams that's going to play half court zone, you see a little bit of everything in college basketball.
And our guys, we've been working all year on pressing. We've just got to hope when they throw it on us, our guys are comfortable in making the reads and getting the ball out of the double teams and getting the ball up the floor to try to create a scoring opportunity.
But it's a part of college basketball. You can't run from it. And, sure, we've been working against half court zone. I'm not a big zone guy myself, personally, but I have some of my assistant coaches work with the second unit in zone situations and guys with the first unit and we try to create the atmosphere where we are getting trapped and going against certain types of defenses.
It's going to be an interesting game to see where we are. I'm kind of anxious just to get to the game to see how we're going to fare against their traps and getting the ball up the floor and doing what we do.
Q. On the point guard position…
WOODSON: I'm happy with the makeup of our point guards. I haven't played Khristian Lander very much, but I thought when he came in the other night, he was ready to play. And that's all you can ask for from a coaching standpoint.
But I think Rob Phinisee and Xavier Johnson are kind of holding it down a little bit in terms of how we want to play. Rob has been kind of a stabilizer for us when he comes in the game, while X is starting to find his groove a little bit. The last game he played really well for us and made all the right plays that we needed him to make as a point guard.
But again, we haven't witnessed this kind of pressure. Like I said, I'm kind of anxious to see where we are to see how our guards and just our players in general react to pressure.
Q. On potentially playing New York City/Madison Square Garden…
WOODSON: I spoke with my Knick family about possibly here in the future bringing the game to -- I would love to do that. I think I owe that to Jim Dolan and that Knick organization.
Our team has gone to New York a few times. We were out there for the NIT when I was here. I know coach has taken the team out a number of times as well when he was coaching here.
But it would be nice for our ball club to go back east and play in New York. So only time will tell. We've just got to put something together and make it happen.
Q. On Race Thompson…
WOODSON: I think if his minutes go up a little bit more, I think all his numbers will expand. I'm really at a good place with him right now and how he's playing.
His leadership on the defensive side of the ball has been really, really good for our ball club because he's kind of directing traffic and helping guys who probably have struggled a little bit in the defensive system. He's kind of been like the mouthpiece and the centerpiece in terms of getting guys where they need to be.
But I like how he's been playing though. He's done a lot of nice things. Unfortunately, in the first game he got into foul trouble, and I had to pull him. But this last game, he was solid again.
We're going to need it from he and Trayce Jackson-Davis as we navigate through this season, man, because they're two big pieces to the puzzle.
Q. On having the full team healthy…
WOODSON: It's been very competitive, chippy. Everybody wants to play, and I get that. We can't play everybody. Although the other night, we were able to get everyone in the game because of the blowout. I thought everybody stepped up and played well when they got in the game.
That's kind of how practice has been. Guys have been very competitive and going at each other. It's kind of nice to see. It keeps everybody on their toes in terms of who's going to play and who's not going to play.
Tomorrow's game will be interesting to just see where we are as a ball club and see how we handle their pressure.
Q. On the tempo of the St. John's game…
WOODSON: My thing is when teams press, I convert back to when I was in college. When teams pressed us, man, that was an open-door season for to get up and down the floor and play.
We used to lick our chops back in the day when we got pressed or teams played half court zone against us because we kind of liked it.
I'm telling our guys, hell, you get pressed, you've got to make them may on the other end for pressing. So, it might cause us to speed up and play a little more up tempo, but that's okay. It's a part of it. I don't want to break the press and just play half court. If we've got an opportunity to go score the ball, that's what I want us to do.
Q. On Xavier Johnson becoming more consistent…
WOODSON: I think he's making some nice strides. The point guard position is a tough position for me because I'm just so demanding on them doing the right things to help all the other pieces that go along with your team.
And he's learning, man. I don't think he's ever been asked to do a lot of the things that I'm asking him to do. And that's a part of being a good point guard. You need good point guard play in college basketball to be effective, I think.
And if I can keep Rob and Khristian on board and doing the things that they need to do when they play with Xavier kind of leading the charge with that first unit, then I think we'll be in positions to win ball games.
Q. On Jordan Geronimo…
WOODSON: We're going to see. I'm not scared to play any team in college basketball, and I'm not scared to play my guys.
So, you can always put them in, and you can always pull them when they're not doing what they are asked to do. But Geronimo is going to be in that second unit when I sub him in the game. And it's going to be interesting just to see how he responds.
Listen, he's getting an opportunity to play and he's very excited and upbeat about that. I have faith in him. We just -- only time will tell. Just got to wait and see how he responds.
MODERATOR: All right. Coach, thank you.
WOODSON: All right, guys. Take care. See you tomorrow.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
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