Indiana University Athletics
Postgame Quotes: Indiana vs. Louisiana
11/21/2021 10:29:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Postgame Quotes
Indiana vs. Louisiana
Nov. 21, 2021
MIKE WOODSON | INDIANA HEAD COACH
Q. Talk about the defense holding teams to 20 points and under in the first half…
WOODSON: Well, again, I got to give the players all the credit. They were paying attention to details, especially when we're game prepping for our opponents and they're going out and executing, so it's kind of nice to see from a coaching standpoint.
Q. How important is it that you've got bigs that you can trust to switch onto smaller guys…
WOODSON: Well, again, our defense, we don't switch a whole lot with our bigs. We let four and fives switch, but fours and fives have a responsibility from a defensive standpoint, and then our guards that are on the ball have a responsibility. And those responsibilities have been executed pretty well, I think, from a pick and roll standpoint. Our pick and roll defense has been pretty good because our bigs are active and able to be up, and we are demanding our guards get into the ball and take onus on guarding the ball. It kind of goes hand in hand.
Q. Coach, why do you think your offense was so feast or famine today…
WOODSON: It's a lot of running that's got to take place tomorrow. But at the end of the day, this is something we haven't been accustomed to doing and I'm a little disappointed about that. Our point guards had eight between them, and Geronimo is doing things that he shouldn't be doing with the ball. So those are things that we can clean up, but overall I think it was a total team effort. Everybody that was thrown in the game tonight was ready to play. That's important when you trying to build winning ways.
Q. What are your thoughts about how Khristian Lander handled his opportunity tonight..
WOODSON: It was perfect. Again, I've always said next man up. Yeah, he hasn't played a lot, but he was ready to play. I thought he gave us some positive minutes, did a lot of good things on the floor on both end of the floor. We just got to get him running our ball club a little bit better and taking pride in not turning the ball over.
Q. Talk about how Parker Stewart played tonight…
WOODSON: Well, again, I saw that game -- I saw Parker in one of our exhibition games shoot it like that. I know he's capable. I've seen him in practice do it as well. You know, he was ready to shoot tonight, which was -- wasn't no hesitation. He caught it and let it go. As we move down the road he's going to have to do that for us, along with Miller and guys who do get wide open looks. They got to feel good about it and knock them down.
Q. On Michael Durr's play tonight…
WOODSON: Again, I thought he played well tonight. I really did. He missed some chippies around the bucket, but Mike is big body, and for us, we need Mike to rebound, plug the hole up, and then when he gets it down there, make plays. That's what he's been capable doing in the past, and, yes we got to get him in better shape. I think for the most part he played about 15, 16 minutes tonight. I thought he played some positive minutes. I really did. Just got rebound better for us.
Q. Was off-ball movement a focus in practice this week…
WOODSON: No, I think but they're capable of doing that. They've done some things like that in practice. You know, that group, that second unit was really good tonight in terms of the pace and how we want to play. But, again, it's good to play with great pace, but you can't turn the ball over. You got to get shots. That's the beauty about running your offense. You run the offense to get good shots, not give it back to them where now you got to go play defense.
Q. important is that depth for you guys to make a deep run like you want to…
WOODSON: Again, guys, we're just taking it one game at a time. We got a long way to go. I like the progress of our ball club because I think guys are committed individually and they're a ball team, and that's important when you're trying to build winning ways.
Q. What is the process of watching film after a game like this...
WOODSON: Well that's all a part of coaching and playing basketball. I mean, films are wonderful tools to learn. You know, sometimes players can't see it on the court when they out there playing and dribbling and running up and down. But film gives a tool that when things are not right, you can always show it. The beauty about the film is it don't lie. It points right to what you are trying to get across to the player, good or bad. So we'll break this tape down, and if I got to go turnover by turnover, they going to see it and know about it.
Q. What was the focus at halftime…
WOODSON: Well, again, you got a big lead like that, you hold a team to, what was it, 14 points? You know, I just tell guys at halftime, Man, listen, we been in this position a few times where we didn't come out and play like we got the lead. So I'm always hammering that into them at halftime. You just got to do the things that got you the lead, and the defensive end was the reason you were in the position you were in. So you got to stay solid in that area. I thought we were pretty good the second half for the most part.
KHRISTIAN LANDER | INDIANA GUARD
Q. How have you been handling just the transformation with Coach Woodson…
LANDER: I feel like whenever my time is, whenever I'm called upon, I feel like I'm going to be ready at any time.
Q. Talk about the strength in the defense…
LANDER: Yeah, for sure. I feel like we value defense really heavily. Tonight we had 27 turnovers, so that's pretty unacceptable. We definitely need to get better on the offensive end.
Q. How have you held your own on defense…
LANDER: I just feel like I've gotten stronger, gotten I think a little bit faster, so I just feel like especially going against Rob and X, they're pretty fast and strong guards, so I feel like going against them every day has helped a whole lot.
Q. How do you think you're a better player than a year ago…
LANDER: I just think I matured a whole lot in all aspects, to be honest. Defensively I've gotten stronger. Gotten my footwork a whole lot better. Taking different angles and stuff like that. Offensively I just feel like he's given us the freedom to do what we do, so the offense is free flowing. So I feel like I know how to play basketball, so I feel like if I play off my teammates and we play together, then everything is going to come together.
Q. On the comfort of play this season compared to last season…
LANDER: Yeah, like I said, coach, he definitely just let us play. It's like a free flowing offense, let us make our own decisions. He believes in us and he thinks we all know how to play basketball and make our own decisions, so he just let's us play, and that's pretty much the key to our offense really.
Q. On finding confidence in the offseason…
LANDER: I just think it's a whole lot more positivity around me this year, a lot more teammates, coaches encouraging me, just people around me in general that's encouraging me. So I feel like that's just bringing me up more, and then the work that I put in is paying off.
BOB MARLIN | LOUISIANA HEAD COACH
Opening Statement…
MARLIN: We didn't play very well. We should have given Indiana a better game. Our guys felt like we were ready, but we weren't. we didn't make shots. We played hard but we weren't efficient. It just got out of hand early and kind of snowballed from there and we missed a lot of point-blank shots that we should have been making. I think our guys got frustrated a little bit. But give Indiana credit. They had a good game plan, and they played extremely well."
Q. On the struggle of making early shots…
MARLIN: Those are shots we would make and I thought we short armed a couple. They had a couple bloc shoots early in the game. I think we tied actually in blocked shots. They got after us early and kind of got ahead a little bit. And we haven't played in front of a crowd like this either, so it was a different environment for our guys. But Indiana's defense was outstanding."
Q. On playing in front of the fans…
MARLIN: It was fun. They were looking forward to it. We got everyone in in the first half and played a lot of people. They were excited for this opportunity."
Q. On expectations for the second half…
MARLIN: Our goal was to win the second half. So we came out and tried to chip away and I thought we were going to get it under twenty. Got a good look at a three and missed it. We changed defenses and got a couple of turnovers. We did force 27 turnovers. I'd like to think our defense had a little bit to do with that. But we threw it away with some of those. But we couldn't get back in it. We didn't make enough shots and our top four guys went eight for forty. Twenty percent, that's what we wound up shooting as a team tonight. We lost the three-point game by twenty four. We missed ten free throws. We've got to play better on the offensive end
Indiana vs. Louisiana
Nov. 21, 2021
MIKE WOODSON | INDIANA HEAD COACH
Q. Talk about the defense holding teams to 20 points and under in the first half…
WOODSON: Well, again, I got to give the players all the credit. They were paying attention to details, especially when we're game prepping for our opponents and they're going out and executing, so it's kind of nice to see from a coaching standpoint.
Q. How important is it that you've got bigs that you can trust to switch onto smaller guys…
WOODSON: Well, again, our defense, we don't switch a whole lot with our bigs. We let four and fives switch, but fours and fives have a responsibility from a defensive standpoint, and then our guards that are on the ball have a responsibility. And those responsibilities have been executed pretty well, I think, from a pick and roll standpoint. Our pick and roll defense has been pretty good because our bigs are active and able to be up, and we are demanding our guards get into the ball and take onus on guarding the ball. It kind of goes hand in hand.
Q. Coach, why do you think your offense was so feast or famine today…
WOODSON: It's a lot of running that's got to take place tomorrow. But at the end of the day, this is something we haven't been accustomed to doing and I'm a little disappointed about that. Our point guards had eight between them, and Geronimo is doing things that he shouldn't be doing with the ball. So those are things that we can clean up, but overall I think it was a total team effort. Everybody that was thrown in the game tonight was ready to play. That's important when you trying to build winning ways.
Q. What are your thoughts about how Khristian Lander handled his opportunity tonight..
WOODSON: It was perfect. Again, I've always said next man up. Yeah, he hasn't played a lot, but he was ready to play. I thought he gave us some positive minutes, did a lot of good things on the floor on both end of the floor. We just got to get him running our ball club a little bit better and taking pride in not turning the ball over.
Q. Talk about how Parker Stewart played tonight…
WOODSON: Well, again, I saw that game -- I saw Parker in one of our exhibition games shoot it like that. I know he's capable. I've seen him in practice do it as well. You know, he was ready to shoot tonight, which was -- wasn't no hesitation. He caught it and let it go. As we move down the road he's going to have to do that for us, along with Miller and guys who do get wide open looks. They got to feel good about it and knock them down.
Q. On Michael Durr's play tonight…
WOODSON: Again, I thought he played well tonight. I really did. He missed some chippies around the bucket, but Mike is big body, and for us, we need Mike to rebound, plug the hole up, and then when he gets it down there, make plays. That's what he's been capable doing in the past, and, yes we got to get him in better shape. I think for the most part he played about 15, 16 minutes tonight. I thought he played some positive minutes. I really did. Just got rebound better for us.
Q. Was off-ball movement a focus in practice this week…
WOODSON: No, I think but they're capable of doing that. They've done some things like that in practice. You know, that group, that second unit was really good tonight in terms of the pace and how we want to play. But, again, it's good to play with great pace, but you can't turn the ball over. You got to get shots. That's the beauty about running your offense. You run the offense to get good shots, not give it back to them where now you got to go play defense.
Q. important is that depth for you guys to make a deep run like you want to…
WOODSON: Again, guys, we're just taking it one game at a time. We got a long way to go. I like the progress of our ball club because I think guys are committed individually and they're a ball team, and that's important when you're trying to build winning ways.
Q. What is the process of watching film after a game like this...
WOODSON: Well that's all a part of coaching and playing basketball. I mean, films are wonderful tools to learn. You know, sometimes players can't see it on the court when they out there playing and dribbling and running up and down. But film gives a tool that when things are not right, you can always show it. The beauty about the film is it don't lie. It points right to what you are trying to get across to the player, good or bad. So we'll break this tape down, and if I got to go turnover by turnover, they going to see it and know about it.
Q. What was the focus at halftime…
WOODSON: Well, again, you got a big lead like that, you hold a team to, what was it, 14 points? You know, I just tell guys at halftime, Man, listen, we been in this position a few times where we didn't come out and play like we got the lead. So I'm always hammering that into them at halftime. You just got to do the things that got you the lead, and the defensive end was the reason you were in the position you were in. So you got to stay solid in that area. I thought we were pretty good the second half for the most part.
KHRISTIAN LANDER | INDIANA GUARD
Q. How have you been handling just the transformation with Coach Woodson…
LANDER: I feel like whenever my time is, whenever I'm called upon, I feel like I'm going to be ready at any time.
Q. Talk about the strength in the defense…
LANDER: Yeah, for sure. I feel like we value defense really heavily. Tonight we had 27 turnovers, so that's pretty unacceptable. We definitely need to get better on the offensive end.
Q. How have you held your own on defense…
LANDER: I just feel like I've gotten stronger, gotten I think a little bit faster, so I just feel like especially going against Rob and X, they're pretty fast and strong guards, so I feel like going against them every day has helped a whole lot.
Q. How do you think you're a better player than a year ago…
LANDER: I just think I matured a whole lot in all aspects, to be honest. Defensively I've gotten stronger. Gotten my footwork a whole lot better. Taking different angles and stuff like that. Offensively I just feel like he's given us the freedom to do what we do, so the offense is free flowing. So I feel like I know how to play basketball, so I feel like if I play off my teammates and we play together, then everything is going to come together.
Q. On the comfort of play this season compared to last season…
LANDER: Yeah, like I said, coach, he definitely just let us play. It's like a free flowing offense, let us make our own decisions. He believes in us and he thinks we all know how to play basketball and make our own decisions, so he just let's us play, and that's pretty much the key to our offense really.
Q. On finding confidence in the offseason…
LANDER: I just think it's a whole lot more positivity around me this year, a lot more teammates, coaches encouraging me, just people around me in general that's encouraging me. So I feel like that's just bringing me up more, and then the work that I put in is paying off.
BOB MARLIN | LOUISIANA HEAD COACH
Opening Statement…
MARLIN: We didn't play very well. We should have given Indiana a better game. Our guys felt like we were ready, but we weren't. we didn't make shots. We played hard but we weren't efficient. It just got out of hand early and kind of snowballed from there and we missed a lot of point-blank shots that we should have been making. I think our guys got frustrated a little bit. But give Indiana credit. They had a good game plan, and they played extremely well."
Q. On the struggle of making early shots…
MARLIN: Those are shots we would make and I thought we short armed a couple. They had a couple bloc shoots early in the game. I think we tied actually in blocked shots. They got after us early and kind of got ahead a little bit. And we haven't played in front of a crowd like this either, so it was a different environment for our guys. But Indiana's defense was outstanding."
Q. On playing in front of the fans…
MARLIN: It was fun. They were looking forward to it. We got everyone in in the first half and played a lot of people. They were excited for this opportunity."
Q. On expectations for the second half…
MARLIN: Our goal was to win the second half. So we came out and tried to chip away and I thought we were going to get it under twenty. Got a good look at a three and missed it. We changed defenses and got a couple of turnovers. We did force 27 turnovers. I'd like to think our defense had a little bit to do with that. But we threw it away with some of those. But we couldn't get back in it. We didn't make enough shots and our top four guys went eight for forty. Twenty percent, that's what we wound up shooting as a team tonight. We lost the three-point game by twenty four. We missed ten free throws. We've got to play better on the offensive end
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