Indiana University Athletics
DiPRIMIO: Woodson Era Starts with This -- Are You Ready To Compete?
5/27/2021 11:03:00 AM | Men's Basketball
By: Pete DiPrimio
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Mike Woodson didn't come to Indiana to concede -- not basketball games and certainly not talent.
He will go after the best, and if that means recruiting today's starters to be tomorrow's reserves, so be it.
"I know a lot of players think, 'Are you going to recruit over me or on top of me?'" Woodson says via this week's Zoom press conference ability. "I can't tell a kid that I'm not going to recruit on top of him. I'm going to try to recruit the best talent available that fits what I'm trying to do.
"I think competition, and if you're any kind of competitor, that's how you get better as a ball club and as an individual player.
"I've never ran away from competition. I just wanted to play and try to make myself known. Those are the kinds of kids I'm trying to recruit here."
Woodson made himself known as a great player, a tough player, a player who did what needed to be done. That was from 1977-80, when in 104 games as a Hoosier he averaged 19.8 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists, earned All-America status and a Big Ten MVP award.
Then he went on to play and coach in the NBA.
Now Woodson is coaching the Hoosiers. He's six months away the first game, a couple of weeks away from working with his players.
Developing this team is a top priority, but not the only one. Woodson wants to win now, and in the future, and strategies and systems will only take you so far.
"I'm trying to sit at the (recruiting) table with some of the top players," he says.
Recruiting in the age of the transfer portal adds a unique twist, especially for a guy who has never coached in college, but Woodson did recruit in the NBA, and if it came with a free-agency label, the approach was the same.
"You try to go get the best players that fit what you are trying to do," he says. "With the portal, you don't know from year to year who is going to stay and who is going to leave.
"You've got to touch every position when you're talking about building your basketball team. I'm going to talk to some of the top point guards in the country, some of the top 2s and 3 wing guys, and some of the top 4s and 5s in the country. That's important when you're trying to build your program based on the portal."
Woodson hit the transfer portal to land Northwestern 6-7 swingman Miller Kopp, Pitt point guard Xavier Johnson and South Florida 7-footer Michael Durr. He added five-star high school prospect Tamar Bates, convinced forward Trayce Jackson-Davis to stay rather than enter the NBA draft and, in short, won the spring perception race.
Now it's about putting it all together into a championship-level team. Doing so requires a multi-faceted approach, but for those who watched IU struggle in recent years, shooting is a top priority, especially from the free-throw line and three-point arc.
Consider the 3-point shot, crucial in today's game.
"I like everybody to be able to make the threes," Woodson says. "I think Michael (Durr), the big center, can make threes.
"Miller was a guy that we had to address, because I think he can play 2 (shooting guard), 3 (small forward), and 4 (power forward) at his size. He possesses a weapon in being able to shoot the long ball.
"Tamar Bates has shown he can make it, but now you've got to show me you can make it at the next level.
"Xavier is more of a streaky guy. He is more in between the three-point line, and I didn't bring him in as a knock-down three."
Returning guards Rob Phinisee, Trey Galloway, Khristian Lander and Anthony Leal have shown 3-point-shooting potential, as has Pitt/Tennessee-Martin transfer Parker Stewart. Even forward Race Thompson has had flashes Woodson wants to tap.
"I'm still searching in the future for guys that can make the long ball," he says. "We are going to work with Thompson because he's going to have an opportunity to step out and be in that position to make shots.
"It's the same with Galloway. Phinisee is streaky in his shooting, but these are things we'll work on. We are going to have to put the time in on the floor in terms of shooting.
"Even from a free throw standpoint, because they just weren't a great free throw shooting team. All those areas have got to be cleaned up if you're talking about competing big time in the Big Ten."
Woodson is certainly talking it.
"My biggest hurdle is how quickly can they pick it up," he says. "You don't know until you start practicing."
What will a Woodson-coached Indiana team look like?
For starters, think fast and furious.
"I'm going to try to play open offensively, and give a lot of players the latitude to do things with the basketball until they prove me wrong.
"Defensively, we are going to try to be a hard-ass defense team where we get after people and get stops and then rebound and have fun offensively. That's my mindset going in."
When it comes to defense, Woodson has some major keys -- individual pride, team cohesiveness, protect the paint and harass the perimeter. Forget the pack-line defensive concept under former coach Archie Miller -- this is about effort and vision and, yes, a little bit of Bob Knight (remember that "hard-ass" quote).
"I've got to get players to have pride in guarding the ball and not beg for help," he says. "That's where it starts.
"Then you put a system in place where if there is a break down, you have help, and that helper has to have help and then the next man has to have help, so it becomes a team defense."
This is, in essence, five playing as one, and when it works, every shot is contested, and sometimes there isn't even a shot courtesy of the always-coach-pleasing shot-clock violation.
"Great defensive teams work as a unit," Woodson says. "Everybody is on a string, and when that ball goes up, everybody is responsible for rebounding so you can do what you do the other way."
In other words, push the transition pace.
"There are a lot of pieces to put in because I'm very picky when it comes to defending," Woodson says. "It all goes hand in hand. Great defensive teams protect the paint and get out to shooters. It's all about effort and putting forth the will to defend. It ain't going to be perfect."
What is Woodson like as a teacher? For one, he plans for break downs because they always happen.
"I've learned over the years there is this thing called what ifs. If I say I want you to send the ball this way and it gets sent the other way, what are you going to do? You going to quit on the play? Next guy in line, in position to help you, is he going to help you stop the ball?"
There's strategy and then there's motivation. Every great coach has a knack for getting his players to play to their potential and, at times, just a little bit more.
"As a coach I kind of think out of the box when you're dealing with players," Woodson says. "Knight thought out of the box when he worked with me here, and when we didn't do what was asked of us, he made it a point to make sure we got back in the box and did what we had to do."
This is old-school coaching with a 21st Century, NBA-refined twist.
And if it works, when it works, look out.
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Mike Woodson didn't come to Indiana to concede -- not basketball games and certainly not talent.
He will go after the best, and if that means recruiting today's starters to be tomorrow's reserves, so be it.
"I know a lot of players think, 'Are you going to recruit over me or on top of me?'" Woodson says via this week's Zoom press conference ability. "I can't tell a kid that I'm not going to recruit on top of him. I'm going to try to recruit the best talent available that fits what I'm trying to do.
"I think competition, and if you're any kind of competitor, that's how you get better as a ball club and as an individual player.
"I've never ran away from competition. I just wanted to play and try to make myself known. Those are the kinds of kids I'm trying to recruit here."
Woodson made himself known as a great player, a tough player, a player who did what needed to be done. That was from 1977-80, when in 104 games as a Hoosier he averaged 19.8 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists, earned All-America status and a Big Ten MVP award.
Then he went on to play and coach in the NBA.
Now Woodson is coaching the Hoosiers. He's six months away the first game, a couple of weeks away from working with his players.
Developing this team is a top priority, but not the only one. Woodson wants to win now, and in the future, and strategies and systems will only take you so far.
"I'm trying to sit at the (recruiting) table with some of the top players," he says.
Recruiting in the age of the transfer portal adds a unique twist, especially for a guy who has never coached in college, but Woodson did recruit in the NBA, and if it came with a free-agency label, the approach was the same.
"You try to go get the best players that fit what you are trying to do," he says. "With the portal, you don't know from year to year who is going to stay and who is going to leave.
"You've got to touch every position when you're talking about building your basketball team. I'm going to talk to some of the top point guards in the country, some of the top 2s and 3 wing guys, and some of the top 4s and 5s in the country. That's important when you're trying to build your program based on the portal."
Woodson hit the transfer portal to land Northwestern 6-7 swingman Miller Kopp, Pitt point guard Xavier Johnson and South Florida 7-footer Michael Durr. He added five-star high school prospect Tamar Bates, convinced forward Trayce Jackson-Davis to stay rather than enter the NBA draft and, in short, won the spring perception race.
Now it's about putting it all together into a championship-level team. Doing so requires a multi-faceted approach, but for those who watched IU struggle in recent years, shooting is a top priority, especially from the free-throw line and three-point arc.
Consider the 3-point shot, crucial in today's game.
"I like everybody to be able to make the threes," Woodson says. "I think Michael (Durr), the big center, can make threes.
"Miller was a guy that we had to address, because I think he can play 2 (shooting guard), 3 (small forward), and 4 (power forward) at his size. He possesses a weapon in being able to shoot the long ball.
"Tamar Bates has shown he can make it, but now you've got to show me you can make it at the next level.
"Xavier is more of a streaky guy. He is more in between the three-point line, and I didn't bring him in as a knock-down three."
Returning guards Rob Phinisee, Trey Galloway, Khristian Lander and Anthony Leal have shown 3-point-shooting potential, as has Pitt/Tennessee-Martin transfer Parker Stewart. Even forward Race Thompson has had flashes Woodson wants to tap.
"I'm still searching in the future for guys that can make the long ball," he says. "We are going to work with Thompson because he's going to have an opportunity to step out and be in that position to make shots.
"It's the same with Galloway. Phinisee is streaky in his shooting, but these are things we'll work on. We are going to have to put the time in on the floor in terms of shooting.
"Even from a free throw standpoint, because they just weren't a great free throw shooting team. All those areas have got to be cleaned up if you're talking about competing big time in the Big Ten."
Woodson is certainly talking it.
"My biggest hurdle is how quickly can they pick it up," he says. "You don't know until you start practicing."
What will a Woodson-coached Indiana team look like?
For starters, think fast and furious.
"I'm going to try to play open offensively, and give a lot of players the latitude to do things with the basketball until they prove me wrong.
"Defensively, we are going to try to be a hard-ass defense team where we get after people and get stops and then rebound and have fun offensively. That's my mindset going in."
When it comes to defense, Woodson has some major keys -- individual pride, team cohesiveness, protect the paint and harass the perimeter. Forget the pack-line defensive concept under former coach Archie Miller -- this is about effort and vision and, yes, a little bit of Bob Knight (remember that "hard-ass" quote).
"I've got to get players to have pride in guarding the ball and not beg for help," he says. "That's where it starts.
"Then you put a system in place where if there is a break down, you have help, and that helper has to have help and then the next man has to have help, so it becomes a team defense."
This is, in essence, five playing as one, and when it works, every shot is contested, and sometimes there isn't even a shot courtesy of the always-coach-pleasing shot-clock violation.
"Great defensive teams work as a unit," Woodson says. "Everybody is on a string, and when that ball goes up, everybody is responsible for rebounding so you can do what you do the other way."
In other words, push the transition pace.
"There are a lot of pieces to put in because I'm very picky when it comes to defending," Woodson says. "It all goes hand in hand. Great defensive teams protect the paint and get out to shooters. It's all about effort and putting forth the will to defend. It ain't going to be perfect."
What is Woodson like as a teacher? For one, he plans for break downs because they always happen.
"I've learned over the years there is this thing called what ifs. If I say I want you to send the ball this way and it gets sent the other way, what are you going to do? You going to quit on the play? Next guy in line, in position to help you, is he going to help you stop the ball?"
There's strategy and then there's motivation. Every great coach has a knack for getting his players to play to their potential and, at times, just a little bit more.
"As a coach I kind of think out of the box when you're dealing with players," Woodson says. "Knight thought out of the box when he worked with me here, and when we didn't do what was asked of us, he made it a point to make sure we got back in the box and did what we had to do."
This is old-school coaching with a 21st Century, NBA-refined twist.
And if it works, when it works, look out.
Players Mentioned
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