Indiana University Athletics
#IUBB Media Availability – Dec. 15
12/15/2023 10:45:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Below is a full transcript of the Zoom press conference with Indiana head coach Mike Woodson on Friday, Dec. 15, 2023.
Mike Woodson
Q. On George McInnis…
WOODSON: Well, I've known him almost 50 years. He impacted my life from a young man growing up in Indianapolis as a basketball player, gave me an opportunity to play at an early age against him when he was a Pacer in the ABA days. It was just special for me.
I mean, we stayed in contact all these years. I played against him once I was fortunate enough to play in the NBA. His friendship has held true all these years.
It's a tremendous loss. I mean, anytime you lose somebody like that, I mean, he was bigger than life, man. Just a beautiful person. Forget all the accolades. Hell, he was a better person than all the accolades that he received over the years. I mean, he was just special. So, he's going to be missed.
Q. On the focus points in practice after a tough loss…
WOODSON: When you experience a game like that, only thing you can do is go back and go to work. You practice to try to get better. Only time will tell.
I don't know where we are until we tip it up tomorrow at 12:30. We'll see where we are. I mean, we come back to practice and we work, we work. That's the only way you going to get better.
Hopefully our work this week will pay off and we'll see where we are.
Q. On Xavier Johnson…
WOODSON: Well, it's been tough for him. I mean, you go back-to-back years where you're not playing basketball. We went into this season expecting him to be on the floor. He's not there, so...
I know it's tough on him. It's tough on us. But we got to keep marching along based on who we got in uniform until he gets back. When that is, I don't know yet. I just don't.
Q. On Kel'el Ware…
WOODSON: Playing fantastic. The difference is he's playing hard. He's learning how to play harder. That cures a lot of problems. He's a talented, young, big man. A lot of room for growth. He's just got to keep working, to play harder, and to get better.
Q. On the defensive improvement needed…
WOODSON: Play harder, fight. That's the name of the game. I thought we came out, established ourselves in the last game. But to give up 104 points is unacceptable. That's something that hadn't happened since I've been here. The Syracuse game, a couple of overtime games, the point production kind of out of our character. We normally fight and try to hold teams in the 60s. To give up a hundred points, you're not going to beat anybody in college basketball doing that.
We had to come back and go to work, emphasize defense along with the offense. Now we got to see where it leads us.
Q. On the team's response in practice this week…
WOODSON: We've had a decent week of work. Always room for improvement, gentlemen. Only time will tell.
Q. On Hunter Dickinson…
WOODSON: Well, he's a big man that's very solid, can score down low, can shoot the three, causes a threat for a lot of the big guys that go against him.
We played him at Michigan I think four times. He had the one big explosion here the first time we played him. But I thought we played him pretty well from that point on.
But he's having another great season. He's one of their top leading scorers. I think he's their leading rebounder. I mean, he's a handful. Somebody we're going to have to deal with tomorrow.
Q. On high-profile home games…
WOODSON: We just work. That's all we do. You practice to get better. You emphasize you can't lose at home. That's what's important. If you talking about winning the Big Ten title, you have to win your games at home, figure it out on the road. When teams come in here, this is our home court. We got to try to hold court tomorrow against a great coached team, talented team.
Q. On using Michigan film to prep for Dickinson…
WOODSON: Well, he's not changed as a player. You got to prepare for him the same way. He can make threes and he's great on the low block. I mean, nothing's changed. He's taken his act to Kansas and he's having a stellar season so far.
Q. On the 3-point shooting…
WOODSON: Guys, I'm going to say this to you for the last time. We take enough threes. We just got to make what we take. We work defensively to defend the three. We've had some struggles in that area. Hopefully tomorrow we will fix that - hopefully. It's all you can do.
I don't predict games or anything like that. You got to go into the game and you got to put up a 40-minute ballgame to beat a great team.
Q. On guys stepping up due to injuries…
WOODSON: Again, you're dealing with young... Gabe is still a freshman trying to figure it out. He gives us all he can give us. I'm very pleased with the way he's played for us. But we got to get other guys stepping up and playing. It's just that simple. When you do that, you put yourself in position to win basketball games.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sport
Mike Woodson
Q. On George McInnis…
WOODSON: Well, I've known him almost 50 years. He impacted my life from a young man growing up in Indianapolis as a basketball player, gave me an opportunity to play at an early age against him when he was a Pacer in the ABA days. It was just special for me.
I mean, we stayed in contact all these years. I played against him once I was fortunate enough to play in the NBA. His friendship has held true all these years.
It's a tremendous loss. I mean, anytime you lose somebody like that, I mean, he was bigger than life, man. Just a beautiful person. Forget all the accolades. Hell, he was a better person than all the accolades that he received over the years. I mean, he was just special. So, he's going to be missed.
Q. On the focus points in practice after a tough loss…
WOODSON: When you experience a game like that, only thing you can do is go back and go to work. You practice to try to get better. Only time will tell.
I don't know where we are until we tip it up tomorrow at 12:30. We'll see where we are. I mean, we come back to practice and we work, we work. That's the only way you going to get better.
Hopefully our work this week will pay off and we'll see where we are.
Q. On Xavier Johnson…
WOODSON: Well, it's been tough for him. I mean, you go back-to-back years where you're not playing basketball. We went into this season expecting him to be on the floor. He's not there, so...
I know it's tough on him. It's tough on us. But we got to keep marching along based on who we got in uniform until he gets back. When that is, I don't know yet. I just don't.
Q. On Kel'el Ware…
WOODSON: Playing fantastic. The difference is he's playing hard. He's learning how to play harder. That cures a lot of problems. He's a talented, young, big man. A lot of room for growth. He's just got to keep working, to play harder, and to get better.
Q. On the defensive improvement needed…
WOODSON: Play harder, fight. That's the name of the game. I thought we came out, established ourselves in the last game. But to give up 104 points is unacceptable. That's something that hadn't happened since I've been here. The Syracuse game, a couple of overtime games, the point production kind of out of our character. We normally fight and try to hold teams in the 60s. To give up a hundred points, you're not going to beat anybody in college basketball doing that.
We had to come back and go to work, emphasize defense along with the offense. Now we got to see where it leads us.
Q. On the team's response in practice this week…
WOODSON: We've had a decent week of work. Always room for improvement, gentlemen. Only time will tell.
Q. On Hunter Dickinson…
WOODSON: Well, he's a big man that's very solid, can score down low, can shoot the three, causes a threat for a lot of the big guys that go against him.
We played him at Michigan I think four times. He had the one big explosion here the first time we played him. But I thought we played him pretty well from that point on.
But he's having another great season. He's one of their top leading scorers. I think he's their leading rebounder. I mean, he's a handful. Somebody we're going to have to deal with tomorrow.
Q. On high-profile home games…
WOODSON: We just work. That's all we do. You practice to get better. You emphasize you can't lose at home. That's what's important. If you talking about winning the Big Ten title, you have to win your games at home, figure it out on the road. When teams come in here, this is our home court. We got to try to hold court tomorrow against a great coached team, talented team.
Q. On using Michigan film to prep for Dickinson…
WOODSON: Well, he's not changed as a player. You got to prepare for him the same way. He can make threes and he's great on the low block. I mean, nothing's changed. He's taken his act to Kansas and he's having a stellar season so far.
Q. On the 3-point shooting…
WOODSON: Guys, I'm going to say this to you for the last time. We take enough threes. We just got to make what we take. We work defensively to defend the three. We've had some struggles in that area. Hopefully tomorrow we will fix that - hopefully. It's all you can do.
I don't predict games or anything like that. You got to go into the game and you got to put up a 40-minute ballgame to beat a great team.
Q. On guys stepping up due to injuries…
WOODSON: Again, you're dealing with young... Gabe is still a freshman trying to figure it out. He gives us all he can give us. I'm very pleased with the way he's played for us. But we got to get other guys stepping up and playing. It's just that simple. When you do that, you put yourself in position to win basketball games.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sport
Players Mentioned
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