Indiana University Athletics
Postgame Quotes: Minnesota
12/9/2024 9:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Postgame Quotes
Indiana vs. Minnesota
Dec. 9, 2024
MIKE WOODSON | INDIANA HEAD COACH
Q. On how [Kanaan] Carlyle looked in the first game back…
WOODSON: "Well, he practiced yesterday for the first time, full practice, and said he felt good coming into today's game, so we played him."
Q. On where they're at going to a faster pace…
WOODSON: "Well, I mean, it's going to be bigs throughout the Big Ten games that we play, you know, when we got a chance to go small, we try to do that, too. I mean, we've done that every game that we've had this season so far. But, again, it's -- you gauge it based on how the game is going, you know, and who's in the game and if our small team is rolling, we just roll with them until we have to go sub because we feel like they might be a little tired and move to the big line-up. So, I mean, it's been good for us both ways, but, you know, I haven't weighed it out. I base it on match-ups and when we do have the small guys in, how they're playing as a unit."
Q. On if this is the glimpse he had for this team…
WOODSON: "Well, again, I thought we played great the first half. The ball moved. Then in the second half, we started really well, I thought, but we got to get some things fixed, too, because I thought we had some lapses where we just didn't play good offense. I thought there was some selfish play here and there and we threw the ball away. We didn't make some free throws. We got to build on this game but those are areas that we can fix and when you get a team down 15, 20 points, you got to remember how you got them down and continue to do the same things that got you the lead and I don't think we did that coming down the stretch."
Q. On rotating Carlyle and [Trey] Galloway…
WOODSON: "I went with Gallo because we'd been starting him and K-9 just came back and he didn't take it personal. He just came in and did his job and somebody's got to come off the bench. I can't start everybody and I don't know if that line-up will stay the same, but the bottom line is he did his job coming in to help us win our first Big Ten game, so we're going to need everybody, regardless of who starts to play at a high level when they play."
Q. On what you have seen from the defense on film…
WOODSON: "Well, again, when we're playing good defense, it's nice to watch film, but when things kind of go sour, there are miscues in terms of switching and somebody might get beat backdoor and shot goes up, you don't put a body on a guy and he gets an offensive rebound or he keeps the ball alive and then they score, things like that we have to clean up because, again, when you're playing in the Big Ten, going through this grind, man, those type of plays can beat you."
Q. On keeping [Bryson] Tucker going…
WOODSON: "Well, it's very important. When we recruited him, we thought he would be a big piece to the puzzle, and he is, and we just got to keep steering him in the right direction and pushing him to play at a high level, play harder and smarter and do the things that we need him to do on the floor and I thought tonight he came in and played a solid ball game and hopefully that will be a nice carryover into our next game against Nebraska."
Q. On defenses not stopping the mid-range game vs. three-point baskets…
WOODSON: "Well, I don't know. Again, the way the game is played, you know, I -- if you got guys that can make threes, I'm open for them taking them and we do have guys that can make them and we're probably not taking a lot more than most teams, but he is good in midrange and those count, too. Lay-ups and 15, 16-foot jump shots, they count as well if you make them, so the key the making them. So tonight, he was pretty good in that area, so I'll take it."
Q. On having Tucker come off the bench…
WOODSON: "Yeah, I mean, that's where -- he's not starting for us, he's coming off the bench and I thought he came off the bench and played extremely well and, you know, guys, somebody's got to come off the bench, so it's not who starts and who comes off the bench. It's the minutes that you got, it's what you do with the minutes that you get to help your team win and I've always believed that and if there's two minutes, then dammit, you better make it the best two minutes to help our ball club when. That's what it's all about. That's what team is about."
Q. On the progress with ball screens…
WOODSON: "Yeah, I mean, we've seen a little bit of everything in pick and roll this early season and some games we're pretty good at it. I thought tonight it didn't affect us a whole lot. I got to go back and look at the film, but I think there were times that we could have gotten rid of the ball earlier or quicker than we did and then that pass might lead to something good. I didn't think once we got it out of there, we were slow in terms of moving the ball once it came out two on the ball. That's just something we got to get better at and continue to learn."
KANAAN CARLYLE | SOPHOMORE GUARD & BRYSON TUCKER | FRESHMAN FORWARD
Q. On what worked off the bench…
CARLYLE: "Just taking my time. My teammates and my coaches threw a lot at me, just telling me to be more aggressive offensively and defensively, so just went out there and do whatever I can to win."
Q. On the defensive effort…
CARLYLE: "Every day we take pride in our defense. Woody preaches defense every single, so I knew when I came here my job us going to be to be that two-way player, so I take pride in that individually and my teammates all encourage me and they be up there with me, so it's easy for me to bring that energy when you got teammates behind you who bring the same energy."
Q. On getting motivated to play…
TUCKER: "Just kept talking to us, making sure he was in all of our heads, making sure we all had the same mindset going into each game and so I think it just instilled that in us and then we just kept going and just kept working and kept going and going and going, but we still have a long way to go, but we're going to get there for sure."
Q. On working back from injury…
CARLYLE: "I'm feeling good. It was just a rehab treatment, a lot of form shots, a lot of shooting just to get me confidence back, my jump shot back. It felt good to perform the way I did today and all the hard work paying off."
Q. On the ups and downs of being a freshman…
TUCKER: "I mean, I would say it's definitely a lot for my player, but after that game, I just had to keep my mind right and know that there's plenty of games to come, so if I have a bad game one game, I know I can change it. I know everything can change the next game. So, I just have to stay focused and keep my mind right and keep going."
Q. On being able to watch the defense from the bench and then come out to help the team…
CARLYLE: "I feel like when we're playing fast, when we're all sharing the rock and we all play together, it works magic. When we're all scoring the ball, when we all up playing defense and bring high energy, I don't think there's no team in the country that can beat us. When we do get comfortable, that's when stuff starts to fall off and that's when teams start to make their runs back, so we just got to make sure we put a good 40 minutes together where we play hard all 40 and not in spurts."
Q. On coming off the bench…
CARLYLE: No, I don't think it has nothing to do with the pressure, it's just reps and just getting back in the rhythm of playing, especially a new team and new environment, just getting comfortable again, but, yeah, I'm perfectly fine with coming off the bench. I want to win games, whether it's being the sixth man, eighth man, tenth man starting two guard, I don't care. As long as we win, I'm here to do my job, to play defense and provide what I can on offense. That's it.
Q. On what works when you're shooting well…
TUCKER: "I would say when all on the same page. Like today, we all came out and we were all on the same page. We knew the first Big Ten game we have to make a statement. I mean, yes, we definitely could have done better, but I think we did a good job just coming in and staying focused and working super hard. I think that's one thing we did stay focused on."
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
BEN JOHNSON | MINNESOTA HEAD COACH
Q: On what was said to the team postgame…
JOHNSON: "Yeah, we needed to have a little come to Jesus moment. You know, sometimes those habits of what it truly takes day in and day out, to be really good or just be competitive. You know, we need to have constant reminders of working to get to that. And we're at that stage right now where we have to figure out internally what our habits look like, and do those habits impact when it doesn't put us in a position to be competitive, and to try to win games in our league? Because, again, this league is unforgiving. Indiana projected to be second in the league. Michigan State was projected fifth. So, it's unforgiving, and you have to rise to the level of competition. And those guys need to understand there's a certain standard, but there's winning habits that you must have, and you have to do that every single day. You must build that every single day to have any chance to win games."
Q: On finding a consistent defensive effort…
JOHNSON: "We just talked about, just the effort that it takes every single possession. You can't take anything off. And I thought Indiana did a great job, especially early, dictating defensively. They had more energy. They had more fights. The game seemed like it meant a little bit more, for whatever reason. Then we were able to climb back, it was like 14-12 or 20-20, or maybe even 24-22, something like that. So, we showed glimpses, but you can't show glimpses at this level in this league. Glimpses will get you, what we got tonight. So we've got to figure that out again, with a new locker and a new team, a new roster… We've got to figure out the formula, and we've got to ingrain these guys with those winning habits."
Q: On the challenges of IU's front court…
JOHNSON: "I mean, obviously we knew going in, they were really good. They just got terrific size, and they played at their strengths. I thought they did a good job of making shots all the way around. It felt like we tried to, you know, claw back and got to 13-12, and then, boom, made a wide pin down. And it was just kind of that constant body blow, a body blow. And then they hit a haymaker, because they made a play that would prevent us from getting it to 12-11, or 10. But that's what good teams do. You know, I thought they had really good resolve, and again they made it tough for us to do some stuff offensive, we talked about physicality with something that they had to experience the guys that hadn't played in the Big Ten."
Indiana vs. Minnesota
Dec. 9, 2024
MIKE WOODSON | INDIANA HEAD COACH
Q. On how [Kanaan] Carlyle looked in the first game back…
WOODSON: "Well, he practiced yesterday for the first time, full practice, and said he felt good coming into today's game, so we played him."
Q. On where they're at going to a faster pace…
WOODSON: "Well, I mean, it's going to be bigs throughout the Big Ten games that we play, you know, when we got a chance to go small, we try to do that, too. I mean, we've done that every game that we've had this season so far. But, again, it's -- you gauge it based on how the game is going, you know, and who's in the game and if our small team is rolling, we just roll with them until we have to go sub because we feel like they might be a little tired and move to the big line-up. So, I mean, it's been good for us both ways, but, you know, I haven't weighed it out. I base it on match-ups and when we do have the small guys in, how they're playing as a unit."
Q. On if this is the glimpse he had for this team…
WOODSON: "Well, again, I thought we played great the first half. The ball moved. Then in the second half, we started really well, I thought, but we got to get some things fixed, too, because I thought we had some lapses where we just didn't play good offense. I thought there was some selfish play here and there and we threw the ball away. We didn't make some free throws. We got to build on this game but those are areas that we can fix and when you get a team down 15, 20 points, you got to remember how you got them down and continue to do the same things that got you the lead and I don't think we did that coming down the stretch."
Q. On rotating Carlyle and [Trey] Galloway…
WOODSON: "I went with Gallo because we'd been starting him and K-9 just came back and he didn't take it personal. He just came in and did his job and somebody's got to come off the bench. I can't start everybody and I don't know if that line-up will stay the same, but the bottom line is he did his job coming in to help us win our first Big Ten game, so we're going to need everybody, regardless of who starts to play at a high level when they play."
Q. On what you have seen from the defense on film…
WOODSON: "Well, again, when we're playing good defense, it's nice to watch film, but when things kind of go sour, there are miscues in terms of switching and somebody might get beat backdoor and shot goes up, you don't put a body on a guy and he gets an offensive rebound or he keeps the ball alive and then they score, things like that we have to clean up because, again, when you're playing in the Big Ten, going through this grind, man, those type of plays can beat you."
Q. On keeping [Bryson] Tucker going…
WOODSON: "Well, it's very important. When we recruited him, we thought he would be a big piece to the puzzle, and he is, and we just got to keep steering him in the right direction and pushing him to play at a high level, play harder and smarter and do the things that we need him to do on the floor and I thought tonight he came in and played a solid ball game and hopefully that will be a nice carryover into our next game against Nebraska."
Q. On defenses not stopping the mid-range game vs. three-point baskets…
WOODSON: "Well, I don't know. Again, the way the game is played, you know, I -- if you got guys that can make threes, I'm open for them taking them and we do have guys that can make them and we're probably not taking a lot more than most teams, but he is good in midrange and those count, too. Lay-ups and 15, 16-foot jump shots, they count as well if you make them, so the key the making them. So tonight, he was pretty good in that area, so I'll take it."
Q. On having Tucker come off the bench…
WOODSON: "Yeah, I mean, that's where -- he's not starting for us, he's coming off the bench and I thought he came off the bench and played extremely well and, you know, guys, somebody's got to come off the bench, so it's not who starts and who comes off the bench. It's the minutes that you got, it's what you do with the minutes that you get to help your team win and I've always believed that and if there's two minutes, then dammit, you better make it the best two minutes to help our ball club when. That's what it's all about. That's what team is about."
Q. On the progress with ball screens…
WOODSON: "Yeah, I mean, we've seen a little bit of everything in pick and roll this early season and some games we're pretty good at it. I thought tonight it didn't affect us a whole lot. I got to go back and look at the film, but I think there were times that we could have gotten rid of the ball earlier or quicker than we did and then that pass might lead to something good. I didn't think once we got it out of there, we were slow in terms of moving the ball once it came out two on the ball. That's just something we got to get better at and continue to learn."
KANAAN CARLYLE | SOPHOMORE GUARD & BRYSON TUCKER | FRESHMAN FORWARD
Q. On what worked off the bench…
CARLYLE: "Just taking my time. My teammates and my coaches threw a lot at me, just telling me to be more aggressive offensively and defensively, so just went out there and do whatever I can to win."
Q. On the defensive effort…
CARLYLE: "Every day we take pride in our defense. Woody preaches defense every single, so I knew when I came here my job us going to be to be that two-way player, so I take pride in that individually and my teammates all encourage me and they be up there with me, so it's easy for me to bring that energy when you got teammates behind you who bring the same energy."
Q. On getting motivated to play…
TUCKER: "Just kept talking to us, making sure he was in all of our heads, making sure we all had the same mindset going into each game and so I think it just instilled that in us and then we just kept going and just kept working and kept going and going and going, but we still have a long way to go, but we're going to get there for sure."
Q. On working back from injury…
CARLYLE: "I'm feeling good. It was just a rehab treatment, a lot of form shots, a lot of shooting just to get me confidence back, my jump shot back. It felt good to perform the way I did today and all the hard work paying off."
Q. On the ups and downs of being a freshman…
TUCKER: "I mean, I would say it's definitely a lot for my player, but after that game, I just had to keep my mind right and know that there's plenty of games to come, so if I have a bad game one game, I know I can change it. I know everything can change the next game. So, I just have to stay focused and keep my mind right and keep going."
Q. On being able to watch the defense from the bench and then come out to help the team…
CARLYLE: "I feel like when we're playing fast, when we're all sharing the rock and we all play together, it works magic. When we're all scoring the ball, when we all up playing defense and bring high energy, I don't think there's no team in the country that can beat us. When we do get comfortable, that's when stuff starts to fall off and that's when teams start to make their runs back, so we just got to make sure we put a good 40 minutes together where we play hard all 40 and not in spurts."
Q. On coming off the bench…
CARLYLE: No, I don't think it has nothing to do with the pressure, it's just reps and just getting back in the rhythm of playing, especially a new team and new environment, just getting comfortable again, but, yeah, I'm perfectly fine with coming off the bench. I want to win games, whether it's being the sixth man, eighth man, tenth man starting two guard, I don't care. As long as we win, I'm here to do my job, to play defense and provide what I can on offense. That's it.
Q. On what works when you're shooting well…
TUCKER: "I would say when all on the same page. Like today, we all came out and we were all on the same page. We knew the first Big Ten game we have to make a statement. I mean, yes, we definitely could have done better, but I think we did a good job just coming in and staying focused and working super hard. I think that's one thing we did stay focused on."
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
BEN JOHNSON | MINNESOTA HEAD COACH
Q: On what was said to the team postgame…
JOHNSON: "Yeah, we needed to have a little come to Jesus moment. You know, sometimes those habits of what it truly takes day in and day out, to be really good or just be competitive. You know, we need to have constant reminders of working to get to that. And we're at that stage right now where we have to figure out internally what our habits look like, and do those habits impact when it doesn't put us in a position to be competitive, and to try to win games in our league? Because, again, this league is unforgiving. Indiana projected to be second in the league. Michigan State was projected fifth. So, it's unforgiving, and you have to rise to the level of competition. And those guys need to understand there's a certain standard, but there's winning habits that you must have, and you have to do that every single day. You must build that every single day to have any chance to win games."
Q: On finding a consistent defensive effort…
JOHNSON: "We just talked about, just the effort that it takes every single possession. You can't take anything off. And I thought Indiana did a great job, especially early, dictating defensively. They had more energy. They had more fights. The game seemed like it meant a little bit more, for whatever reason. Then we were able to climb back, it was like 14-12 or 20-20, or maybe even 24-22, something like that. So, we showed glimpses, but you can't show glimpses at this level in this league. Glimpses will get you, what we got tonight. So we've got to figure that out again, with a new locker and a new team, a new roster… We've got to figure out the formula, and we've got to ingrain these guys with those winning habits."
Q: On the challenges of IU's front court…
JOHNSON: "I mean, obviously we knew going in, they were really good. They just got terrific size, and they played at their strengths. I thought they did a good job of making shots all the way around. It felt like we tried to, you know, claw back and got to 13-12, and then, boom, made a wide pin down. And it was just kind of that constant body blow, a body blow. And then they hit a haymaker, because they made a play that would prevent us from getting it to 12-11, or 10. But that's what good teams do. You know, I thought they had really good resolve, and again they made it tough for us to do some stuff offensive, we talked about physicality with something that they had to experience the guys that hadn't played in the Big Ten."
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