Mike Woodson Reacts to Indiana's 74-62 Win Over Minnesota
Mike Woodson Reacts to Indiana Basketball's 74-62 Win Over Minnesota
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00:00 Yeah, Coach, McKenzie Mbaka had a really good game tonight.
00:04 Career high, made threes.
00:07 You've mentioned before, you know, he continues to improve.
00:11 What did you see tonight from him that you liked the most?
00:14 I thought he was aggressive right from the start.
00:17 I thought our whole team was aggressive on both ends of the floor.
00:22 He got some good looks early that he made.
00:26 I ran a couple plays for him that he was able to knock shots down.
00:31 And the way they double teamed, it opened him up on the backside as well to get shots.
00:37 Jack, can you left the mic?
00:39 I guess, Mike, following up on just the wider start, just, you know,
00:43 did you see maybe it was shots going down?
00:45 Was it guys making plays on defense?
00:47 What was fueling, I guess?
00:48 It just felt like everybody was kind of beating their man to the spot in that first quarter.
00:51 Well, again, our defense was, I thought the scouting report was perfectly fit going into the game.
00:58 And they followed it right from the start.
01:02 And we really defended the ball.
01:06 I mean, we didn't let their guards really get away from us in terms of getting downhill.
01:12 So we really focused in on not giving straight line drives where we had to help as much.
01:18 And I thought our bigs did a pretty good job in battle and inside with their bigs.
01:24 And so it was a total team effort tonight.
01:28 Mike, can you left me, Todd?
01:30 Kind of speaking to that team effort, I mean, Malik doesn't play the last nine minutes of the first half
01:35 with foul trouble, and sometimes those have been trouble spots for you guys
01:38 when he's been on the bench, strolled with offense.
01:40 Happy with how they kind of handled that tonight to be able to kind of survive without him for that extended stretch?
01:45 Well, I think, you know, I thought Walker came in and gave us some great minutes off the bench.
01:51 And, you know, they were shuffling guys in and out, so we were able to match, you know, with them.
01:56 But Walker was huge off the bench for us when Malik had to go to the bench.
02:02 And then everybody else just kept pitching in, doing their job.
02:06 And we were able to come in up 10 after the half.
02:10 Adam, you're right.
02:12 Mike, you mentioned it, but Gabe Cupps was guarding Elijah Hawkins early in the game.
02:17 Elijah Hawkins has kind of been the head of the snake for Minnesota.
02:20 Can you tell me about the trust you have in Gabe to put out that level of defensive effort
02:24 to take them out of their game?
02:25 Well, he's done it before.
02:26 I mean, he's been doing it pretty much all season when we stick him out on real quick guards.
02:33 And the Michigan guard was kind of an example, I guess, of him going out.
02:41 And all we're asking him to do is just put heat on the ball and maintain it
02:46 and not let it get downhill.
02:48 And for the most part, he did a hell of a job doing that.
02:53 Mike, can you put your finger on it at all as to how you guys can be so bad one night
02:57 and then so good the next?
02:59 Well, it's the road.
03:00 I mean, it's tough on everybody in the Big Ten on the road.
03:04 It's just not our team.
03:05 Everybody's kind of having a tough time winning on the road.
03:11 And we've got to figure it out.
03:13 I mean, our safe haven is here at home.
03:17 I get that.
03:18 And we've got to continue to win our games here at home.
03:22 But somehow I've got to help us get over the hump and get us feeling good about playing on the road.
03:28 I really thought that wouldn't be a big problem for us after winning the Michigan game
03:34 right off the bat, but it has been, and we've got to fix it as we move forward.
03:41 Seth, row two, net base.
03:44 Mike, you've talked several times about wanting your team to play a full 40-minute ball game.
03:48 I'm not sure if tonight would rise to that level for you,
03:50 but it felt like one of the more complete performances,
03:53 at least kind of close to that, that you've had in a while.
03:56 What after the Rutgers game the last few days kind of allowed this to happen?
04:01 Well, I thought we were solid in the Ohio State game.
04:04 I really did.
04:05 I mean, it was a battle game back and forth.
04:10 Rutgers game, we just -- when you miss free throws, you turn it over, you don't rebound it.
04:17 You set yourself up to lose.
04:19 And tonight we didn't make our free throws again, but we rebounded pretty well
04:24 and we didn't turn it over.
04:27 We kept our turnovers down.
04:28 So it was a solid game, but we've got to somehow convert how we play here at home on the road.
04:34 That's going to be the difference moving forward.
04:38 Mason, in New York, talking about McKenzie, you told us that he would come around,
04:42 that he was going to be fine, he just needed some time to develop.
04:44 Tonight, obviously you mentioned him being really aggressive.
04:47 What does that add to his offensive game, him being able to put it on the floor
04:52 and go to the basket?
04:53 Well, it's just not McKenzie, man.
04:55 You guys, you've got to understand that these young guys, it takes a while to develop.
05:00 You know, they come out of high school, out of the AU programs that they play in,
05:06 and it's not just that easy to walk in college basketball and be great.
05:14 If it was that easy, everybody would be doing it.
05:17 But he's put the work in, he's continuing the work along with the rest of our young players,
05:23 and all we can do as coaches is continue to teach and push
05:28 and try to get as much out of them as we can as we continue this journey.
05:34 Coach, can you just talk a little bit about the decision to put Gabe Cups
05:38 in the starting lineup over Xavier Johnson and how that affected you?
05:41 I'm not going to, you know, in-house stuff.
05:43 I mean, again, I decided to go with Gabe, and Gabe came in and played extremely well.
05:48 I thought the minutes that they played were positive minutes for us to help us win.