Indiana coach Mike Woodson met with the media on Tuesday night after the Hoosiers got whipped 87-66 by Purdue at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Ind.
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00:00 Mike, I guess at least in a broad strokes way,
00:02 just what do you say to your team in the locker room at halftime
00:06 to try and pull them back together,
00:07 to try and kind of get them back on their feet after a half like that first 20 minutes?
00:11 Well, we got smacked the first half and you got to give them credit.
00:14 I thought they were more tougher.
00:16 Yeah, there were a lot of fouls called, you know, against us, but they set the tone.
00:23 I thought we came out with good intentions.
00:25 Back and forth, you know, they're 8, 9, 10 points and then we couldn't make shots.
00:34 You know, that was a big difference in the first half.
00:37 And they made shots and they got to the free throw line.
00:41 You know, and Edie had a lot to do with that.
00:45 Mike, when you mentioned good intentions there,
00:47 were you trying to play defensively that way and just sort of weren't allowed to?
00:52 Or just how best to describe that?
00:56 Well, I can't sit here and complain about the officiating.
01:00 It's what it is.
01:03 You know, we couldn't get to Edie quick enough.
01:07 You know, I thought the way they set him up versus how we played him last season,
01:12 and, you know, again, Trace and Race were -- they're not here.
01:17 And I got to get my two big guys a little more tougher.
01:20 That'll help.
01:22 And I didn't think Ware, you know, played tough enough and Edie kind of had his way.
01:28 So we got to work on that.
01:30 It's a work in progress.
01:32 Mike, on your left, Trev.
01:34 Yeah, Mike, not to kind of talk about the officials,
01:37 but in terms of navigating the foul trouble,
01:39 how tough was that when you had, you know, Embargo and then Ware,
01:43 but then Cups as well?
01:44 I mean, was that difficult for you to kind of try to figure out how you wanted to
01:47 approach as they stacked up like that?
01:50 Well, again, you know, you just -- it's kind of like the next man up.
01:54 And, you know, I probably should have played not Ware but Mack a little bit more,
01:59 even with the two fouls, but I elected not to do that.
02:04 But, you know, that's hindsight.
02:06 You know, I hate coaching that way and thinking back to what I should have done.
02:11 But at the end of the day, you know, they played extremely well the first half.
02:15 I thought we came out with big-time energy the second half to cut it to nine.
02:19 But when you dig a hole like that, you know, against a pretty good team,
02:23 it's hard to dig your way out.
02:25 Trevor, on your right, and Rick.
02:27 You said you thought about -- you should have brought McKenzie back a little bit
02:32 earlier.
02:33 He sat for 12 minutes.
02:34 When did you start to think about bringing him back in the game since he was one
02:37 of the only ones making shots early?
02:39 Well, you know, again, it's a long game, but, you know, we fell back so quickly.
02:47 You know, I figured -- I brought him back, I think, around the two, three-minute mark
02:51 right before the half.
02:54 And when I think back to it, I probably should have brought him back a lot sooner,
02:57 but I didn't.
03:00 Rick, I can write to Mike.
03:01 Over here, Mike.
03:02 Seeing Edie over the last three years,
03:05 where's his biggest point of improvement this season?
03:10 You know, I think the fact that he's -- you know, his angles that, you know,
03:17 from a defensive standpoint, you can't give him.
03:21 He's getting the angles to the point -- and the ball is -- you know, the last --
03:25 really the last four times we played him, I thought our pressure on the ball
03:29 helped us.
03:31 Whoever called it, we had really intense pressure.
03:34 To the point where they just couldn't make pinpoint passes.
03:38 And, you know, once it goes from the angle or top down to the big fella,
03:43 it's tough to get help there quick enough.
03:46 And I think Warrick could have done a better job in battling, but he didn't.
03:51 And, you know, it's something to learn from.
03:53 The beauty about this, we've got to still go to Purdue and see him again.
03:57 So maybe we can regroup and see what happens when we get there.
04:00 Mike, I'm going to write to Mason.
04:02 Coach, the way you guys played at the start of the second half,
04:05 do you feel like that's something that's repeatable?
04:07 Or is that -- you know, you guys just maybe taking more risks,
04:10 more chances because of the situation?
04:12 Well, again, I mean, you like to think that -- I thought we came out ready to play.
04:18 I think the fouls kind of slowed us down a little bit.
04:22 But, you know, again, I don't call the game.
04:26 You got to try to overcome it.
04:28 But we didn't.
04:29 We fell in the hole and it was tough digging out.
04:33 Mason, the front, last one.
04:34 Coach, you kind of mentioned falling into a hole there offensively.
04:36 When the offense goes stagnant like that,
04:38 is there something that you're seeing that isn't happening
04:40 versus when the ball is going in the basket?
04:42 Well, I thought the first half we got some good looks.
04:45 You know, I came in and we charted.
04:46 There were about seven, eight wide open shots that we just -- we didn't make.
04:52 And, you know, those are empty possessions that you leave on the table
04:55 and you come down and either we fouled or they scored.
05:01 I mean, we just -- it wasn't a good combination for us the way we were playing.
05:06 And, you know, so we got to move forward and get ready for Wisconsin now
05:11 and see where we go from here.