INDIANA UNIVERSITY BASKETBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

November 21, 2024

Mike Woodson

Postgame Media Conference

Indiana 69, UNC Greensboro 58

Q. Obviously it's November and you've got a new group, but with the competition about to kick up a level, what are the things you feel good about with this group right now and what do you need to have a good showing in Atlanta?

MIKE WOODSON: It was competition tonight. That team came to play, we didn't. That's college basketball. If you're not -- it's on me. I thought we came out with great intentions. We were up 19-3 when I started subbing, and that was after guys had played a deep seven, eight, nine minutes straight, and once they got rolling, we gave them hope, and they played a solid game all the way through.

We've got to go and clean this game up before I start thinking about the Bahamas. Louisville is the first game, but we've got to clean this game up and have a tough practice tomorrow, get ready for Louisville that way. But we've got to figure out this game and all the things we did wrong and didn't do.

Q. I know it's only been four games; how do you grade maybe some good, some bad of just where this team is offensively?

MIKE WOODSON: Well, it's hard to say. Like you just mentioned, we've had some good moments, we've had some bad moments. Against really good teams, you're going to have to have a lot of good moments to die away the bad moments if you're going to be a good team, and I think we can, but only time will tell. I've just got to keep working with this team to get them where I want them, but we're not there yet.

Q. When you say that, are you pleased with the progress you've made or do you feel like the bad has outweighed the good at times?

MIKE WOODSON: No, I didn't say that. I'm very pleased. Seeing where we started when we first got together this summer to where we are today, it's been a lot of progress, without a doubt. But again, we have a long way to go, man.

My whole theme has always been we take it a practice at a time and a game at a time and see where it leads us, man. But tonight, I've got to give this Greensboro team a lot of credit. They played -- I thought they played harder than we did. We didn't play hard, and that's unacceptable. That's on me.

Q. On Myles Rice, when you see somebody who has the highs he has, is he almost someone you're harder on?

MIKE WOODSON: Man, look, I just coach. If he's in the way sometimes not doing what he's supposed to do, then I'm tough on him. That's just coaching. I love all the players on my team. But I've got to coach them, too.

Q. Bryson Tucker obviously gave you a big lift when you needed it. What part of his makeup made him prepared to be the one to be the guy who kind of rescued you a little bit?

MIKE WOODSON: Well, again, I had to go somewhere. We struggled a little bit off the bench. Gallo was a little bit slow tonight, and I've just got to be careful with Gallo. He's going to have some moments where he looks -- because he hasn't played.

Tucker came in, and he shined for a freshman. He looked -- you've seen him play since he's been here. He's a guy that can help us. I leaned on him tonight, and he came through and did some positive things.

But we're going to need not just Tucker coming off the bench, we're going to need other guys coming off making basketball plays, winning plays to help us win.

Q. I know you can't control exactly how many shots a player gets, Mackenzie Mgbako has been one of the bright spots for this team, but in the last two games in the second half, he's probably had a total of four shots put up. What can you do to try to change that?

MIKE WOODSON: Well, when I look at the stat sheet, he was second on the team in shots attempted. He shot 11 times. I mean, we've got a lot of guys that can make shots, I think. If we didn't prove it tonight going 5 for 19 from the three. Myles was the next guy who had 14 shots. Make your shots. That's how I look at it. What do you want me to give him 20 more? Really, he was second on the team in shots attempted tonight. Had a slow night. He won't always be that way. We've seen good play out of Mackenzie and we'll continue to see that, I'm sure.

Q. Coach, on Saturday Myles had just three assists, tonight doubled it up. How much better does it make him as a player to be dual threat to score and pass the basketball?

MIKE WOODSON: Well, that's what he's supposed to do. That's what we brought him here for. But as a team we had 16 assists. That's awful. I mean, it's awful. With this team, we should average between 20 and 30 assists. So the play tonight, the way we played offensively tonight was selfish as hell, to me, and that's something that just can't be because we have enough guys on this team that can make basketball plays. We've just got to be unselfish and sacrifice the ball for the sake of the team and good things will happen. The ball will end up in the right guys' hands.

Q. You mentioned you had to lean on Bryson Tucker tonight. What has he done that makes you trust him in situations like tonight?

MIKE WOODSON: Well, again, he's still learning. He has a ways to go. But he just has a nice feel for the game.

I have no problems in playing Tuck in critical times. I think he can make basketball plays to help you win. But like I mentioned earlier, we need more than just Tuck. Galloway coming off, Goode coming off, when LT plays he's got to make plays for us. We've got to have -- I can't play that first unit 40 minutes. I don't want to do that right now.

Q. You guys pushed the pace a lot the first few games, but it didn't seem like it was really part of the game tonight. Is there a reason?

MIKE WOODSON: No, I wanted to, but you saw how we threw the ball in the half-court setting all over the place. We made some passes tonight that had no chance of being completed. These are things that we can all work to get better. I've got to just push us in that direction to get better.

Q. At Big Ten Media Days you said you were going to work to get Luke Goode some open looks on the perimeter. Have you tried to implement that?

MIKE WOODSON: Well, let's see, Goode tonight, he was 1 for 3, and I think all of thighs shots were open. He's going to get some good looks. He's gotten some since he's been here. I've just got to get him comfortable and he'll start making them.