Here's What Mike Woodson Said After Indiana's Dramatic Win over Iowa
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00:00 - Coach, obviously you got a number of good performances
00:03 and got a couple guys injured that we'll ask about later,
00:06 but I wanted to start with Anthony Leal
00:08 coming in off the bench.
00:09 The threes he gave you, the effort he gave you,
00:11 your thoughts on his play today and how impactful it was.
00:14 - I gave him the game ball after the game.
00:16 I thought he was huge.
00:19 I mean, 13.7 rebounds.
00:21 I mean, defended his ass off.
00:24 I mean, he was, I mean, he was a great player.
00:28 I mean, he was, it was a nice carry over
00:31 'cause I thought he played well in the Illinois game.
00:34 So that's why we elected to bring him in early
00:37 and play him and he responded for us,
00:40 which was kind of nice.
00:41 - Mike, Khalil returned and can you talk about
00:47 not only the impact he had in terms of
00:49 what he did on the floor,
00:50 but also kind of emotionally for the team.
00:52 Looked like he was playing hurt a little bit himself
00:55 and what that meant in terms of getting over the hump
00:57 in this game.
00:58 - Well, we needed him back in the worst way.
01:01 I mean, games like this, man, is huge for our ball club.
01:06 You know, he gets 23 and 10 and three blocks.
01:10 You know, we were missing that, just his length
01:14 and ability to block shots.
01:18 You know, we just didn't have it.
01:19 And so it was nice having him back, man.
01:22 I mean, he was huge tonight for our ball club
01:25 and we hadn't beaten this team since I've been here.
01:29 You know, Fran has kind of had his way with his ball club.
01:32 They always are well coached and they get after you, boy,
01:36 but I just thought we withstood it
01:38 coming down the home stretch
01:39 and was able to make the plays to win the game.
01:42 - I guess, Mike, forgive kind of a two-parter.
01:46 Number one, is there any update at all on Malik or X?
01:50 And number two, just kind of what did it say
01:52 about your group that they watched you guys go down
01:54 with apparently at least potentially serious injuries,
01:57 a couple starters, a couple guys that would be
01:59 maybe in crunch time in a tight game,
02:01 the players they'd look to
02:02 and they still kind of found a way to grit through?
02:04 - Again, I applaud our team, man.
02:06 You know, I've always said since I've been here
02:08 is the next man up.
02:10 I don't know the severity of X and Malik at this point,
02:15 but both, you know, went out kind of in pain.
02:21 So, you know, I'll know here when I get back there
02:24 to see what the outcome of that is.
02:27 But it makes, you know, we have to wait on them,
02:30 we have to wait on them, but it's the next guy up.
02:33 We just got to get the next man ready to play.
02:35 So guys that have been sitting over there
02:37 hadn't played a whole lot, you know,
02:40 they got to step in and help us win basketball game
02:42 because that's what it's all about at the end of the day.
02:45 - Yeah, Mike, refocusing the team, you know,
02:48 Xavier screaming on the court, goes out, you know,
02:51 Malik was emotional.
02:53 Was it, did you sense them kind of at any point,
02:56 your players get distracted because of that?
02:58 Do you have to refocus them
02:59 or what do you say in that moment?
03:00 - You got to move on.
03:02 I mean, you know, I don't like seeing any player hurt,
03:06 especially my own players, but the game is still going on
03:10 and you got to get these guys refocused
03:12 and deal with what they're facing, what's in front of them.
03:17 And I mean, this was a game
03:19 that could have gone either way.
03:21 I mean, but we made defensive stops.
03:25 You know, I thought the shot that we gave up
03:27 with two seconds or so on the clock was huge for them.
03:31 But then we responded back when Gabe hit the three, man,
03:33 and we never looked back from that point on,
03:35 which was kind of nice.
03:36 - Mike, Anthony has been getting more minutes lately,
03:40 but tonight it really seemed like his first night.
03:42 He was really looking for shots when he got it,
03:44 didn't hesitate one bit.
03:45 Has there, have you had conversations with him
03:48 about shooting more when he's out there
03:50 or what's that been like?
03:51 - Not really.
03:52 I mean, we take those shots a lot in practice.
03:55 We practice them.
03:56 You know, we just got to step up and make them, you know.
04:00 Mac had a lot of good open looks.
04:02 Gallo had open looks.
04:04 You know, we're going to continue to get open looks.
04:07 We just got to, we just got to have the confidence
04:09 to make it.
04:10 I got to help them figure out how to make them, you know,
04:12 by instilling confidence or something.
04:14 It's the same with our free throws,
04:16 because we didn't, you know,
04:18 we made them down the stretch some, but still eight.
04:21 Free throws is a lot of free throws in a close ball game.
04:24 - Mike, Anthony has spent four years looking for a role.
04:31 What impresses you most about the way he seems
04:35 to have stayed prepared and has come along
04:38 these last couple of games?
04:40 - You know, where I come from in the NBA,
04:43 you call that a true pro.
04:47 And, you know, Anthony is the ultimate teammate, man.
04:51 I mean, in terms of just hanging in there with me, man.
04:56 And, you know, I've coached him,
05:00 and he's come to practice every day
05:02 and has done what's asked of him.
05:04 And never complained, not once.
05:08 He's been a true, true, true teammate.
05:10 And guys like that, it's easy to coach.
05:14 It's easy to throw him in the game and feel good about it,
05:18 because you know what you're gonna get
05:19 based on how he performs in practice.
05:22 And he's earned the right to play,
05:25 and that's why I'm playing.
05:27 - Mike, we're up to right, Mason.
05:30 - Coach, you've said multiple times when Khalil arrived,
05:33 he had a reputation of not playing hard or being soft.
05:37 When you see him out here tonight limping,
05:40 knowing he can't come out 'cause Malik's out,
05:42 and kind of just gutting this game out,
05:43 what's your reaction to seeing all that?
05:45 - A lot of Coach Woodson screaming
05:48 from the very beginning when I got him.
05:50 And I don't mean that in a bad way, it's just,
05:55 you know, I just tried to push him
06:00 along with our coaching staff,
06:01 because that first two or three weeks with him
06:04 was a nightmare in terms of his energy
06:08 and his get up and go.
06:10 And we've kind of coached him in to playing better
06:15 and playing with a little more energy.
06:18 I thought tonight was, I mean, he showed some emotion, man.
06:21 I mean, one time he, I hadn't seen that
06:25 pretty much all year with him,
06:27 but it was kind of nice to see.
06:30 - Coach, you guys hold Iowa to 35% from the field tonight.
06:34 This is a high-powered offense coming in,
06:36 and you had mentioned after the previous game
06:38 that the defense was something you were pretty proud of,
06:40 besides the shot making.
06:42 Did you see the kind of continuity
06:43 with the effort on the defense tonight
06:45 that you were hoping for?
06:46 - Yeah, I mean, we still gotta get Mac better,
06:50 you know, from a defensive standpoint,
06:52 because I think he got lost a few times,
06:56 and that's not to knock on him, man.
06:58 That kid's come a long way since we started with him.
07:01 And I just gotta help him more.
07:03 I gotta help everybody more,
07:04 because it's gonna be our defense
07:06 that carries the rest of the way and rebounding the ball.
07:10 And I thought tonight it was a beautiful carryover
07:12 from the Illinois game,
07:13 because we were pretty good defensively.