Everything Mike Woodson said on the College Hoops Today podcast
Indiana coach Mike Woodson was Jon Rothstein’s guest this week on the College Hoops Today podcast released Monday afternoon.
You can listen to the full episode here, but we’ve also transcribed everything Woodson said, which is available below:
On where he goes in the offseason to unwind:
“I have a home out in California, out in Palm Springs and I spend a little time out there. And I go back to Atlanta and hang out there at my home but most of the time is spent in Bloomington.”
On whether it’s hard to believe he’s entering year four at IU:
“No, not really. I mean seasons come and go and time is moving, man. I am in season four and looking forward to it. But no, not really. It’s what it is, man. Every year you go through the summer and you don’t have a whole lot of time to yourself because you’re thinking about the upcoming season and how you’re going to build your team and all that. And this summer for us was very productive and a lot of work put in. Didn’t have much time off but looking forward to this next season.”
On the biggest things last season’s team lacked:
“Well we lacked a senior point guard (laughs). We put so much pressure on Gabe Cupps who I thought played extremely well for us as a freshman. Make no mistake about it, it’s a learning curve when high school players make the jump to college and it’s no different from college to pros. Gabe played his butt off but you know, I didn’t come into the season thinking that he was going to play pretty much all the minutes at the point guard and not having Xavier Johnson. So I thought that was a big setback for us, not having X. When we did have him, we weren’t a bad basketball team so that kind of prompt me this summer to go out into the portal and make sure that we got enough talent that if we’re caught like that again, it wouldn’t affect us, we could keep things moving, hopefully.”
On the biggest things he wanted to address in the portal:
“Perimeter play, shooting. I think we’ve done all of that. Losing (Kel’el) Ware, we had to make sure we found another big. We picked up basically three bigs in the portal. But mainly, I’m hoping and feeling good about us addressing our shooting from the perimeter by bringing in (Luke) Goode and getting Mack (Mackenzie Mgbako) back. You know, I think Kanaan Carlyle and guys like Myles Rice can knock shots down. Gabe is shooting the ball extremely well this summer and then we got Gallo (Trey Galloway) and Anthony (Leal) and Jakai Newton coming back. I mean I feel good about our perimeter play. We just gotta put it all together and get ‘em comfortable when they’re on the floor making shots.”
On the space Oumar Ballo carves out in the post and how it might help IU to become a better shooting team:
“I mean, I look at our last three years. We’ve gotten good looks from the perimeter. We just didn’t knock them down. And I’m hoping this year you’re going to get some of the same looks. We won’t play … people thought with Trayce Jackson-Davis and Ware, we strictly played inside-out. We ran more pick-and-rolls than we did postups with Trayce Jackson-Davis. So I’m looking to hopefully run more pick-and-rolls this year and still utilize Malik (Reneau) and big fella Ballo on the inside when we have to. But it should open up the doors a little bit if they’re double teamed for guys to still get those same looks and feel good about knocking them down.”
On a Myles Rice-Kanaan Carlyle backcourt:
“I mean it gives us a different look. Gallo is still in rehab trying to get back. That’s not to say that he won’t be in the lineup. Competition and putting enough talent on the ball club I think is healthy and eventually will play its way out in terms of who plays and who don’t play a whole lot. This summer play we’ve had, the eight-week program has been very competitive and we still haven’t had Gallo or Jakai Newton, two guys that I think are tough and hard nosed players that are very competitive. So I’m looking to get both of those guys back. Jakai has been in and out a little bit but Gallo is still rehabbing from knee surgery so I’m looking forward to when we officially start and see where we are but I’m very pleased with Jakai and Rice and their play this summer and hopefully they can continue to grow and get better for us.”
On a timetable for Trey Galloway to be fully cleared:
“I think he might be ready to go first day of practice. We kind of slow walked him and didn’t rush things because we don’t have to. Again, there’s enough talent around him that we don’t have to rush him back. So he’s done his work this summer in terms of continuing to grow to get back on the floor. But it takes time from these knee surgeries, man. He’s heading in the right direction and I’m hoping that from day one, he’ll be back on the floor ready to go. But only time will tell with that.”
On the returning players that will make the biggest jump next season:
“Well, you like to think that guys like Gallo and Malik and Mackenzie, all three played well for us last season. Gabe has really played well for us this summer. I just think he’s made a nice jump from his freshman year coming into summer play. I think he’s going to be steady and solid for us as well. I like to think the guys that have been here and know our system and know what we’re doing should make a quicker jump but you never know with the new guys as well, man. Anything can happen. Goode has really played extremely well for us this summer. So I’m looking for big things out of him because he is a senior and he has experience in playing in the Big Ten.”
On the type of jump that is realistic for Mgbako as a sophomore:
“Only time will tell, man. I don’t sit here and predict anything. He’s still got to go through practice. He’s still got to develop each and every day in practice and there’s gotta be a carry over in the ball game. But I’m expecting big things out of him. He got off to a somewhat slow start last season and he was able to flip it based on the body of work and him continuing to work hard in practice and he got better as the season went along which is kind of nice to see.”
On whether it was easier to put a team together via the transfer portal because of experience as an NBA head coach with free agency:
“Well I mean it’s helped me. But I’m not taking anything away from these college coaches. All these guys can coach and they build teams and they try to do the best job they can possibly do, man. Coaching is tough. It really is. I don’t care what level you coach at. But the fact that I have come out of the NBA and I have some experience in dealing with free agency and draft picks and building teams, it’s helped me personally, I think. And that’s not to take anything away from the other college coaches because I’m sure they feel good about what they do for their ball club as well.”
On how unique it is to be entering a season with the new programs from the Pac-12:
“It’s different. From the time I played until now. Again, I say this all the time, competition is healthy. And UCLA and USC and the other two schools are very good programs, man. It can’t help but push the action a little bit more and we have to travel a long way. But that’s nothing new to me. I’ve done that in the NBA for a long time going from east coast to west coast, west coast back to east coast. But I think it’s healthy, man. I think it’s going to be very competitive. When you enter the Big Ten season, it’s tough. All these teams can play and they’re well coached and you gotta be on your best game in order to win at home and on the road because it’s not easy.”
On not being in the tournament last season and what it was like to be home watching:
“It wasn’t fun my man. Not at all. I made it very clear to our ball club after we realized that we weren’t going to make the tournament that I’m not going to sit another year and watch basketball on TV during March Madness and that we had to go out and get better as a ball club and then we gotta come back and put it all together and we made that start this summer and it’s gotta be a carry over into official practice and then get ready for this upcoming season because it’s a lot of work. That’s frustrating. You don’t play college basketball to watch it on TV during March Madness. You want to get a shot at it and see how you fare and see if you can make it all to the Final Four and win it. That’s what it’s all about.”
On whether he feels like this is his best roster he’s had at Indiana:
“Well it is. There’s no doubt it’s the best talent and it’s the best roster we’ve had. And that’s not taking anything away from the last three previous seasons. But we’re deeper than we have been in the past. And that’s important when you go through a grueling season, especially the Big Ten, I feel good now that if somebody happens to trip a little bit and can’t play, there is someone there to back him up and give him some support until he’s able to get back. So we got hurt the last few years, we had our struggles until key guys got back. You know I’m hoping that won’t be the case this season.”
On what has to happen between now and next March to be in contention for a Big Ten title and then earn a quality seed in the NCAA tournament:
“Well we just gotta come together as a ball club and believe that we can do that. I mean the first two years we were a game away from going to the Big Ten tournament finals. And then last year we don’t even make the NCAA tournament. Every year expectations are high here at Indiana. It should be that way. I’ve never doubted that one moment when I took the job. That’s the only way you want it. So it’s going to be a lot of work that’s gotta be put in on my part in terms of me and my staff getting these guys to come in and play at a high level and do what’s expected of them on and off the court because that’s what it’s going to take to win the Big Ten title and possibly a national title.”
Filed to: Mike Woodson