News and notes from Mike Woodson’s radio show
“Inside Indiana Basketball with Mike Woodson” returned Monday night for its first episode of the 2024-25 season. Woodson sat down with the voice of the Hoosiers, Don Fischer, at Hoosier Hank’s in Bloomington.
Here’s a recap of what Woodson had to say on this week’s episode of Inside Indiana Basketball:
• Woodson told Fischer he was “really pleased” with Indiana’s performance on Sunday afternoon at Tennessee.
• Woodson said he always tells his team that “defense has gotta be there” when you play on the road. “It’s gotta be there every night, but on the road especially in order to stay in a ball game and give yourself a chance down the stretch to win.”
• Woodson: “I think the biggest shot of the night was Malik’s 3 that he hit at the top of the key. Once he made that shot, we never looked back.”
• Woodson said he believes that the game will help IU moving forward. “They pushed us to the limit. And we didn’t have some key pieces.” Woodson said Bryson Tucker and Trey Galloway are both pieces to the puzzle for Indiana.
• Woodson said that Jakai Newton has scrimmaged a couple of times and has played extremely well. But he said IU can’t seem to keep Newton healthy to where he can practice every day. “The times he’s been out there, it’s been some bright spots.”
• Woodson said Newton has overcome a hamstring injury, but it’s “mainly still the knee” that is bothering him. “We’ve been cautious with him and Galloway both. We’ve been trying to slow walk them back.”
• Trey Galloway practiced today (Monday) and Woodson is hopeful he will be in uniform for Friday’s exhibition against Marian University at Assembly Hall.
• Woodson said IU was “really good” defensively against Tennessee. He added that Malik Reneau “stood out” in the exhibition win. “Malik made a major jump last year from his freshman year. So you gotta expect him to make another jump this year along with Mackenzie (Mgbako) as well. He made a helluva jump as a freshman.”
• Woodson added that Ballo will be a “double-double” guy for the Hoosiers. He said he saw what he expected out of Ballo. “I’m asking him to zone up and block shots and things of that nature. Which bigs should be able to do that.”
• Woodson noted that he has to get Kanaan Carlyle “more comfortable” and that Myles Rice was as good as everyone expected him to be on Sunday. “We want to play differently this year in terms of playing faster. In doing that, you kind of open yourself up for turnovers, which we had 10 the first half, but we had three the second half. So that’s promising in terms of how we really want to play.”
• Woodson said he isn’t sure who will play all of the minutes and he has to get a “comfort level” for the roster to determine that.
• Woodson said that the Hoosiers have been shooting the ball well in all of the scrimmages IU has charted. “We’ve been shooting 37 percent (on 3s). Tennessee will force you to miss shots based on how they play.” Woodson said IU put up between 27 and 30 3s in each of its prior scrimmages. He also mentioned that IU had eight wide-open 3s it missed against Tennessee.
• Woodson said that “coming out of the box on Sunday, nobody was comfortable.” He said that had much to do with how both teams defended.
• Woodson on Myles Rice: “He’s learning. He’s a good young man that’s willing to accept coaching. We’ve been challenging him. That position is a tough position. It really is because everybody is crying for the basketball offensively.”
• More on Rice: “I thought last night, he picked his spots in terms of how he wanted to go score the basketball. He did a great job of getting downhill and finishing at the rim. He hit a few jumpshots that were huge coming down the stretch. I like everything about Myles because he’s very coachable and he’s willing to learn and get better.”
• Woodson on Carlyle: “I think he’s still trying to find himself. He’s just kinda picking his spot. I just gotta get him more comfortable. He had a good floor game last night. He defended his butt off. At the end of the day, he’s capable of having big nights. I just gotta get him comfortable in terms of his role and what’s expected of him because he can really defend the ball and he’s capable of putting the ball in the bucket as well.”
• Woodson on Gabe Cupps: “I think his floor game, his overall game is better now.” Also on Cuppps: “I think he spent this summer watching a lot of film.”
• Woodson on Friday’s exhibition against Marian University and Pat Knight: “It is special. Pat was with the Pacers and Steve Downing, the AD at Marian, gave Pat an opportunity to come in and coach. That says a lot about our Hoosier family. We’ve stuck together all these years.”
• Woodson said Anthony Leal and Kanaan Carlyle got hurt “a little bit” against Tennessee. He mentioned Carlyle sat out of practice today.
• Woodson on Malik Reneau: “He has gotten better. Sometimes it might take a year or two to figure it out mentally in terms of your approach to the game. He’s eating right and really taking care of his body now. That’s the key to longevity in this sport. I’m proud of him.”
• Woodson points out that Luke Goode has “been in the trenches and knows what it takes.” Woodson said IU expects Goode to lead and “put the ball in the hole.”
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