News and notes from Mike Woodson’s radio show
“Inside Indiana Basketball with Mike Woodson” returned Monday night for its third 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 following a 1-2 performance at the Battle 4 Atlantis:
• At the Battle 4 Atlantis, each participating team got an hour to practice on the main floor and one hour of practice on a side floor. “Everybody had the same setup,” he said.
• Woodson said IU didn’t play “particularly well” in the first two games at the Battle 4 Atlantis. “It was a disaster. We didn’t see that coming. You gotta give those two teams, Louisville and Gonzaga … they played great. We basically played a half in each game.”
• Woodson said “hopefully it’s a learning lesson” and added that he thought IU responded “really well” against Providence to close out Battle 4 Atlantis.
• On the Louisville game, Woodson said IU “fell apart” in the second half. “As a coach, it’s hard to explain it, but it’s still my job to make sure that doesn’t happen again.”
• Woodson said he thought IU “saw the old Trey Galloway” in the Providence game. He said IU is going to need that moving forward.
• Woodson on Luke Goode: “You hear his voice constantly. Which is a good thing because I wish I could get everybody to talk like Goode does. But that has not been the case.”
• Woodson on communication: “When you’re teaching and putting a system in, you’re trying to get guys to adjust, a lot of times, on the fly. You practice it, you demonstrate it and show it on film, but when it’s in really fast time, they lose a little bit of it. We got to create in practice more game like situations, which we’re trying to do. So when you get to the game, it’s not a big shock.”
• Woodson said IU’s guard play was “good” before going to the Bahamas. “We didn’t get any perimeter shot making the first two games.”
• Woodson said Myles Rice had been playing well prior to the Battle 4 Atlantis and “hit a wall” in the Bahamas.
• Woodson said Kanaan Carlyle didn’t practice the last two days and will not play Tuesday against Sam Houston State. “We just gotta nurse him back and continue to get treatment. Hopefully he’ll be back soon. But again, with me it’s always been next man up. Everybody’s got to be ready to go.”
• Woodson said Gabe Cupps has also struggled with his health recently and hasn’t practiced much in the last week and a half. “We’re gauging him as well. If you can’t play or practice, it’s tough to just throw you in a game.”
• Woodson said Jakai Newton practiced some yesterday and some today. He said Newton’s knee has been fine, but his hamstring has been an issue. “His knee has been great.”
• Woodson said Anthony Leal is healthy and has been practicing recently. “He’s back now based on where he came from the last couple of weeks. He’s back practicing and moving around pretty well.”
• On Langdon Hatton: “I thought he performed extremely well for us. He was one of the bright spots, being a big, and he held his own and did a lot of good things when he was out on the floor. I’m not opposed to playing him. He’s earned that right to be thrown in the game and based on personnel and how the game is going, I think he’s earned that right to be thrown in the game.”
• Woodson said that IU charted that it gave up 26 layups against Louisville and missed 26 layups “around the rim.”
• Woodson: “We’re 5-2 and we still got a lot of basketball left.” He said he doesn’t sense frustration setting in with his team.
• Woodson said Calbert Cheaney has played a “major role” in Oumar Ballo’s move to shoot free throws left handed this season.
• On if IU is about where he thought they would be at this point: “Well, you don’t want to lose games like we lost the two games. If you walk around from those games saying that you were truly competitive in them, then you would really feel good about it. Right now, we still have a ways to go as a ballclub.”
• Woodson said the Louisville and Gonzaga games opened IU’s eyes in terms of playing harder and trying to get better as a team. “We just gotta continue to work and take it a game at a time. It’s still a long way to go. It’s too early to throw in the towel. I’ll never do that. We got a good team and we’ve just gotta get them to believe in one another and play as a team.”
Filed to: Mike Woodson