Mike Woodson Press Conference After Indiana's 93-66 Loss to Nebraska in Big Ten Tournament
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00:00 All right, we're joined by Indiana University head coach Mike Woodson along with Xavier
00:08 Johnson and Mackenzie Mbako.
00:12 We'll start with an opening statement from coach, then we'll take questions for Xavier
00:15 and Mackenzie, then we'll come back to questions for coach.
00:18 Coach, go ahead.
00:19 I'll keep it brief.
00:20 Just want to congratulate Ferret and his team.
00:22 They played extremely well.
00:26 We just didn't have any answers tonight from a defensive standpoint because we were just
00:32 not real good tonight.
00:33 They were very good offensively as well as defensively.
00:37 Questions for the student athletes.
00:38 Raise your hand.
00:39 We'll start with Tom in the front row, then we'll go to Todd here.
00:44 Xavier was just 33-27 with like three minutes to go in the first half and then just went
00:48 on that crazy run.
00:50 What happened there and when it starts to snowball like that, if anything, could you
00:55 guys have done to change that?
00:58 I mean, they just started knocking down threes.
01:01 We started losing defensively.
01:02 Tom and I started getting hot and it was a call of the day from there.
01:07 Left hand side middle.
01:08 Go.
01:09 Xavier, it was a tough year for you.
01:12 Obviously, you weren't able to play very much and it seemed like through the Big Ten season,
01:15 the team was fighting something like that, whether it was your injury or somebody else's.
01:19 How difficult was it to try to just fight through and get to this point in the season?
01:25 How much of a challenge was it?
01:28 I wouldn't say it was difficult to get to this point.
01:29 I would just say it was difficult just getting back into the rhythm of the game.
01:33 I've been knocked out of rhythm so many times this year.
01:36 I'm a rhythm type of player and I got a long way to get to my next destination, to get
01:43 everything back.
01:44 I got time and I'm going to put in the work to get to where I need to get to.
01:49 Anything else for the student?
01:50 We'll go to Zach on the left hand side and then Tom.
01:53 I guess, McKenzie, just as much as you can in the immediate aftermath of a loss, how
02:01 do you evaluate your journey this season?
02:03 The improvements you've made, maybe at both ends of the floor, the way your role has changed
02:07 and grown, just basically your journey from November until now.
02:10 It was just like keeping my head down, playing defense and locking in on what coach really
02:15 had to say on offense and defense and being susceptible to the changes being made while
02:21 the game was going on and just being a player of the game.
02:24 Right side, Tom.
02:25 McKenzie, you guys have been playing really well through this last little stretch here,
02:29 last five game winning streak and such.
02:31 Did this kind of outcome today kind of come as a surprise to you?
02:36 Yes.
02:37 I had all hopes that we were going to win this game and it hurts that we lost.
02:47 Anything else for Xavier or McKenzie?
02:50 Alright, you guys can head back to the locker room.
02:53 We'll continue with questions for Coach Woodson.
02:55 If you have a question, we'll get a mic to you.
02:57 Raise your hand, please.
03:00 We'll start over here in the middle.
03:06 Mike, as far as the season is concerned, I know you haven't had much chance to think
03:13 about it, but when you look back on what you didn't have and what you're hoping to have
03:18 next year, what assessment do you give to that and what you find in recruiting?
03:25 Well, again, I mean it's too early right now to even entertain that question.
03:31 The bottom line is we've got to get better from a talent standpoint.
03:38 This summer will be spent watching a lot of film on players because we're going to lose
03:45 some players, I'm sure, and we're going to have to build around the core guys that are
03:50 coming back.
03:54 We just got a lot of work to do this summer to get better.
03:58 I don't want to sit here this time next year and not be playing in the tournament.
04:03 Right side, Tom.
04:04 Mike, they did a lot of fronting on the base tonight and it was difficult for you guys
04:08 to get anything going inside with you guys, which is kind of an important part of this
04:13 season.
04:14 What was the difficulty most there in trying to get anything going offensively with the
04:18 bigs?
04:19 Again, I just don't think we executed.
04:22 We did a poor job in executing offensive.
04:25 I mean, Malik and Ware have seen double teams all year from the back side, from the top
04:33 side, from what we call the soft spot up top to the ball.
04:39 They've been double team in all ways you can double team, but they didn't read well tonight.
04:45 They didn't read the back side and we were forcing things early to the point where we
04:51 just didn't make the right play.
04:56 I thought our intentions were great when we came out because it was back and forth, but
05:00 when it got to about 33 to 26, 27, we dropped the rope and they went in big at halftime
05:08 and we just never recovered.
05:10 Second row, left hand side.
05:11 Yeah, Mike, the inside, outside offensive philosophy, what more from this year's group
05:16 do you feel like you needed to make that work?
05:19 Well, again, I mean, for the most part it did work.
05:21 We just, you know, we didn't make enough shots.
05:24 I mean, I thought coming down the home stretch these last five games, we shot the three ball
05:28 extremely well.
05:30 And early on and midway, we just, we struggled to shoot the three ball and then we struggled
05:36 to make free throws.
05:38 And we kind of put it all together the last five games prior to coming into this game.
05:43 And we pretty much looked like a team.
05:45 We made threes, we made our free throws and the ball was moving and we got a lot of assists.
05:53 A lot of good things was happening in that five game stretch.
05:58 But we met a team tonight that was really good and well coached and we had nothing for
06:04 them.
06:05 Take two more.
06:06 We'll start with Zach in the second row.
06:07 Mike, I know you don't want to think too big picture right now, but the portal has always
06:11 been, you know, since you've come into the job of consideration, how have your conversations
06:15 maybe in the post season, through the immediate aftermath of the season evolved with your
06:19 guys when you sit down to talk with them about the season that was, what's coming next, you
06:24 know, their sort of where they are looking forward, where you are looking forward, how
06:28 has that process evolved for you maybe the last three years?
06:31 Well again, I mean, we, we've been meet, we always meet every day guys.
06:36 We spend a lot of time, the coaches and I together and, and we talk about the what ifs,
06:41 you know, because you just don't know based on the new system and the portal, you know,
06:47 who's going to be on your team, who's not, who are we going to entertain once the portal
06:53 opens up.
06:56 So I mean, it's thing is going to come very quickly.
07:00 And we got to be in position to do our homework and our due diligence on these players based
07:06 on who we might want to come in to, to fill a spot to help us move forward next season.
07:12 We'll go all the way in the back of the room in the middle and then we'll finish with Tom
07:15 as the last one.
07:16 Mike, obviously your relationship with Xavier Johnson has been one that you've talked a
07:20 lot about.
07:21 He's been with you for three years now.
07:22 He played some probably the last of his college career tonight.
07:26 When you reflect upon his career and kind of your relationship as a whole, what do you
07:30 remember fondly about it?
07:32 Well, we had a good run.
07:34 You know, I look at the last two years with him and even last year, him not playing as
07:39 much for us.
07:41 He's just always been there in spirit and he's worked his butt every time he got hurt
07:46 to get back out on the floor to compete.
07:49 He's a competitor and I just feel for him because he just wasn't able to fulfill his
07:54 dream in terms of really completing his college career as a basketball player because he was
08:01 hurt so much.
08:02 But life goes on.
08:06 You know, he's got to now think about his next journey in his life and I just hope I'm
08:12 a part of that.
08:13 You know what I mean?
08:14 If he needs anything, I'm going to be there for him to help him navigate whatever direction
08:19 he decides to go because that's just who I am as a coach.
08:25 I need to be there for him because he was there for me when he was on the floor.
08:30 Last one, Tom, in the front row.
08:31 Mike, you've talked through the course of this year about some things that have disappointed
08:35 you about this season, but you know, a dozen double digit losses and many that were 20
08:40 points or more.
08:41 Some of those like blowout losses like that, is that something that might be the most frustrating
08:46 thing about this season for you?
08:48 Just not being competitive in some of these big games?
08:51 Every loss is frustrating.
08:53 I mean, because you go in the game with the game plan and you try to get your team to
08:59 play at a high level.
09:01 I know when they do, we're a pretty good basketball team and we're very competitive.
09:06 And tonight, they were a step ahead of everything that we wanted to do and you've got to give
09:11 them credit.
09:12 We've just got a lot of work to do this summer to get back and get our team back on top.
09:18 Thank you, coach.
09:19 Thank you.
09:20 That'll conclude tonight's press conferences.
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