Atlanta, Georgia — For Mike Woodson’s Indiana basketball team on Saturday, it was a bad day. The Hoosiers lost badly, 104-76, at the State Farm Arena in a nonconference neutral-site match against Auburn in Atlanta.
Indiana had a 12-point advantage early in the game, but Auburn swiftly overcame it with 14 three-pointers. Over the course of Woodson’s more than two seasons, it was the poorest defensive performance by an Indiana team in regulation. In 2021, Indiana lost to Syracuse in double OT after giving up 112 points.
Following the match, Indiana coach Mike Woodson had a meeting with the media. This is the whole news conference transcript:
QUESTION: “Mike, something changed significantly. What took place at that moment for Auburn to start winning this game?
Mike Woodson: “I felt that both teams were physically prepared to play. That ball was really heavy for us to move. I only take a quick glance at the play we attempted to do. That’s simply the way they play, you know. Even so, we managed to overcome their early aggression and made baskets, stops, and rebounds.
“After that, I made a few changes, but I’m not starting from our bench because the score was tied when I brought our starters back into the game. You have to give them credit because after that, they basically physically prevented us from doing anything we wanted to do.
“I’m not pleased with our performance this evening. It was quite similar to our UConn game in that we were trying to score and they were trying to score, and eventually we gave up. In order to put together a 40-minute ballgame, that’s something we need to improve on. We seemed prepared to play, in my opinion. Really, you can’t have up to 12 a lopsided game like that, and that’s kind of on me.”
“Mike, you only forced three turnovers, yet you gave up 104 points.” What specifically was the issue? Were you insufficiently physical?
WOODSON: “That made a distinction. You seem to have struck the right note. Three mistakes made? They seemed to be the team with the most physicality tonight. This kind of game requires you to force more turnovers, get more stops, and rebounding wasn’t really that important. Simply said, I felt that tonight they were the superior team physically.
Q: “Mike, Malik, and Kelel were all marked as questionable prior to the game, but they clearly participated. Firstly, what made them suspect, and secondly, is there anything that you believe hindered their ability to play physically?
WOODSON: “No, that’s not an explanation for me. They got the game going, and our team didn’t perform well together. It is my responsibility to put us in a better position, particularly when we are playing such teams. We have one week to get ready for our huge game against Kansas later this week. I need to move us to a better location so we can play a better game against a really good squad.
Q: “Mike, in terms of the second half, you said you caved in a little bit. Do you want to see similar to UConn, more fire from your players in those moments, or leadership on the court. Do you think that’s been kind of lacking and going against you?”
WOODSON: “Again, not having X, and I’m not using that as an excuse. But he’s a senior point guard that can score the ball and make plays for us, especially when we’re being pressured like we were. That hurt, but again, but we showed some wonderful signs tonight against a good team early on, but we didn’t sustain it over a 40-minute ballgame.”
Q: “You mentioned UConn earlier, and you ripped off four straight wins after that. What do you feel like this loss says about where you guys are right now?”
WOODSON: “We’ve still got a lot of work in front of us. I’ve always said that. We’ve got to take it a game at a time, a practice at a time, and build. This won’t set up back. We’ll rebound from it and keep marching along.”
Q: “You mentioned the full court pressure that you faced, and maybe having X would have helped you, but that’s how Auburn plays. What sort of situations was that causing for you guys?”
WOODSON: “They didn’t take any other action than what we anticipated. We were able to get the ball in and create plays despite their early pressure on us. I’m not sure if exhaustion occurred. As the player taking the ball out of bounds, Malik flung a handful of them aside. We simply didn’t do well in some circumstances. We were able to get the ball up and relieve pressure after the ball was in, but we struggled to execute during the half-court set.
Be the first to comment