Indiana men's basketball head coach Mike Woodson, guard Kanaan Carlyle and forward Bryson Tucker spoke with the media on Monday following Indiana's Big Ten opening win over Minnesota.
Below are their full Q&As, as well as a full transcript for each conversation.
Q. Yeah, coach. Just wanted to start with you guys get Kanaan Carlyle back, just how has he looked the last couple of days in practice? What have you liked? And sort of is he 100% ready to go right now or is he still sort of, okay, we're working him back in?
MIKE WOODSON: Well, he practiced yesterday for the first time, full practice, and said he felt good coming into today's game, so we played him.
Q. Mike, I know at times you guys go smaller, but you can still written those two big line-ups. Where do you feel like you are in terms of marrying that to a faster pace? It seems like you're playing fast but with multiple bigs really worked for you tonight.
MIKE WOODSON: Well, I mean, it's going to be bigs throughout the Big Ten games that we play, you know, when we got a chance to go small, we try to do that, too. I mean, we've done that every game that we've had this season so far. But, again, it's -- you gauge it based on how the game is going, you know, and who's in the game and if our small team is rolling, we just roll with them until we have to go sub because we feel like they might be a little tired and move to the big line-up. So, I mean, it's been good for us both ways, but, you know, I haven't weighed it out. I base it on match-ups and when we do have the small guys in, how they're playing as a unit.
Q. Yeah, Mike, on the speed and urgency and I want to say just the overall number of scores you had, is this kind of a glimpse of the offensive vision, I guess, you had for this team?
MIKE WOODSON: Well, again, I thought we played great the first half. The ball moved. Then in the second half, we started really well, I thought, but we got to get some things fixed, too, because I thought we had some lapses where we just didn't play good offense. I thought there was some selfish play here and there and we threw the ball away. We didn't make some free throws. We got to build on this game but those are areas that we can fix and when you get a team down 15, 20 points, you got to remember how you got them down and continue to do the same things that got you the lead and I don't think we did that coming down the stretch.
Q. Yeah, with Carlyle and Galloway, you start Galloway tonight. You said things are match-up dependant. Did you imagine rotating those guys based on match-ups or is it more just the minutes, how they balance out, because they balanced out, the minutes tonight, so it's not as important as who gets the start.
MIKE WOODSON: No, I went with Gallo because we'd been starting him and K-9 just came back and he didn't take it personal. He just came in and did his job and somebody's got to come off the bench. I can't start everybody and I don't know if that line-up will stay the same, but the bottom line is he did his job coming in to help us win our first Big Ten game, so we're going to need everybody, regardless of who starts to play at a high level when they play.
Q. Mike, Minnesota made 11 of their first 15 shots. Then you held them to 3 out of their next 18 and then another stretch where they went, I think, 6 of 9. When you watch film, obviously you have stretch where is you play good defense. What have you seen that you can kind of accentuate to the team? And then what are you seeing on film when the defense lapses that needs to be improved on.
MIKE WOODSON: Well, again, when we're playing good defense, it's nice to watch film (chuckling), but when things kind of go sour, there are miscues in terms of switching and somebody might get beat backdoor and shot goes up, you don't put a body on a guy and he gets an offensive rebound or he keeps the ball alive and then they score, things like that we have to clean up because, again, when you're playing in the Big Ten, going through this grind, man, those type of plays can beat you.
Q. Mike, Bryson Tucker had eight points in that 16-1 run you had in the late in the first half you get rolling there. He made his four shots. How important is it for a freshman like that just to get off to a good start and to just kind of keep that positive mind frame through a game?
MIKE WOODSON: Well, it's very important. When we recruited him, we thought he would be a big piece to the puzzle, and he is, and we just got to keep steering him in the right direction and pushing him to play at a high level, play harder and smarter and do the things that we need him to do on the floor and I thought tonight he came in and played a solid ball game and hopefully that will be a nice carryover into our next game against Nebraska.
Q. Coach, I was going to ask about Tucker as well and your answered part of it, but he seems to have more of an affinity for the midrange than most modern day players do. Do defenses sometimes forget about guys shooting jumpers from inside the key who aren't trying three-pointers because they're so fixated on it?
MIKE WOODSON: Well, I don't know. Again, the way the game is played, you know, I -- if you got guys that can make threes, I'm open for them taking them and we do have guys that can make 'em and we're probably not taking a lot more than most teams, but he is good in midrange and those count, too. Lay-ups and 15, 16-foot jump shots, they count as well if you make them, so the key the making them. So tonight he was pretty good in that area, so I'll take it.
Q. Mike, on Bryson as well, but he's become one of the more consistent scorers for you and tonight he comes off the bench with those 16 big points. Do you prefer having him come off of the bench? You've said everyone can't start, but is that something you prefer to have kind of in your back pocket?
MIKE WOODSON: Yeah, I mean, that's where -- he's not starting for us, he's coming off the bench and I thought he came off the bench and played extremely well and, you know, guys, somebody's got to come off the bench, so it's not who starts and who comes off the bench. It's the minutes that you got, it's what you do with the minutes that you get to help your team win and I've always believed that and if there's two minutes, then dammit, you better make it the best two minutes to help our ball club when. That's what it's all about. That's what team is about.
Q. Coach, Minnesota was blitzing ball screens. I know that was something that gave you guys a little bit of trouble in the Bahamas. Do you like the progress your team's making in those situations?
MIKE WOODSON: Yeah, I mean, we've seen a little bit of everything in pick and roll this early season and some games we're pretty good at it. I thought tonight it didn't affect us a whole lot. I got to go back and look at the film, but I think there were times that we could have gotten rid of the ball earlier or quicker than we did and then that pass might lead to something good. I didn't think once we got it out of there we were slow in terms of moving the ball once it came out two on the ball. That's just something we got to get better at and continue to learn.
Q. Kanaan, coming off the bench tonight first time all season coming off the bench. What worked for you tonight?
KANAAN CARLYLE: Just taking my time. My teammates and my coaches threw a lot at me, just telling me to be more aggressive offensively and defensively, so just went out there and do whatever I can to win.
Q. Kanaan, your defensive intensity is very apparent but it also seems kind of infectious, like your teammates pick up on it. Is that something you're kind of communicative about or is it just kind of the vibes of how they take that?
KANAAN CARLYLE: Yeah, I mean, it's both. Every day we take pride in our defense. Woody preaches defense every single, so I knew when I came here my job us going to be to be that two-way player, so I take pride in that individually and my teammates all encourage me and they be up there with me, so it's easy for me to bring that energy when you got teammates behind you who bring the same energy.
Q. Bryson, after the UNC Greensboro win, coach said we didn't play hard and that's unacceptable, that's on me. What did he do to help you guys get motivated for tonight?
BRYSON TUCKER: Just kept talking to us, making sure he was in all of our heads, making sure we all had the same mindset going into each game and so I think it just instilled that in us and then we just kept going and just kept working and kept going and going and going, but we still have a long way to go, but we're going to get there for sure.
Q. Kanaan, what have the last few weeks been like for you as you worked through your injury around came back to action and how are you feeling now?
KANAAN CARLYLE: I'm feeling good. It was just rehab treatment, a lot of form shots, a lot of shooting just to get me confidence back, my jump shot back. It felt good to perform the way I did today and all the hard work paying off.
Q. Bryson, the toughest part of being a freshman sometimes is getting through the ups and the downs, last game, 0-4, then tonight you got it rolling. Do you have to worry about your confident level a little bit or how much did it help just to get off to a good start?
BRYSON TUCKER: I mean, I would say it's definitely a lot for my player, but after that game, I just had to keep my mind right and know that there's plenty of games to come, so if I have a bad game one game, I know I can change it. I know everything can change the next game. So I just have to stay focused and keep my mind right and keep going.
Q. Kanaan, you got the chance kind of against your will to watch this team from the bench a little bit while you were hurt. Defensively, what do you think -- what are your impressions of when things are going well what you guys are doing well and then when things are going wrong, tonight there were stretches of both, that the team needs to improve on?
KANAAN CARLYLE: I feel like when we're playing fast, when we're all sharing the rock and we all play together, it works magic. When we're all scoring the ball, when we all up playing defense and bring high energy, I don't think there's no team in the country that can beat us. When we do get comfortable, that's when stuff starts to fall off and that's when teams start to make their runs back, so we just got to make sure we put a good 40 minutes together where we play hard all 40 and not in spurts.
Q. Kanaan, you came off the bench tonight. Are you okay? Mike said obviously somebody has to but is that role fine with you if that ends up you being the sixth man guy for the team? And did you feel like it took some pressure off you offensively, I don't know, you got more in a rhythm today than you had in the early part of the season.
KANAAN CARLYLE: No, I don't think it has nothing to do with the pressure, it's just reps and just getting back in the rhythm of playing, especially a new team and new environment, just getting comfortable again, but, yeah, I'm perfectly fine with coming off the bench. I want to win games, whether it's being the sixth man, eighth man, tenth man starting two guard, I don't care. As long as we win, I'm here to do my job, to play defense and provide what I can on offense. That's it.
Q. Yeah, Kanaan, when you're playing at your best, what are two or three things you feel you're doing really well on offense and what are two or three things you're doing really well on defense?
KANAAN CARLYLE: Um, on defense, just energy playing well and just picking up 94 feet. I feel like that gets my whole game going, just my defense, my energy, so I feel like that's what I need to bring every single night because that's also what gets my offense going. Then on offense, just taking my time, letting the game come to me and just playing off my teammates, taking open shots, taking the first shot they give me and shooting the ball with confidence, so, yeah.
Q. Bryson, I've got two quick ones for you guys. 58% from the field today, what's working when you guys are shooting that well?
BRYSON TUCKER: I would say when all on the same page. Like today, we all came out and we were all on the same page. We knew the first Big Ten game we have to make a statement. I mean, yes, we definitely could have done better, but I think we did a good job just coming in and staying focused and working super hard. I think that's one thing we did stay focused on.
Q. And just for both you guys, do you guys feel the football buzz around here right now? What's that been like?
KANAAN CARLYLE: It's crazy, hey, we're proud of them. We watch every game, so keep going and hopefully they keep winning. We're here to support all the time.
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