Indiana basketball head coach Mike Woodson, big man Oumar Ballo and forward Luke Goode spoke with the media following Indiana's road win over Ohio State on Friday night in Columbus.
Below are their full Q&As, as well as a transcript for each of their conversations—once they become available.
Q: On putting Leal into the starting lineup...
WOODSON: Thought back to last year when we played here, the kind of game he had. Just wanted to kind of shake things up a little bit and I thought he answered the bell. He got the big defensive stop. Last year, he hit a big three here. Coming down the stretch tonight, he made a great defensive stand to help us get another victory.
Q: On if Leal starting is game-to-game...
WOODSON: It’s all about feel in terms of where I’m going and what I’m going to do moving forward.
Q: On why it was Goode's night to step up as a secondary scorer...
WOODSON: I don’t know, he got some good looks. They were doubling Ballo – we kind of set it up that way on the backside that he would get the looks, and he knocked some shots down for us. Some big shots. We needed everyone of them, because they were huge that he made.
Q: On what changed the last three days in regards to playing harder...
WOODSON: Our last game, we came out, we started the game very well – believe it was 10-8. Then it was just – we couldn’t make shots. It got away. We couldn’t get stops. Thought we played a lot better in the second half, but when you spot teams like that, it’s hard to get back in games. We had to put it behind us. I tip my hat to our team because they could’ve laid down, and they didn’t. They came into Ohio and got a win.
Q: On Goode and Ballo's effort plays...
WOODSON: I need that. They’ve been on a few teams, speaking in terms of Ballo, and he and Goode have won at a high level. You expect that from them. They made winning basketball plays coming down the stretch. I thought Ballo got two great looks prior to going into overtime that he just didn’t put down. We got down early in the overtime and we just kept fighting and making defensive stops and Goode hitting the big three to put us up. It was a total team effort and we needed it after the two games we just had.
Q: On putting forth effort on a consistent basis moving forward...
WOODSON: We’re sitting here, we’ve won 14 games, man. 14-5. It’s not like it’s 5-14. We’ve played some pretty good basketball and had some good stretches. The two games we just didn’t… we got our asses beat those two games. Ain’t nothing you can do about it now. We just got to try to stay away from games like that, hopefully we’ll get Malik back soon. Kanaan was huge tonight. I couldn’t take Ballo out because I used the timeouts to give him a blow, he said he was ok so I rode him.
Q: On Goode's leadership and leading by example against Ohio State...
WOODSON: It’s huge. I mean, he’s a senior, man. That’s what seniors (are) supposed to do. I expect that from Gallo, Anthony – who was big tonight. You know, Gallo made some good play, but, I gotta get Gallo playing back at a high level. He and Mackenzie are really two big pieces to this puzzle, man, and, you know, they’ve been struggling here as of late. I’ve got to get them back going.
Q: On the outside noise...
WOODSON: I don’t care about the outside noise.
Q: On the team responding on the court to the outside noise...
WOODSON: Well, again, it just shows you a little bit about the character of our team. I don’t even want to comment on the outside noise. It’s ridiculous.
Q: On seeing the Indiana native step up...
WOODSON: No, actually, listen man, we got a group of guys in that locker room with a lot of pride. They wear that jersey with pride, and sometimes things don’t go according to plan. I thought tonight, considering where we’ve been the last two games, they fought their asses off to help us win this basketball game. It was a total team effort, man.
Q: On if he expected to have an advantage in the paint...
WOODSON: You know, again, (Devin) Royal didn’t play. You know, we’re better when we got Malik because he gives us some positive things in that paint area. We’ve been struggling a little bit in the paint because we do depend on Malik some in that area. Ballo’s been great for us, but,you know, we got guys that can get downhill like Myles Rice and Gallo to make plays at the rim. But, um, listen, to win on the road in the Big Ten, it’s not easy man, it’s tough. They’ve got a hell of a team and they’re well coached. So, to come here and get a win, I tip my hat to our guys.
Q: On Kanaan Carlyle moving forward after the game he had...
WOODSON: I just hope he bottles it up and, you know, carries it forward. You know, these games are coming awfully quick, and you can’t run from it, so, you know, I’m gonna need Kanaan and the supporting cast to play at a high level, man, because that’s how you win on the road, and then you’ve got to go take care at home.
Q: On the seniors playing with a lot of effort…
GOODE: What Ballo does for our team is unmatchable. He’s one of a kind in what he can do on the offensive end and the defense end. Tonight he brought it on the offensive end and made great passes, he found me a couple of times weak-side and really finished the ball well and then guarded really well and rebounded well. When we have him playing at an elite level, like we did tonight, it’s tough for any big in the country to guard him.
Q: On why Goode was able to find success in the second half…
GOODE: It’s a big credit to my teammates, they did a great job of finding me for the first couple of shots. They did a good job of reading the defense, we scouted them and where they were coming from on the tap. Ballo made a couple of passes and I hit a couple of shots in transition. Once you see one go down as a shooter, you get pretty confident for two, three and four. Shoutout to my teammates for getting me the ball.
Q: On what Indiana can learn from responding to a challenge against Ohio State…
GOODE: A lot. We can learn that we can do it. One of the biggest trends in our losses this season is that we get down two, three, four possessions and we essentially quit in a sense and we end up being down 30 like that. Tonight we were down eight I think late in the first half maybe—correct me if I’ wrong—we came together and said you know what, let’s change the script and flip the script and go out and get a win.
Q: On what the last few days looked like for the team…
GOODE: Explaining how hard it is to win in the Big Ten. At the end of the day we were 13-3, lost a couple, and we’re 13-5. You look at other teams around the country in power conferences and there’s some teams that are under .500. We took a step back and said listen, we got a reality check, but we have to bounce back from it and do what we do as a team. We had a great two days of practice and everybody kind of took a step back and had a reality check and said you know if we want our season to go the right way, then we got {INDISCERNIBLE} play tough and play together.
Q: On Ballo’s mindset entering the game…
BALLO: My teammates did a good job finding me, we knew they were gonna double, early they didn’t double and I made some shots and started being double and I was finding Luke on the weak-side and some guys were making shots. I’m just happy we got the win.
Q: On if Indiana played with more pride tonight…
GOODE: 100%, yeah, we represented Indiana basketball tonight. Shoutout to Anthony Leal on the last stop, you know they ended up getting a tip-out three, an open three essentially, but Anthony guarding their highest-scorer of the game, that’s Indiana pride right there. Getting the stop, going to overtime after we should’ve won in regulation. In an away game, that’s what we do. I feel like tonight we represented the brand as best we could.
Q: On Oumar Ballo leaning on his teammates...
BALLO: I mean, hey, you’ve got to find a way. I played 25 straight minutes, I had to find a way… you just have to dig deeper. I’m glad we came out on the top tonight.
Q: On if Ballo felt tired...
BALLO: Not really. Not tired to a point where I feel like I can’t go no more. I always have to dig deeper because my teammates need me on the floor. There’s no way I’m gonna let them down so I had to be on the floor and stay out of foul trouble and play as hard as I could.
Q: On whose been vocal in the locker room...
GOODE: I think Anthony Leal’s done a great job. Trey, just guys that have been here. I’ve kind of taken it upon myself the past couple days. I’m fortunate enough to be on a couple teams that have won at a high level in the Big Ten in the past, and I’m trying to bring that here, and that winning mentality here… ‘Listen, this is what we’ve gotta do, we’ve gotta play as hard as we possibly can. Who cares if we score 55 points, we should beat the team because of our defense.’ That’s kinda the message I’ve been trying to get through the guys.
Q: On Leal being inserted into the starting lineup...
GOODE: Toughness. He’s, whatever, undefeated in his career when he plays 22 or more minutes. When you got a guy that goes in and can contribute that highly to a game without essentially scoring, you know he’s a tough, tough-minded guy ready to go.
Q: On what the win does for the team...
GOODE: It’s huge. Get back in the win column, that’s all we care about. We’re really focused on winning and we got one tonight.
–––––
Like this content? Join the conversation on TheHoosier.com's premium message boards and subscribe today!
– Follow TheHoosier on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook!
– Subscribe to TheHoosier on YouTube for more content
– Interact with fellow fans on TheHoosier's Premium Football Board and Premium Hoops Board
