BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana head coach Mike Woodson and players Gabe Cupps and Anthony Leal met the media after IU's win over Iowa on Tuesday night.
Above are their full Q&As.
Mike Woodson Transcript
Q. Obviously you've got a number of good performances and got a couple of guys injured that we'll ask about later, but I wanted to start with Anthony Leal coming in off the bench. The 3s he gave you, the effort he gave you, your thoughts on his play today and how impactful it was?
COACH WOODSON: I gave him the game ball after the game. I thought he was huge -- 13 points, seven rebounds. I mean, defended his ass off. It was a nice carry-over because I thought he played well in the Illinois game. That's why we elected him to come in early and play him and he responded for us which was kind of nice.
Q. Kel'el returned. Talk about his impact, not only in terms of what he did on the floor but emotionally for the team? Looked like he was playing hurt a little bit himself and what that meant in terms of getting over the hump in this game?
COACH WOODSON: We needed him back in the worst way. Games like this, man, it's huge for our ball club. He gets 23 and 10 and three blocks. We were missing his length and ability to block shots. We just didn't have it.
It was nice having him back. He was huge tonight for our ball club. And we hadn't beaten this team since I've been here. Fran has kind of had his way with this ball club. They're always well-coached and they get after you. But I thought we withstood it coming down the home stretch and made the plays to win the game.
Q. Is there any update at all on Malik or X? And number two, just what did it say about your group that they watched you go down with apparently serious injuries, a couple starters, a couple guys that would be maybe in crunch time in a tight game the players they'd look to and they still found a way to grit through?
COACH WOODSON: I applaud our team. I've always said since I've been here, it's the next man up. I don't know the severity of X and Malik at this point. But both went out kind of in pain. I'll know here when I get back there to see what the outcome of that is.
But if we have to wait on them, we have to wait on them. But it's the next guy up. We've just got to get the next man ready to play.
So guys that have been sitting over there, hadn't played a whole lot, they've got to step in and help us win basketball games because that's what it's all about at the end of the day.
Q. Refocusing the team, Xavier is screaming on the court, goes out. Malik was emotional. Did you sense them kind of at any point your players get distracted because of that? Do you have to refocus them? What do you say in that moment?
COACH WOODSON: You've got to move on. I don't like seeing any player hurt, especially my own players. But the game is still going on. And you've got to get these guys refocused and deal with what they're facing, what's in front of them.
This was a game that could have gone either way, but we made defensive stops. I thought the shot that we gave up with 2 seconds or so on the clock was huge for them. But we responded back when Gabe hit the 3, and we never looked back from that point on, which was kind of nice.
Q. Anthony has been getting more minutes but tonight looked like he was really looking for his shots when he got it. Didn't hesitate one bit. Did you have conversations with him about shooting more when he's out there? Or what's that been like?
COACH WOODSON: Not really. I mean, we take those shots a lot in practice. We practice them. We just gotta step up and make them. Mack had a lot of good open looks. Galloway had open looks. We're going to continue to get open looks.
We've just got to have the confidence to make it. I've got to help them figure out how to make them -- by instilling confidence, same with our free throws, because we made them down the stretch some. But still eight free throws is a lot of free throws in a close ball game.
Q. Anthony has spent four years looking for a role. What impresses you most about the way he seems to have stayed prepared and has come along these last couple of games?
COACH WOODSON: Where I come from in the NBA, you call that a true pro. And Anthony is the ultimate teammate, man, in terms of just hanging in there with me. And I've coached him and he's come to practice every day and has done what's asked of him and never complained, not once.
He's been a true, true teammate. And guys like that, it's easy to coach. It's easy to throw them in the game and feel good about it because you know what you're going to get based on how he performs in practice. And he's earned the right to play, and that's why I'm playing him.
Q. You've said multiple times when Kel'el arrived he had a reputation of not playing hard or being soft. When you see him out here tonight, limping, knowing he can't come out because Malik's out, kind of gutting this game out, what's your reaction to seeing that?
COACH WOODSON: A lot of Coach Woodson screaming from the very beginning when I got him. I don't mean that in a bad way. I just tried to push him, along with our coaching staff. Because the first two or three weeks with him was a nightmare in terms of his energy and his get-up-and-go.
And we've kind of coached him into playing better, playing with a little more energy. And I thought tonight was -- he actually showed some emotion. I mean, one time -- hadn't seen that all pretty much all year with him, but it was kind of nice to see.
Q. You guys hold Iowa to 35% from the field tonight. This is a high-powered offense coming in. You mentioned after the previous game that the defense was something you were pretty proud of besides the shot making. Did you see the kind of continuity with the effort on the defense tonight that you were hoping for?
COACH WOODSON: Yeah, I mean, we still gotta get Mack better from a defensive standpoint because I think he got lost a few times, and that's not to knock on him. That kid's come a long way since we started with him. And I just gotta help him more.
I've got to help everybody more, because it's going to be our defense that carries us the rest of the way and rebounding the ball. And I thought tonight it was a beautiful carry-over from the Illinois game, because we were pretty good defensively.
Gabe Cupps, Anthony Leal transcript
Q. What was it like, screaming on the court, (indiscernible) Malik was emotional when he went down. How did you refocus (indiscernible)?
ANTHONY WALKER: No, I think it's a way to rally us all together. One guy goes down, we know the next guy's got to step up. And we're all committed to winning and doing what we need to do win. Malik goes down, X goes down, we know we have to find a way to win and move on.
Q. Anthony, there's been times in your career you haven't had a ton of playing time. Coach just got done saying you never complain, you come to practice, you work. One, how do you keep that mentality? And two, what's it like to see it pay off in a game like this with career high big 3s key win?
ANTHONY WALKER: In that time of waiting it's really been great for me in terms of my faith and just growing closer to God and trusting him and his timing.
But I think just really coming to work every day and understanding, like, me just putting this jersey on for practice, even, is more than a dream come true. It's what I've wanted to do since I was first touching a basketball.
So just trusting God and loving my teammates and this jersey and this school.
Q. Anthony, going back to just talking about gutting through and rallying together, your free throws, Gabe hits the 3 late. Just, I guess, do you feel this team learned something about itself when it has to find a way especially when there have been emotional swings, they come back, you've got the injuries, the lineups, the rotations are a little messed up because of that? What does a team learn about itself on a night like this?
ANTHONY WALKER: I think it was a huddle we had with maybe a minute and a half. I mentioned we were just here, we were just here against Illinois, tie game or tie or down two, up two, that sort of situation and we weren't able to figure out how to win. It's something about this team and how we have a lot of new guys but we're figuring out how to win. And this was a good step in that direction.
Q. You have a true freshman on your right who just made a 3 with a minute and a half, one point lead at the time. Obviously the winning shot. What does that say about him and how he's wired?
ANTHONY WALKER: He loves the game. He loves the school, and he works really, really hard. He's always in here. So it's just a testament to the work that he puts in and the confidence in himself.
Q. Anthony, you were Mr. Basketball in this state. When you came here, did you expect that you would get more playing time than you have? And the fact that you haven't until now, how have you persevered?
ANTHONY WALKER: I think obviously coming out of high school everybody has the expectations. I went through a coaching change and tried to stick it out because I love this university and this school.
So just being committed to that and understanding, like I said earlier, that this is a dream come true whether I'm playing 1 minute or 40 minutes. Just to be able to put on this jersey is kind of my mindset and just the love for IU.
Q. Gabe, in an emotional game in some ways you rolled the emotional roller coaster as much as anyone. You had a hand up on their corner shot they made, and then you come down and make the 3-pointer. Talk about the ride that it was to ride this game out and how you kind of kept your composure to get the team through?
GABE CUPPS: I think a lot of it is just trusting in myself and trusting in my teammates. I think one of the most important things that Coach Woodson said to me during that series of events, it's in the past, you've got to leave it behind. Even though he was pretty mad at me, he told me to move to the next play.
I think just me being here is a blessing like Anthony said. So I'm here to work, here to get better. And I think that allows me to trust myself and also for my teammates to trust me. If Gallo doesn't trust me, he probably doesn't swing that pass back. Just really thankful for the opportunity and thankful for these guys.
Q. Anthony, Devonte Green always used to always say, you can't make any shots you don't take. You've been getting more minutes lately, but tonight was the night, when you were open, you shot; no hesitation in that. Any conversations gone on with coaches or teammates in the last couple of weeks to know that when you catch it and you're open, you need to shoot it?
ANTHONY WALKER: I work out with Coach Hulls, Jordy, almost every day. He's someone I've always looked up to. He's been good for me in my corner. But I think just overall my teammates give me confidence. They trust me. They know I put in the work to be able to reap what I sow. I think just staying committed to it and having confidence in myself and the work that I put in.
Q. Kel'el was out there kind of gutting it out tonight. He was obviously limping a lot. Coach said he saw some emotion he hadn't seen before. Curious what your reaction is to what he gave to the team tonight.
GABE CUPPS: I mean, I liked it a lot. That's the thing we need from him. He's obviously super talented, super skilled. And a lot of people's knock on him is that he's not tough. And I think he shows it in spurts, but once he can be consistent in that -- and he showed that tonight -- he's an unstoppable player.
ANTHONY WALKER: And just to add on to that. The last couple of games, whenever he was out, it really took a toll on him, mentally, emotionally. Obviously physically he was out. But he loves us as teammates and he wants to win more than anything. So it was good to see him show some emotion and fight through some nicks and bruises and whatnot. But especially with Malik going down, he stepped up big time for us.
–––––
Like this content? Join the conversation on TheHoosier.com's premium message boards and subscribe today!
– Follow TheHoosier on Twitter and Facebook!
– Subscribe to TheHoosier on YouTube for more content
– TheHoosier's Premium Football Board and Premium Hoops Board
