Indiana men's basketball head coach Mike Woodson, guard Trey Galloway and forward Mackenzie Mgbako spoke with the media on Wednesday following Indiana's win over SIUE.
Below are their full Q&As, as well as a full transcript of both coversations.
Q. I know you've always seen the offensive explosion and ability with Mackenzie. 13 points in four minutes. 31 on the night. What did you think of his offensive game?
MIKE WOODSON: I thought he was the only one that truly played pretty good offense tonight. I mean, I thought we came out with great intentions. The ball moved early. We just got stale from an offensive standpoint in terms of moving the ball, making the extra pass.
This team was able to hang around. A lot of that is because we just didn't execute. I got to get us better in that regard.
I thought our defense was not too bad. We got to rebound the ball better. Gave up too many offensive rebounds.
Q. You said a couple weeks ago you wanted the team to get out to a blazing start. Had you seen execution problems in practice offensively? Have you been practicing things well in the weeks leading up?
MIKE WOODSON: No, I think we've been having some pretty good practices. The ball just wasn't moving. Our bodies weren't moving. I got to get us better in that area.
I thought, again, defensively we were pretty solid. You take away their offensive rebounding, we really are pretty good defensively. But we just couldn't keep 'em off the glass. That's not a big team.
I got to get us blocking out and getting better in that area.
Q. Mackenzie's scoring, a block, a steal, improved effort and hustle plays on the defensive end. How have you seen him in the off-season with his approach and effort?
MIKE WOODSON: No, he's still learning. I mean, I thought tonight was one of the best games he's had since he's been here. He was pretty solid defensively.
I look at what Kanaan Carlyle did from a defensive standpoint. Gallo coming in and defending, giving us nine assists.
This team, there's enough to spread the wealth all around the team if guys play the right way. I don't think in stretches we played the right way tonight.
Q. 16 turnovers, but it felt like some of them guys were trying to push the pace, moving too fast. Do you feel that's a number that comes down a little bit as this team settles in to how to play a little faster?
MIKE WOODSON: Yeah, I think so. Myles, he had five turnovers. Three of them was where there just wasn't nothing there. He tried to split two and three guys and lost the ball. Those are things that are correctable. He has to be patient to get us in something, then know what to go do what he needs to do offensively himself.
Still a work in motion in terms of trying to get him to play the right way and be a true point guard.
Q. With Myles, where maybe is the next step with him?
MIKE WOODSON: Again, I mean, good point guards, great point guards, they figure out how to make players better around them, and then still figure out how to go score the basketball.
He can score the ball, there's no doubt about that. He's shown that in practice. I don't want to ever take that away from him.
But I do want him to play the right way and run our offense when he's got the ball in his hands and make the right plays when it's time to make 'em.
Q. Trey has always been a jack of all trades for you. With his role that he has now coming off the bench, can you speak to how much you appreciate it that he's willing to accept the role that he has and thrive in it?
MIKE WOODSON: Again, a lot of it has been we can't help but bring him off right now because he can't play big-time minutes yet. He's missed so much of summer play, coming back from summer play up until this point. We're just gradually trying to bring him along, not burn him and get him hurt again.
I mean, tonight his minutes grew a little bit more. He played 17 minutes, but he played longer in stretches tonight. So we'll see how he feels tomorrow when he wakes up and comes in for treatment. That's going to be the key.
Q. What do you think your team's offensive identity is right now?
MIKE WOODSON: Don't know. Still searching. I do know we can score the basketball. Certain guys haven't really made shots like I thought they would. They'll start falling eventually.
Q. Obviously at Indiana you always carry the weight of high expectations. How do you manage that with your players, prepare them to handle those expectations?
MIKE WOODSON: We can't hide from it. Expectations, that's a good thing. We expect that. So I expect our players to play at a high level. I thought in stretches we did tonight.
I just got to get us where we're playing 40 minutes a game throughout the game no matter what, no matter who we play.
Q. The 16 offensive rebounds for them, was that bad bounces or bad blocking?
MIKE WOODSON: No, I just give them credit from a team standpoint. They wanted it a little bit more than we did. That's something that can't happen.
I got to go back and break this film down and put them in front of the film and try to get better.
THE MODERATOR: Thanks, coach.
Q. Mackenzie, what made this your night? What got you into rhythm so early?
MACKENZIE MGBAKO: Just playing within the offense and playing with my team. Just being aggressive, playing with what they gave me.
Q. Trey, as one of the leaders on this team, what is it like to see Mackenzie's breakout, a monster game like that where he's hitting every shot?
TREY GALLOWAY: Yeah, I mean, it's great to see. People don't see it, but we all see. He puts in the work. He's very efficient in his work. He's a guy that can score for us, and we know that. He did that tonight. We're going to need him to do it a lot of times.
I think whenever it's anybody's night, just making sure we keep finding that person. It's going to be a lot of guys' nights throughout the season that can get out and score. Tonight was Mackenzie's night and he played really well for us.
Q. Trey, speaking of that, it seemed like at the last stretch of the game and you Ballo were finding each other. What did you see with him being able to get open?
TREY GALLOWAY: You said Ballo?
Q. Yes.
TREY GALLOWAY: We were stagnant early on and throughout the game. We needed to move in a pace that we've been doing in practice and stuff.
I think just creating some movement that we were able to kind of find some things, get some open gaps. He got behind the defense, we were able to score. I think continuing that on to the next game and playing with pace.
I think our pace was good towards the end of the game. We got to have that pace for all 40 minutes on offense and defense.
Q. Mackenzie, you showed a lot of diverse looks, cutting to the basket, midrange. What did you work on this off-season to try to find different ways to score?
MACKENZIE MGBAKO: Yeah, most definitely worked on defense. A big thing is defense creating offense. Being able to know the reads on the defensive side, that leads to offense.
Q. Trey, with so many new faces on this team, what are some of the challenges you fight to find chemistry?
TREY GALLOWAY: I think just getting and finding and being comfortable with new rotations that we really haven't had yet. In practice, just getting those game-like reps and doing everything at game speed is going to be huge for us.
This is only our third game together. My second game. Everyone else. It's coming together, doing it at game speed. It shows. It's a different game when you're out there on court.
I think continuing to get better in practice and trust in each other and keep building that trust within each guy, it's going to help us.
Q. Trey, you've been here for five years. How does this team differ offensively from some of the past years?
TREY GALLOWAY: I think just a lot of the weapons that we have. There's so many guys that can do so many things. Like I said previously, it's going to be a lot of guys' nights. We're going to have to sacrifice that all season. I mean, if one guy is really playing well, we got to be unselfish and find them.
I think we'll continue to get better as we get into the season and keep growing together. I think just with that being said, we got to continue to do it every day in practice and continue to find each other.
Like I said, we got so many weapons that can create for others and create for themselves.
Q. Trey, as one of the leaders on the team, how do you go about managing expectations, getting everybody ready to handle some of the high expectations?
TREY GALLOWAY: I think it's great because we have high expectations for ourselves, as well. We've really come together and shared our goals together. We all know what our goals are.
As a collective group, we've got to come together and find ways to keep doing those every day. Like I said, I always go back to practice. That's our main thing. Our focus is getting better in practice and being ready to go for those games.
I think taking it one game at a time and trusting our work. Obviously there are expectations. We're Indiana. The history of this place is phenomenal.
I think just like I said, taking it one game at a time and coming together, it's going to be huge for us.
Q. It seemed like it took a little bit more time last year to become a full cohesive unit. Tonight seemed like you figured it out quicker. What are some of the differences between last year and this year that have helped you come together quicker?
TREY GALLOWAY: It's a different team. Every year is a different team. I think just like I said, we got a lot of experience with guys that have played a lot of minutes in the Big Ten, the Pac-12, older guys. I think with that being said, we got to find ways to come together quicker. The season goes quick. Before we know it, we'll be in the Big Ten playing.
I think we have to work out some kinks and keep coming together and figuring everything out.
Q. McKenzie, you had 13 points in a four-minute window. Are you one of those get-hot, stay-hot guys? When you got the first couple, were you looking for some more?
MACKENZIE MGBAKO: I was just going with what the team gave me. It was like moving the ball, finding the right shots, and just taking them.
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