BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana head coach Mike Woodson and players Gabe Cupps and Kel'el Ware met the media after their exhibition victory over Marian.
Above are their full Q&As.
Mike Woodson Transcript
Q. Kel'el, in terms of the offensive end, did you like seeing that confidence kind of spark, and how have you worked with him to develop that? Did you see confidence lacking when he came in at all, curious?
COACH WOODSON: Well, I mean, it's been a lot of really going at him in practice to get him to be aggressive and do the things that we want him to do on the offensive end. And he's starting to show some signs that he can do that.
I mean, he's a skilled guy, but we've got to get him now where -- because it's getting ready to start for real now, and he's going to be playing much bigger guys, more talented bigs.
I'm just curious to see where he's going to be once we start that journey.
Q. You guys shot 25 free throws tonight. What does it do for your offense when you can get to the line that often?
COACH WOODSON: It takes a lot of pressure off playing that half court. We also had 27 points, fast break points. And that's going to be huge moving forward so we don't have to rely on playing so much in the half court.
We can generate points with our defense. That's a bonus when you are playing offense, when you can get up and passing lanes and disrupt opponents with your defense and get steals and get out and run. That's how the game should be played.
Q. Specifically, with your back court, you guys got I think it was close to 20 assists no turnovers from them and they also played a big factor from the defensive side. What did you see from them tonight that led to their success?
COACH WOODSON: Again, we've been stressing, we watched so much from a film standpoint where we just are not making the extra pass. Our guy draws two people and somebody's sitting there wide open and we'll try to drive through the guy, through the two people and around them instead of making the extra pass. That's going to be critical.
The only way you beat defenses is you've got to make the extra pass. If it calls for you to set a screen, you have to set screens. I thought tonight we really sacrificed the ball and made assists. X and Gal both had six assists tonight.
Q. Mac Mgbako had 15 -- he had 14 last time. How do you evaluate his start so far?
COACH WOODSON: Mackenzie?
Q. Mackenzie Mgbako.
COACH WOODSON: He's been solid. He's been solid ever since he came here. From a defensive standpoint, we have to speed the process up with him because the way we scramble and do things, you've got to communicate it and then you've got to give energy to get where we need to go from a defensive standpoint. And he's still in the learning stages right now, as well as a lot of the newcomers.
Q. Anthony Walker has been really good in the two exhibition games. What has he been like in practice and what do you think he'll do for the team this season?
COACH WOODSON: He's been solid. He's given me enough confidence, that whole second unit has given me enough confidence since we've been together that I can play them. I mean, I feel good -- somebody's not playing well in the first unit, I feel really good about playing guys in the second unit because they compete. They like to compete. And that's how it's got to be the rest of this season.
Q. Kel'el has done a lot of his damage in the second half. I think he's had 27 points over the two exhibitions in the second half. Once he seems to get going, he gets going. What do you think gets him going?
COACH WOODSON: Well, I called a couple of plays for him in the second half. But it's not about play calling. I mean, he's big enough when we run our pick and roll offense, he's big enough to roll and demand the ball as a big target. He can run the floor and get buckets that way. He can get offensive rebounds.
So, I mean, I've never bought into guys saying, well, Coach, you don't run plays for me. There's all kind of ways of scoring the basketball. And he's capable of doing that. And sometimes you have to pick on other guys that are guarding him.
I mean, I ran a back screen where he got a bullet pass down the middle and ended up laying it in. Plays like that, you gotta take advantage of it, but I thought he was solid tonight.
He did a lot of good things on the floor. I was out there. And we're going to need him to continue to grow.
Q. Obviously this was the first time you and your team have taken the court since Coach Knight passed. How much was he on your mind at all tonight? Did anything about game prep or game day feel a little different for you?
COACH WOODSON: I mean, it's been tough. I prep every game the same way. But knowing that he's not around anymore, it means more now to me.
I mean, I wish I could do all the things he's done as a coach, which is impossible to do, for me. And my thoughts will always be with him. They'll never go anywhere.
As long as I come into this building knowing that this is Bob Knight's building, I'm going to always think about him and just hopefully I can make him proud. That's all I think about every day that I come here and work and coach.
Q. With the season three or four days away, what's your biggest concern going in?
COACH WOODSON: Well, I mean, again, these are two practice games. When it's for real, I mean, I don't have a concern. I just want to make sure that our guys are prepared and ready to play at a high level and just keep doing the things that we've been doing. I mean, we've done some pretty good things from an offensive and defensive standpoint and we've got to build on those things and don't forget how we've done them. That's what's important moving forward. And everybody's got to push each other to get better. We've still got a long way to go and it starts on Tuesday.
Gabe Cupps, Kel'el Ware Transcript
Q. Kel'el, could you take us through what the last few weeks of practice have been like for you? Coach Woodson said he's been pushing you a lot. And tonight to knock down three -- scoring inside a little bit, how do you feel your game is at this point?
KEL'EL WARE: I feel like my game has just been evolved, and the more I get in shape, like Coach Woodson said, the past previous practice he's been pushing me to run hard and all the coaches have. The more I get in condition, I feel like we're going to be a better team.
Q. Gabe, you played a lot of minutes tonight. 22 minutes. You're getting integrated into the college game, the speed. How has it been making that adjustment, and with the size, playing with guys like Kel'el Ware?
GABE CUPPS: I think playing extended minutes tonight kind of showed me that you can still get tired with those long media timeouts. But playing with guys like Kel'el, it makes the game a lot easier just to be able to read ball screens and be able to come off, like you can just throw it up if somebody's not there or if they're trailing it or if they can't see the ball. So it definitely adds a whole other element to the game that makes it more fun.
Q. Kel'el, there's a moment in the second half where you were fouled and your head kind of went down and your teammates came over to you to offer support. What does it mean to have their support through the game?
Kel'el Ware: It means a lot. Because if you do make a mistake, just leave it in the past, just move on to the next play, the next play, and just keep going until we win the game.
Q. Gabe, as somebody who has always has the whole offense in mind. What does a guy like Kel'el open up for you when he can step up from the 3-point line and move in space and obviously how he finishes around the rim?
GABE CUPPS: I would say he just creates a lot more space vertically and just throughout the court, especially to be able to step out and shoot like he can. Bigs can't get detached from him.
If they go out and close out on him, he's athletic and he moves well enough to be able to put it on the floor and back cut and throw lobs, be a threat vertically too.
Q. Gabe, you've been the catalyst for some really good defensive spurts for the second group, what have you guys been like in practice and what do you think that second group will be like in the regular season?
GABE CUPPS: I mean, I think we try to take it to the red team every day and we try to challenge them. So everybody just competes on our team, and I think when everybody's going at each other and they have the thought in mind they're just making each other better, that's when you get a really successful team. I think I've done a good job in practice of just coming consistently and pressuring the ball all the time. When I get out here, guys usually aren't as fast or strong as X that I'm guarding every day in practice.
I feel confident that if I can get up and pressure X every day, then I can come out here and pressure guys up the floor the whole time.
Q. Going off that theme of defense, there was a moment with about a minute left in the first half where Woodson called timeout and you guys kind of huddled and really kind of seemed like clicked especially from that point on going into the second half. What was said in that timeout and kind of how did you guys close out on the perimeter in the second half?
KEL'EL WARE: Well, we knew that they were a team that could shoot the ball, and so we had to just make sure that we get to the 3-point line, if they drive in, then of course we have bigs down there that could block, me, Malik, and Walk, he had a couple of blocks tonight. Just had to take away their two-points.
Q. A lot of your production has been in the second half after slow starts. What do you think gets you going and then what keeps you going?
KEL'EL WARE: I would say in the first half I'm sort of just moving at a fast pace when all I've got to do is just slow down. Once I slow down everything will just come to me and everything will open up for the team.
Q. Kel'el, Coach Woodson said he's been kind of going after you to be more aggressive on the offensive end to help your game, particularly at the basket. Is that drill work? Is it sort of the mental kind of stuff trying to be aggressive with you? How does he try to coax that out of you and what has he done to help develop your offensive game?
Kel'el Ware: I would say it's mental. Like I said, in the first half, everything would be sped up, when all I have to do is just slow down and everything will come to you, the floor will open, you'll be able to see everything, instead of just rushing into a move to it.
Q. Gabe, you've been orchestrating the break a lot through the last couple of games. What does it do for the team when you get out and run?
GABE CUPPS: Coach Woodson has made it a point to us that we want to try to thrive in transition and get a lot of fastbreak points. Anytime I get the ball and see open floor, I want to push it and try to get guys easy shots. I think it's deflating for a defense to give stuff up in transition, and with our ball pressure and our anticipation on defense, we can get out and run a lot. That's good for us.
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