Here's What Mike Woodson Said After Loss at Rutgers: 'We Were Awful'
PISCATAWAY, N.J. — It was a rough night in the swamps of New Jersey for Indiana on Tuesday. They fell 66-57 to Rutgers and dropped to 11-5 on the season, and 3-2 in the Big Ten.
The Hoosiers struggled to make free throws, and once again had too many turnovers (18) and gave up too many offensive rebounds (19).
Here's the full transcript from Indiana coach Mike Woodson's postgame press conference.
QUESTION: "Coach, obviously a lot of different things in this game. Points off turnovers, turnovers, offensive rebounding, the run they went on early in the first half. What stands out to you, the most definitive things that led to this loss for you guys?''
MIKE WOODSON: "When you say the run they want on in the first half, I mean we were down three on the road (at halftime), so you feel pretty good about that. But you don't expect your senior guard to get kicked out, we came into the game knowing that this team is a great offensive rebounding team, so that hurt us. And then the turnovers hurt us again. You're not going to beat teams on the road doing that. I thought we had a good game plan coming out, but we couldn't make shots. I look at the stat line and we were just awful. I mean, 11 free throws we missed, we missed a lot of wide open threes. Taking threes is what it is, but you've got to make them. And we didn't make them. With the turnovers and the offensive rebounds, I'm surprised we were even that close when you look at the stat sheet.''
Q: "What's the biggest problem with the free throws? I mean, sometimes threes don't go in, that's in the flow of the game and everyone understands that can be hit or miss. But what's the deal with the free throws?''
WOODSON: "If I had a magic pill that I could give them about making free throws, I would. It's all mental. You've played sports or played basketball, when you get fouled and go to the line, they're free. So you should feel good about yourself and go up and knock them down and punish them for fouling you. We just didn't do that tonight. That's unacceptable. We've got to get better at making free throws. You're not going to beat teams in the Big Ten, you're just not.''
Q: "What goes into it when you guys were down and then went up seven and pulled four starters. What goes into pulling the starters?''
WOODSON: "Guys you can't play everybody 40 minutes. That whole stretch, they went a good 10 to 11-12 minutes. I thought they need a blow and that's why I substituted. I feel good about our bench. They need to give us more, so that's why I went to the bench. We didn't get it and they caught up, but the game was back and forth and you can feel good about being down three, or up three. It could have been a tied game. The guy hits a big-time shot at the buzzer to go up three. I'm not feeling bad, but I just didn't like the way we were playing. We weren't sacrificing the basketball when guys were open and we tried to penetrate and nothing was there and we were losing the ball. That's just losing basketball. We've got to get better in that area.''
Q: "One of the biggest questions that fans were asking on social media, why were four starters out at the same time versus sort of rolling them through?
WOODSON: "I'm not going to sit here and answer that question when it comes to the fans — or you. I elected to go to my bench, which I've done this season, and I've gotten some good results here and there. And tonight, they didn't kill us but they let them back in the game. And I thought we withstood it. The big shot at the half I thought gave them momentum going in, but the game was still back and forth. Then X has his little fiasco where he gets kicked out and that changes the game a little bit. At the two-minute mark, we were down six, two possessions, and we foul. And then we come back and we get an intentional foul. So that's the game, pretty much. Now you're scrambling trying to win down the stretch. We just got to be more solid, like we play at home, we've got to play that way on the road. And I've got to get us to that point."
Q: "The offensive rebounds that they got, is that high-level concern at this point or do you look at it like it's fixable with effort?''
WOODSON: "It's always a problem. We won a game against Ohio State losing the glass by 20 rebounds and you say how in the hell can you win a game like that? But the other areas we were pretty good at, and you're not going to do that with most teams in the Big Ten. It's something we've got to clean up because it's been a problem for our ballclub this year.''
Q: "Coach, you scored 48 points here last year in the building, 57 this year, five straight losses in this building? Is it this building, or just life on the road in the Big Ten?
WOODSON: "I'm two of those five, I know that. We haven't played well here. My thought process was if we kept it close and give ourselves a chance, but then you turn it over and give up offensive rebounds like we did and not make free throws, it's hard to win on the road. Those things are fixable and we just have to go home and get back to work and see if w can fix them.''
Q: "From game to game, obviously especially home and road, what can you do to kind of develop more consistency and be more consistent performances from game to game from your guys?''
WOODSON: "Work. Continue to work. That's all you can do. You've got to continue to work. So we'll go home and go to practice (Wednesday) and get ready for Minnesota. We have to continue to work to get better. And I've got to get them over the hump. I've got to figure that out.''
Q: "How did you feel about the leadership on the floor, especially down the stretch You talked about losing Xavier. Did you feel like guys stepped up and had a voice, or are you still searching for that guy to steady the ship a little bit, especially on the road?'
WOODSON: "Well, I expect our seniors, Walker, X and Gallo. Anthony Leal has been great. No complains there. Those guys are seniors, they have to help lead. The road is different that playing at home. There's no dobut about that.I thought we can out with good intentions, and we played hard through good spurts of the ballgame. Again, missed free throws, 19 offensive rebounds, terrible from the 3-point line and I don't know how many turnovers we had. That's all losing basketball and I've got to fix it.''
