3 things Mike Woodson revealed that will be music to IU basketball fans' ears

3 things Mike Woodson revealed that will be music to IU basketball fans’ ears

Posted by Admin September 18, 2024 Basketball

BLOOMINGTON — Mike Woodson pulled back the curtain for the first time this preseason Wednesday, during a lengthy discussion of his IU basketball team, his offseason and the weeks ahead for the Hoosiers during team media day at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.

Could there be meaningful changes afoot in Bloomington? Here are three big takeaways from Woodson’s first comments of the fall:

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Ready to space the floor

It will be music to Indiana fans’ ears. Now, Woodson and his team must prove they can play it.

Speaking at IU’s annual team media day Wednesday, Woodson ran the rule over the roster he modified and bolstered with substantial work in the transfer portal. Coupled with McDonald’s All American freshman Bryson Tucker’s arrival, the Hoosiers might have had as good of a spring from a roster-building standpoint as any team in the Big Ten.

Nothing will so intrigue or excite fans as Woodson’s suggestion Wednesday he’s ready to roll away from two-big lineups at times, and spread the floor with smaller lineups.

“I’d like to get to some small ball this year,” he said, “like I had in New York, where Mack(enzie Mbgako) and (Luke) Goode can play some four, and we can still be athletic enough out on the floor with one of the bigs to compete at a high level.”

Mgbako will be an important piece of that equation, a now-proven commodity that can play the three or the four. He finished last season shooting 37.8% in conference play. He’s joined now by Goode, an Illinois transfer who never shot under 37% from distance in a single season in Champaign. Last season was his best, Goode shooting 38.9% from distance on 157 attempts.

Woodson will be boosted by the arrival of dynamic guards Myles Rice and Kanaan Carlyle, both of whom Woodson believes can shoot the ball more accurately than in their previous stops. He’ll be worried about getting fifth-year senior guard Trey Galloway healthy again, and shooting the ball like he did two seasons ago when he was among the most-accurate 3-and-D players in the conference. And Indiana is still bound to push some two-big lineups, with Malik Reneau back for his junior year and Arizona transfer Oumar Ballo sliding into Kel’el Ware’s old spot at center.

But after spending last winter struggling mightily with both 3-point volume and 3-point accuracy, Woodson believes this roster more capable of the kind of roster flexibility that could weaponize the arc more substantially than a year ago.

“Only time will tell,” Woodson said. “That’s where I’d like to get to.”

Foot down on the gas

That same roster retooling that has Woodson confident he can play smaller and score more efficiently also has him ready to speed things up offensively.

A lack of veteran ball handlers prompted the Hoosiers to slow things down last year at times, to lessen the risk of turnovers and other open-floor mistakes. This summer’s arrivals — in particular Rice and Carlyle — have Woodson ready to loosen restrictions and crank up the pace where possible, even off made baskets.

“I’d like to play a little bit quicker this year, where we’re not walking it up,” Woodson said.

Rice in particular will be crucial to that effort. The reigning Pac-12 player of the year transferred in after leading Washington State to its first NCAA tournament appearance in more than a decade. Rice posted a top-five assist rate in league play with the Cougars last winter, and he’s impressed Woodson with his decision making in transition and high-tempo situations this summer.

Paired with Carlyle, Rice hands Woodson the ability to speed things up without intensifying the risk of mistakes.

“His speed,” Woodson said, referring to Rice. “It changes the game for us.”

Indiana won’t rely solely on those two.

Woodson said he’s worked with several players on their comfort handling the ball. He expects Gabe Cupps to force his way into his coach’s thinking as a sophomore. And IU would be well served by Galloway’s recovery from offseason knee surgery.

Packaged together, Woodson believes he has a team he can turn that little bit looser this winter, to crank up the Hoosiers’ offensive threat.

Multi-dimensional Malik?

IU pushed Reneau to expand his offensive game last season, with the Florida native shooting 45 3s as a sophomore compared to just eight as a freshman.

Nevertheless, by season’s end, Reneau still found most of his offense around the rim. Woodson would like that to change this winter.

“Malik has graduated from his freshman year. He made a major jump last year. He didn’t shoot very many 3s. We made a few, but he did most of his work around the bucket,” Woodson said. “We’ve tried this summer to move him away from the bucket … and he’s kind of held his own.”

Some of that improvement has been offensive, Indiana’s staff pushing Reneau to become more comfortable away from the basket.

But perhaps more importantly, IU needs Reneau to become more versatile defensively. He cut his fouls-per-40-minutes average from his freshman to his sophomore seasons, but with Ballo likely to eat up a lot of airspace around the rim, the Hoosiers add another dimension defensively if Reneau can guard smaller, quicker covers away from the basket when he plays the four.

Woodson has challenged Reneau to improve himself against teammates like Mgbako and Goode in practices this summer, with that aim in mind.

“That’s something we’ve been working on,” Woodson said, “when he has to match up with Mackenzie and Goode in practice, at the four spot.”

With Woodson eyeing smaller, more flexible lineups, a more dynamic and flexible Reneau only adds to his options.

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