After years-upon-years of two-big “buddy ball” and relatively slow-tempo offense that have spanned multiple coaching staffs, it would be reasonable for IU basketball fans to be a bit skeptical about any talk of change coming in those regards in 2024-25.
You won’t find anyone who doubts these Hoosiers have talent on their roster. Many believe it is the most talented team in the Big Ten after Mike Woodson pulled in one of the best transfer portal hauls in the nation.
But questions about playing style, and how all of those talented pieces will come together to form a coherent basketball team remain.
Preseason talk is just that, but IU coach Mike Woodson’s message was clear on Wednesday at the program’s in-house media day. He wants to play faster for sure. And at least at times, he wants to play smaller.
“I’d like to get to some small ball this year like I had in New York (with the Knicks), where Mack (Mgbako) 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,” Woodson said.
“I’ve experimented a little this summer and fall. Only time can tell. That’s where I’d like to get to, where we don’t have to pound the ball (in the post) a lot. Play some small ball and get up and down the court a little bit.”
To be sure, if you did some research you’d probably find preseason Archie Miller saying the same thing every year about playing faster, but it never really materialized in any kind of meaningful way. And that’s mainly because Miller never really had the personnel to truly play fast. And save for some stretches when Xavier Johnson was in peak form, neither has Woodson.
Now in his fourth season leading the IU program, Woodson believes he finally has the parts to truly get Indiana’s engines revving up-and-down the court.
“We’ve got guards now that are a lot quicker than we’ve had in the past. I think Myles (Rice) and Kanaan (Carlyle) bring a totally different look,” Woodson said.
“(Myles) speed, it changes the game for us, along with Kanaan.”
Woodson wants the pace to extend beyond just fast breaks after more obvious opportunities like turnovers, blocked shots and long missed shots. He wants his team to pull the ball out of the basket on made shots and run.
“I’d like to play a little bit quicker this year, where we’re not walking it up,” he said. “I’d like to play a little bit faster on the makes, and that’s something we’ve been working on since we put the team together this summer.”
Jakai Newton had a front row seat for the 2023-24 season as he recovered from injury. This summer he’s been back on the floor at times, and he can notice a significant difference when it comes to the IU backcourt.
“We definitely have a lot more guards, and we’ve got a lot more athleticism too,” Newton said.
And what about Rice specifically?
“If you can’t keep up, he’s gonna leave you in the dust,” Newton said.
Playing smaller and faster seem to be harmonious goals, but playing smaller won’t bear much fruit unless Indiana can improve upon their 32.4 percent three-point shooting from a year ago.
Woodson believes those pieces are in place as well.
“(Luke) Goode brings us some shooting, (Trey) Gallo(way), get him back him in the form that he shot the ball a couple years ago, that will help. And Mackenzie shot the ball well, and Myles and Kanaan can make shots,” Woodson said.
Malik Reneau said on Wednesday he’s open to playing the five this year, and said he’s been doing that throughout the summer at times. That’s an obvious necessity if IU is going to play smaller, with Mgbako or Goode at power forward when Reneau is in the game. By all accounts, Indiana has been testing lineups both ways, big and small.
So let’s be clear, two-big buddy ball is not going to vanish overnight. It would come as a major surprise if both Reneau and 7-foot center Oumar Ballo aren’t in the starting lineup to open the season. And Woodson hasn’t been one to tinker with his starting five much to this point.
The real questions are probably just how much Reneau and Ballo will play together over the course of a game. And when they are on the floor at the same time, can it work?
Reneau showed potential as a shooter last year, making 33.3% of his attempts from three on low volume. So there is some hope IU could space the floor with him at the four. Reneau is a good passer too.
For Woodson, the real key to making the two-big lineup work — for however many minutes Ballo and Reneau play together — is Reneau’s defense.
“His (Reneau’s) biggest challenge is going to be guarding players at that (four) position, but that’s something that we’ve been working on when he has to match up against Mackenzie and Goode in practice at the four spot,” Woodson said.
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