Thursday, November 16
Bloomington, Ind.
7:00 PM
Indiana University
vs
Wright State
Fast and Furious Part of Woodson’s Plan
11/16/2023 2:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
By Pete DiPrimio
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – It's an up-tempo college basketball world and Mike Woodson wants his Indiana Hoosiers taking full advantage.
Could that come during Thursday night's game against Wright State (0-2) at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall? That's the plan.
Woodson saw too much half-court offense in IU's opening two games against Florida Gulf Coast and Army, which helped produce too much three-point shooting inaccuracy. The Hoosiers struggled in both victories, in part because they couldn't run to Woodson's push-the-pace standards.
"The game is like this," he said. "If you get stops and you rebound, you have an opportunity to get out and fast break and make plays. If you get in passing lanes and get easy steals where you can generate offense that way, it's a quick way to get out and play faster.
"Right now, we're not doing any of those things. We're not getting stops. We're not getting the ball out and getting up the floor and playing faster.
"Those are things that we can build on and continue to work at. We can't live in the half-court game this season. I want to play faster, and I've got to get us to do that because we're not doing it yet."
That's important with the scheduling degree of difficulty about to soar. The Hoosiers will head to New York City this weekend to play defending national champion Connecticut on Sunday and then either Texas or Louisville on Monday, both as part of the Empire Classic.
During Woodson's Monday night radio show, director of player development Calbert Cheaney discussed the Hoosiers with Voice of the Hoosiers Don Fischer.
Cheaney said this year's team is more talented than last year's 23-12 squad.
"We're bigger; we're more athletic; we're longer. Stay with us. We're working on it."
Consider 7-foot transfer forward Kel'el Ware, who is starting to play to his enormous potential. He leads IU in scoring (16.5), rebounding (9.0) and blocked shots (2.0).
"He has to continue to compete at a high level," Cheaney told Fischer. "He's starting to understand who he is as a player and what he can do. The sky is the limit for that kid."
Heralded freshman forward Mackenzie Mgbako continues to struggle. While starting both games, he's become a second-half non-factor, with freshman guard Gabe Cupps replacing him in a three-guard lineup.
Mgbako averages 3.0 points and 2.5 rebounds in 17.2 minutes.
"It's continuing to understand how the game is played," Cheaney told Fischer. "He's a freshman. The college game is totally different from high school. He has to understand the details of what Coach wants."
As far as Cupps, Cheaney told Fischer that he has earned the nickname, "Iron Man."
Cupps averages 5.0 points. He has three assists, three steals and three turnovers. More importantly, he defends to Woodson's demanding standards with relentless energy and fan-favorite tenacity.
"He's got one of the best work ethics I've ever seen," Cheaney told Fischer. "He's not the biggest kid. He's not the fastest kid. But he makes up for it with heart and determination."
Like Ware, guard Xavier Johnson averages 16.5 points, with a team-leading three three-point baskets. Forward Malik Reneau averages 14.5 points and 4.0 rebounds. He also has a team leading seven assists.
Army coach Kevin Kuwik was impressed with IU's potential.
"They have great positional size across the board. They execute really well.
"It's a new team at this stage of the year. Coach Woodson is still fitting his pieces together, but they are going to be great. They just have to get some game reps under them."
Wright State, which was picked to finish third in the Horizon League, has lost to Colorado State 105-77 and Toledo 78-77.
It has the Horizon League preseason player of the year in Trey Calvin, who averaged 20.3 points last season. He averages 27.5 points this season.
The Raiders have two other pre-season all-conference players in Tanner Holden and Brandon Noel.
Noel was the Horizon League freshman of the year last season after averaging 13.0 points and 8.7 rebounds with 11 double doubles. This season he averages 9.0 points and 6.0 rebounds. He's blocked five shots.
Holden played last season at Ohio State after spending the previous three years at Wright State, where in 91 starts he averaged 16.1 points, 7.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists. This season he averages 15.5 points and 5.0 rebounds.
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – It's an up-tempo college basketball world and Mike Woodson wants his Indiana Hoosiers taking full advantage.
Could that come during Thursday night's game against Wright State (0-2) at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall? That's the plan.
Woodson saw too much half-court offense in IU's opening two games against Florida Gulf Coast and Army, which helped produce too much three-point shooting inaccuracy. The Hoosiers struggled in both victories, in part because they couldn't run to Woodson's push-the-pace standards.
"The game is like this," he said. "If you get stops and you rebound, you have an opportunity to get out and fast break and make plays. If you get in passing lanes and get easy steals where you can generate offense that way, it's a quick way to get out and play faster.
"Right now, we're not doing any of those things. We're not getting stops. We're not getting the ball out and getting up the floor and playing faster.
"Those are things that we can build on and continue to work at. We can't live in the half-court game this season. I want to play faster, and I've got to get us to do that because we're not doing it yet."
That's important with the scheduling degree of difficulty about to soar. The Hoosiers will head to New York City this weekend to play defending national champion Connecticut on Sunday and then either Texas or Louisville on Monday, both as part of the Empire Classic.
During Woodson's Monday night radio show, director of player development Calbert Cheaney discussed the Hoosiers with Voice of the Hoosiers Don Fischer.
Cheaney said this year's team is more talented than last year's 23-12 squad.
"We're bigger; we're more athletic; we're longer. Stay with us. We're working on it."
Consider 7-foot transfer forward Kel'el Ware, who is starting to play to his enormous potential. He leads IU in scoring (16.5), rebounding (9.0) and blocked shots (2.0).
"He has to continue to compete at a high level," Cheaney told Fischer. "He's starting to understand who he is as a player and what he can do. The sky is the limit for that kid."
Heralded freshman forward Mackenzie Mgbako continues to struggle. While starting both games, he's become a second-half non-factor, with freshman guard Gabe Cupps replacing him in a three-guard lineup.
Mgbako averages 3.0 points and 2.5 rebounds in 17.2 minutes.
"It's continuing to understand how the game is played," Cheaney told Fischer. "He's a freshman. The college game is totally different from high school. He has to understand the details of what Coach wants."
As far as Cupps, Cheaney told Fischer that he has earned the nickname, "Iron Man."
Cupps averages 5.0 points. He has three assists, three steals and three turnovers. More importantly, he defends to Woodson's demanding standards with relentless energy and fan-favorite tenacity.
"He's got one of the best work ethics I've ever seen," Cheaney told Fischer. "He's not the biggest kid. He's not the fastest kid. But he makes up for it with heart and determination."
Like Ware, guard Xavier Johnson averages 16.5 points, with a team-leading three three-point baskets. Forward Malik Reneau averages 14.5 points and 4.0 rebounds. He also has a team leading seven assists.
Army coach Kevin Kuwik was impressed with IU's potential.
"They have great positional size across the board. They execute really well.
"It's a new team at this stage of the year. Coach Woodson is still fitting his pieces together, but they are going to be great. They just have to get some game reps under them."
Wright State, which was picked to finish third in the Horizon League, has lost to Colorado State 105-77 and Toledo 78-77.
It has the Horizon League preseason player of the year in Trey Calvin, who averaged 20.3 points last season. He averages 27.5 points this season.
The Raiders have two other pre-season all-conference players in Tanner Holden and Brandon Noel.
Noel was the Horizon League freshman of the year last season after averaging 13.0 points and 8.7 rebounds with 11 double doubles. This season he averages 9.0 points and 6.0 rebounds. He's blocked five shots.
Holden played last season at Ohio State after spending the previous three years at Wright State, where in 91 starts he averaged 16.1 points, 7.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists. This season he averages 15.5 points and 5.0 rebounds.
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