‘Putting It Together’ -- IU Basketball Optimism High
9/23/2024 10:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
By Pete DiPrimio
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Trey Galloway sees it, all the Indiana Hoosiers do, this enormous basketball potential, a championship opportunity, a sense that this will be, in coach Mike Woodson's fourth year, a defining season.
"We're very optimistic," the fifth-year senior guard says from a Hoosier media day opportunity at Cook Hall. "We have the pieces that we need. We put this team together for a reason. It comes down to us molding together and doing the right things. Taking it day by day and getting better each day."
Small ball, power ball, fastbreak frenzy, half-court offense, rim-protection, IU seems built for any style after a spring roster upgrade to remember, one as good as any in the Big Ten, if not the country.
Elite transfer portal players Oumar Ballo, Myles Rice, Kanaan Carlyle, and Luke Goode, five-star high school prospect Bryson Tucker, and intriguing transfers Langdon Hatton and Dallas James were added to form a newcomer class that ranks as high as No. 2 nationally.
This was crucial given the bounce-back goal after not making the NCAA tourney last season.
"Six guys left, some by the NBA Draft, some by graduation, some by transfer, and we had to work to fill in the roster," Woodson says. "We did a good job of putting it together. We added pieces on both ends of the floor."
The 7-foot, 260-pound Ballo was perhaps the nation's best transfer acquisition of last season. The two-time first-team All-Pac-12 player totaled 1,273 points, 867 rebounds, 140 blocks, 109 assists, and 76 steals for Arizona. He scored and defended at game-altering levels and should continue IU's recent run of big-man excellence with Trayce Jackson-Davis and Kel'el Ware, both now in the NBA.
Rice was a freshman All-American after averaging 14.8 points, 3.8 assists, 3.1 rebounds, and 1.6 steals for Washington State. Carlyle earned freshman All-Pac 12 honors at Stanford after averaging 11.5 points, 2.7 assists, and 2.7 rebounds. Goode, a former Indiana high school all-star from Homestead near Fort Wayne, totaled 314 points, 200 rebounds, 85 3-pointers, and 41 assists in 76 career games at Illinois.
They will blend with returning standouts Galloway (recovering from knee surgery), Malik Reneau, and Mackenzie Mgbako, plus veterans Anthony Leal and Gabe Cupps.
Reneau averaged 15.4 points and 6.0 rebounds last season. Mgbako averaged 12.2 and 4.1. Galloway averaged 10.6 and had a team-leading 143 assists.
Woodson has the best guard depth and the best overall talent he's had at IU, with the work ethic to match. Rice brings elite speed, something the Hoosiers lacked last season.
"His speed changes the game for us," Woodson says.
The result -- Woodson could finally field a team like the one he coached with the NBA's New York Knicks that spreads the floor with quickness and athleticism.
"I'd like to get to some small ball where (Mgbako) and Goode can play some four, and we can still be athletic enough out on the floor with one of the bigs (Reneau or Ballo) to compete at a high level," Woodson says.
A big priority is improving 3-point shooting accuracy and production. Last season, IU was last in the Big Ten in 3-point attempts (513) and next to last in accuracy (32.4%). By comparison, Illinois led in 3-point attempts with 908, with Nebraska second at 893.
The potential is there. Goode shot 39.9% from 3-point range last season. Galloway shot nearly 46.2% beyond the arc two years ago. Mgbako had a team-leading 50 3-pointers last year. Rice (27.5%, 36 3-pointers) and Carlyle (32.0%, 32 3-pointers) have worked to improve their perimeter shooting.
"Only time will tell," Woodson says. "That's where I'd like to get to, where we don't have to constantly pound the ball."
Reneau showed a big jump in 3-point shooting and defend-without-fouling consistency last season, with more needed. He worked a lot with guarding Mgbako and Goode in practice to improve his ability to defend quicker players away from the basket.
"That's something we've been working on," Woodson says.
Beyond the physical training, Woodson says more summer team-bonding work was done than ever before, "So the guys can know each other. That helps. It starts in practice and conditioning and guys pushing each other. I have no complaints with this group. They all seem to like each other. They're all pushing toward the same thing -- win games."
Practice officially begins on Wednesday. Hoosier Hysteria is set for Oct. 18. IU will play at Tennessee in a charity exhibition on Oct. 27, then host Marian University on Nov. 1 before opening its season Nov. 6 against SIU-Edwardsville.
Non-conference highlights are a mid-November home game against South Carolina and a late-November trip to the Bahamas for the Battle 4 Atlantis and an opener against Louisville.
The 20-game Big Ten schedule -- featuring the debut of former Pac-12 teams Oregon, Washington, UCLA, and USC -- includes a December trip to The Palestra to play Penn State (just the fourth time IU has played there) and a March West Coast trip to play Washington and Oregon.
"Our summer play was great," Woodson says. "There was a lot of hard work to put in. They did what was expected. That's carried over to our fall play.
"We're still in the process of putting it all together."
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Trey Galloway sees it, all the Indiana Hoosiers do, this enormous basketball potential, a championship opportunity, a sense that this will be, in coach Mike Woodson's fourth year, a defining season.
"We're very optimistic," the fifth-year senior guard says from a Hoosier media day opportunity at Cook Hall. "We have the pieces that we need. We put this team together for a reason. It comes down to us molding together and doing the right things. Taking it day by day and getting better each day."
Small ball, power ball, fastbreak frenzy, half-court offense, rim-protection, IU seems built for any style after a spring roster upgrade to remember, one as good as any in the Big Ten, if not the country.
Elite transfer portal players Oumar Ballo, Myles Rice, Kanaan Carlyle, and Luke Goode, five-star high school prospect Bryson Tucker, and intriguing transfers Langdon Hatton and Dallas James were added to form a newcomer class that ranks as high as No. 2 nationally.
This was crucial given the bounce-back goal after not making the NCAA tourney last season.
"Six guys left, some by the NBA Draft, some by graduation, some by transfer, and we had to work to fill in the roster," Woodson says. "We did a good job of putting it together. We added pieces on both ends of the floor."
The 7-foot, 260-pound Ballo was perhaps the nation's best transfer acquisition of last season. The two-time first-team All-Pac-12 player totaled 1,273 points, 867 rebounds, 140 blocks, 109 assists, and 76 steals for Arizona. He scored and defended at game-altering levels and should continue IU's recent run of big-man excellence with Trayce Jackson-Davis and Kel'el Ware, both now in the NBA.
Rice was a freshman All-American after averaging 14.8 points, 3.8 assists, 3.1 rebounds, and 1.6 steals for Washington State. Carlyle earned freshman All-Pac 12 honors at Stanford after averaging 11.5 points, 2.7 assists, and 2.7 rebounds. Goode, a former Indiana high school all-star from Homestead near Fort Wayne, totaled 314 points, 200 rebounds, 85 3-pointers, and 41 assists in 76 career games at Illinois.
They will blend with returning standouts Galloway (recovering from knee surgery), Malik Reneau, and Mackenzie Mgbako, plus veterans Anthony Leal and Gabe Cupps.
Reneau averaged 15.4 points and 6.0 rebounds last season. Mgbako averaged 12.2 and 4.1. Galloway averaged 10.6 and had a team-leading 143 assists.
Woodson has the best guard depth and the best overall talent he's had at IU, with the work ethic to match. Rice brings elite speed, something the Hoosiers lacked last season.
"His speed changes the game for us," Woodson says.
The result -- Woodson could finally field a team like the one he coached with the NBA's New York Knicks that spreads the floor with quickness and athleticism.
"I'd like to get to some small ball where (Mgbako) and Goode can play some four, and we can still be athletic enough out on the floor with one of the bigs (Reneau or Ballo) to compete at a high level," Woodson says.
A big priority is improving 3-point shooting accuracy and production. Last season, IU was last in the Big Ten in 3-point attempts (513) and next to last in accuracy (32.4%). By comparison, Illinois led in 3-point attempts with 908, with Nebraska second at 893.
The potential is there. Goode shot 39.9% from 3-point range last season. Galloway shot nearly 46.2% beyond the arc two years ago. Mgbako had a team-leading 50 3-pointers last year. Rice (27.5%, 36 3-pointers) and Carlyle (32.0%, 32 3-pointers) have worked to improve their perimeter shooting.
"Only time will tell," Woodson says. "That's where I'd like to get to, where we don't have to constantly pound the ball."
Reneau showed a big jump in 3-point shooting and defend-without-fouling consistency last season, with more needed. He worked a lot with guarding Mgbako and Goode in practice to improve his ability to defend quicker players away from the basket.
"That's something we've been working on," Woodson says.
Beyond the physical training, Woodson says more summer team-bonding work was done than ever before, "So the guys can know each other. That helps. It starts in practice and conditioning and guys pushing each other. I have no complaints with this group. They all seem to like each other. They're all pushing toward the same thing -- win games."
Practice officially begins on Wednesday. Hoosier Hysteria is set for Oct. 18. IU will play at Tennessee in a charity exhibition on Oct. 27, then host Marian University on Nov. 1 before opening its season Nov. 6 against SIU-Edwardsville.
Non-conference highlights are a mid-November home game against South Carolina and a late-November trip to the Bahamas for the Battle 4 Atlantis and an opener against Louisville.
The 20-game Big Ten schedule -- featuring the debut of former Pac-12 teams Oregon, Washington, UCLA, and USC -- includes a December trip to The Palestra to play Penn State (just the fourth time IU has played there) and a March West Coast trip to play Washington and Oregon.
"Our summer play was great," Woodson says. "There was a lot of hard work to put in. They did what was expected. That's carried over to our fall play.
"We're still in the process of putting it all together."
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