ADVERTISEMENT

Woody's Goal is to Play Small Ball this Year...

Mike has a lot of control over achieving this "goal."

We won't really know until the season starts. I do think we'll play quite a bit differently than previous years.
 
He won't be able to help himself. Ballo and Malik will be on the floor together a lot. 3 point shooting still a massive concern. The floor is very high for this team. Ceiling not so much.
 
He won't be able to help himself. Ballo and Malik will be on the floor together a lot. 3 point shooting still a massive concern. The floor is very high for this team. Ceiling not so much.
Ceiling not so much? I think this team has a lot of pieces and at least the ingredients of a F4 type team. That's a pretty high ceiling in my book. The 2 major concerns to me are Ballo's health and coaching, but this is a much more complete and talented roster than last year, and than he's ever had, I believe. I know most will jump on shooting, which I think will be much improved, but I also don't think you have to be more than efficient on 3s. UCONN didn't live by the 3 ball, so it can be gameplanned around and we have a lot of pieces to do so.
 
Ceiling not so much? I think this team has a lot of pieces and at least the ingredients of a F4 type team. That's a pretty high ceiling in my book. The 2 major concerns to me are Ballo's health and coaching, but this is a much more complete and talented roster than last year, and than he's ever had, I believe. I know most will jump on shooting, which I think will be much improved, but I also don't think you have to be more than efficient on 3s. UCONN didn't live by the 3 ball, so it can be gameplanned around and we have a lot of pieces to do so.
Effort and execution needs to be consistently better. If the new players help with that, and/or if Woody figures out how to coach that in to this team, they'll be one of the better teams on the country by years end.

If not, for whatever reason, they'll probably look similar to his 22-23' team.
 
It's hard to know the ceiling of this team. They have a lot of talent and I have no idea how it will come together. Woody has not been very good here, but he's never had a backcourt like this, and it's possible he's learned from his mistakes (he was new to college basketball). This roster could be one he does well with and something like an E8/F4 is possible.

Of course Woody should do well with all the resources he gets.
 
Reporter: What is the hardest part of the transition to the Big 10, especially the physicality?
Ballo: Have you ever watched me play? I'm a tough guy.

 
  • Like
Reactions: kkott
I look forward to seeing a line-up of Carlyle, Rice, Tucker, Mgbako and Ballo/Reneau on the floor. Defend and run.
Anxious to see them all out there as well.

The thought of Haralson playing alongside Tucker and Mgbako the following year is pretty damned intriguing too!
 
Yes, both Woody and Teri pledged to play more open styles.

A return to the Hurrying Hoosiers would be entertaining … better with a stifling defense …. IU would have run out of fresh legs last year.

Both Teri and Woody lost bell cow post players, it’s a good year to try something new.
 
They asked Ballo if he shot the 3. I am thinking with a kid that big I want him down low and dunking, rebounding and blocking shots.
I just hope they don’t stick to the 1 on 1 pick and roll while everyone else stands around offense that they mostly failed on last year! I’d like to see more off ball cuts and screens please!
 
  • Like
Reactions: VanPastorMan
I just hope they don’t stick to the 1 on 1 pick and roll while everyone else stands around offense that they mostly failed on last year! I’d like to see more off ball cuts and screens please!
There will be plenty of pick and roll. The difference is that both Rice,and Ballo excel in the PnR...plus there are viable options for kickouts if it isn't open. This will not look like last years team,even if they run some of the same sets and plays.
 
I just hope they don’t stick to the 1 on 1 pick and roll while everyone else stands around offense that they mostly failed on last year! I’d like to see more off ball cuts and screens please!
I also want to see how Ballo passes out of the double team. He probably will be quite often if he is effective early. So I want to see Mgbako have more open 3's and the other guys as well.
 
There will be plenty of pick and roll. The difference is that both Rice,and Ballo excel in the PnR...plus there are viable options for kickouts if it isn't open. This will not look like last years team,even if they run some of the same sets and plays.
Rice has a nice pocket pass which Ballo will need to adjust too. They will run the same sets (most teams run them)and plays but now have guards who can cook. Much quicker team.
 
Rice has a nice pocket pass which Ballo will need to adjust too. They will run the same sets (most teams run them)and plays but now have guards who can cook. Much quicker team.
Some of our best moments last year were when Trey was coming hard off a pick and roll and attacking the rim, lobbing to Kelel, or kicking to the corner. Its a very effective action if you execute it consistently, puts tons of pressure on the defense.

Its quite a lot more difficult to run that effectively when you have post players camping in the lane, though. So where Malik is during this pick and roll action between Ballo and Rice, could impact how effective it ends up being for us, overall.
 
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT