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Mike Woodson comments on Indiana’s style of play following departure of Trayce Jackson-Davis
By Ethan Stone
Published:
Mike Woodson’s 2023-24 Indiana squad is going to look a little different.
The Hoosiers are without Trayce Jackson-Davis and Jalen Hood-Schifino from last season, 2 of their top players and some of the best in the conference. Navigating that is hard for any coach, but Woodson is in for quite the turnaround in Bloomington.
He was asked how Indiana plans to move forward stylistically at B1G Media Days Tuesday morning. Here’s what he had to say:
“Then last season everybody thought we posted (Jackson-Davis) probably more than the first season, and we didn’t. You know, we ran more pick-and-rolls versus posting the ball. So I think you have to have a little bit of both. I don’t think I want to be a team to just rely on shooting 3s. I think you’ve got to take the ball inside and keep the defense honest that way as well. So right now I don’t know what kind of team we’re going to be offensively. We put in a few things here over the summer and since we started official practice. We’ve got a long way to go, but I like the make-up of our ball club.”
An option for more time inside is Oregon transfer Kel’el Ware, one of the top transfers from the offseason across the country. And while the 7-2 stretch 5 is a top talent, he still has a “long ways to go” before being a dominant player according to Woodson.
The Hoosiers are going to have to turn to some freshmen talent at some point this season. MacKenzie Mgbako, a 6-8 forward who was originally committed to Duke, could be an option to see time right out of the gate.
The Hoosiers tip off their 2023 season on November 7 against Florida Gulf Coast.
Ethan Stone was an editor for his student newspaper at the University of Tennessee and is now a News Manager for Saturday Tradition.