Indiana's Roster Overhaul Gives Mike Woodson Opportunity To Alter Style Of Play

Indiana lost four starters and two key bench players, which forced coach Mike Woodson to overhaul the roster. After relying so heavily on Trayce Jackson-Davis in his first two years, Woodson has a chance to change Indiana's offensive style.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Trayce Jackson-Davis and Jalen Hood-Schifino became one of college basketball's best duos last season, in large part because of their pick-and-roll chemistry.

Jackson-Davis was near-unstoppable as a lob threat rolling to the basket, and when defenders committed too hard to the big man, Hood-Schifino often opted for a smooth midrange pull-up jumper, highlighted in his 35-point effort to beat Purdue at Mackey Arena.

Opponents planned for it, fans marveled at it and coach Mike Woodson leaned on it. Woodson said in September that 53% of Indiana's offense revolved around the pick-and-roll, and the other 47% came through post-ups down low. The addition of Hood-Schifino made Indiana less post-reliant than it was the year before, and so did Jackson-Davis' skill development.

"The first year we dominated the post with Trayce," Woodson said. "I would have been foolish not to utilize him. But we expanded him out on the floor a little bit last year, and he was able to do some things in that area."

Role-playing starters like Trey Galloway, Miller Kopp and Race Thompson handled a variety of necessary responsibilities on Indiana's path to earning a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament. But Indiana relied on Jackson-Davis and Hood-Schifino for 34.4 of its 74.7 points per game, or just over 46%. The duo accounted for over 50% of Indiana's scoring in 15-of-22 games in 2023.

They're off to the NBA now, and Indiana also lost Kopp, Thompson, Tamar Bates and Jordan Geronimo, who combined for 26.8 points per game. Woodson replaced them with three transfers and three freshmen: Kel'el Ware, Payton Sparks, Anthony Walker, Mackenzie Mgbako, Gabe Cupps and Jakai Newton.

With such significant roster turnover, Woodson has an opportunity to alter Indiana's style of play. He won't go away from the nail, slot, rim defensive principles, and the pick-and-roll will remain an emphasis. The most noticeable change will likely be a more spread-out scoring distribution, as Indiana moves away from the post-up reliance it had with Jackson-Davis.

At Indiana basketball media day on Sept. 20, Woodson said it's still a work in progress.

"I don't know," Woodson said. "I'm still looking at our style of play. I think you still have to mix it up. You've got to have post play, and everybody is playing pick-and-roll, which I was accustomed to doing in the pros. It's nothing new to me. But only time will tell in terms of our style and where we go with it."

A focus of Indiana's offense will still be the pick-and-roll game, but it will look different due to personnel. Sixth-year point guard Xavier Johnson worked well with Jackson-Davis in this two-man game, especially toward the end of the 2021-22 season. But now, coming off injury, Johnson has new teammates that aim to add a wrinkle to the offense.

Oregon transfer Kel'el Ware and his new teammates at Indiana have pointed out his ability to both score at the rim with his 7-foot frame and from beyond the arc. He shot 27.3 percent on 55 3-point attempts last season and has more perimeter skills than Jackson-Davis did as a sophomore.

Ware and Woodson will want to improve that outside shooting so it can be a consistent part of the offense, but being a threat from distance would help Indiana's overall spacing. Along with Ware, players like Malik Reneau and Mgbako possess more perimeter skills than past Indiana forwards and could add a pick-and-pop element Indiana hasn't had under Woodson.

Perhaps the biggest change in style of play will be Indiana moving away from its reliance on a traditional post player. Woodson said after Indiana's loss to Miami in the NCAA Tournament that Jackson-Davis was the first player he utilized as a true post-up center, but even he expanded his game as a passer and ball-handler. After dedicating what Woodson said was 47% of possessions to post-ups, Indiana has the personnel to be more perimeter-oriented this year.

That starts with senior guards Xavier Johnson and Trey Galloway, who Woodson expects to lead Indiana as team captains in 2023-24, both on and off the court. They're one of the top defensive guard duos in the Big Ten already, but they'll be asked to fill some of the scoring void created by the departures of Jackson-Davis and others.

Indiana missed Johnson's quick first step and defensive tenacity after he broke his foot 11 games into the season and did not return. Johnson is cleared for all basketball activities now, and Indiana needs him to be a top-tier guard in the Big Ten. While not a volume shooter, his 38.0 3-point percentage on 2.7 attempts per game as a Hoosier is an underrated part of his game, given his impact on defense and as a veteran leader. Johnson also posted career-low turnover numbers in his first two years at Indiana, though his 41.9 2-point percentage leaves room for improvement.

Galloway's 3-point shooting jumped nearly 25% last year, and increasing volume by a couple attempts per game is the next step in his development. Indiana lost its three most productive 3-point shooters from last year – Kopp, Bates and Hood-Schifino – giving opportunities to Mgbako, CJ Gunn and Cupps to help in that department. Perimeter shooting has been a question around Indiana teams for over five seasons, and it remains one of the biggest unknowns this year.

Woodson has close to a month to prepare his team for their first exhibition game on Oct. 29 against the University of Indianapolis. Woodson said in September that competition in practice will ultimately decide the starting lineup, but it wouldn't be surprising to see him tinker with rotations during nonconference play.

Losing a player like Jackson-Davis is never easy to overcome, and Woodson would love to have him for another year. But year three of the Woodson era offers more style-of-play freedom than he's ever had.

Related stories on Indiana basketball

• TOP 25 BIG TEN FRESHMEN: Exhibition games begin in less than one month, so let's take a look at which Big Ten schools are bringing in the top high school talent for the 2023-24 season. CLICK HERE
• KEL'EL WARE IS MIKE WOODSON'S BIGGEST TEST: After losing four starters from last year's team, one of Mike Woodson's biggest additions this offseason was Kel'el Ware, a 7-foot transfer from Oregon. Ware drew plenty of criticism during his freshman year, but still boasts NBA potential. Woodson is pushing him hard to reach that goal, and in a new environment, Ware appears more motivated than ever. CLICK HERE
• TRANSFERS EXPLAIN DECISION: Indiana added three from the transfer portal this offseason: center Kel'el Ware from Oregon, forward Payton Sparks from Ball State and forward Anthony Walker from Miami. We talked to the transfers at Indiana basketball media day about what went into their decisions to join Mike Woodson and the Hoosiers. CLICK HERE
• BOOGIE FLAND TOP 3: Boogie Fland has been one of Indiana coach Mike Woodson's top recruiting priorities in the class of 2024, and the five-star guard recently said he's focused on Indiana, Kentucky and Alabama. CLICK HERE
• LIAM MCNEELEY TIMELINE: Liam McNeeley, a five-star recruit in the class of 2024, is down to Indiana and Kansas. Here's a timeline including McNeeley's notable performances for Montverde Academy and on the AAU circuit, as well as relevant offers, visits, college lists, predictions and more. CLICK HERE
• TJD FITS WELL WITH WARRIORS: Former Indiana star Trayce Jackson-Davis begins his NBA career with the Golden State Warriors in just one month. Despite his late second-round draft selection, he could be in line for minutes with the Warriors, as head coach Steve Kerr said Jackson-Davis, "plays the way we like to play." CLICK HERE