Indiana Basketball: 4 things to look for in IU’s final exhibition vs Marian

The Indiana basketball program overcame a sluggish start in its first exhibition game on Sunday to win 74-52.

Now, there’s one final tuneup before the regular season gets underway — Friday against Marian.

With one game behind us, there are a few things we’re looking for in exhibition number two — both new aspects and others we want to see replicated.

Let’s dive in.

Will there be more 3-guard lineups and what will the rotation look like?

One part of Indiana’s roster that wasn’t able to be utilized much a season ago was a three-guard lineup. After Xavier Johnson went down with injury, the ball handling duties were left to just Jalen Hood-Schifino and Trey Galloway. Now, a healthy Johnson gives Mike Woodson some added versatility in the backcourt and potential multi-guard lineups.

On Monday during his weekly radio show, Woodson talked about his desire to play Johnson, Galloway and freshman Gabe Cupps together more on Friday — something he didn’t do much in Sunday’s exhibition.

“I didn’t see it enough when I had Gabe and Xavier together. In the pros I played two point guard and it was very, very positive,” Woodson said. “We played Gabe and X along with Galloway only about a minutes and a half or two minutes. It wasn’t long enough so I want to get to that in the Marian game to see how it looks.”

It’s an intriguing part of Indiana’s offense that could be extremely beneficial. With increased floor spacing and an additional playmaker off of the dribble, it could open things up from the perimeter for someone like Mackenzie Mgbako or even Kel’el Ware. It will likely also make any pick and roll or pop action more efficient with the paint wide open.

Indiana also showed the ability to push the ball in transition on Sunday and with three guards on the floor, you could expect an even quicker pace in that aspect.

Can Kel’el Ware back up his opening performance?

Kel’el Ware was the biggest standout for me on Sunday with his performance. He had 14 points — 12 in the second half — on 6-of-10 from the field. He also added six rebounds and two blocks. His athleticism on both ends of the floor was a major asset. The biggest question was his motor and how that would hold up. For the most part, he brought energy. Ware was running the floor, blocking shots and being active on both ends of the floor in the paint. That’s what Indiana needs.

Ware also flashed the ability to step out and hit the three-ball. While he attempted just one, and made it, it was a very good and repeatable stroke. Ware was just 15-of-55 from three a season ago, but his 1.6 attempts were slightly up from Race Thompson last season at 1.4. Thompson’s junior season numbers were identical to Ware’s, both 27.3 percent, so you could expect something similar to Thompson’s ability, at the worst.

What I’m looking for on Friday is if Ware brings even more of a dominant paint presence. I’d love to see him finish better at the rim — something the entire team struggled with early on Sunday — and be a bit more active on the glass.

Overall, it was a good start for Ware in an Indiana basketball uniform. Let’s see him replicate it.

Indiana Basketball: Five takeaways from IU’s exhibition win vs Indianapolis

Energy and high intensity from the tip

It was the first exhibition but the energy that Indiana had to start Sunday’s game was ridiculous. You expected some rust and chemistry issues with so many new faces and expected roles, but the energy was low to begin.

The Hoosiers struggled to finish at the rim, struggled with the intensity on the defensive end and were soft on the glass.

“I wasn’t excited the first half … UIndy came out ready to play. A team that won 26 games last year … we just didn’t show up the first half,” Woodson said on Monday. “I don’t know if it was nerves to start the game. We missed a lot of layups, missed free throws, miscues on the defensive end and just didn’t execute well offensively getting the ball where we needed to.”

It wasn’t until the halftime talk from Mike Woodson when Indiana took off.

“Real Coach Woody came out,” Senior forward Anthony Walker said about the locker room at halftime. “He wanted us to play Indiana basketball like he’s been coaching us all summer and the way he’s coached since he’s been here. That’s exactly what I feel like we did in the second half.”

“Coaches gotta do what they gotta do sometimes and hope they respond,” Woodson added.

After a few days of practice, and the last tuneup before the regular season, I would hope Indiana comes out and looks to be the aggressor.

Second look at the half court offense

Indiana had 28 fast break points on Sunday so the half court offense was sometimes non-existent. So, looking at Friday that’s a major point I’m interested in.

After losing a dominant paint presence like Trayce Jackson-Davis and a terrific on-ball guard in Jalen Hood-Schifino, there were a lot of questions as to what this half court offense would look like. It was inconsistent at times on Friday. UIndy played zone throughout the first half that really kept the Hoosiers in check.

In the second half, however, Indiana dominated the paint and offensively altogether. It scored 1.485 points per possession, shot 64.5 percent from the field and had 14 assists to just three turnovers.

But, the one aspect of the half court offense that you didn’t see was from three. Indiana didn’t make its first three until the 14:25 mark of second half and was just 3-of-10 for the game.

“Guys, I’m not going to sit here and say we’re going to be the greatest 3-point shooting team. We’re gonna make some here and there, and we’re gonna get good looks. And I think we have guys that I feel good about knocking them down,” Woodson said. “The game doesn’t live on just making 3s … 2s still count in the game of basketball, I still have to utilize — Hell, I’ve got a 7-2 guy (Kel’el Ware). You want him just shooting 3s? No, that’s not going to happen with me. Yes, he can pick and pop … if getting 50 points in the paint allows us to to win a game, I’m going to take it. I’m not going to let people dictate this team”

“I think you have to mix it up with transition 3s and high-percentage 2s”

The question coming into this year was who would be a high-volume perimeter shooter. That went unanswered.

There were times that Indiana had terrific ball movement that let to wide open looks, but overall the ball was very stagnant in the half court. Will Indiana run more pick and roll and pick and pop sets with Ware and Malik Reneau? Will more high ball screens open up the paint for increased downhill drives from the guards? I’m still not sure what the identity of this offense will be in the half court, but I do know this team will be a much more up-tempo team from a season ago.

“A big emphasis in getting the ball out. And the way we try to play is X is not always the guy that’s got to lead the break,” Woodson added. “That’s why we work on ball handling every day. Our bigs can push it. But whoever is pushing it, we have to get ahead of the ball and then make the passes up the floor and create offense that way.”