Last season, Indiana was playing Illinois on ESPN -- a game that they would eventually lose 75-71 in overtime.
A friend and basketball fanatic himself decided to turn on the TV and follow along to see the team I cover. I got a text with eight minutes remaining in the first half. "I turned that off lol," he said. "That was probably the most boring team I've ever watched play."
Under Mike Woodson, Indiana appears to be leaving its old, boring ways in the past.
"[Woodson] wants to be a team that, on both ends of the floor, we're playing at a pace that people are excited about," assistant coach Kenya Hunter said in his Thursday press conference.
Archie Miller wanted his team to take pride in their defense and toughness. Under Miller, there was rarely an offensive possession where scoring felt effortless. Freedom was restricted in favor of drawn-up plays and ideologies of feeding the ball to the low-post. Furthermore, the three-point revolution in basketball passed over Bloomington. Miller's teams never ranked higher than 11th in the Big Ten in three-point attempts per game.
Woodson made it clear from his opening press conference that the three-point volume is going to dramatically increase.
"The three-ball has changed the game," Woodson remarked. "It's a beautiful style. I don't think you can always just live on shooting threes, but it's great if you've got a team that can make it."
Hunter added to Woodson's statements about the offense as well.
"The vision of it is he wants to play more four-out, one-in. Different guys bringing the ball up the floor as well."
The additions of Tamar Bates, Xavier Johnson and Parker Stewart give some nice options to use as secondary handlers in addition to Rob Phinisee. This allows for more flexibility in play-calling. The more ball-handlers in the lineup, the better.
Additionally, playing a four-out, one-in style will allow for infinitely more driving and three-point opportunities. A spaced floor will result in help defense rotating much further than if there were two Hoosiers in the paint. The ability to play in this style hinges on the improvement of Trayce Jackson-Davis' and Race Thompson's jump shots.
Hunter also wanted to clarify that playing this style does not mean playing selfishly or out of control.
"It's not one of those things where you just come down and jack up a shot because you want to play faster," the second-year assistant commented. "Unselfish style of play offensively, but also at a pace where if you're open he wants you to feel free to shoot it."
Even with almost all the same personnel returning, Mike Woodson's Hoosier squad is shaping up to be much more entertaining to watch. If the talk is true, Indiana should not only be a winning team but a modern, innovative, fun team. There is plenty of NBA game film of Woodson's teams to prove this Indiana team will be just that.
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