IU basketball: 10 things we learned (and mostly liked) from Hoosiers' first exhibition
BLOOMINGTON – Even without its preseason All-American, Indiana made easy work of Marian in its exhibition opener last weekend. The Hoosiers have another preseason game Thursday before opening at home next week.
Between now and St. Francis’ visit to Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, 10 thoughts on what we saw in a 78-42 win against Marian:
1. Malik Reneau grabbed a lot of attention with his 14-point, 11-rebound performance in Trayce Jackson-Davis’ stead, and he should have. Five of those rebounds coming on offense was an eye opener, as was his co-team best plus-28 final plus/minus. But maybe the thing that impressed me the most was the pace and smoothness in Reneau’s game. It’s not surprising he’s more ready for this level than most, given his prep background, but it was impossible for a smaller Marian team to speed him up or rattle him physically. The confidence he has in his game is real, and deserved.
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2. Jalen Hood-Schifino, IU’s other freshman starter, finished with 11 points on eight field goal attempts, plus four assists and three rebounds. He had twice as many assists as turnovers, and on an afternoon when Xavier Johnson wasn’t at his best, Hood-Schifino took the wheel and steered Indiana well. He flashed an intriguing midrange jumper that went down a couple times. An average midrange jumper is a bad shot in modern basketball, but a good midrange jumper is a late-clock and late-game weapon. Hood-Schifino might have one Indiana can use.
3. A word on the freshmen together: This is our first look at them in live action, and we should take the competitive level of the opponent for what it is. But as we discuss how this team can evolve and grow, it seems reasonable to suggest both of these players have the capacity to carry Indiana on a given night. Not as often (perhaps not nearly as often) as experienced teammates like Johnson and Jackson-Davis. But Reneau and Hood-Schifino each finished plus-28, the joint-highest number on the team. Each appears capable of a single-game performance that lifts the Hoosiers substantially. That’s a significant net add from last year.
4. What I think you should like about Indiana’s 3-point shooting Saturday — nine different Hoosiers attempted a 3, five hit at least one and for the most part, it’s fair to classify the decisions on those shots as good. IU appears to have more players comfortable behind the arc than a year ago.
5. What I think you shouldn’t like about Indiana’s 3-point shooting Saturday — the Hoosiers still only attempted 19. That’s better than the meager 17.7 per IU averaged last year, but it would still have been good only to rank the Hoosiers in the 280s nationally. To rise above the national mean from last season, Indiana needs to shoot 21-22 3s a game, and honestly, even if the Hoosiers have a few cold nights and miss a few of those, an average closer to 24 a game still wouldn’t hurt. They have to make those shots, but to make them they have to be willing to take them. If they aren’t, opponents won’t even have to respect the possibility they might go in.
6. Mike Woodson ought to have been happy, competitive level once again acknowledged, with his team’s defensive effort. The Hoosiers allowed 21 points in each half, and they were slightly more tight-fisted on a per-possession basis in the second half than the first (0.677 first-half PPP vs. 0.656 second-half PPP). No Marian player scored in double figures, and the Knights managed just six points in transition all afternoon.
7. Bit of a throwback to last season for Indiana on turnovers, seven in the first half and only four in the second. Whatever tightens the Hoosiers up, this happened a fair bit in 2021-22. IU could do without needing the reminder to be smarter with the ball, but it’s also at least somewhat encouraging no player had more than two. It wasn’t a glaring issue, in other words, that led to the giveaways. Just some (potentially isolatable) mental errors.
8. Guesses about rotation feel dangerous after one exhibition that two key returners sat out through injury. But let’s take some anyway! The starting five seems obvious at this point — Johnson, Hood-Schifino, Jackson-Davis, Miller Kopp and Race Thompson. Reneau, Trey Galloway and Jordan Geronimo clearly have spots in the second line, and Tamar Bates likely does too. If Woodson plays nine, it feels like a decent bet that’s his group. If he wants a 10th, he has flexibility to go big with Logan Duncomb or small with CJ Gunn or Anthony Leal. He’ll need to be creative about minutes distribution for his ball handlers, but that structure otherwise seems sound.
'I think it's going to be huge for us.'IU's veteran bigs expect Logan Duncomb to step up
9. Woodson reserved special praise for Duncomb postgame, praise Duncomb undeniably earned with his 11-and-11 double-double. Teammates made a lot of Duncomb’s physical growth this offseason, suggesting at once that a) Duncomb had been pretty lightweight a year ago and b) that it was no longer such a major concern. His production did not come quite so effortlessly as Reneau’s sometimes Saturday, but on the other hand, he had to fight for a lot of his points and rebounds, and he won those fights. That’s indicative of physical growth, but also of a toughening up of the player, not just his body.
10. CJ Gunn might have been the surprise of the night in terms of minutes. The official box score credits him with 33, thanks to a snafu in the pairing between official stats and scoreboard keeping. It was probably more like mid-20s, and in that time, Gunn — who saw more of the floor with Bates out — looked more college-ready than at least I had expected. To some extent, maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised. Like Armaan Franklin three years ago, Gunn always felt like a player who, whatever his ranking, would be ready for this level because of how much he’d excelled in a hypercompetitive high school environment. But his length and athleticism translated well on defense and his shot, both mechanically and aesthetically, already plays at this level. He drained a pair of 3s and moved without the ball on offense like a player who knows he can hit them regularly. When Bates is healthy, Gunn might need to accept a smaller role, but there are clearly Big Ten tools in his bag already.
Follow IndyStar reporter Zach Osterman on Twitter: @ZachOsterman.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana basketball: 10 things we learned in Hoosiers' first exhibition
