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Five Questions Indiana basketball needs to answer as preseason practice begins

Published

7 months ago

October 2, 2023

As the new season approaches, Indiana basketball will have many questions to answer. (Photo : Syndication: The Herald-Times)

In less than a month, Indiana basketball will take the floor at Assembly Hall to play their first game of the 2023-24 season.

The Hoosiers kicked off their first week of practice this past week and will be gearing up for the start of the season in late October. The ‘unofficial’ start of the season for Indiana is the annual Hoosier Hysteria that is scheduled for October 20th, with the Indiana basketball men’s team playing their first game on November 7th against Florida Gulf Coast.

The men’s Indiana basketball team comes into this season with many new faces as well as a young, overall inexperienced team that is full of untapped potential.

Indiana is coming off of back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances for the first time since the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons. That was also the last time Indiana made the NCAA Tournament before Mike Woodson returned to Bloomington.

With the offseason over with and the 2023-24 season officially here, it is time to evaluate some questions and thoughts that Indiana basketball needs to answer before the first game.

Below are five questions Indiana basketball needs to answer as the season begins.

Is the motor of Kel’el Ware improved enough to produce at a high level?

The biggest question all offseason about Kel’el Ware was surrounding his motor, or lack thereof. During his freshman season at Oregon, his lack of motor really sat him back from being the one-and-done player that he was projected to be. Ware came into Oregon as a five-star center and a McDonald’s All-American.

Now that he is with Mike Woodson, the lack of motor has to change, period. There is a lot of pressure for the frontcourt of Indiana this year having to replace the production all-time Indiana great Trayce Jackson-Davis, and Ware may have the majority of the of that pressure.

Offensively, he can provide multiple options that last year’s Indiana bigs could not do at times. Although his touch is not the greatest or smoothest, he does have the ability to finish at the rim at a high level due to his elite his athleticism. Ware is also a guy that can stretch the floor with the potential to only improve in that area. Defensively, Mike Woodson and Indiana bring yet another tough rim protector and shot blocker. He is also versatile enough to not only guard the post, but can get out at times to guard the stretch four around the perimeter.

He is the versatile big that Mike Woodson has been needing in his system for the past two season. However, if the motor is not where it needs to be, it could really hurt the Hoosiers in the long run of the season.

Ware may be the most important player on Indiana’s roster next season.

Read: ‘The word is out; they knocked you’: Mike Woodson, Kel’el Ware to use ‘lazy’ reputation as fuel

What will the roles of sophomores CJ Gunn and Kaleb Banks be?

With as many departures that Indiana basketball had over the offseason, the Hoosier sophomores by default were looked at as players expected to step into much larger roles. Two of those sophomores included CJ Gunn and Kaleb Banks, who played spot minutes for Mike Woodson last season and never really carved out any substantial roles.

Now, the two will be looking to take that next step and play more featured roles. But the question lies on what exactly those roles will be.

For Gunn, he is expected to be one of the fillers when it comes to the perimeter play of the Hoosiers. Gunn was known coming into the Indiana basketball program as one of the better knockdown shooters in the state and next year should be a bigger opportunity for him to show case that.

Banks on the other hand will likely provide a more versatile option for Indiana as he can be placed at either the wing and post, depending on what is needed. While he may be his most natural at the wing, he is also someone that Indiana can use in the post, which was shown at times last season.

No matter what roles Mike Woodson sees both Gunn and Banks playing, both are expected to contribute much more than they did during their freshman season.

Is Malik Reneau ready to make that HUGE leap?

Speaking of important front court players and sophomores for Indiana basketball, let’s talk about Malik Reneau. Out of everybody on Indiana’s roster, nobody is expected to make the biggest leap on the team than the former Montverde Academy prospect.

With Trayce Jackson-Davis and Race Thompson now gone, the combination of Reneau and Ware are going to be the main guys in the front court for the Hoosiers. Reneau, although he is only a sophomore, is the most experienced Indiana player in the front court for Mike Woodson.

Last season, Reneau averaged 6.1 points and 3.7 rebounds and 14.9 minutes played per game. He also shot 55.3 percent (89-of-161) from the field. Those numbers should all go up be default.

The major question will be if Reneau will be able to play consistent minutes on the floor for the Hoosiers. In the 35 games he appeared in, he averaged 2.5 fouls per game. He led the entire Indiana basketball team in personal fouls last season. Staying out of foul trouble and being available for Indiana in games will be crucial.

The transition to the college level from the high school level was a learning curve for Reneau without question. Now with a full season under his belt, it would be interesting to see if he makes the leap that make Indiana fans hope he does.

More: Malik Reneau on personal expectations next season: ‘I just want to be able to show my all-around game’

Has Mackenzie Mgbako developed enough to be a force right away?

Other than getting Xavier Johnson back for a his sixth season, the biggest offseason addition for Mike Woodson and Indiana basketball came in the form of landing five-star forward Mackenzie Mgbako. Mgbako was a consensus five-star and ranked No. 8 by Rivals, No. 7 by 247Sports, No. 12 by On3, and No. 9 in the ESPN Top 100.

Mgbako was originally a Duke commit before deciding to re-open his recruitment. Once he became available, the battle for his services eventually came down to Kansas and Indiana before Mike Woodson was able to secure a commitment. He was the highest ranked player that Indiana has landed since Romeo Langford (2018).

Mike Woodson got his type of athletic, playmaker on the wing that he had been searching for since he took over the program. The question will be if Mgbako will be able to be a force right away like high profile freshman like Romeo Langford and Jalen Hood-Schifino have done in the past for the Hoosiers.

With Indiana searching for their ‘go-to’ guy when things get tight, Mgbako is expected to be a great option due to his versatilely.

Is Mgbako ready to contribute right away for Indiana? We will find out in a few short weeks.

How far along is the floor chemistry? Are the styles mixing? Clashing?

Indiana basketball is bringing a ton of new faces after losing many established players within the program the past few seasons. When that normally happens, there are some major bumps in the road for any team in college basketball.

Like those teams however, Indiana is expected to have some learning curves when it comes time for them to step onto the floor. With a young, inexperienced team, there were be things they need to be adjusted to.

However unlike the last few teams that Mike Woodson has had, on paper the style that each man brings seems to complement one-another. This will be a much more different and more spaced out type of offense that Indiana fans have seen in the past Mike Woodson teams. It is a more modern style that you see in today’s game.

Going into the season, fans should expect this team to figure it out as they go. If the chemistry matches up to the talent on the team, the Hoosiers could be very dangerous heading into March.

More: ‘Old Man’ Xavier Johnson’s return could be big for Indiana Basketball

Quick Hitters:

Is Gabe Cupps ready for significant spot minutes?: There was a lot of hype surrounding Gabe Cupps coming into this offseason and rightfully so because of how talented he is at the lead guard position. Coming into the offseason, Cupps was slotted as the No. 1 ball-handler due to the impending decision on Xavier Johnson’s medical waiver. However, the best thing that could have happened in this offseason for was Xavier Johnson announcing he had been cleared to return to Indian thus taking off a ton of pressure of the freshman guard. No matter what however, Cupps is expected to play significant spot minutes behind Johnson the way the roster looks on paper. No matter what, Cupps will be thrown into the fire at times this season.

Xavier Johnson fully healthy?: Speaking of Xavier Johnson, the sixth year guard returns to floor this season for the first time since he went down in the Kansas game last December. After choosing to sit out the remaining part last season, he elected to apply for the medical hardship waiver which was ultimately approved by the NCAA after months of waiting. Throughout the summer, Johnson has taken it slow in his recovering but by all accounts, he is 100 percent healthy heading into Indiana’s start of the season. The question however is if his health will hold up in game-setting as we have not seen him participate in those as of yet. For a guy that likes to use his speed, a broken foot is an injury that is certainly not ideal. We will get a chance to see if Johnson is limited any come November 7th.
What impact with Payton Sparks and Anthony Walker have?: Mike Woodson and Indiana basketball came into this offseason with major spots to fill due to the seven total departures from a season ago. Arguably the most important spot they needed to fill came in the front court. With that, Indiana went out and got two capable options, Ball State transfer Payton Sparks and Miami (FL) transfer Anthony Walker. While both Kel’el Ware and Malik Reneau get most of the attention in the Indiana front court, Sparks and Walker are expected to be solid rotation pieces. Nobody knows exactly what impact they will have, but both are expected to play important spot minutes this season.