The Hoosiers’ transfer additions open up room for some intriguing lineups.
One of the biggest gripes from this past season was that Indiana didn’t go small enough to help out the offense.
Move Mgbako to the four with three guards in the lineup with Galloway or Gunn at the three. That opens up room for shooters and could let up more room in an offense that faced plenty of clogged lanes.
We ourselves were calling for that kind of thing down the stretch when it became apparent that Indiana wouldn’t be playing for an NCAA Tournament spot without a miracle run in the conference tournament.
The problem? Indiana had just two mostly viable guards who could handle the ball last season and a third that had to start out of necessity and if you wanted any sort of reasonable run from that kind of lineup it’d mean all three of those guys are on the court.
If one goes down? Indiana’s in even bigger trouble.
That shouldn’t be the case this year though. Indiana’s portal additions should give it the versatility, shooting and creation to run more small ball lineups if presented with the chance.
Guys like Myles Rice, Kanaan Carlyle, Bryson Tucker, Mackenzie Mgbako and to some degree Trey Galloway threaten the rim with their ability to drive the ball. That’ll create room on the perimeter for shooters like Carlyle,
Indiana didn’t have that last year. Now it’ll have multiple guys on the floor capable of it. There’s a world where Indiana sees lineups like:
Rice – Carlyle – Galloway – Mgbako – Ballo/Reneau
Rice – Carlyle – Goode – Mgbako – Ballo/Reneau
Rice – Carlyle – Tucker – Mgbako – Ballo/Reneau
There’s also guys like Gabe Cupps and Jakai Newton who will look to make an impact off the bench and are a bit more difficult to project.
What’s clear is that Indiana has the pieces to run the kinds of things Indiana just wasn’t equipped to last year, which is arguably more compelling than the starting lineup. The roster construction says this is a possibility, but we’ll have to wait to see what Woodson thinks in time.