The Hoosiers’ frontcourt offers enticing possibilities with some lingering issues.
Two bigs.
Indiana’s fans, outside observers and general media have lamented those lineups for a few years now. It worked to some degree when it was a Trayce Jackson-Davis-Race Thompson pairing. The Kel’el Ware-Malik Reneau pairing was odd in that its potential was probably a bit higher but the floor was also lower. After all, the latter pairing was much less experienced than the former. There were gonna be some bumps in the road.
But next season will have another new pairing with something of a lower ceiling than either of the above: Oumar Ballo and Malik Reneau.
Mike Woodson’s three starting centers have all had different skillsets. Jackson-Davis had a bag of low post moves with dynamic playmaking ability and Ware was an athletic marvel with length and range who could finish lobs, protect the rim, and offered some range in the lane and even on the arc. There were a few similarities between the two that allowed Ware to step into Jackson-Davis’ shoes.
Ballo is a completely different kind of center. He’s not quite the lob threat Jackson-Davis or Ware were, he’s not much of a playmaker and he doesn’t offer all that much range, if he’s scoring it’s in the post or as a roller.
But he’s experienced and does all the little things that add up. He can probably put up 10 points without a single play being run for him. He’s an elite rebounder and brings the kind of physical defense necessary to compete in the Big Ten. The Hoosiers’ shooters can reliably heave up less-than-ideal shots with Ballo in position around the rim to get up for a putback.
Ballo isn’t just gonna post up and wait for the ball to come his way, he’s smart and intentional about his positioning, getting high enough in the lane for a leading pass to beat his man for an uncontested layup or thunderous dunk.
He doesn’t have Ware’s length, but years of competing at the highest levels of college basketball have taught him when to go for a block and he’s a reliable rim protector as a result.
Then there’s Reneau.
The rising junior blossomed last season as a force on offense before his foul trouble piled up toward the end of the season. He formed something of a duo with Ware, becoming a reliable passer into the post.
But on offense he’s… a lot like Ballo. He doesn’t have the same height or length, but his footwork and power generate looks at the rim out of the post. He shot 33.3% from deep on a limited volume, but most of his offense ran through the low post. He drew a lot of doubles as a result, but the results of passing out of them were a mixed bag.
He operates like a five on offense, but can’t reliably defend traditional fives on the other end of the court. The staff has been working to develop him into more of a power forward as a result, which requires more of a perimeter game in the modern age.
His role will likely change with Ballo in the fold. Woodson hinted at this during the annual Huber’s Winery event:
“It might free Malik up a little bit more to do some things that I want him to do differently this year, but I think they can both co-exist,” Woodson said.
Despite getting a lot of his shots in the paint like Ballo, Reneau does have a little more of an ability to create plays for himself and beat opposing forwards off the dribble. When the doubles were slower at the beginning of the year, this led to a lot of kick outs.
Reneau’s ability to create shots for teammates cannot be overstated, especially last year when Indiana lacked guards who could turn the corner. He got defenses rotating, leaving teammates open for wide open 3-pointers.
An interesting Malik Reneau stat from last season:
With Reneau on the floor, #iubb shot 34.9% from three (62nd percentile). With Reneau off the floor, they shot 26.9% (1st percentile). Gravity on the basketball floor is a real thing.— Tony Adragna (@CoachAdragna) June 29, 2024
Once opposing defenses picked up on this, Reneau started to struggle. Last year was his first season as a primary scoring threat in college and he simply did not respond to double teams the way the more seasoned TJD did the year before.
With an overhauled backcourt, Reneau won’t be expected to create such a high percentage of the team’s offense, but that doesn’t mean his role has to be entirely different.
Outside of a higher volume of 3-pointers, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Reneau’s possessions to start outside of the paint, with him driving and creating opportunities on his own.
Indiana’s roster this coming season will make it harder for teams to hedge for the double team, which should leave more room for him to get to the basket on his own. There are also more guards to pass to now and a capable inside finisher in Ballo for the big-to-big looks that Reneau and Ware had going last year.
As somebody who lacks the size and leaping ability to defend a center, this is probably the best for Reneau’s long term development anyway. If he wants to play basketball after Indiana, he will need to take strides as a shooting and playmaking forward to be the stretch four that modern basketball demands.