Double your pleasure…Double your fun!

Check out the halftime tribute to the 1973 Indiana University Hoosiers Basketball Team

The anticipation is over…and the 2022-23 season is unofficially underway! I was fortunate to be one of the fans in attendance on a gorgeous Fall day in Bloomington as our Indiana Hoosiers men’s basketball team squared up against the Marian Knights in Assembly Hall for an exhibition game, where former Hoosier legend Steve Downing serves as the athletic director. More on that in a bit…

This game could have been easily highlighted as a series of doubles, at least from my standpoint. Before the opening tip, two of our players were in street clothes — Trayce Jackson-Davis and Tamar Bates. During the game, two players ended up with double-doubles — Malik Reneau and Logan Duncomb. The score most likely would have been 78-39 to end the game, but a last minute three by the Knights foiled the continuation of the theme. Post-game, I was able to connect briefly with Steve Downing and have him sign a special ticket stub from my collection — the 1971 game between IU and Kentucky where he played all 50 minutes of the overtime contest, scoring 47 points and raking in 25 rebounds in what Coach Bob Knight once characterized as the greatest individual performances during his tenure at Indiana. So not only do I have the ticket stub, but it’s also signed! Doubly awesome!

12/11/1971 IU vs. Kentucky Ticket Stub

…now signed by Steve Downing!

So…what are my first impressions of this Hoosier squad? Setting aside the fact this was an exhibition game against an NAIA school, I have to admit, I was impressed by our freshmen, namely Jalen Hood-Schifino, Malik Reneau, and C.J. Gunn. Hood-Schifino demonstrated a nice mid-range game and ability to create a shot, something IU lacked from the 2 and 3 positions last year. He also has good court awareness…and I particularly enjoyed a pick and roll play where he nicely threaded the needle for an easy score. While Marian was extremely undersized and lacking a comparable level of talent, Malik dominated and scored with ease down low. His body is ready (and will only get stronger) to bang in league play and I really liked his footwork in the post. On the perimeter — and coming from someone who appreciates the art of shooting — Gunn’s form is fundamentally sound and along with good athleticism, I think he’s got a combo there that gives him the potential to add some value to the offense and make a meaningful impact this year. Banks didn’t make it in until the last few minutes of the game and appears to need some development before he will make a significant contribution.

The three-point shooting is a bit misleading, with Race Thompson draining three of those in the first half. The starting guards, Hood-Schifino and Xavier Johnson…and if you throw in Miller Kopp…were 1-6 from deep. Kopp’s performance felt a lot like many from last year…his 5 points were very quiet. Still, there’s a lot to like from going 8-19 and having some unexpected contributions from Thompson factoring into that. With Jackson-Davis anchoring the post, we should see things open up for our guards and I think our shooting will see an improvement over last year.

Johnson looked a bit out of sorts and didn’t seem to find any rhythm during his minutes. On the other hand, Logan Duncomb had an inspiring performance to build on where I think he can provide some serviceable minutes off the bench to spell TJD or another post player. On the surface, the turnover percentage may seem a little concerning, but I don’t see two or three of those fumbles and bumbles occurring when the stakes are higher, the team is going at full speed, and the games count. All in all, I’m eager to see what this team will look like at full strength and going at full speed…fandom aside, my gut and instincts say the outlook is promising.

On a final note, it was cool to see the 1973 Big Ten Champs and NCAA 3rd place Final Four team honored at halftime. This was a great team with a corps of recruits that served as the foundation for Indiana’s dominance in the years to come. It’s quite interesting to entertain the thought of what this team might have accomplished had George McGinnis stuck around.