For Indiana, There's Nothing Better Than Your Best Player Being Most Improved
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The last of the terms were agreed to, and the deal was done. And Mike Woodson knew – right from that very second – that his first order of business as Indiana's new head basketball coach had to be to convince star forward Trayce Jackson-Davis to come back for another year.
He accomplished that mission a few weeks later, with a strong sales pitch that included Woodson's ability to get him better prepared for the next level. Jackson-Davis, a 6-foot-9 forward and former 2019 Indiana Mr. Basketball, has already been Indiana's best player the past two years, but there are still a lot of holes in his game.
Woodson, from the get-go, was dead set on fixing that.
Fast forward three months now, and that work in progress is going well. Woodson met with the media on Friday, and he couldn't help himself from gushing over ''the big fella.''
Player who has stood out this summer? "I think Trayce has.''
Best offensive player? "With a doubt, Trayce.''
Improving the most? "Trayce, for sure, especially in terms of how he's running and how he's playing.''
That's music to the ears. When it's your best player who is doing all those things in the offseason, that's terrific news. The best get better, and everyone follows along. A rising tide raises all boats, and that seems to be happening with Indiana's basketball team.
And that's a very good thing.
"I think Trayce has (stood out all summer),'' Woodson said. "He's one player that was always intriguing to me. When I took the job, I was desperately trying to get him to stay and we were able to get that done.
"But from the time we started to where we are now, he's made some improvement in terms of how he's running and playing. He's playing much more aggressive than he did in some of the tapes that I watched last season. And we're going to need him to be that guy, the guy that plays aggressive. If he can average 20 points and double-digit rebounds, that's a major bonus for our ballclub.''
Jackson-Davis averaged 19.1 points and 9.0 rebounds during last year's disappointing 12-15 campaign that got Archie Miller fired after four years. He had 13.5 points and 8.4 rebounds a game as a freshman.
Even though his numbers improved, Jackson-Davis knows that he could have been better last year, and he's thrilled to get a huge upgrade in coaching with Woodson and his new staff.
But he also knows that a lot of it is on him, too.
"I think the biggest thing I worked on this summer from last summer is definitely my conditioning,'' Jackson-Davis said. "I felt like last summer, I wasn't in the best shape I could be in like my freshman year. I thought my freshman year I was in shape for the most part. But this year I've gotten a lot better.
"Then just being able to space the floor out a little bit more because our offense is going to be mostly position-less basketball. Just being able to just make plays for my teammates and be able to hit open shots is really big for me this coming season.''
Jackson-Davis said there's been a 100 percent buy-in to Woodson's new schemes among the players, including all six of the new faces. The re-set button has been hit, and that's a wonderful thing.
"Coach Woodson, from the moment he got here really just brought the family aspect. That's the big thing with him, he's a family guy, and he's a player's coach,'' Jackson-Davis said. "So, him coming out the first day and telling us how things are going to be, how it's going to be a family atmosphere, how you can go to him for anything, I think that was the biggest element for all of us.
"Then just being on the court with him for the last two, three months, he gives you confidence. He wants you to be the best player you can be. He has a vision for each and every one of us on this team. He loves all of us. We break it down with family every day. I think he truly means that.''
Woodson said that they've focused on a new defensive system a lot so far in summer workouts and practices leading up to this week's trip to the Bahamas for a pair of exhibition games with Mega BC, a top-level professional club team from Serbia. (The games are Friday and Sunday, but there is no TV, no radio and no streaming.) But they've been installing a new four-out, one-in offense too, which has everyone excited.
"It has varied, but without a doubt, Trayce has been (the best offensive player),'' Woodson said. "But Parker (Stewart) at one time has been pretty good; Xavier (Johnson), Tamar (Bates), Trey Galloway, they've all been pretty good, and then Rob (Phinisee) too.. Rob has played pretty well on both ends of the ball, which is kind of nice to see.''
Jackson-Davis loves the new offensive scheme.
"Our offense, it's basically four-out, one-in, but at the same time it's not,'' he said. "I can start on the block, set an up screen for Rob, play out on the perimeter and such. Race can do the same thing. Me and Race are interchangeable at the four and five. It means, basically, that one through five, we're playing all places on the floor.
"There's a lot of different types of cuts, dribble-handoff actions, back-cuts on the backside, the backdoor. It's just really playing free-flowing basketball, just taking what the defense gives you, basically.''
Last year after Joey Brunk's back injury, Indiana didn't have any bigs, and Jackson-Davis was forced to wrestle with all the 7-footers in the league all by himself. This year he has some help after 7-foot center Michael Durr transferred in from South Florida. He's help Jackson-Davis improve a lot this summer, just having a big guy to battle against every day.
"With Mike, he's a really, really big body, and he also just brings a lot of physicality,'' he said. "He's a Big Ten big, and playing against him, I've noticed that from the get-go. He's able to space the floor, so I get to work on my defense as well.
"He is a really great player. He's going to help us a lot this year. Playing against him, being able to work on my moves, that's been great. Playing against someone that's an actual 7-footer, not being able to have that last year, I really have to work on my jump hooks, all that stuff, just getting the ball up, having touch around the rim, not being able to just force things up, I have to do that every day. I think it's been really good for both of us, honestly.''
Mostly, Jackson-Davis appreciates just having the help on the blocks. During Miller's coaching tenure, there were always huge holes in Indiana's roster. Now, as Woodson says, the 2021-22 roster "is more complete. We can do a lot of different things.''
It will start and finish with Jackson-Davis, of course. It's a fresh start for me. It's a fresh start for everyone, really.
And that too is a wonderful thing.
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