Wing stop

Indiana has an influx of players on the wing for next season. Will Mike Woodson utilize them? Plus, a Thanksgiving tourney worth a trip, Utah's big addition, Princeton's magic sauce and more.

Good morning. And welcome to that time of year when the hoops withdrawals really start to set in. The NBA Finals can’t get here soon enough.

Let's get to Monday’s news.

1. Considering this Feast Week event

Spending Thanksgiving in 70-degree temps sounds nice. Add in 13 games over four days and it’s something for which college hoops fans would be thankful.

Sounds like the Maui Invitational? Close.

Consider the Acrisure Series in Palm Springs from Nov. 26-29 the cheaper hoops-filled events in balmy temps.

No, this isn’t an advertisement for the event. I’m just a sucker for a holiday hoops tournament in a vacation location. (Last year’s Maui Invite really resonated with me.) And especially for events that have 14 teams.

Here’s the lineup:

  • Holiday Classic: Stanford vs. Grand Canyon, Nov. 26

  • Holiday Invitational: Fresno State vs. Washington State and SMU vs. Cal Baptist (Nov. 26 & 27)

  • Invitational: TCU vs. Santa Clara, Washington vs. Colorado State (Nov. 28 & 29)

  • Classic: USC vs. Saint Mary’s, New Mexico vs. Arizona State (Nov. 28 & 29)

Is it odd that Stanford and Grand Canyon just play each other once? A little. But it still provides a little something extra compared to the usual 8-team events. This has, by my count, three likely NCAA Tournament teams, and another 3-4 that’ll be on the bubble.

That’s a nice little event for fans. Economical, too. Take the money you saved, stay an extra couple days and come back with a tan. That’s my one regret from Maui…

2. Indiana’s got wings. Will it use ‘em?

Mike Woodson’s a principled man. He has basketball beliefs and sticks to them.

The question for next season is if those beliefs includes an offense that shoots 3s.

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