ISU Men’s Basketball Observations – 11/11/06

[mwitt]

Anyone who doesn't think Marsden has improved defensively and rebounding since last year doesn't remember the freshman year of Ross Marsden very well. He's not a stud by any means, but he's much better than Jiri and Gray on the defensive side.

You people are definitely taking Jeremy's comments out of context. His comparions aren't saying that a certain player is going to be just like another player. He's just comparing their playing style, repertoire, etc. Him saying that Player X could be the next so and so is simply commenting on their potential. Nothing wrong with that.

Mike Taylor looked great at times, but he turned it over way too much for my liking. I'll attribute that to firsst game jitters, and I hope we can play a much more complete game by Sunday. Eastern Illinois looked pretty bad on Friday.

This was by far our worst game defense and rebounding wise. We'll see what adjustments we make and how they come out tonight. Louisiana Monroe shot the 3 well last night, so we'll have to tighten up our perimeter defense.

[BigDISU1]

Originally Posted by Jeremy

What is it about Stinson, as this thread originally debated, made it so you thought he was "great"? To me, Stinson was nothing above average for a Big XII starting guard. He made far more mistakes with the ball than a "great" ball handler would, he was more inconsistent and moody than just about any guard I've seen, he was more selfish than TO, and he either skipped or didn't participate in about 80% of practices.

Wow, I never knew that, care to elaborate (the point in bold)?

I always wanted to hold Stinson in high regard.

But if what you say is true, that makes me very upset and disheartened about Cyclone hoops last year. I always wanted to think the cards just didnt go our way last season, but to read that our "best" player wasn't even trying to better his game during practice, that sucks, and Icant believe it was allowed to happen (unless there was some unforseen curcumstances, like serious injury or something) and I am even happier there was a regime change.

[mwitt]

With the sloppy play, terrible defense, terrible rebounding, didn't really run any plays, no defensive adjustments, etc. from last year, it's really amazing how many more games we would have won if we just could have shot free throws better.

[BryceC]

To say he is better offensively skilled is arroneous

I wouldn't say it's arroneous at all, because that isn't even a word.

Listen, people who don't go to the games and can't watch them want to know the status of the players, what they look like, who you can compare them to. That's fine. If you feel differently about their ability or potential, state why and give us examples. Half of this thread has just been tearing down Jeremy for his opinions and that's a damn shame because he's doing EXACTLY what people who come to the site are looking for.

That being said, if Curtis wasn't going to 80% of the practices, that's not just his fault. That's Morgan's and the coaches fault. If he was wild as a freshman, they needed to rope him in then and get that crap under control. If they let it go, they only bred that. Granted, that is Stinson's fault and he should take responsibility for it. But also, that seems hugely exaggerated and I don't have "inside sources" of any kind but I find it hard to believe.

Regardless of all of that, Stinson left it all on the floor every night. He had torn ligaments in his finger in his sophomore year and he kept going out night after night and that had to be absolutely excruciating. There were a lot of problems with Stinson's game and personality (endless whining, reaching on defense, no shot) but he was a great competetor and a Cyclone for over three years. People like Tinsley because he was a winner but he was no more devoted to Ames or ISU than Curt was. I'll always be proud of Stinson as a Cyclone and we won a lot of big games because of him. He made up for deficiencies in his game (shooting, athleticism) with heart, toughness and strength. All of that takes dedication and hard work.

People fault Stinson for a lot of things, but he also never got the chance to play for a coach who could make the most of his ability. Let's not hold that against him.

[isucy86]

Our defense looked pretty solid last night. There were a number of plays where our defense closed out on a drive, where I don't think last year's team would have made the play. I'd grade our defense a B and played better in the 2nd half.

Our offense was lackluster. Some of the guys are chucking up 3 pointers too early in the possession & we didn't get many low post points.

I thought Taylor played well, but the level of competition wasn't Big 12 quality. So it's a bit of a stretch to compare players ability to guys like Tinsley or Stinson.

Our weakness is the same as last season- a post player in the Vroman or Homan mold. We'll do OK during the non-con season- but Hubalek or Marsden have to really progress if ISU is to finish around .500 in Big 12 play.

It surprises me that G-Mac is considering using the last scholarship on a perimeter player. IMO he should work hard on bringing a quality JUCO post guy. A post group of Brackins, Thompson, Hubalek, Marsden & C. Johnson seems to have too many question marks.

[mwitt]

Well yeah, our defense played better in the second half. We were down 3 at halftime and were able to open up a relatively comfortable lead. But we also got off to a nice lead real early, and poor defense let them get right back in it.

[colocy]

I'm not trying to tear his opinions down, he flat out said that M. Taylor is better than Stinson and I don't think that true, at this time. That's it, that's all that was, I just disagree I'm not tearing down anyone's opinions.

[clonestotop]

its not a matter of tearing down his opinion. He is entitled to his opinion. But its way of base and wrong. You can't say that a freshmen who has played one game is better than a four year starter and all conference player. Or that he is better at this or that. Did the one game help you see this? I went to the game as well and left feeling good about his potential but not sold yet on calling him an all big 12 player. according to jeremy we are going to have 8 all big 12 players when its all said and done (ok i may be stretching on that but if you read most posts this is what it sounds like : P