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

[Jeremy]

ISU Men’s Basketball Observations – 11/11/06
CycloneFanatic.com
Jeremy Lind

Here are my personal notes regarding what I’ve seen so far from the Men’s Basketball team…

Mike Taylor looked like a four-year starter at a major program right off the bat. After being extremely excited all day, a little too much enthusiasm carried over to the game but he quickly settled in and played better as the game went on. Taylor is “the real deal” according to the coaching staff and I think everybody got a taste of just what they meant tonight. Taylor will be taking over most of the minutes that Dodie Dunson saw in the exhibition games but the rotation will continue to evolve as players get used to backing each other up. Not only is Taylor extremely quick and athletic, he can also leap and fight for rebounds that you would never expect a guard to be competitive for. While we obviously haven’t seen enough of him to compare him to past Cyclones talent-wise, I would have to say he reminds me a lot of Tinsley’s athleticism and team play. Time will tell how he stacks up all-around; after all, those are pretty big shoes to use as a comparison this early.

Rahshon Clark is settling in some and started to play much better the second half of the game, especially on defense and rebounding. Clark probably isn’t going to average twenty points a game this year with the new style of play, but he will be All-Big XII quality on defense and will provide some flare and clutch scoring when needed or allowed. Clark will probably average around fifteen a game once everybody gets into things full-swing.

Wesley Johnson looks incredible, simple as that. As he gets used to his teammates, look for Wesley to put up some quality numbers on both ends of the floor. With the pure athleticism he has, Wesley should average close to a double-double for scoring and rebounding once he settles in. How Wesley went unsigned by a major program as long as he did is beyond me. This kid can flat out play with anybody out there. Not just this year, but with the help of the kids coming in over the next couple of years, Wesley is going to blow the roof off of Hilton time and time again. Get the Tivo ready because you’re definitely going to want to hit replay just about every time Wesley gets the ball.

Jessen Gray looked good for coming back from his injury so soon. Gray wasn’t predicted to play much tonight but he provided a lot of help on the inside with Jiri out. Without having a typical “big-man” on the inside, ISU will continue to rotate Marsden, Gray and Jiri pretty evenly. With Johnson, Johnson and Clark also being able to hold their own for good stretches of play, ISU can be a little more mobile and athletic than most teams considering the speed and scoring ability they have.

Cory Johnson once again looked solid for being a true freshman. With a little more muscle and experience, Cory will be a solid starter that will be equally good on both sides of the ball. Despite his size, Cory has a lot of good footwork that can get him open just enough to make the basket where typically you would want him to pass it back out. While I have heard Cory compared to Brunner most often, Cory has so much more potential on the offensive end of the court, in my opinion.

ISU showed some nice signs of potential in 40-50 second stretches and showed that once they get to know where each other will be on the floor, they should be able to run with just about anybody up and down the court. One of the benefits of having a somewhat deeper bench is that the team will be able to stay pretty fresh throughout the game. With the youth and inexperience of the squad, that little extra advantage could be the difference between a win or a loss come conference time. Note: I’m not saying that we run incredibly deep, but we do have some nice solid players and backups for each position that can also play one or two other positions if need be.

One thing that I feel needs to be stressed is that so many fans are trying to judge this team and coaching staff already. While I know it’s hard not to expect more consistency for the full game, it’s also important to remember that this team has only been together for a few weeks now. Not only will we be starting some freshman every game, we also have a coaching staff that is completely new to the Big XII and a lot of the opponents that we’ll face this year. The players are already playing more as a team that any ISU team has the past few seasons and the defense is just short of amazing compared to what we’ve been accustomed to.

Things are already looking a hundred times better than just about anytime last season and that’s with a whole new cast of players and a new coaching staff. Just think of what the future brings with five star recruits and infinitely more experience:)

[AirWalke]

Cory's dribble to himself underneath the basket was just wicked! I agree, he's going to be a great player further down the road, and I also keep thinking that in a few years when today's freshman are juniors and seniors, and with the talent coming in the next few years, this team is going to be one the Big XII's best.

I'm a bit concerned about Mike Taylor. The one thing I didn't like about Stinson was that he just made a lot of flashy plays by himself. Taylor was just a flashback of the lack of discipline we saw last year. Yes, he looks like a great player, and he probably wanted to go all out in his first game as a Cyclone, but people around me were hounding him in the final minutes of the game when he went straight for the basket instead of attempting to take some seconds off the clock.

Loved that we finally got to foul out a player this year. I know I keep mentioning my girlfriend, but I must express how adverse she is to sports in general. She almost died from laughter after the "Left, Right" chant. For her to be excited about going to these games is a major accomplishment. :)

[CrossCyed]

Generally, if you have an easy layup, that's acceptable too. That being said, his adrenaline was probably just high.

[thunderdave]

Well, at least we're not hearing how we have to be the "most improved" team in the country between game 1 and game 2.

[vanillathrilla]

At times Taylor was way too out of control coming up court and with his passes (reminded me of Ricky Morgan), but he has a nice jump shot. Clark looked like he wasnt in the game in the first half; looked like he wasnt having fun and didnt seem to want to be there. Came alive in the 2nd hald and had a sweet put-back. Ross Marsden needs to stay on the bench!! He has no offensive moves and no post defense; I was hoping for an improvement this year, but hes as bad as ever. I think Cory Johnson is going to be AMAZING; I was glad to see Jessen get some quality minutes.

[Al_4_State]

Yeah, it seemed to me and a friend that Mike Taylor (at least in how he plays the game) is Stinson re-incarnate. He showed some amazing shooting (I think he has a better deep shot than Stinson) and ball handling skills, while playing fairly tenacious defense, but he had somewhere around 5 carries, and just seemed to make some rash decisions, which lead to turnovers. If he can tune down the rash mistakes, without stifling his overall tenacity, this kid will be our best player, bar none.

[dno96]

I saw something that this team did last night that the teams under Morgan didn't really do...they played strong defence...that makes me happy.

[Stormin]

Announcers stated that there is an added emphasis this year on calling "the carry". Can you imagine how many of those Stinson would have had if he had been playing? I didn't see Taylor as "Stinson reincarnate". Taylor actually played defense. I also thought that Taylor is much more athletic than Stinson. The guy can really jump. He has a much better outside shot than Stinson. Similarity with Stinson is how he forced the ball at times, both in shooting and passing. Even though this team has a lot of improving to do, I think they are already better than last year's team. Last year's team would have lost to EA Sports and to U-Cal Riverside.

Cory Johnson does remind me of Brunner. Bodies up on people and pretty good footwork. Taylor had a decent outing for his first time out. His mistakes can be corrected. As we play together, the offense will get better. Our post play (Marsden) is our biggest weakness, both offensively and defensively. Rebounding was atrocious. We definitely need to learn how to box out better.

[cgwarrior33]

I think we will really see Clark's explosion come from defensive transition. The one fastbreak where he simply lost the ball showed how he can get up in passing lanes and deny the ball, or get a quick steal while being on the ball. He is so lanky and quick. In the first half there was an instance where he helped to force the shot clock violation because he was hounding his opponent and the kid couldn't see the shot clock. Clark and the "Johnson twins" were all crashing the O boards. CJ also played some pretty tough post defense and I was glad to see we have a post player who isn't afraid to make a move and try and score. Can't wait for tonight!

[cgwarrior33]

Originally Posted by Stormin

Our post play (Marsden) is our biggest weakness, both offensively and defensively. Rebounding was atrocious. We definitely need to learn how to box out better.

I agree. Rebounding was bad, but we don't have a big bruiser inside to take up space. It looked like we were getting pushed underneath the basket when we were trying to box out. We are going to have to work harder than any other team we play to rebound because of the size disadvantage. If our guards keep crashing the O-boards like they did last night, we will rebound enough to win. We also have to front the post because we are so small, so we have to have backside help which opens up the backside rebounding alot. A lot of there Offensive boards came out long. There were also alot of rebounds that we did not simple clean up. We will get better. McDermott teams always do.

[Schroed]

there is no question that tinsley was a great player but there is no way you can possibly compare his athleticism to taylor. i dont even know if tinsley can dunk.

[CYTIME]

I continue to be impressed with Cory Johnson. He hustles and seems to at least attempt to do everything McD asks. It was pretty funny though when he went for that pseudo-hook...McD's look after it was great. Of course I think I saw this. My vision wasn't the best since I was constantly wiping the blood from my nose. Yeah...I didn't renew my tix on time..two rows from the top.

[darts180]

Actually Taylor reminded me more of Dedric Willoughby than anyone else.

[Jeremy]

One thing to remember about Taylor is that he was extremely excited to just get in the game. This has been his dream come true experience and he was overly pumped up for most of the game. He'll settle down as the weekend goes on and play like a much more controlled and unselfish player. He wanted to come out with a bang and he made a few mistakes.

Edited to remove comparison to former players since some on here apparently don't like to compare and contrast players.

Again, this is just my opinion and nothing more.

[clonestotop]

How you can say that Cory Johnson has better offensive skills than Brunner puzzles me. I would love it if he did and when its all said and done he may. But to compare a true freshman to a first team all big 10 guy and 4 year started is premature. Brunner had a good offensive game and could knock down some jumpers. Now if Johnson works hard he could be there, but its to early to say if his offensive skills will be better than Bru's