Cap City Recap 6/18

statman · 06-18-2006, 09:56 PM

Just wanted to continue this flow of info, as cygoat did an excellent job of it on Friday. I saw large portions of all 3 games tonight (half of the first 2 games and nearly all of the 3rd game). My impressions after not seeing games on Friday... Game 1 2nd Half

Alex Thompson - Looked good. Showed nice ball handling and mid-range shot. Better post moves than most of our big guys and a little bigger than our big guys. Looked like someone who could help us in the post this year, too bad he can't play until next year. Maybe a bit slower than our other bigs, but fairly well polished.
Mike Taylor - Good handles, very quick, got into the lane and drew fouls, could play either guard position, very nice elevation on his jumper, including the 3, off the dribble. Got a bit frustrated at one point mostly due to officiating and perhaps the fact that his team was behind.
Wesley Johnson - Looks a bit bigger than Clark. Not as agile or as explosive, but still a very nice athlete. His defense definitely affected his opponents. Played very unselfishly, almost too unselfish. Nice shot from mid-range. Also hit a 3. Had a very nice reverse layup reaching under the basket to avoid the defense. It might be interesting to see him play together with Clark on the wings at times.
Jiri - wasn't there and/or didn't play.

Game 2 First Half

Dodie Dunson - Solid contributor, somewhat invisible. A role-player at this point.
Brock Jacobsen - Hit a bunch of 3s in a row during warm ups before the game. Defenitely slower than our quicker guards (Taylor and McIntosh), maybe slower and thicker compared against Neal. Appeared to have some handles.
Rashon Clark - 3 pt shot wasn't falling and go inside too much in a game w/ Kieta and O'Neill filling up the lane.

Game 3

Corey Johnson - My favorite player of the day. Very quick post moves with good footwork creating his own shot. Hit 2 free throws with 7 seconds left to put his team up by 4, sealing the win. A bit small for a PF, but quicker than most PFs and perhaps the best post game of any of our guys. Can also play a mid-range game. Liked his energy.
Corey McIntosh - A bit more controlled than Taylor. Picked his spots on offense. Nice looking 3 point shot. Seems like he has the ball handling, speed and leadership skills you look for in a PG.
Ross Marsden - Looks much bigger than the guy I remember. Still has good touch on wide open mid-range jumpers. Needs to develop offensive post moves and learn to create space for his own shot. McDermott should be able to help him a lot over the next 3 years.
Jesson Gray - Looked pretty good. Hit the outside shot. About what you'd expect.

Summary

The officiating was pretty bad, the refs would have been hearing a lot of stuff if it were a Big 12 game. As it was, the players were a bit bothered by it at times, but nobody really cared all that much. Our guys were hustling and playing the game with a good attitude for the most part. Our starting guards (M&M?) will be much smaller this next year, but we have some solid talent there. Johnson & Johnson provide good size, energy, and the ability to play the 2-4 positions. They both looked pretty talented for incoming freshman. If our guards struggle, Wesley might be able to pick up minutes there (or Clark). Corey will likely be called upon to help us at PF. Dodie seems to be a solid player, but perhaps not as talented as the other newcomers right now (or maybe I'll change my mind after seeing more of them all). Brock should see some spot minutes when we need someone to help hit some perimeter shots. My depth chart looks like this right now...

PG - CM / MT / DD

SG - MT / WJ / BJ

SF - RC / WJ / CJ

PF - CJ / JG / JH

C - JH / RM

clone33 · 06-18-2006, 10:08 PM

Thanks statman. Good job. I'm glad you guys are posting this because with my job and everything its impossible to get to the games. heres some advice, Never agree to working 7 day a week. [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.gif[/img]

cygoat · 06-18-2006, 11:06 PM

Nice summary, statman. I went to all 3 but had to leave at half-time of the 3rd game because the 2nd game double-OT. I tried to keep some (unofficial) stats, which I summarize below.

Game 1

Gratias Construction -- 102

Wesley Johnson -- 17 pts: 1/6 3pt, 7/16 2pt. Had at least 2 assists and 2 blocks. He has a really nice looking jump shot; it just wasn't going down.

Medical Oncology & Hematology Assoc -- 87

Alex Thompson -- 25 pts: 1/1 3pt, 10/15 2pt, 2/3 FT. At least 6 RBs. 4 or 5 blocked shots (including 4 in the first half). A couple of steals and assists. Great all around game.
Mike Taylor -- 36 pts: 4/8 3pt, 9/21 2pt, 6/10 FT. A few assists. I thought he forced things a bit; could have moved the ball around a bit more. I agree that he was frustrated by the horrid officiating. Although he's not real strong, he's absolutely not afraid to take it inside against the big guys.

Game 2 (Double OT)

Central Iowa Orthopedics -- 100

Dodie Dunson -- 18 pts: 2/10 3pt, 6/7 2pt. Although he was cold from 3-pt range, he had some outstanding efforts taking the ball to the hoop. Again, he follows his shot hard, which is nice to see. I think he's an excellent defender, too, and takes a lot pride in it. I thought he was pivotal in getting the OT victory. (BTW, he hit the game-winning shot with about 2 seconds left in the first league game.) I was impressed with his game.

Ev Chocrane & Associates -- 95

Rahshon Clark -- 17 pts: 2/12! 3pt, 4/10 2pt, 3/4 FT. Very off shooting night for Rahshon. In general he seemed off tonight. I only counted 4 times where he tried to take his man off the dribble. Had an unbelievable alley-oop jam at the end of the 1st half. Had a couple more signature thunder dunks. But just couldn't get his shot to drop.
Brock Jacobsen -- 9 pts: 3/5 3pt, 0/1 2pt. Played sparingly. Again, has a real sweet 3pt shot.

Game 3 (1st half only)

Coca-Cola Bottling Co.

Corey McIntosh -- 8 pts: 2/3 3pt, 1/5 2pt. At least 2 RB, 2 assists, and a steal. Had some real nice looking 3pt shots. Passes weren't as flashy as the other night.
Cory Johnson -- 9 pts: 0/3? 3pt, 4/6 2pt, 1FT. At least 5 RBs and 2 very nice assists and a steal. He had a little trouble at the start, but he really got it going toward the end of the 1st half. He scored a bunch of points in a hurry, including a thunderous dunk to end the half. But he's unselfish, too, and a good passer. And he really gets after loose balls (but not like Reggie Evans). I think we saw a glimpse of how good he can be.

Peak Performance

Jessan Gray -- 8pts: 1/4 3pt, 2/7 2pt, 1/2 FT. At least 2 RB and an assist.
Ross Marsden -- 6pts: 3/5 2pt. 4? RB. Looked a lot better than the 1st game. Looked to score more. Showed a nice touch on his jump shot. Had a good put-back. I notice that the big guy he had problems with in the last game (Mike O'Niell) also gave Alou Kieta fits tonight; maybe that guy isn't half bad. (I don't know why I've never heard of him.)

Overall

I agree that the officiating was abysmal. It was a different set of refs than Friday's, which I thought were actually pretty good. I hope we don't see these guys again. They just let too much go, and it started getting out of control. That's when people get hurt. I'd rather see them call things too close.

Go_State · 06-18-2006, 11:44 PM

Thanks for the updates!

statman · 06-18-2006, 11:47 PM

Thanks for all the stats cygoat. Being statman, I definitely appreciate that kind of stuff. [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif[/img]

After seeing the numbers, it seems that I was probably a bit unjustly overly impressed with Corey Johnson and probably just didn't watch Dodie close enough (and/or missed his better half). Plus, I only saw half of those first two games and nothing from Friday, so I'm still in the process of attempting to absorb our newcomers' games. So far, I'm very pleased with our recruiting class, especially considering the circumstances.

dbronco7sc · 06-19-2006, 12:06 AM

thanks guys... I appreciate it after I ended up missing the games... goat... how do you get your stats... you just write them down as the game goes... or remember them? Either way... I appreciate it... I just want to know because if you have a nice method or sheet you use to keep track, I might try to do the same next game I go to!

CY ST8T · 06-19-2006, 08:17 AM

I went to the last 2 games last night and won't get as in depth, but will tell you my thoughts.
First, I was very disappointed in Marsden as he is still very very weak and takes soft shots and takes it to the hole like he expects to get swatted. Jessan Gray however looks stronger and will in my opinion be a better post player than Marsden this year unless Marsden grows a set.
As for the recruits Dodie Dunson has a quick first step and takes it to the hole hard which is good. Cory Johnson was barely drawing backboard from the three point line and just has the build of a freshman who needs to also hit the weights hard. McIntosh is a talker and it was hard to guage what he can really do because he seemed cocky and to not really be going all out.
I was blown away by the play of Sean Haluska. He keeps after every ball, hit a lot of shots adjusting in the air and drives to the hole with just as much quickness as his brother. I know we will not have an open scholarship to put on him, but he will make a great player at UNI or Drake. Granted I only saw the kid for one game, but he just seems like someone that could gel into one hell of a player. Too bad he comes from the family he does.

Jeremy · 06-19-2006, 09:12 AM

Great updates guys! I moved this to the front page for more to track. Thanks for the hard work on helping out!!

Cyclonesrule91 · 06-19-2006, 09:42 AM

I got there during the 2nd half of the 2nd game. I was really wanting to see a monster dunk from Rashon and of course was reading up on the team rosters when he had one. I really was impressed with Dunson as he played well but wasn't cocky. McIntosh was pretty impressive to watch as he was up against Sears(Creighton) and did pretty well, but he was talking smack a lot too. I like more of the prove your play and leave the smack talk out of it. I was very impressed with Corey Johnson. He did brick some 3 pointers in the first half, but his "in the paint" play I thought was very good. Very aggressive, fast and quite physical down low. Add some bulk to that frame and he is going to be fun to watch. Marsden did have some good play and shots, but he needs to be more physical down low and be more assertive on his post up shots. I agree with CYS8T that Haluska was a very impressive player and I think ISU should give him some look, as he was very aggressive in every phase of his game. He took it down against the bigs and did quite well I thought. Tyler Peterson showed as an EX- ISU/UNI player and looked familiar, but I don't remember when he played. Wasn't he the big man for UNI in what year???????

I really enjoyed these games and plan on going to a lot more of them. Being new to the Des Moines area (moved down from Mason City), it is nice to have these kind of events so we can keep in touch with the BB team in the off-season. It is also nice to see the mix of ex- ISU/UNI/Drake and community college players with current players as well as up and coming High School players. It is also nice to leave the Pukeyes out of it, although it would be nice to see our men school EIU's boys..... [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif[/img]

jay moe · 06-19-2006, 10:19 AM

Thanks for the updates on our players. I appreciate all the input and time you guys are putting in so us Cyclone fans that don't live near Des Moines have a chance to check up on players. How is McIntosh going to be? I think he is the real key to our team the next couple of years. We need to have solid PG play, is he going to be able to do it in the Big XII?

cygoat · 06-19-2006, 10:47 AM

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(dbronco7sc @ Jun 19 2006, 12:06 AM) Quoted post</div><div class='quotemain'>goat... how do you get your stats... you just write them down as the game goes... or remember them?[/b][/quote]

I just write them down. I focus on points, as that's what most people are probably interested in. It's hard to keep track of anything more than that and still watch the game (at least for me), so I'm probably missing some stuff on the non-scoring stats. I bet you could google a stat sheet on the net.

CY ST8T · 06-19-2006, 11:09 AM

How is McIntosh going to be? I think he is the real key to our team the next couple of years. We need to have solid PG play, is he going to be able to do it in the Big XII? [/quote]

I really don't know what to think of McIntosh. He is a stick and a very small kid. I only saw one game with him, so I hate to judge his game this quickly. All I do know is that on fast breaks he would pop a quick three and I did not see him find holes or passing lanes like I wanted to see. He was very quick to pop a three point bucket, but he did shoot the rock well. He demonstrated some good dribbling as he fell over and still maintained his dribble somehow while getting back up. He is a talker, but hopefully GMAC will put him in his place and develop him into a Big XII point guard. I will give more comments as I see more games. I definitely plan to be there Wednesday to get a glimpse of Thompson, Taylor and Jiri since I missed the first game this week.

cygoat · 06-19-2006, 11:16 AM

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jay moe @ Jun 19 2006, 10:19 AM) Quoted post</div><div class='quotemain'>How is McIntosh going to be? I think he is the real key to our team the next couple of years. We need to have solid PG play, is he going to be able to do it in the Big XII? [/b][/quote]

Good questions. Don't know the answers. After 2 games, he looks pretty good--best PG in this league anyway. I see a lot of positives: intelligent, good passer, gets his teammates involved, nice 3-pt shooter, very quick, good handle, positive attitude, decent defender. I'm a little concerned about his size. I'd like to see him against a big and/or strong guard, like Blalock or Stinson.

Cyclonesrule91 · 06-19-2006, 12:38 PM

I do have to say that it was cool to see McIntosh and Cory Johnson gelling quite well in the game we watched them play. They obviously have some chemistry and communicate on the court. Multiple times as McIntosh was bringing the ball up the court he would call out "CJ" and there would either be a pick set or a pick an roll or a break by CJ to the basket with a quick pass resulting in some good baskets. They at least for now seem to play very well together.

CyinCo · 06-19-2006, 02:33 PM

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Cyclonesrule91 @ Jun 19 2006, 11:38 AM) Quoted post</div><div class='quotemain'> I do have to say that it was cool to see McIntosh and Cory Johnson gelling quite well in the game we watched them play. They obviously have some chemistry and communicate on the court. Multiple times as McIntosh was bringing the ball up the court he would call out "CJ" and there would either be a pick set or a pick an roll or a break by CJ to the basket with a quick pass resulting in some good baskets. They at least for now seem to play very well together. [/b][/quote]