2024-25 Roster/Rotation Additions

[BoxsterCy]

With next years roster I'm guessing we play faster. If so Crooks will need to drop some pounds to play close to 30.

Haven't seen much on Williams but that seems to be the case with Hare and Harris.

We've always tried to not waste time, the old shoot before you turn it over, but never really "ran" or played up-tempo have we? Fastbreaks and quick scoring runs for us have seemed to be built around dropping a bunch of threes. Playing much faster than we already do doesn't seem like the risk aversive Fennelly style. Are we really quick enough to play faster in the open court? Our PG is not exactly fleet afoot and the ball is usually in her hands and I don't envision 3/4 court touchdown bombs from her either (that risk aversion thing again).

Qualifier, just me spitballing as a fan from the comfort of my computer den!

 

[Stormin]

With next years roster I'm guessing we play faster. If so Crooks will need to drop some pounds to play close to 30.

Haven't seen much on Williams but that seems to be the case with Hare and Harris.

Crooks was getting in better and better condition as the season went on. She was playing Ironman minutes at the end of the season. Audi conditioning is not a concern for me. Audi is a big heavily muscled girl. Her bulk is a strength. Audi gets up and down the court pretty well for a big girl. Audi will improve. That is who she is.

 

[Cyforce]

Crooks was getting in better and better condition as the season went on. She was playing Ironman minutes at the end of the season. Audi conditioning is not a concern for me. Audi is a big heavily muscled girl. Her bulk is a strength. Audi gets up and down the court pretty well for a big girl. Audi will improve. That is who she is.

Some of you are overly defensive about this. It's really a pretty easy conversation.

Audi. How good do you want to be?
If you were to drop say 20 pounds you're going to be quick and be able get up and down with less effort. This is your path towards being an all American.

 

[Three4Cy]

Some of you are overly defensive about this. It's really a pretty easy conversation.

Audi. How good do you want to be?
If you were to drop say 20 pounds you're going to be quick and be able get up and down with less effort. This is your path towards being an all American.

Audi averaged 26.2 mpg this year; it's not like she only played 20 minutes a game.

Comparing Audi's minutes to other top post players from this past season:
Kamila Cardoso - averaged 25 mpg
Cameron Brink - averaged 25.4 mpg
Reagan Beers - averaged 28.2 mpg
Lauren Betts - averaged 27.2 mpg
Ayoka Lee - averaged 27.3 mpg
Liz Kitley - averaged 34.3 mpg

Audi is already an All-American.

Your tone in this thread is that Audi has hit her ceiling and will rest on her laurels. If that is what you think, you don't know Audi.

 

[Cyforce]

Your tone in this thread is that Audi has hit her ceiling and will rest on her laurels. If that is what you think, you don't know Audi.

That's actually your overprotective interpretation.

 

[jsb]

Crooks was getting in better and better condition as the season went on. She was playing Ironman minutes at the end of the season. Audi conditioning is not a concern for me. Audi is a big heavily muscled girl. Her bulk is a strength. Audi gets up and down the court pretty well for a big girl. Audi will improve. That is who she is.

Yep. I was surprised with how many minutes she was playing last year. Conditioning is important for every player but I don’t think Audi is of any special concern.

 

[jsb]

That's actually your overprotective interpretation.

I think it’s silly to think that any of us have any idea what weight any player should be at.

 

[ZorkClone]

What should Kelsey and AJ work on improving this offseason?

For Kelsey, I think she needs to improve her defensive quickness as much as she can. There were times on defense she would get beat badly laterally and give up an easy drive to the basket. The things she was great at was being a spark to create some energy, diving after balls, and getting tough offensive rebounds.

AJ should work on aggressiveness with the ball in her hand. She didn't handle ball pressure that well and would get caught up badly in full-court press situations. She could very well be out PG in the 25-26 season. AJ played good defense and shot 3's at a 41% clip albeit on a lowish number of attempts.

 

[cyguy9320]

I would love to see some work on ball handling and press breaking - for the whole team.

 

[isucy86]

Some of you are overly defensive about this. It's really a pretty easy conversation.

Audi. How good do you want to be?
If you were to drop say 20 pounds you're going to be quick and be able get up and down with less effort. This is your path towards being an all American.

Or maybe you are overly obsessed by her size being a negative!

I tended to agreed with you a year ago. That Audi's size (aka perceived lack of fitness) would hold her back and she might not be a Big12 level player for a couple years. I was 100% wrong. Her size is an advantage, it's how at 6'3" she can create the space of a 6'5" player. Her build makes her a unique talent, similar to a Charles Barkley or Robert Traylor or Courtney Paris.

There's not a women on ISU's roster that won't address their physical limitations with the S&C staff over the summer (heck same with the men's roster). IMO if a coach can get 25-28mpg out of their post players, that's a good load.

 

[Cyforce]

What should Kelsey and AJ work on improving this offseason?

For Kelsey, I think she needs to improve her defensive quickness as much as she can. There were times on defense she would get beat badly laterally and give up an easy drive to the basket. The things she was great at was being a spark to create some energy, diving after balls, and getting tough offensive rebounds.

AJ should work on aggressiveness with the ball in her hand. She didn't handle ball pressure that well and would get caught up badly in full-court press situations. She could very well be out PG in the 25-26 season. AJ played good defense and shot 3's at a 41% clip albeit on a lowish number of attempts.

Thing that was maddening about Kelsey were the 3s that were so wide they landed out of bounds.

 

[Cyforce]

Or maybe you are overly obsessed by her size being a negative!

I tended to agreed with you a year ago. That Audi's size (aka perceived lack of fitness) would hold her back and she might not be a Big12 level player for a couple years. I was 100% wrong. Her size is an advantage, it's how at 6'3" she can create the space of a 6'5" player. Her build makes her a unique talent, similar to a Charles Barkley or Robert Traylor or Courtney Paris.

There's not a women on ISU's roster that won't address their physical limitations with the S&C staff over the summer (heck same with the men's roster). IMO if a coach can get 25-28mpg out of their post players, that's a good load.

Did you ever watch Barkley? He was quicker than anyone that tried to guard him.

 

[jsb]

Did you ever watch Barkley? He was quicker than anyone that tried to guard him.

And Audi was a unanimous first team all Big 12 player as a freshman.

 

[Cyforce]

And Audi was a unanimous first team all Big 12 player as a freshman.

What does that have to do with comparing her to Charles Barkley?

 

[Stormin]

Some of you are overly defensive about this. It's really a pretty easy conversation.

Audi. How good do you want to be?
If you were to drop say 20 pounds you're going to be quick and be able get up and down with less effort. This is your path towards being an all American.

Audi is never going to be a slim girl. She is a husky muscular girl who has obviously been getting in better and better shape. She has always been a big girl. She is a Stats Champion Shot Putter. And she hustles up and down the court. Probably one of the hardest workers there is. Her work ethic is the reason for her success. First team All Big 12 as a Freshman. How many other Lady Cyclones have done that?

 

[BoxsterCy]

Or maybe you are overly obsessed by her size being a negative!

I tended to agreed with you a year ago. That Audi's size (aka perceived lack of fitness) would hold her back and she might not be a Big12 level player for a couple years. I was 100% wrong. Her size is an advantage, it's how at 6'3" she can create the space of a 6'5" player. Her build makes her a unique talent, similar to a Charles Barkley or Robert Traylor or Courtney Paris.

There's not a women on ISU's roster that won't address their physical limitations with the S&C staff over the summer (heck same with the men's roster). IMO if a coach can get 25-28mpg out of their post players, that's a good load.

Not really disagreeing with your point of Crooks being pretty "unique", but I am not sure there is anyone quite like Audi Crooks we can compare to. I think she is maybe near 100% unique. The Paris comparison is tempting because Courtney was a Big 12 player we remember but I don't think it's that valid.

 

[Cyforce]

Audi is never going to be a slim girl. She is a husky muscular girl who has obviously been getting in better and better shape. She has always been a big girl. She is a Stats Champion Shot Putter. And she hustles up and down the court. Probably one of the hardest workers there is. Her work ethic is the reason for her success. First team All Big 12 as a Freshman. How many other Lady Cyclones have done that?

I know all about her. She can do whatever she wants and I'll still root for her. Her all conference accolades were based on numbers. But if you take the Cardinal glasses off for a minute you'll see we had far too many turnovers trying to get her the ball. She cuts that down drastically by working on her explosion in the offseason. That would lead to a leaner version.

I was a LB/C in high school. 6'1 210ish. I knew the sooner I got under 200 for BB the better I felt (especially my knees). Usually by late February I was around 185. Not trying to compare myself to a D1 athlete. Just saying dropping a little helps you athleticly as well as ware and tear.

 

[isucy86]

Did you ever watch Barkley? He was quicker than anyone that tried to guard him.

Yes he was a unique talent. Just like Audi is a unique talent.

Chuck wasn't a cookie cutter power forward who was 6'9". Sure he had quickness, but he was 6'4" and had the lower body bulk that allowed him to create space.

Just enjoy Audi for the talent she is!

 

[acoustimac]

One thing some of the youngsters here won’t remember is that Fennelly’s early teams here had the talent to get up and down the court quickly…and they did quite often. I remember watching ISU literally run OU into the ground in the conf tournament as Gahan, Frese, Taylor and friends had their way. As guard loaded as we appear to be becoming this is quite possible again.

 

[psycln11]

One thing some of the youngsters here won’t remember is that Fennelly’s early teams here had the talent to get up and down the court quickly…and they did quite often. I remember watching ISU literally run OU into the ground in the conf tournament as Gahan, Frese, Taylor and friends had their way. As guard loaded as we appear to be becoming this is quite possible again.

Welle would get the rebound, outlet to Frese, and beat the opponents center down court for an easy lay-up.