Talent Question

[RustShack]

Where do our players rank compared to Garret his Jr. year?

Fred has brought in a lot of talent... How many of them could/should make Diante type improvements?

 

[timappelgate]

I expect Allen to make a huge jump, as far as numbers are concerned. He needs to be a 15 ppg type guy for us.

 

[RustShack]

Yeah I was going to say Allen is the obvious candidate. But I'm interested in what like Babb and Booker can do here. Do we have any ballers who are just super talented, and could really thrive from Fred correcting their shot?

 

[Tre4ISU]

Yeah I was going to say Allen is the obvious candidate. But I'm interested in what like Babb and Booker can do here. Do we have any ballers who are just super talented, and could really thrive from Fred correcting their shot?

I'm really excited about Sledge myself. I also think Ejim will make a big jump especially if he get's to play at the three a little more. DG, I felt, had a lot of talent. It was a matter of putting him in position to use it and him bringing the ball up and immediately getting rid of it didn't use it. Fred did. I still have a lot of questions on Booker. Also, perhaps Bubu makes a leap. I dont' think he will ever be a staple of the offense but if he can give us 5-10 minutes and be a threat shooting it, he could help us out, especially next year when we will only have one or two guys really suited to the PG spot.

 

[JCREEK]

I'm really excited about Sledge myself. I also think Ejim will make a big jump especially if he get's to play at the three a little more. DG, I felt, had a lot of talent. It was a matter of putting him in position to use it and him bringing the ball up and immediately getting rid of it didn't use it. Fred did. I still have a lot of questions on Booker. Also, perhaps Bubu makes a leap. I dont' think he will ever be a staple of the offense but if he can give us 5-10 minutes and be a threat shooting it, he could help us out, especially next year when we will only have one or two guys really suited to the PG spot.

This may be the deepest team in a long time they are loaded and set for a good ru in NCAA.

 

[cyclones500]

This may be the deepest team in a long time they are loaded and set for a good ru[n] in NCAA.

It's certainly shaping up that way. I won't even try to guess about how far the team could go in the tournament ... but the minimum expectation should be to make the tournament.

It's cart-before-horse when much of the roster is sight-unseen in actual competition, despite what looks promising on paper.

"Scout-team" hype was an underlying story for a good chunk of the 2010-11 season to ease the pain of a frustrating record. So I expect next season to be a significant step up.

 

[cysocool]

I'm really excited about Sledge myself. I also think Ejim will make a big jump especially if he get's to play at the three a little more. DG, I felt, had a lot of talent. It was a matter of putting him in position to use it and him bringing the ball up and immediately getting rid of it didn't use it. Fred did. I still have a lot of questions on Booker. Also, perhaps Bubu makes a leap. I dont' think he will ever be a staple of the offense but if he can give us 5-10 minutes and be a threat shooting it, he could help us out, especially next year when we will only have one or two guys really suited to the PG spot.

Solid...

 

[Cyclonepride]

It may be hard to tell from a statistical standpoint, as there doesn't need to be a singular focus for the offense. Who knows, though? I expect it to be somewhat like last year, where any player could go off for 20+ in any given game.

 

[enisthemenace]

I think I'm most excited to see Babb. He can definitely shoot it, which is nice, but a defensive stopper at 6'5"? It's a guard's game, and he's going to make it really tough for the opposition.

 

[erikbj]

I don't care if ISU has 10 guys averaging 9 points / game.......I just want to see 25+ wins and a top 4 seed in the NCAA tourney. Wanting to make a road trip next march!!!

 

[Rickybaby]

Someone mentioned Chris Allen and that's a no brainer. He will step up and average numbers like DG did his SR year.

The real unknown is Booker. He was highly ranked out of HS yet didn't produce much at his old school; it was said his game didn't mesh well with coaches style. He was an uptempo guy and the coach slowed it down. If this true and if he deserved the ranking out of HS he could really thrive under Freddy's new system. Nobody talks much about him but he "could" end up a key component of the team the next couple of years and put up good numbers. So Booker is the one that could really surprise in my mind; mostly because people really don't talk much about him.

 

[CylentButDeadly]

I'm really excited about Sledge myself. I also think Ejim will make a big jump especially if he get's to play at the three a little more. DG, I felt, had a lot of talent. It was a matter of putting him in position to use it and him bringing the ball up and immediately getting rid of it didn't use it. Fred did. I still have a lot of questions on Booker. Also, perhaps Bubu makes a leap. I dont' think he will ever be a staple of the offense but if he can give us 5-10 minutes and be a threat shooting it, he could help us out, especially next year when we will only have one or two guys really suited to the PG spot.

Everybody keeps saying Ejim is a 3. He doesn't handle the ball very well and he can't shoot very well from outside. Furthermore, when he tried to take his man off the dribble and finish at the rim last season, he rarely converted. I really like Ejim and I think he has a good future, but right now, he is a good offensive rebounder and a nice hustle play/easy bucket guy. He has a ton of work to do and might be able to flourish in a different role, but at this point, he's just not skilled enough to play what most would consider a conventional 3 or wing position.

 

[rholtgraves]

Everybody keeps saying Ejim is a 3. He doesn't handle the ball very well and he can't shoot very well from outside. Furthermore, when he tried to take his man off the dribble and finish at the rim last season, he rarely converted. I really like Ejim and I think he has a good future, but right now, he is a good offensive rebounder and a nice hustle play/easy bucket guy. He has a ton of work to do and might be able to flourish in a different role, but at this point, he's just not skilled enough to play what most would consider a conventional 3 or wing position.

You are assuming that his game is static and is not going to improve. I gaurantee the weakenesses you pointed out are the things that the coaches have him working on. Plus he was a pretty decent shooter in the non-con schedule. i think he shot somewhere close to 35% from threes in the non-con. I think gaurding the big guys in the big 12 really wore him down and he hit a freshman wall like most do. I think going forward he will be playing the three and when we go small he will play the four.

 

[CylentButDeadly]

Everybody keeps saying Ejim is a 3. He doesn't handle the ball very well and he can't shoot very well from outside. Furthermore, when he tried to take his man off the dribble and finish at the rim last season, he rarely converted. I really like Ejim and I think he has a good future, but right now, he is a good offensive rebounder and a nice hustle play/easy bucket guy. He has a ton of work to do and might be able to flourish in a different role, but at this point, he's just not skilled enough to play what most would consider a conventional 3 or wing position.

You are assuming that his game is static and is not going to improve. I gaurantee the weakenesses you pointed out are the things that the coaches have him working on. Plus he was a pretty decent shooter in the non-con schedule. i think he shot somewhere close to 35% from threes in the non-con. I think gaurding the big guys in the big 12 really wore him down and he hit a freshman wall like most do. I think going forward he will be playing the three and when we go small he will play the four.

Wow, thanks for reading what I actually wrote. Read the bolded portions again. Of course the guy will probably improve. Nowhere did I say that he's going to be the same player for four years. Come on man.

 

[CyJack13]

Everybody keeps saying Ejim is a 3. He doesn't handle the ball very well and he can't shoot very well from outside. Furthermore, when he tried to take his man off the dribble and finish at the rim last season, he rarely converted. I really like Ejim and I think he has a good future, but right now, he is a good offensive rebounder and a nice hustle play/easy bucket guy. He has a ton of work to do and might be able to flourish in a different role, but at this point, he's just not skilled enough to play what most would consider a conventional 3 or wing position.

Agree completely on Ejim. Also, I think people expecting Allen to put up DG like numbers next season will be seriously disappointed. I expect Allen to be in the 11-13 ppg range. No one on this team is going to play the minutes DG played or have the ball in their hands as much. I think Scotty, Babb and Allen all will be pretty balanced in their scoring. Also Allen is not someone who can penetrate and create like DG can, he's a very good perimeter defender and spot up shooter but he's not going to be breaking down defenses one on one.

 

[CylentButDeadly]

Agree completely on Ejim. Also, I think people expecting Allen to put up DG like numbers next season will be seriously disappointed. I expect Allen to be in the 11-13 ppg range. No one on this team is going to play the minutes DG played or have the ball in their hands as much. I think Scotty, Babb and Allen all will be pretty balanced in their scoring. Also Allen is not someone who can penetrate and create like DG can, he's a very good perimeter defender and spot up shooter but he's not going to be breaking down defenses one on one.

Spot on. There will be plenty of guys hovering around the double digit point marks with several averaging 10+, but I doubt there's a guy next year averaging 17-18 ppg.

 

[Cyforce]

Probably get raked over the coals for this but I think we're better at every position. I know that means putting a guy that's never played College BB over a first round draft pick but I've never seen a star do less to help his team win. We needed a low post presence and CB wanted to stand outside and showcase his talents most of the year.

 

[Psiclone]

I actually think Godfreak may start. I don't see anyone else who is more physical, especially after a year in the weight room. Every team needs the aggressive, almost mean attitude. Defense and rebounding are what will carry the team far, as with the 1999-2000 squad.

He also has very good skills. I think it was the Colorado game where he rebounded the ball, dribbled it between his leg one time in traffic, and scored. His shooting up to 10' out needs to improve, however.