Ward injured ☹️

[cyfan92]

VCU is guard dominant, so we should be fine there.

Boise St has guys that Omaha and Tre can guard.

Va Tech has a really good center who could give us a lot of problems, we'll miss Ward if that is our opponant.

FAU has a really good 7 footer that could be a problem

A&M is guard/wing dominant and we'll be fine (size wise). We will need an A+ game from our guards on defense if that is the championship game.. They are REALLY good

Iowa is the last non-con opponent of challenge, but Kirkke can be guarded by Tre and Omaha as he isn't very big

 

[bawbie]

VCU is guard dominant, so we should be fine there.

Boise St has guys that Omaha and Tre can guard.

Va Tech has a really good center who could give us a lot of problems, we'll miss Ward if that is our opponant.

FAU has a really good 7 footer that could be a problem

A&M is guard/wing dominant and we'll be fine (size wise). We will need an A+ game from our guards on defense if that is the championship game.. They are REALLY good

Iowa is the last non-con opponent of challenge, but Kirkke can be guarded by Tre and Omaha as he isn't very big

the other thing is that with out defense, we never guard a post 1:1 - we run a double at the post basically every time

so the problem is if the big is especially good at passing out of the double, bigs with range (the FAU guy or Krikke) or bigs that attack the offensive glass

While Ward has really improved leaps and bounds, and his athleticism can't be replaced (except by Omaha), he wasn't adding anything on offense and the way we play defense, I think we can cover just fine.

being 5 fouls shorter if we get in a slugfest is probably the biggest impact, but I think Fish is probably serviceable in that regard

 

[Halincandenza]

No need to burn a redshirt in non con.

 

[Pope]

In today's crazy transfer portal/NIL environment, I would normally say we shouldn't worry about burning a red shirt anymore. In this case, however, I think it's pretty clear that JT is not ready to make a meaningful impact on our roster - and he shouldn't be considering he's really in 12th grade right now.

 

[Clonehomer]

Jones and King essentially held down the center spot last year. They’ll be fine through the non conference season. If this were all season, then maybe they’d need to consider it. But the conference season is what matters.

 

[Cyforce]

First thing I noticed v Grambling was Watson's minutes were all upfront rather than split with the backcourt. This freed up time for Pav in the backcourt. Watson basically became Momcilovic's backup. Jones, King and Biliew have plenty of size to man a 4/5 rotation.

Really no reason to play Rock before he's ready.

 

[GetAwesome]

This team only needs one thing: BRE.

 

[LLCoolCY]

I don't think there is a consideration that JT Rock burns his redshirt. The purpose this year was for JT to improve his body and refine his game. If ISU didn't have a late open scholarship JT would have taken his Sr year at prep school to work on those areas. The plan was never for him to play in a game for ISU this year just to be better prepared to contribute right away as what would be is normal Freshman year.

 

[Cyclonepride]

Not really worth it's own thread, but Seth Davis put us as 24 in his top 25

The Messenger’s College Basketball Top 25: Walking a Razorbacks’ Edge

Arkansas, FAU and Villanova fall off the board after bad losses. Texas drops after a bad win. Kentucky joins the party after a good loss. Seth Davis and Jeff Goodman explain their ballots and make sense of it all

themessenger.com

 

[VeloClone]

Not really worth it's own thread, but Seth Davis put us as 24 in his top 25

The Messenger’s College Basketball Top 25: Walking a Razorbacks’ Edge

Arkansas, FAU and Villanova fall off the board after bad losses. Texas drops after a bad win. Kentucky joins the party after a good loss. Seth Davis and Jeff Goodman explain their ballots and make sense of it all

themessenger.com

He filled in the bottom 5 or so strictly based on KenPom rankings.

 

[Terry Frazier]

Jones and King essentially held down the center spot last year. They’ll be fine through the non conference season. If this were all season, then maybe they’d need to consider it. But the conference season is what matters.

I think you forgot Osun Osunniyi from last year.

 

[Dgilbertson]

I know competition has been soft, but I feel our team defense is the strongest it’s been under TJ.

The rotations, recovery, depth, and discipline (possibly aided by depth) have all been very crisp. Been pleasantly surprised by how “locked in” the freshman all look on defense in their minutes.

(Aside from Omaha’s first few games picking up fouls)

 

[cyclones500]

It's so good to have so much depth at or near the post position that this sort of situation is, at minimum, absorbable. How often have we had that type of luxury at those positions in ... how long?

It would be nice if it wasn't the case heading into a tournament, the first true challenging stretch of the season. But if we can get through that and Iowa (DePaul & The Others ought to not matter either way), then get Ward back, that's a good test of the roster overall.

 

[Cyclonsin]

It's so good to have so much depth at or near the post position that this sort of situation is, at minimum, absorbable. How often have we had that type of luxury at those positions in ... how long?

It would be nice if it wasn't the case heading into a tournament, the first true challenging stretch of the season. But if we can get through that and Iowa (DePaul & The Others ought to not matter either way), then get Ward back, that's a good test of the roster overall.

Not to mention, as others have stated, getting Omaha extra minutes during the non-con could be a huge benefit to the season as a whole.

 

[bawbie]

I know competition has been soft, but I feel our team defense is the strongest it’s been under TJ.

The rotations, recovery, depth, and discipline (possibly aided by depth) have all been very crisp. Been pleasantly surprised by how “locked in” the freshman all look on defense in their minutes.

(Aside from Omaha’s first few games picking up fouls)

I was thinking the same thing - but the competition caveat is really important. Will it hold up against a bigger, more athletic team? We'll see soon

No one on this team is as good of a 1 on 1 defender as Gabe was, and individually I don't think the replacement parts are better than last year, but I think they have a chance to be better as a sum of the parts. This years team is quicker, longer and more athletic - and will only get more so as Omaha settles into the college game - so combined they have been really REALLY good so far

 

[NENick]

Jones and King essentially held down the center spot last year. They’ll be fine through the non conference season. If this were all season, then maybe they’d need to consider it. But the conference season is what matters.

I think you forgot Osun Osunniyi from last year.

And that King only got to play 1/2 the year.

Ward missing 6-8 weeks is not ideal. I'm more concerned about how long after that before his conditioning is back. Does the 6-8 weeks estimate include a couple weeks for that, because that gets well into conference games.

 

[mjhavlo76]

I’d be stunned if they decided to play J.T. Also, the injury to Ward’s left foot was vague. I’m assuming stress fractures to it. Missing that amount of time fits that.

 

[Erik4Cy]

Three letters:

C. E. O.

 

[CycloneErik]

Between this and Seth Davis, I am way behind on declaring that it's all over.

 

[Pat]

In today's crazy transfer portal/NIL environment, I would normally say we shouldn't worry about burning a red shirt anymore. In this case, however, I think it's pretty clear that JT is not ready to make a meaningful impact on our roster - and he shouldn't be considering he's really in 12th grade right now.

I think, in the case of Rock, if he was ready to crack the rotation they’d absolutely burn the red-shirt. With all the things you mentioned, plus the NBA, playing the long game and considering his eligibility in 27-28 would not be shrewd.