Xavier Foster Committed To Iowa State

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There is a lot of dumb in this thread...
Personally I think any jackass that thinks Cole Henry is better than Foster should be banned

Hey, just stopping by to clear up that I don't think Henry is better than Foster - or that he will be better than Foster in college or beyond. ( I think it might have been my comment that was interpreted this way. )

Marfan’s Syndrome. Abe Lincoln had it also.

Maybe he did. So did Flo Hyman, who died of it during a volleyball match at age 31.

 

[jmb]

Hey, just stopping by to clear up that I don't think Henry is better than Foster - or that he will be better than Foster in college or beyond. ( I think it might have been my comment that was interpreted this way. )
Maybe he did. So did Flo Hyman, who died of it during a volleyball match at age 31.

Awful name.

 

[BillBrasky4Cy]

Part of Rasir's problems are due to not being surrounded by many options that the defense fears.

Exactly. You put Bolton out there with a couple of guards that can actually make some shots and a stretch 4 and he would be a real problem.

 

[CyberJJJ]

Yeah this year is a bit different. Prohm had to experiment at that 4 position and Mike ended up having to take on that role. I think that had more to do with no one else being capable of playing that position and Mike was the least worst of the bunch.

On your second point, I think that although Nixon does have a stronger handle than Bolton, he's such a liability taking care of the ball. Bolton's not head over heals better, but I think Prohm would rather the ball be in his hands a majority of the game than Nixon's. Prohm loves that pick and roll / pick and pop action, and I think he'd rather have Bolton taking it down hill on the defense instead of the constant pull up game Nixon was giving us.

Agreed on your first point, and that was well stated, "...the least worst of the bunch."

On the second point, I agree giving Nixon the ball that much is a license to shoot when he wants to and his "want to" happens a little more often than I enjoy watching for the success rate he has normally experienced. Bolton is likely the best at taking someone off the bounce, but I like that from the wing a bit more than directly on top where he seems to be place when he brings the ball up the floor. The careless turnovers out front are most annoying. I get when he has to be the primary scoring option he has to force some things.

However, our use of the pick and role has been atrocious. I don't as many illegal screens as we did in the first part of the year, but I also don't see the ball handler brushing the guy off the screener and turning the corner hard. when the Picker flashes to the basket we are slow to get them the ball and allow the defender to recover, or the help to come. I just don't see us forcing the switches that are needed to get the mismatches we want. I actually like our three bigs ability to hit the 12 to 15 ft J when left alone at the top corner of the lane.

 

[BillBrasky4Cy]

Agreed on your first point, and that was well stated, "...the least worst of the bunch."

On the second point, I agree giving Nixon the ball that much is a license to shoot when he wants to and his "want to" happens a little more often than I enjoy watching for the success rate he has normally experienced. Bolton is likely the best at taking someone off the bounce, but I like that from the wing a bit more than directly on top where he seems to be place when he brings the ball up the floor. The careless turnovers out front are most annoying. I get when he has to be the primary scoring option he has to force some things.

However, our use of the pick and role has been atrocious. I don't as many illegal screens as we did in the first part of the year, but I also don't see the ball handler brushing the guy off the screener and turning the corner hard. when the Picker flashes to the basket we are slow to get them the ball and allow the defender to recover, or the help to come. I just don't see us forcing the switches that are needed to get the mismatches we want. I actually like our three bigs ability to hit the 12 to 15 ft J when left alone at the top corner of the lane.

Running an effective pick and roll is pretty dang tough when everyone sags int he lane on you. Teams figured out we couldn't hit 3's consistently so they pack it in. Having a couple decent shooters would make a night and day difference for this team.

 

[Statefan10]

Agreed on your first point, and that was well stated, "...the least worst of the bunch."

On the second point, I agree giving Nixon the ball that much is a license to shoot when he wants to and his "want to" happens a little more often than I enjoy watching for the success rate he has normally experienced. Bolton is likely the best at taking someone off the bounce, but I like that from the wing a bit more than directly on top where he seems to be place when he brings the ball up the floor. The careless turnovers out front are most annoying. I get when he has to be the primary scoring option he has to force some things.

However, our use of the pick and role has been atrocious. I don't as many illegal screens as we did in the first part of the year, but I also don't see the ball handler brushing the guy off the screener and turning the corner hard. when the Picker flashes to the basket we are slow to get them the ball and allow the defender to recover, or the help to come. I just don't see us forcing the switches that are needed to get the mismatches we want. I actually like our three bigs ability to hit the 12 to 15 ft J when left alone at the top corner of the lane.

Yeah @BillBrasky4Cy said exactly what I was going to say. Our problem with the pick and roll at times this year has been the fact that teams sag off a lot on us because we truly only have two quality three point threats in Bolton and Jackson. Both of them were essentially ineffective from beyond the arc for 50% of the year too.

We also don't have a true mismatch at any position with the guys we have. Lewis and Griffin are both guys we desperately needed this year to give us a chance on offense and defense. Luckily we're bringing in guys for those spots and there's bound to be one or two that we can rely on. I think we'll have some good options to work with next year.

 

[Kurttr]

Yeah @BillBrasky4Cy said exactly what I was going to say. Our problem with the pick and roll at times this year has been the fact that teams sag off a lot on us because we truly only have two quality three point threats in Bolton and Jackson. Both of them were essentially ineffective from beyond the arc for 50% of the year too.

We also don't have a true mismatch at any position with the guys we have. Lewis and Griffin are both guys we desperately needed this year to give us a chance on offense and defense. Luckily we're bringing in guys for those spots and there's bound to be one or two that we can rely on. I think we'll have some good options to work with next year.

I think the issue is more that Prohm didn't adapt to the team's talent this year than that he typically doesn't use players to their strengths. To continue to play as if we had a ball-dominant scorer/creator, when we didn't have that on the team, was a big problem. Playing Jacobson on the wing was a poor fit and unfair to him - tough to find enough minutes inside for him/Solo/Conditt but that suggests altering the approach as well. Not holding guys accountable on the defensive end was also a big problem. He likes to set his group and rarely stray from it.

It will be interesting to see if he adapts this offseason - a year like this certainly bears lots of reflection. I've not studied his mentor, Billy K., who was fired from A&M (Texas, not Florida!) but I wonder if he carried on the same way and didn't adjust.

With an excellent recruiting class coming in, he should have much more talent next year, but I don't know who would be a natural ball-dominant player a la his Murray St. PGs, Monte, Georges, and several of last year's players. Maybe we'll get a grad transfer who can do it. It's not Bolton - he's much better as off-guard. Otherwise, he needs to modify his offensive approach. Jackson has the best handle and scored a ton in HS, but he didn't look like he could fill that ball-dominant role - certainly could be PG in a different set-up.

I really like CSP, and he really cares about ISU and his players, but he has to accomplish significant improvement for next year. Hope he does.

 

[cyclones500]

24 points per game (49% fg, 32% 3P, 75% ft), 9.7 rebounds per game, 3.7 blocks per game

Gawd, that's awful.

 

[usedcarguy]

I was able to watch Xavier play for the first time against Carlisle in the first round of districts. Without a doubt the most athletic big the state of Iowa has ever produced. His ceiling is HIGH.

But as others had noted, at times he didn't really look involved and even when guarded by much smaller players wasn't all that impressive around the bucket. Turned the ball over on multiple occasions in transition. I've listened to multiple people talk about their mediocre team being an excuse for a perceived lack of motivation, but I'm not buying it. I find it a bit troubling. True competitors like to compete regardless of the situation. Not yet seeing it in him. What I saw was a 7-footer who on some levels takes his height for granted and didn't appear to possess any sort of leadership..something their team this year could have really used. Just didn't seem to have that killer instinct. Still managed to score 20+ and got a lot of rebounds though.

He's got a nice outside shot with a high release and runs the floor well. Good shot blocking ability.

Hope he finds the inspiration at the next level because that's what it's going to take for him to get to where he wants to go. But for as much time as he's spent around our program, it doesn't appear much if any to date has rubbed off on him. REALLY hope I'm wrong.

 

[SoapyCy]

I was able to watch Xavier play for the first time against Carlisle in the first round of districts. Without a doubt the most athletic big the state of Iowa has ever produced. His ceiling is HIGH.

But as others had noted, at times he didn't really look involved and even when guarded by much smaller players wasn't all that impressive around the bucket. Turned the ball over on multiple occasions in transition. I've listened to multiple people talk about their mediocre team being an excuse for a perceived lack of motivation, but I'm not buying it. I find it a bit troubling. True competitors like to compete regardless of the situation. Not yet seeing it in him. What I saw was a 7-footer who on some levels takes his height for granted and didn't appear to possess any sort of leadership..something their team this year could have really used. Just didn't seem to have that killer instinct. Still managed to score 20+ and got a lot of rebounds though.

He's got a nice outside shot with a high release and runs the floor well. Good shot blocking ability.

Hope he finds the inspiration at the next level because that's what it's going to take for him to get to where he wants to go. But for as much time as he's spent around our program, it doesn't appear much if any to date has rubbed off on him. REALLY hope I'm wrong.

Guys that are always physically gifted younger often have trouble when they get into a higher level because they didn't always have the same work ethic as the smaller guys. I'm not saying that's the case with Foster whatsoever, but I know a lot of guys in high school who flamed out in college because they never had to work as hard.

A buddy got drafted by an MLB team and he told me the coach asked who was all-state. Everyone raised their hands. He said, well all-state ain't **** here. That's the floor, not the ceiling. My friend got cut after low-A ball after being an all-state selection twice.

 

[Drew0311]

I have watch Cole Henry play a few times and was not
Impressed. I think he will do fine at UNI but for those saying they would think Cole Henry was the high ranking recruit if you didn’t know, please. That’s a joke.

 

[ClonesFTW]

13 and 6 is a massive impact for a freshman in the Big 12. This year there are currently two freshmen in the entire league averaging more than 10 points per game - Jahmi'us Ramsey and Oscar Tshiebwe. Both were also blue chip recruits and both will be onto the NBA this year or next.

A reasonable expectation and successful freshman season for Foster would probably be something like 8-10 ppg and 4 rpg coupled with a shot blocking presence on D.

We had a freshman big man average 14 and 9 in Big 12 play just a couple years ago... Can’t imagine what he could have been doing for us by now.

 

[Statefan10]

I think the issue is more that Prohm didn't adapt to the team's talent this year than that he typically doesn't use players to their strengths. To continue to play as if we had a ball-dominant scorer/creator, when we didn't have that on the team, was a big problem. Playing Jacobson on the wing was a poor fit and unfair to him - tough to find enough minutes inside for him/Solo/Conditt but that suggests altering the approach as well. Not holding guys accountable on the defensive end was also a big problem. He likes to set his group and rarely stray from it.

It will be interesting to see if he adapts this offseason - a year like this certainly bears lots of reflection. I've not studied his mentor, Billy K., who was fired from A&M (Texas, not Florida!) but I wonder if he carried on the same way and didn't adjust.

With an excellent recruiting class coming in, he should have much more talent next year, but I don't know who would be a natural ball-dominant player a la his Murray St. PGs, Monte, Georges, and several of last year's players. Maybe we'll get a grad transfer who can do it. It's not Bolton - he's much better as off-guard. Otherwise, he needs to modify his offensive approach. Jackson has the best handle and scored a ton in HS, but he didn't look like he could fill that ball-dominant role - certainly could be PG in a different set-up.

I really like CSP, and he really cares about ISU and his players, but he has to accomplish significant improvement for next year. Hope he does.

Yeah I would agree with this.. I really have no idea what this team could've done to succeed a ton more this year, but I'm also not the one making the decisions. The unsuccessful season still falls on Steve regardless of whether or not he envisioned the team to look like this. There were decisions he made that completely fell through (Leech, Anderson), there were guys that didn't step up at all that needed to (Lewis, Griffin), and the role Nixon and Mike ended up in because of those things truly hurt this team.

I don't think Steve wanted Mike to be the 4, or that Nixon was going to play the amount he's had to this season, but both ended up having to happen. The two scholarships used on Leech and Anderson could've been used on a couple of immediately eligible guys that could've filled either Nixon's or Mike's role, but that didn't happen. But because that happened we were able to get a couple of guys for next year's class who should be able to fill the missing roles we currently need.

But yes, Steve needs to hit on a ball dominant guy, even if he's not a true PG. I've heard Johnson is playing that role right now in practice and is doing a very good job, so that's a good sign. Bolton is the definition of a combo guard though. He should not be the one setting up our offense, rather he should have the role that we ran Wigginton at times last year when Nick Babb was running the show.

Next year's team will look incredibly different from this year's. It's almost like a reset switch has been hit on our roster and it was DESPERATELY needed. With the guys we have coming in and the amount of time Steve has known Tyrese is leaving, there should also be no reason Steve wouldn't be able to find another piece for this team. And if we're waiting to see who else goes into the transfer portal, Steve should have a great pitch ready to get that guy to come be a focal point on this team.

 

[UNI1ISU2]

As a lot of you know I follow and watch high school basketball a lot. Something that has not been touched on yet is if you watch film on foster or watched him live he does not like to get physical underneath. He shys away from contact and would rather just take open jump shots then go underneath. Even on defense he is not physical at all. It takes 1 game of his to see this

 

[BillBrasky4Cy]

I think the issue is more that Prohm didn't adapt to the team's talent this year than that he typically doesn't use players to their strengths. To continue to play as if we had a ball-dominant scorer/creator, when we didn't have that on the team, was a big problem. Playing Jacobson on the wing was a poor fit and unfair to him - tough to find enough minutes inside for him/Solo/Conditt but that suggests altering the approach as well. Not holding guys accountable on the defensive end was also a big problem. He likes to set his group and rarely stray from it.

It will be interesting to see if he adapts this offseason - a year like this certainly bears lots of reflection. I've not studied his mentor, Billy K., who was fired from A&M (Texas, not Florida!) but I wonder if he carried on the same way and didn't adjust.

With an excellent recruiting class coming in, he should have much more talent next year, but I don't know who would be a natural ball-dominant player a la his Murray St. PGs, Monte, Georges, and several of last year's players. Maybe we'll get a grad transfer who can do it. It's not Bolton - he's much better as off-guard. Otherwise, he needs to modify his offensive approach. Jackson has the best handle and scored a ton in HS, but he didn't look like he could fill that ball-dominant role - certainly could be PG in a different set-up.

I really like CSP, and he really cares about ISU and his players, but he has to accomplish significant improvement for next year. Hope he does.

What do you want him to adapt to? If you don't have the horses you don't have the horses. There was no magic formula for this team.

 

[isutrevman]

As a lot of you know I follow and watch high school basketball a lot. Something that has not been touched on yet is if you watch film on foster or watched him live he does not like to get physical underneath. He shys away from contact and would rather just take open jump shots then go underneath. Even on defense he is not physical at all. It takes 1 game of his to see this

Don't care.

 

[BillBrasky4Cy]

As a lot of you know I follow and watch high school basketball a lot. Something that has not been touched on yet is if you watch film on foster or watched him live he does not like to get physical underneath. He shys away from contact and would rather just take open jump shots then go underneath. Even on defense he is not physical at all. It takes 1 game of his to see this

 

[IASTATE07]

As a lot of you know I follow and watch high school basketball a lot. Something that has not been touched on yet is if you watch film on foster or watched him live he does not like to get physical underneath. He shys away from contact and would rather just take open jump shots then go underneath. Even on defense he is not physical at all. It takes 1 game of his to see this

THEE biggest complaint about Foster on this board has been that he spends too much time on the wing. How are you this stupid?

 

[UNI1ISU2]

THEE biggest complaint about Foster on this board has been that he spends too much time on the wing. How are you this stupid?

Not once has someone pointed out why. I just wanted to point out why

 

[IASTATE07]

Not once has someone pointed out why. I just wanted to point out why

Lol wow.