A humble Merrill Holden changes Iowa State's team
- Thread starter JStanz51
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Props to Holden for taking such a mature approach to figure out how to help his team. In the first half, I was looking for his shots altered and there were a bunch of them. I hope we can get a lot more of the same (would it be too much to ask for him to hit 60% of his FTs?). It's nice to have the idea of a big again.
From what is mentioned in this thread, it sounds like Bowie has opted for the more McKay approach. Let's hope he puts that behind him; it could be an emotional thing to see your final season's playing time slipping away. I think he can help - he's been getting rebounds and, while he's not a pure shooter, he's effective putting the ball on the floor. His skills and size probably match up with Burton's the most and there won't be a lot of minutes for him subbing for Burton.
I thought NWB would be a bit further along in conference play, based on the 1st half of the season. He's contributed and is a good role player but I wonder if his lack of a consistent shot has guys sagging off him and cutting down his driving lanes; he doesn't seem very assertive on offense. I'm still glad to have him on the team; he gets a decent number of offensive boards in limited minutes.
From what is mentioned in this thread, it sounds like Bowie has opted for the more McKay approach. Let's hope he puts that behind him; it could be an emotional thing to see your final season's playing time slipping away. I think he can help - he's been getting rebounds and, while he's not a pure shooter, he's effective putting the ball on the floor. His skills and size probably match up with Burton's the most and there won't be a lot of minutes for him subbing for Burton.
I thought NWB would be a bit further along in conference play, based on the 1st half of the season. He's contributed and is a good role player but I wonder if his lack of a consistent shot has guys sagging off him and cutting down his driving lanes; he doesn't seem very assertive on offense. I'm still glad to have him on the team; he gets a decent number of offensive boards in limited minutes.
I was happy to see Hobbs throw down some old school toughness on Bowie's childish behavior.
You wish a coach's only responsibility was x's and o's. Dealing with 18-21 year olds seems to fill most of their time.
You'd think after watching film guys like Bowie would be very humbled.
You wish a coach's only responsibility was x's and o's. Dealing with 18-21 year olds seems to fill most of their time.
You'd think after watching film guys like Bowie would be very humbled.
There it is.
Like I said, these conversations need to successfully happen a lot closer to Day 1. As the messenger it's largely on Prohm to get his players to know what he wants/needs and how they can accomplish that. Tough challenge, I'm sure, but it's one of the characteristics of good coaching. In the future hopefully we hear these comments closer to November as opposed to mid-January.
I'm confident enough in Prohm and ISU basketball to admit it's surprising it took Holden so long to know why he wasn't playing and what he needed to do.
In many ways, this reminds me of how CSP handled McKat last year. Nobody could quite figure out why Jameel wasn't getting a lot of minutes, until we knew the whole story. This is what coaches do - they run their programs - and succeed, too - by getting these kids to understand what discipline is.
Man, if that isn't coaching in a nutshell.... you just get one guy to 'come around' to how you want him to play and then you have another with this behavior you speak of. I hope its nothing more than an isolated incident or frustration. Kinda bothers me you saying that freshmen Young immediately walked off the court with him, too, and didn't join in the celebration...if what you say is accurate, that is. I hope its not the other two guys thinking Holden got to play for the wrong reasons or something. Need to get on a roll and all players are needed and important when their time comes...now isn't the time to be selfish. They wouldn't be alone when it comes to questioning their coach, so hopefully it works itself out. KState is all we care about right now. Need to get this one.
If I were Young I'd be a little frustrated too. Work your ass off down low, get your guy pinned on your hip, and none of the guards throw you the ball. That has happened more than a few times. I can see where he might think "what's the point"?
And again, it might have been an isolated moment. Maybe Bowie was pisded off and his attitude was not good That doesn't mean his attitude was bad yesterday or will be tomorrow.
We have fans post pretty awful things about players and coaches in the game threads. Most of them are just frustrated in the moment.
The guys actually playing the game are no different.
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Yes someone saw him with a towel over his head on Saturday and suddenly he is a cancer to the team.
I'm pretty sure they have the talk, but that doesn't mean a 20 something athlete is going to listen. It took McKay forever to learn, hopefully Holden retains it the first time. No matter how rocky the road what counts is March and the first weekend of April. This team could still do well later in the season if we get to the sweet 16/elite 8 I'll be happy. But right now I just hope they keep doing the right things and make the tourney.
A cancer to the team? We had a coach that evidently didn't care for his bench behavior at OU. I'm sure the staff will address the issue and move on.
I never said he was a cancer. I said his behavior was embarrassing, especially for a 5th year senior. I've never seen him be a disruption, but he was sulking while his teammates were battling for 50 minutes. I understand high-caliber players get frustrated, but that doesn't mean you have to exhibit selfish behavior. I wasn't the only one that noticed it as an experienced member of the staff reacted to the situation. I don't think Bowie is a bad guy. I'm just wondering how he will handle it going forward.
Has to be hard for the bigs knowing that even if they get in the game their not supposed to touch the ball or try and score while the rest of the team jacks up any trash shot they feel like. I guess that's the reason we never see any post feeds. IMO young sould transfer if that's the trash they are gunna play year in and out under prohm.
Again, these conversations need to successfully happened a lot closer to Day 1 so that March and April are setup well. As the messenger it's largely on Prohm to have all of his players know what he needs from them and how they can accomplish that. And right away, not weeks after being benched. Tough challenge, but that's what good coaches do. Props to Holden to going to Prohm and letting Prohm know the message hadn't previously been explained well.
It's getting late in the season, but hopefully Young can be coached up too.
Depends on where the frustrations are directed.
I'm more impressed with someone buying in even if not playing.
Perhaps there's a reason Young doesn't see as many minutes that aren't due to physical ability.
