How many coaches do you see playing someone like Eli in that situation in a conference game?
I can't think of a time where a coach didn't wait until about the 2 minute mark or maybe just a tad earlier if it's like 40 pts.
Eli King??
- Thread starter mustangcy
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How many coaches do you see playing someone like Eli in that situation in a conference game?
I can't think of a time where a coach didn't wait until about the 2 minute mark or maybe just a tad earlier if it's like 40 pts.
Not to interrupt but I just wanted to point out --
Naz has been our prototypical "did absolutely nothing as a freshman but developed into a good player through hard work and coaching" archetype that you hope for with somebody like Eli King.
Isn't Grill in the same category now? He didn't make much of an impact on a bad Prohm team that was desperate for guards and shooting, but now the guy is on track for some all-Big 12 honors.
Naz has been our prototypical "did absolutely nothing as a freshman but developed into a good player through hard work and coaching" archetype that you hope for with somebody like Eli King.
Isn't Grill in the same category now? He didn't make much of an impact on a bad Prohm team that was desperate for guards and shooting, but now the guy is on track for some all-Big 12 honors.
He is kind of convoluted in my mind. He is technically a transfer, even though in all likelihood will spend 4 seasons playing in a Cyclone uniform. It is purely conjecture on my part, but in world where Caleb wouldn't have transferred and Prohm didn't get fired, I'm not sure Grill reaches the level he currently is on.
Are you guys seriously arguing about the 11th scholarship on the depth chart? Time to move on.
This is all true, but... Eli is being coached by TJ, the same guy who developed Caleb like that. I don't think it really matters if that development took place in Ames or in Paradise.
So that gives me some hope for Eli. We have *two* precedents, not one, if you count Grill.
I don't know. The couple of times I've seen Eli take the floor he seems confident, decisive, and fluid. I think he could be a decent contributor.
That's correct, but Naz played ~120 minutes as a freshman - Grill played ~400.
Eli's on pace to play about 30
This is all true and I agree with you. However, Eli's Caledonia team actually played (and beat) Demarion's State Champion Totino Grace team last year. He did see some higher level competition in high school as well as AAU.
But a game here or there is no substitute for a full season of playing in the top classification - and no high school ball is probably going to prepare you fully for the Big 12 gauntlet.
And Naz looked totally lost in about 105 of those 120 minutes, too.
If I remember correctly, Naz was listed as a PG during recruitment and tried to play there as a freshman. He struggled with his handle and vision for this position especially as a 1st year player. As his shot developed over his career, his vision and ball handling proved to be more than adequate for a SG.
I'm pretty certain I remember Naz saying he knew his path to playing time was turning himself into an elite 3 point shooter and being a lockdown defender. Eli is probably the best pure athlete on the roster so there isn't any reason why he can't be an elite defender at this level. If Im him I'm spending the entire offseason on my jumper. 500+ made 3s a day.
Freshman Naz was on a good (though not great) team that pulled a #10 seed. He was behind quality guards/wings like Tyrus McGee, Will Clyburn, Chris Babb, and Korie Lucious.
Freshman Grill was on an awful team (especially after Haliburton went down, which is when Grill received the majority of his minutes) with two playable guards -- Tyrese plus Bolton. He couldn't manage to beat out Prentiss "Stepback" Nixon, Terrence "Bustorama" Lewis, and freshman Tre Jackson for minutes.
Freshman Eli is on a team projected as a #3 seed right now stuck behind Kalscheur and Grill playing the best basketball of their lives and with the best SG play we've seen since Naz and Matt graduated plus Jaren Holmes, a grown man who looks like he should have finished college in approximately 2003.
Their minutes are inversely proportional to the quality of the teams. Put freshman Naz or freshman Grill on this roster, and I would imagine they'd barely see the court just as with Eli King right now.
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At least we stopped #####ing about not signing Bowen Born.
I disagree with this. I think Grill would be comparable to Watson. Both were/are good defenders but initially struggled offensively. Both saw the floor. Sure Grill was on a bad team, but the coaches still saw enough in him to play him in almost every game.
good point. Yes I believe bb first game played a non-medical red shirt is gone. Football I believe is 4 games; hoping to change to 6-8. Would be nice to see bb go to at least 4 games.
8 minutes. Long time. Don’t take chances with that much time. I’ll leave it TJ to figure out amounts of playing time. Not some random poster who thinks our 10th or 11th man deserves a minute or two more of PT. We blew an 8 point the previous game in about 2 minutes. So maybe 4 minutes left in the game I would look to put in Eli. Believe Eli played 3 minutes.
King may or not be a bust but they need to think about Grill and several other players that took 2-3 years for them to be a net positive. Thomas' shots weren't falling consistently and he was defensively atrocious. By the time he left the was the deadly shooter we all expected and a capable defender. Grill went from being a suspect defender to a really good one in just a year (last to this year).
Change can happen and happen quickly. It's just up to the player to put in the work and have that mindset. Can he do it? I can't say but it's certainly within the realm of possibilities.
I think the Grill comparison is a good one. Grill played way more minutes as a freshman, but that was only because the team was absolute garbage, and we were down to 6-7 guys at times.
Eli is an exceptional athlete, but doesn't have a great jumpshot, just like Grill at that stage in his career. Eli is probably ahead of Grill as a ballhandler. Eli can make the same transformation as Grill did. He just has to put in the work. There will be plenty of opportunity next year with Gabe and Holmes moving on.
