*** Official IOWA STATE vs #12 Texas A&M Game(Day) Thread ***

[Cyclonepride]

It's not about the shots we are MISSING, it's about the shots we are TAKING! You don't make FORCED shots and you don't make shots without confidence behind them. We missed a lot of layups also, or turned it over in the lane before they became shots. It would be great to get transition points every possession...... but not realistic.
Gilbert needs to get some control, I understand what he is TRYING to do, but it just turns into desperation. I think Jones will make the 3's when we can make the passes and they are not forced. Tre King was double teamed all night, and we would still try to throw it into him?
Omaha is lacking confidence, concentrating too much on where he should be, with no natural flow. This takes a minute when you jump up a level. The day he steps on the court with confidence he will contribute......I think that day will come.
In the mean time we have to learn to run an offense when the transition points done come!

I think both teams saw what we did to come back against VCU (pound it into the paint with our guards) and decided to clog the lane and give us the outside shot until we prove that we can beat them that way. That disrupts a lot of things, including opportunities for our bigs.

We made A&M pay for that early, but then the shots just quit falling but we didn't stop trying (to be fair, there were wide open shots throughout for our shooters). For Milan, I want him to take every open three he gets. Some of the other guys, not quite as much. I am sure TJ will adjust some things.

My suggestion would be to drive and kick, and rather than take that first open shot, pump fake on the close out and drive again. See if we can get them scrambling and open up some more options inside before we just take it outside again.

 

[Clonefan32]

I think both teams saw what we did to come back against VCU (pound it into the paint with our guards) and decided to clog the lane and give us the outside shot until we prove that we can beat them that way. That disrupts a lot of things, including opportunities for our bigs.

We made A&M pay for that early, but then the shots just quit falling but we didn't stop trying (to be fair, there were wide open shots throughout for our shooters). For Milan, I want him to take every open three he gets. Some of the other guys, not quite as much. I am sure TJ will adjust some things.

My suggestion would be to drive and kick, and rather than take that first open shot, pump fake on the close out and drive again. See if we can get them scrambling and open up some more options inside before we just take it outside again.

Ward and a hopefully developing Omaha will help a ton as a lob threat. It becomes harder to step over and help on a driver when you are giving up a lob.

 

[Cyclonepride]

Ward and a hopefully developing Omaha will help a ton as a lob threat. It becomes harder to step over and help on a driver when you are giving up a lob.

I do hope that we can run a few more set plays for Omaha to get him going. I think we have been trying, but at times it has either not been open, or his timing/location wasn't quite where it needed to be.

 

[Baseline23]

TJ really needs to go find another Matt Thomas.

I was thinking Willoughby or Tyus or Barry Stevens. But Matt would be fine.

 

[Gunnerclone]

Ward and a hopefully developing Omaha will help a ton as a lob threat. It becomes harder to step over and help on a driver when you are giving up a lob.

Great point. We have to get the lobs going. I think our guards haven’t proven to be a threat to pull up or produce a floater in that 10-15 ft range so defenses are just really sagging and the lob isn’t there. They know our guards are trying to get all the way to the rim and draw contact or get a layup. Gotta start creating help situations.

 

[CyHans]

I do hope that we can run a few more set plays for Omaha to get him going. I think we have been trying, but at times it has either not been open, or his timing/location wasn't quite where it needed to be.

Omaha seems lost on the court to me. I was really hoping with his height and athletic ability he'd be all over the boards and blocking shots but that doesn't seem to be the case. In his defense he doesn't get much time on the court so maybe he just needs time to get in the flow.

 

[CyHans]

Great point. We have to get the lobs going. I think our guards haven’t proven to be a threat to pull up or produce a floater in that 10-15 ft range so defenses are just really sagging and the lob isn’t there. They know our guards are trying to get all the way to the rim and draw contact or get a layup. Gotta start creating help situations.

IMO, Gilbert and C Jones need to consistently hit jump shots like they did when we built the 21 point lead. They don't necessarily have to be 3's but something to open up the lane. After that the lid came down on the rim. Also, the passing was very sloppy. Lots of TO's when trying to pass out when they drove.

 

[Gunnerclone]

IMO, Gilbert and C Jones need to consistently hit jump shots like they did when we built the 21 point lead. They don't necessarily have to be 3's but something to open up the lane. After that the lid came down on the rim. Also, the passing was very sloppy. Lots of TO's when trying to pass out when they drove.

We definitely having a passing deficiency. The big men definitely aren’t great passers and the guards don’t really have much creativity in the passing department. Tamin had one nice pass out to Milan when he got the ball just above the block and did kind of a one-handed over the head heave, but that looked like a set play.

 

[Clonefan32]

I just have a few takeaways from the last 2 games:

1) I think we have good guards that can make plays. The problem is their drives need to come off of 2-3 ball reversals. We have success getting to the rim when the other team is in rotation because we've swung the ball a few times. Where we get in trouble is when the ball sticks and Gilbert or Lipsey plays iso ball when they are in good help position.

2) I think he has to force-feed Omaha, Pav and maybe even Watson some minutes. I just don't think you can guard the way we guard and not have considerable depth. Asking Gilbert and Lipsey to play the minutes they play, guard the way they are expected to guard and carry the offense is too much. We have to develop better quality depth.

 

[Halincandenza]

One thing about today's NCAA, this will always be the case, so can never really be an excuse, right?

No. there are plenty teams with their main players returning.

 

[Halincandenza]

Really lucky we didn't go 0-3 this weekend. We're going to get pushed around by bigger more physical teams in the big 12. Tre might be the biggest disappointment, he looks lost at both ends.

Tre is a guy I thought was going to make a big leap but he just hasn't. Same with Watson.

 

[Clonefan32]

Really lucky we didn't go 0-3 this weekend. We're going to get pushed around by bigger more physical teams in the big 12. Tre might be the biggest disappointment, he looks lost at both ends.

At the end of the day, we aren't particularly tall, we aren't particularly athletic and we can't shoot. That's a really, really bad combination. That's why getting Ward healthy and figuring out ways to get Omaha and Watson going is imperative. We have to have more athleticism and length on the floor, especially if we are going to shoot the way we are shooting.

 

[ZRF]

Tre is a guy I thought was going to make a big leap but he just hasn't. Same with Watson.

Not sure how Watson can make a leap when he doesn't even play. This is even more perplexing when you watch Pavs play defense. Either directly or indirectly Pavs screws up the defense every time down the floor.

What frustrates me with Tre are his handles (none of our bigs have consistent hands to catch passes), his block outs/jump timing (seems to lose rebounds from either or), and his work at posting up and asserting on the block.

The Pavs over Watson bit is inexcusable. Not o ly is Watson a better player now, but nobody would argue he also doesn't have a higher season. There's simply no planet where Otz can justify playing Pavs over Watson.

We need Gilber and Lipsey to get to the hole. The problem, especially with Gilbert, is that he seems to easily "give up" at the first sign od resistance. See the lane, kick out when necessary and try again. As a poster above said we need to hit the hole off of more ball reversals, some of which will come off of an initial "failed" drive. Just because it doesn't work thr first time doesn't mean you should give up.

As a team our movement without the ball is also stagnant. Otz needs to do a better job of managing the game. Letting the wheels fall off before intervening is a very poor strategy.

 

[Gunnerclone]

Tre is a guy I thought was going to make a big leap but he just hasn't. Same with Watson.

I think he’s the most affected by Ward being out. He was pretty much stuck down low in Orlando. Think he’s better when he can float around a little more. Seems like he plays better when he gets a jumper to go down early.

 

[Clonefan32]

Not sure how Watson can make a leap when he doesn't even play. This is even more perplexing when you watch Pavs play defense. Either directly or indirectly Pavs screws up the defense every time down the floor.

What frustrates me with Tre are his handles (none of our bigs have consistent hands to catch passes), his block outs/jump timing (seems to lose rebounds from either or), and his work at posting up and asserting on the block.

The Pavs over Watson bit is inexcusable. Not o ly is Watson a better player now, but nobody would argue he also doesn't have a higher season. There's simply no planet where Otz can justify playing Pavs over Watson.

We need Gilber and Lipsey to get to the hole. The problem, especially with Gilbert, is that he seems to easily "give up" at the first sign od resistance. See the lane, kick out when necessary and try again. As a poster above said we need to hit the hole off of more ball reversals, some of which will come off of an initial "failed" drive. Just because it doesn't work thr first time doesn't mean you should give up.

As a team our movement without the ball is also stagnant. Otz needs to do a better job of managing the game. Letting the wheels fall off before intervening is a very poor strategy.

Pav's offensive upside is much higher. Guy shot nearly 40% from 3 last year and averaged 15 PPG as a freshman. I don't think there's any doubting Watson gives us a better look defensively, but it feels like TJ has watched enough bad offensive basketball in the last 2 years and he's going to shift hard into emphasizing some offense while trying to stick with some of his defensive principles.

Our sub rotation is just a difficult place to be in right now. Tre, Bob, Omaha, Ward and Watson just aren't really offensive threats. You just can't have too many guys like that on the floor together at once. So they either need to pick things up offensively, or we go all in on our grind it out, long possession way of playing we've had the last few years.

 

[simply1]

I think both teams saw what we did to come back against VCU (pound it into the paint with our guards) and decided to clog the lane and give us the outside shot until we prove that we can beat them that way. That disrupts a lot of things, including opportunities for our bigs.

We made A&M pay for that early, but then the shots just quit falling but we didn't stop trying (to be fair, there were wide open shots throughout for our shooters). For Milan, I want him to take every open three he gets. Some of the other guys, not quite as much. I am sure TJ will adjust some things.

My suggestion would be to drive and kick, and rather than take that first open shot, pump fake on the close out and drive again. See if we can get them scrambling and open up some more options inside before we just take it outside again.

What I do like is that we have some guys who can get into the lane and break their defenders down. What happens after is where the work needs to happen. Of course knocking down open shots and making free throws fixes a lot of problems.

 

[simply1]

Tre is a guy I thought was going to make a big leap but he just hasn't. Same with Watson.

Tre showed flashes last year of being a physical post able to score some, agree with you that I thought he’d flash more this year.

 

[sj4]

When I ask this question it is NOT me thinking I know how to coach a basketball team. I might could help a bunch of 3rd graders but nothing beyond that. So I don't want to be taken that way. But the question is why isn't Omaha Biliew getting more minutes? I would assume they've asked coach but I'm just getting tuned into basketball here and I'm sure I've missed a lot so far. But what are the reasons that have been given or might be given. Thanks.

 

[ZRF]

Pav's offensive upside is much higher. Guy shot nearly 40% from 3 last year and averaged 15 PPG as a freshman. I don't think there's any doubting Watson gives us a better look defensively, but it feels like TJ has watched enough bad offensive basketball in the last 2 years and he's going to shift hard into emphasizing some offense while trying to stick with some of his defensive principles.

Our sub rotation is just a difficult place to be in right now. Tre, Bob, Omaha, Ward and Watson just aren't really offensive threats. You just can't have too many guys like that on the floor together at once. So they either need to pick things up offensively, or we go all in on our grind it out, long possession way of playing we've had the last few years.

Not saying Pavs can't improve but he is possibly the most unathletic player to receive significant playing time (especially as a guard) in quite some time. If you literally watch him on the defensive end he is usually beat or has a hard time keeping up with players and fighting through screens. Having him AND Milan out there at the same time, two players who are below average defensively. It also hurts us on the boards as they are two players who could play 30 minutes a game and get 2 rebounds or less.

Right now there is VERY little Pavs offers the team. I don't understand how Watson plays well and contributes when he gets consistent playing time (defense, rebounding, transition, plays around the rim) while Pavs gets abused AND gets playing time, at Watson's expense.

Since everyone one here seems to think I just hate on players, let me be clear I don't doubt Jackson's effort. But right now, when playing good (athletic) opponents, his lack of size, build, and athletic ability is routinely exploited. At this point he's "over his head". That's not on him, that's on Otz.

 

[Cyclonepride]

What I do like is that we have some guys who can get into the lane and break their defenders down. What happens after is where the work needs to happen. Of course knocking down open shots and making free throws fixes a lot of problems.

I'd have to look at the film to see where our bigs are when we drive into the lane and everything collapses. Not sure if they're spreading out to open the lane up, or just somehow not open while the team's other bigs collapse on our driver. Might be open and we're just not looking/finding them too, I suppose.