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

[ZRF]

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.

I "like" Tre in general but he has his issues. When he gets good passes, especially hot passes, he has a tendency to bobble the ball. When you're a big man you are at an immediate disadvantage when you can't corral passes cleanly (Rob also has a similar problem at times, but to a lesser degree). I think this sabotages some of his offensive potential.

But he's also doing a lot of the BRE stuff from last year, that is forcing up shots that are off-balance, low-percentage shots. There was one in particular within the last couple of games where he bowled into the lane, threw up some complete BS, and missed everything by a wide margin. To be fair he's not the only one doing it right now but it's a consistent problem.

Probably my biggest frustration with Tre is he is a physical specimen yet routinely gets jumped over (poor timing) or out maneuvered for rebounds. He's built, has a 7 foot wingspan, and can jump. Tamu made him look really bad yesterday on balls he was in position to grab. This is something that should, at least theoretically, be in his control.

 

[ZRF]

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.

Omaha is struggling to find his groove but this is two-fold. He's young but he's also not going to improve/learn how to play without getting minutes. What's confounding, when it comes to both he and Watson, is that their minutes have went DOWN since Ward was injured. Everyone else is getting more, which is understandable, but the guy who's play doesn't deserve minutes is Pavs. He's trying, but he's easily shedded or broken down almost every time in the defensive end. Even Biliew isn't as bad. Then, when you ask yourself, who is more important for this team reaching it's ceiling. Pavs, Watson, or Biliew? I can see an argument for the latter two staking a claim but Jackson? He's not ready, neither in skill, speed, strength, or talent.

I think that's the big question. Why him (over the other two)?

 

[Clonefan32]

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.

I think they are collapsing and daring us to either shoot a 3 or dump it down to Bob. They'll take their chances with either over letting Gilbert or Lipsey get to the rim.

 

[CYEATHAWK]

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.

You don't need to qualify your question with an preemptive apology.

 

[sj4]

You don't need to qualify your question with an preemptive apology.

Thanks. It's just that it's a pet peeve of mine when I listen to fans that think they understand. So I don't want to come across that way.

 

[CYEATHAWK]

I think they are collapsing and daring us to either shoot a 3 or dump it down to Bob. They'll take their chances with either over letting Gilbert or Lipsey get to the rim.

I see that happening more and more as the year unfolds. Sort of like last season. Until this group can consistently show they can beat teams from the outside....coaches are going to play the percentages.

 

[isucy86]

That's kind of my point. If the talent is there but he is a "project," then he needs the minutes and consistent playing time to figure it out. If CJ was lighting the gym on fire, I'd get it. But he's clearly not. I'd rather see us invest those minutes into a project that will pay dividends later rather than a guy who can't hit water out of a boat right now and who has a much lower ceiling than Omaha.

Game development can happen, but probably not against better competition. TJ's job is to win games and play guys that give us the best opportunity.

I understand your point- why is Curtis Jones playing over guys like Watson or Biliew? My guess is:

1. Curtis is making shots in practice, it's just not carrying over to games.
2. Curtis is is playing wing minutes and his role is make 3's and guard perimeter players. Momcilovic is our starter and slides to the 4 when we play small. Does TJ give Biliew more minutes to play Milan less? That would be nuts.
3. So the real question is, does TJ play Biliew (or Watson) at the 4 over Tre King? Of any player, I have been most disappointed in Kings offensive play early in the season. Again, I feel TJ is letting King play through his struggles.

I feel like we have a stretch of 6 games before Conference games where Biliew and Watson should get minutes to carve out a role. But not sure it will be more than 10-15mpg in Big12 play as their offensive skills are just too limited.

 

[Gunnerclone]

Game development can happen, but probably not against better competition. TJ's job is to win games and play guys that give us the best opportunity.

I understand your point- why is Curtis Jones playing over guys like Watson or Biliew? My guess is:

1. Curtis is making shots in practice, it's just not carrying over to games.
2. Curtis is is playing wing minutes and his role is make 3's and guard perimeter players. Momcilovic is our starter and slides to the 4 when we play small. Does TJ give Biliew more minutes to play Milan less? That would be nuts.
3. So the real question is, does TJ play Biliew (or Watson) at the 4 over Tre King? Of any player, I have been most disappointed in Kings offensive play early in the season. Again, I feel TJ is letting King play through his struggles.

I feel like we have a stretch of 6 games before Conference games where Biliew and Watson should get minutes to carve out a role. But not sure it will be more than 10-15mpg in Big12 play as their offensive skills are just too limited.

Curtis Jones is playing because he understands what we’re doing on defense and he’s pretty good at locking down. TJ seems to take guys that you love on defense but close your eyes every time they start jacking up 3’s. Omaha is behind right now, he started the season behind because of Team USA. He’s going to get there, we just have to be patient. He’s a good kid and very coachable. Just needs time to integrate in to what we do on defense and he’ll start playing more.

 

[CascadeClone]

Nobody's been able to consistently keep GIlbert or Tamin in front of them. MM has had massive mismatches on the block much of the tournament. But up front, yes. The length this tournament has been a real challenge for King.

Skills are fine. Should we expect to score in the 80s consistently, no. But slogging in the 60s is an underachievement.

I think they will get better at both ends of the court, and they will have to.

That is/should be the offense, basically. Those 2 drive and then 1) finish or get fouled, 2) drop to Tre (or whatever big is there), or 3) kick for an open 3. Basically this is the Fran offense.

What I saw vs TAMU (and VCU/VT to lesser extent) was size and athleticism in the paint which prevented 1 and 2. There were a bunch of open 3s on drive-kicks, and just no one could make them.

Also saw a lot of missed FTs from 1 & 2.

Teams are gonna pack the lane and dare us to shoot.

 

[Gunnerclone]

That is/should be the offense, basically. Those 2 drive and then 1) finish or get fouled, 2) drop to Tre (or whatever big is there), or 3) kick for an open 3. Basically this is the Fran offense.

What I saw vs TAMU (and VCU/VT to lesser extent) was size and athleticism in the paint which prevented 1 and 2. There were a bunch of open 3s on drive-kicks, and just no one could make them.

Also saw a lot of missed FTs from 1 & 2.

Teams are gonna pack the lane and dare us to shoot.

Kind of the same story, need to drop threes. If we can’t make the 3 ball consistently or have someone get hot from 3 on a regular basis it’s going to be a repeat of last season and we’ll go in to the tourney praying to the 3pt gods again.

 

[isucy86]

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.

I think you nailed it. We have guys who can dribble in traffic (Lipsey, Gilbert, C Jones, Paveletzke, Momcilovic) and guys who can't (King, Watson, Ward, Jones). I feel the jury is out on Biliew if he can take a defender off the dribble in half court.

That dichotomy limits TJ's rotations.

Feel like our offense needs to diversify to maximize the offensive skills of the latter group and even C Jones and Paveletzke. More off-ball motion and screens to get guys open spot-up jumpers and cuts to the basket.

The other big reality, we make 70% of our free throws against VT or A&M- we have a great chance to win those games.

 

[Nelcyn]

There will need to be some patience with Omaha. Naz Long didn't look that great his freshman year either.

 

[goody2012]

There will need to be some patience with Omaha. Naz Long didn't look that great his freshman year either.

Those are two exceptionally different situations...

 

[Gunnerclone]

I think you nailed it. We have guys who can dribble in traffic (Lipsey, Gilbert, C Jones, Paveletzke, Momcilovic) and guys who can't (King, Watson, Ward, Jones). I feel the jury is out on Biliew if he can take a defender off the dribble in half court.

That dichotomy limits TJ's rotations.

Feel like our offense needs to diversify to maximize the offensive skills of the latter group and even C Jones and Paveletzke. More off-ball motion and screens to get guys open spot-up jumpers and cuts to the basket.

The other big reality, we make 70% of our free throws against VT or A&M- we have a great chance to win those games.

I liked the progression I saw with Milan in Orlando. One thing that could help us big time is if we can run the ball screen and get him matched up on a smaller guy to feed him in the mid-post when we need a bucket. Gotta find SOMEONE that we can count on to get us a bucket when we need one.

 

[cyatheart]

Those are two exceptionally different situations...

Yeah, those two are not comparable.

Bob played 30 minutes last night. If bob is playing that much something went really wrong. We can't win with that. He needs to be at 5 to 10 for this team to work. Bob isn't the problem, the problem is nobody is beating him out.

 

[CloniesForLife]

I liked the progression I saw with Milan in Orlando. One thing that could help us big time is if we can run the ball screen and get him matched up on a smaller guy to feed him in the mid-post when we need a bucket. Gotta find SOMEONE that we can count on to get us a bucket when we need one.

Yeah need to have him get post or high post touches as a go to basket

 

[Gunnerclone]

Yeah, those two are not comparable.

Bob played 30 minutes last night. If bob is playing that much something went really wrong. We can't win with that. He needs to be at 5 to 10 for this team to work. Bob isn't the problem, the problem is nobody is beating him out.

That’s because Ward is out. I think Bob was around 20 in the games before Ward went down, I think 18-23 is a good range of minutes for Bob.

 

[AuH2O]

That’s because Ward is out. I think Bob was around 20 in the games before Ward went down, I think 18-23 is a good range of minutes for Bob.

I think after seeing how much length bothered King, I’m a lot more interested in seeing Billiew step and play something of a stretch 4.

Jones handled the length and athleticism better than King this weekend.

I think with Ward back and Billiew being good enough to play major minutes, this team has a nice ceiling. If not, I think it’s a pretty low ceiling.

 

[Gunnerclone]

I think after seeing how much length bothered King, I’m a lot more interested in seeing Billiew step and play something of a stretch 4.

Jones handled the length and athleticism better than King this weekend.

I think with Ward back and Billiew being good enough to play major minutes, this team has a nice ceiling. If not, I think it’s a pretty low ceiling.

I so badly want us to be a team that crashes the offfensive glass with the way Tamin and Keshon get to the paint, but I just don’t think it’s in the cards. Don’t think it fits with what TJ wants to do on D and I think our dogs are a little undersized for it.

 

[hoosman]

Was not impressed with anyone except maybe Pav and Lipsey last night. Bad shooting, rebounding, free throws, passes. Hard to watch the team struggling.