COLUMN: A massive analysis on the MBB roster following opener
- Thread starter ChrisMWilliams
- Start date
Yes, I Bluetooth to my sound bar and turn off the tv audio when I sync radio & espn+. It’s great. Highly recommend.
Extremely hot take: if Tamin is at Iowa State all 4 years, he will end up being viewed as a better collegiate player and point guard than Monte Morris
Lots of similarities. BB IQ of appx 1 million. Incredible vision. Great handles, great passers. Looks to set guys up first, but can get to the rim and finish when needed. Can hit the 3. Good defense. They are both just about exactly how you would build the ideal PG in a computer game.
We have been BLESSED with great point guards for a long time.
Maybe not a nickname, but would love to hear an announcer fit in a “Milan & Chill” line when he hits a dagger.
After 2 games my main observations have been
- Lipsey is playing with a lot of confidence and so far has taken his shots in stride so if all the work he has put in to improve there continues this will be a huge boost to have him knock down some open 3s
- Milan looks like a polished veteran. I suspect like any freshman once the competition gets better and teams gameplan around him more he will hit a wall somewhere and will have to adjust but he's looked way more like a seasoned veteran than a green freshman right now
- On the flipside Omaha looks like a deer in the headlights right now. I'm not down on him by any means as we know the talent is there but it's night and day how the pace of the game is for him and Milan so far. Hoping the foul problems are not going to be an issue because its going to be hard to get him minutes if he can't avoid the foul issues. Have a feeling with coming off the bench he's probably a little too wound up wanting to make an immediate impact to earn some minutes but hopefully he settles down a bit and just lets the game come to him more than trying to force things to happen
- The 2 transfers Gilbert and Jones have some nice moves. Gilbert can slash and has some nice moves to create with the ball in his hands. Jones really got after it last night on defense
- BRE has been solid so far. Seems much more poised and in control and not committing dumb mistakes. 0 turnovers and just 1 fouls in 31 minutes so far. Very efficient minutes when he has been in too
- Not sure that Tre King will be the 12/8 guy Fran was hyping him up to be this year when he was playing more minutes late last season but could be close to that. We have more weapons on offense this year that he probably won't need to shoot it as much as we thought. Think I heard on the post game after the first game that Otz has challenged him to be the leading rebounder in the Big 12 this year so if that is where his focus is at and takes the shots when they are there should be a solid year for him
- Ward getting the starting nod was a surprise to me opening night but love his energy. He probably won't stuff a box score with stats but if he and BRE can give us solid minutes at the 5 without constantly being in foul trouble and making bonehead mistakes we'll be fine.
- The rest of the bench, Watson probably carves out about 10 mins with his defense but don't see Fish and Paveletzke getting much more than garbage minutes with the walk ons. It's a deep roster and probably will go no more than 9 deep most nights once conference play starts.
- Lipsey is playing with a lot of confidence and so far has taken his shots in stride so if all the work he has put in to improve there continues this will be a huge boost to have him knock down some open 3s
- Milan looks like a polished veteran. I suspect like any freshman once the competition gets better and teams gameplan around him more he will hit a wall somewhere and will have to adjust but he's looked way more like a seasoned veteran than a green freshman right now
- On the flipside Omaha looks like a deer in the headlights right now. I'm not down on him by any means as we know the talent is there but it's night and day how the pace of the game is for him and Milan so far. Hoping the foul problems are not going to be an issue because its going to be hard to get him minutes if he can't avoid the foul issues. Have a feeling with coming off the bench he's probably a little too wound up wanting to make an immediate impact to earn some minutes but hopefully he settles down a bit and just lets the game come to him more than trying to force things to happen
- The 2 transfers Gilbert and Jones have some nice moves. Gilbert can slash and has some nice moves to create with the ball in his hands. Jones really got after it last night on defense
- BRE has been solid so far. Seems much more poised and in control and not committing dumb mistakes. 0 turnovers and just 1 fouls in 31 minutes so far. Very efficient minutes when he has been in too
- Not sure that Tre King will be the 12/8 guy Fran was hyping him up to be this year when he was playing more minutes late last season but could be close to that. We have more weapons on offense this year that he probably won't need to shoot it as much as we thought. Think I heard on the post game after the first game that Otz has challenged him to be the leading rebounder in the Big 12 this year so if that is where his focus is at and takes the shots when they are there should be a solid year for him
- Ward getting the starting nod was a surprise to me opening night but love his energy. He probably won't stuff a box score with stats but if he and BRE can give us solid minutes at the 5 without constantly being in foul trouble and making bonehead mistakes we'll be fine.
- The rest of the bench, Watson probably carves out about 10 mins with his defense but don't see Fish and Paveletzke getting much more than garbage minutes with the walk ons. It's a deep roster and probably will go no more than 9 deep most nights once conference play starts.
Does this seem like an accurate take on where we'll end up in conference play?
Big minutes:
Lipsey
Gilbert
Momcilovic
King
Will get time:
C Jones
Ward
R Jones
Billiew
Watson?
End of bench/don't play if it's close:
Pav
Fish
Walk-Ons
The good news is all those middle-group guys are solid and could move up to big minutes as the year goes on. And I think Watson, Pav and Fish can be dependable players if we get hit with injuries.
Big minutes:
Lipsey
Gilbert
Momcilovic
King
Will get time:
C Jones
Ward
R Jones
Billiew
Watson?
End of bench/don't play if it's close:
Pav
Fish
Walk-Ons
The good news is all those middle-group guys are solid and could move up to big minutes as the year goes on. And I think Watson, Pav and Fish can be dependable players if we get hit with injuries.
I think you can add one more tier in there - at least for now
Big minutes:
Lipsey
Gilbert
Momcilovic
King
Will get significant time:
C Jones
Ward
R Jones
Will get spot minutes nearly every game:
Biliew
Watson
End of bench/don't play if it's close:
Pav
Fish
Walk-Ons
I'm not sure about "better than Monte" but the fact that this is debatable is so refreshing compared to where he was at last year with his shooting woes. I agree, he has the chance to go down as an all time great at Iowa State and I firmly believe he will.
I could see TJ playing a offense-heavy group for about 75% of a game, and a defense-heavy group the other 25%. Note the offense-heavy still plays really good D, but that defense-heavy group is really long, can eat some fouls, and let the scorers rest without losing any ground. And any given night you can flex back and forth a bit depending on the opponent and situation.
It's not a black/white platoon system, but the offense-heavy group has Tamin & Chill & King, whereas the defense-heavy has more CJ & Ward & Watson.
It's not a black/white platoon system, but the offense-heavy group has Tamin & Chill & King, whereas the defense-heavy has more CJ & Ward & Watson.
