Observations from Texas game!
- Thread starter CYCLONECORY
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Taking bad shots is not a problem with this team. Without a PG you are going to see guys have to create shots that dont look great. Gonna be a creative year creating shots.
With Scotty standing 10' away wide open! That was the play that about put me over the edge on Allen as well. His step back jumpers with 25+ on the shot clock are annoying enough, but stuff like this should just not happen. All of that comes back to basketball IQ and frankly, I expected his to be a lot higher coming out of Izzo's system. I don't want to be a hater, but he needs to become a lot better player if we're going to be a good team.
As someone else asked the OP, have any of those (very few) crying about Royce ever had the flu before? If he had it anywhere near as bad as it sounded, it's amazing he had the legs he did. I will say, the whole team needs to learn transition defense and that's probably his biggest weakness. That part of our game was absolutely brutal.
I was kind of pouty after the game last night as I thought we could have beaten Texas by 20+ if we played well. Then I realized the absurdity of what I was complaining about. We could have beaten Texas by 20! The simple fact that we beat any Texas team with a less than stellar effort is quite a statement. We've got a ways to go, but this team still has a chance to do some very good things.
8-17 free throws seems bad. The 8 is REALLY bad. The 17 is REALLY good.
Royce practically fouled out their whole damn team even though he sat the first ten minutes of the game, that's a rare and valuable skill. Texas is young, but they're freakishly athletic and they could not stop Royce without fouling.
Allen is the most frustrating part of the team. We need him to be a primary ball handler at times, but every other part of his game is just infuriating.
I was amazed at the number of people calling out Chris Allen from the stands. He didnt play perfect but his line wasn't horrible.
13 points 3-8 shooting 2-4 from 3 5-6 from the line. 2 boards 2 assist 1 block
I would totally expect him to have a few turnovers playing PG. Not sure why people are so upset at the kid for switching positions to play PG.
Not exactly much different than the rest of the team.
Could that line have been because if we looked wrong at a player we were called for a foul?
Also, I would like to see some of you go out and play your *** off after having the flu 4 days ago.
Some of you have unrealistic expectations about our team and can't just enjoy a win.
My observations about the game included the following:
- Even though some of you seemy only to think that Babb is amazing he was in a slump coming into this game. It was nice to see him hit some shots early on.
- The crowd was amazing. To those of you who thought that there would be about 12 people in the crowd tonight you were a little off. Hilton was rocking.
- It was nice to see the coaching staff coaching the players during the game. There were multiple times that I saw them having one on one conversations on the bench discussing certain plays.
- I don't care what you say about Royce's ability, His dunk energized the team, the fans and made Texas keep a guy in the paint at all times when he was bringing the ball up the floor. Showing that ability can change the game significantly.
- My only complaint is that I wish we played zone a little more. We went into it once and Barnes had to call a time out. I think that we should be switching back and forth more (but that is just my personal preference).
I agree with pretty much everything the OP said about Royce White.
Royce White doesn't hustle all the time. He hustles when he has the ball in his hands and he is attacking the rim, but other than that he doesn't. How many times did his guy beat him down the court for an easy layup? How many times did he chase after loose balls? Royce White is so damn talented that he can make up for being so damn lazy.
Babb is a winner. He competes. He defends. He is a good teammate. Same for McGee.
Booker played well on offense last night but don't get use to that. He isn't going to hit three 3's very often and if he's not doing that he brings little to the table besides horrid defense.
Scotty played well despite have his shot be a bit off
Allen played well at times but still forces to much. He is better than Bubu though and people need to see how much better our offense is with him in.
Gibson was lost on defense all night. It was hard watching him and I felt sorry for him. He will figure it out though.
Royce White doesn't hustle all the time. He hustles when he has the ball in his hands and he is attacking the rim, but other than that he doesn't. How many times did his guy beat him down the court for an easy layup? How many times did he chase after loose balls? Royce White is so damn talented that he can make up for being so damn lazy.
Babb is a winner. He competes. He defends. He is a good teammate. Same for McGee.
Booker played well on offense last night but don't get use to that. He isn't going to hit three 3's very often and if he's not doing that he brings little to the table besides horrid defense.
Scotty played well despite have his shot be a bit off
Allen played well at times but still forces to much. He is better than Bubu though and people need to see how much better our offense is with him in.
Gibson was lost on defense all night. It was hard watching him and I felt sorry for him. He will figure it out though.
Royce played really well, but nothing irks me more than not getting back on defense, and we can't afford to give up that many easy buckets. I'm not thinking of the J'Covan Brown missed layup -- I'm thinking of the times where Chapman beat him down the court.
Yep. Royce is a stud and played solid but holy smokes does it bother me when he scores, starts smiling and looking around for approval, while the guy he is guarding sprints down the court for an open layup.
I think this game did show that there won't be many people in the Big 12 that can guard him when he wants to take over. If he ever shoots 70% from the FT line he could average 20 a game.
Thoroughly enjoyed last nights game from the stands! Royce looked dominating at times. I just think he looks lackadaisical at times because he makes things look easy. With his poor freethrow shooting I was curious as to why he was in there in the final minute, as was Chris W per his tweet last night. Texas was in foul mode and fouled Royce as soon as his hands touched the ball.
Hey, we found a way to win. It wasn't pretty, but the guys found a way to win. Some good defensive stands late, I thought Scotty had a HUGE bucket/reverse layup late to stop their little run. (Something he normally doesn't do which was driving on the baseline, and he made a play. And we needed that bucket, it was big. These are things I saw out of the team late yesterday....) The free-throws were horrible, we should have blown them out of the gym if we nailed 80% of them, but when Allen was fouled under a min. left, he drilled a couple key ones at the right time. That's good.
A win is a win, is a win. ISU is better than the team they played tonight, and found a way to win. ISU also has to defend home, good way to start out in conference. We have the talent to play with anyone in this conference, the guys just need to have that TEAM mentality and good things will come.
The fellas just need to clean up some things and get ready for a talented team in A&M this weekend. One at a time guys-
1-0 baby. Keep it going Clones! Texas, was hooked. We were the better team, and it showed on many levels last night. I want 'em again down in Austin in a month or so.
A win is a win, is a win. ISU is better than the team they played tonight, and found a way to win. ISU also has to defend home, good way to start out in conference. We have the talent to play with anyone in this conference, the guys just need to have that TEAM mentality and good things will come.
The fellas just need to clean up some things and get ready for a talented team in A&M this weekend. One at a time guys-
1-0 baby. Keep it going Clones! Texas, was hooked. We were the better team, and it showed on many levels last night. I want 'em again down in Austin in a month or so.
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What was going on when Royce got the ball stolen at the top of the 3 line and he stood there for a bit before going down court? We got lucky they missed an easy layup. I couldn't tell if Royce was so totally surprised that he did nothing, wanted a foul called and was pouting, or what.
I'm guessing a lot of Royce's "laziness" was fatigue left over from being sick. I can understand that.
I guess people forget that Royce is still essentially a Freshman with a lot to learn.
Even baby jesus Harrison Barnes had his issues last year.
Even baby jesus Harrison Barnes had his issues last year.
Personally, I really don't like Royce bringing the ball up the floor. It is okay 2 or 3 times a game, when he can take it one on one, and get a drive to the bucket. But that is only going to work a few times a game before the other team adjusts. Now, if teams do start to collapse on him.....that will open up the outside shooters and he can pass out of it, but I still do not think it is a good idea to have him bringing the ball up.
Also, Royce has to improve on his free throw shooting. If he can't ....then ISU will have to be in the position of not letting him touch the ball in the closing moments of a close game, and obviously that is not a good situation to be in. Plus, if a team has a deep enough bench, they may just decide to always foul him rather than give up buckets inside.
Something else I noticed that is troubling is Booker. He appears to not like to mix it up inside. When he is in there he needs to get in there and rebound. Last night, he played 15 minutes and had 1 rebound. Seriously? For an experienced 6-9, 250 lb. player playing against a bunch of under classmen? Also, he seems to be starting to fancy himself a three-point shooter. The announcers last night were pointing out how he had very few 3 pointers in his career prior to ISU. IMO, we have enough 3 point shooters without him, Melvin or Royce ever taking one. Sure he made them last night....but does anyone really believe that will last?
Both teams were getting called on a lot of ticky-tack fouls last night. I'm not sure if that was just the refs, or is it going to be the way the Big 12 will be this year?
I was also disappointed we did not get to see more of Percy last night. He only played 7 minutes. Hopefully that was just a fluke.
Also, Royce has to improve on his free throw shooting. If he can't ....then ISU will have to be in the position of not letting him touch the ball in the closing moments of a close game, and obviously that is not a good situation to be in. Plus, if a team has a deep enough bench, they may just decide to always foul him rather than give up buckets inside.
Something else I noticed that is troubling is Booker. He appears to not like to mix it up inside. When he is in there he needs to get in there and rebound. Last night, he played 15 minutes and had 1 rebound. Seriously? For an experienced 6-9, 250 lb. player playing against a bunch of under classmen? Also, he seems to be starting to fancy himself a three-point shooter. The announcers last night were pointing out how he had very few 3 pointers in his career prior to ISU. IMO, we have enough 3 point shooters without him, Melvin or Royce ever taking one. Sure he made them last night....but does anyone really believe that will last?
Both teams were getting called on a lot of ticky-tack fouls last night. I'm not sure if that was just the refs, or is it going to be the way the Big 12 will be this year?
I was also disappointed we did not get to see more of Percy last night. He only played 7 minutes. Hopefully that was just a fluke.
