Observations from Texas game!

chuckd4735

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Mar 29, 2006
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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.

If its the play I'm thinking about, White and Allen were both there and watched the ball go...almost seemed like they thought it was going to be a back-court violation.
 

isufbcurt

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Apr 21, 2006
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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.

Bolded part - Yes I do, I think he is a very good 3 poit shooter.
 

IcSyU

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Nov 27, 2007
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I'm not concerned about Royce yet. Save some energy big fella when you're coming off puking your guts out for a few days. And having Royce as the press breaker occasionally is brilliant. Let the opposition pick their poison. Wanna leave a guard on him to try and pick his pocket? Fine, that's an easy pass out into a guard/forward mismatch on the other end of the floor. Want to try and use a forward to press him? That's fine, he'll burn you.

And Chris Allen makes me want to tear my hair out. Royce shouldn't touch the ball when the other team is going to foul unless you're at 4 in a 5 second count and everyone else is blanketed. Someone also needs to go over shooting in balance with him. He's a solid jump shooter and terrible trying to fade away or float sideways.
 

jbhtexas

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Oct 20, 2006
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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.

Agree on all accounts. If he's going to get 15-20 FTA/game, he's got to get to 70%+ from the line. ISU isn't good enough to cover for a guy getting that many FTAs and making less than 50%. Unless you have Laker-grade talent (relatively speaking), very few teams can make up for Shaq-like accuracy from a guy that is going to get a bunch of FTAs.
 

HFCS

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Aug 13, 2010
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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.

Forcing bad shots early in the shot clock with a big lead. The shots the other guys were taking, including Booker's 3s were all pretty much wide open looks or within the flow of moving the ball in the offense.

His shot selection is horrible. With McGee, Royce, Babb and Scotty we frankly need him to be a ball handler and spot up shooter waaaaaaaaaaaaay more than we need him to be a guy who creates his own shot. So far he seems most interested in creating his own shot.
 

BeTheCyclone

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Oct 19, 2010
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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.

I think Royce brought the ball up a few times last night because it was the best matchup against their man to man full court press. When they press like that who is their best defensive players to guard 90 feet from the hoop? Their guards, which is a weakness if ours. So why not let Royce bring it up against a 6'10 guy who can't guard 90 feet from the hoop?

Do I like it? No. But it is a better matchup for us if they man to man press.
 

Clones85'

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Jan 31, 2007
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Agree on all accounts. If he's going to get 15-20 FTA/game, he's got to get to 70%+ from the line. ISU isn't good enough to cover for a guy getting that many FTAs and making less than 50%. Unless you have Laker-grade talent (relatively speaking), very few teams can make up for Shaq-like accuracy from a guy that is going to get a bunch of FTAs.

But if he is shooting that many times that means that the other teams big men are on the bench in foul trouble. That's huge especially for us as our low post defesne stinks and if their best inside players aren't in, that a positive.

Royce needs to shoot better free throws but him getting to the line anyway is huge.

Does anyone else think he has a really good looking shot at the line? He simply has no routine.
 

CYKOFAN

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Mar 27, 2006
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I think jsb has it right on Royce a few pages earlier. I don't think he's lazy and I don't think it's lack of hustle, he's playing with an anxiety disorder. That could include a lot of things and I'm not trying to play doctor but watching him makes me think of attention deficit disorder. One of my sons played with the disorder and at times he looked lazy or "out of it" but it wasn't for lack of effort. There were just times when he didn't maintain concentration and it looked like lack of effort. Royce just seems to be mentally unique or different than most players, and it's something I'm more than happy to live with to have his incredible talent on the floor. It could be why Fred may deal with him differently than other players, and a good coach knows when to do that.
 

IcSyU

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Nov 27, 2007
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But if he is shooting that many times that means that the other teams big men are on the bench in foul trouble. That's huge especially for us as our low post defesne stinks and if their best inside players aren't in, that a positive.

Royce needs to shoot better free throws but him getting to the line anyway is huge.

Does anyone else think he has a really good looking shot at the line? He simply has no routine.

I dunno, the flow of his shot isn't there which is part of why he's so wildly inconsistent. Last night he was (understandably) using no legs towards the end and he was all over the place.
 

Clones85'

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I dunno, the flow of his shot isn't there which is part of why he's so wildly inconsistent. Last night he was (understandably) using no legs towards the end and he was all over the place.

His form is solid though. He just doesn't have routine which like you said hurts his flow. He is short on most his shots but the aim is there. It's not like he is shooting bricks off the side of the rim
 

HFCS

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I dunno, the flow of his shot isn't there which is part of why he's so wildly inconsistent. Last night he was (understandably) using no legs towards the end and he was all over the place.

Royce's free throws seem a lot like Carlos Boozer's in the NBA who has a very similar build.

They both shoot a really high arch shot, but when they miss they're painfully short or long, Boozer airballs free throws too often as well. When they miss it looks horrible but when they make it looks perfect. As ugly as it looks Boozer is usually around a 70% ft shooter with the same infuriating type of missed free throws, so it gives me hope Royce could at least get into the high 60s for ISU.
 

BringBackJohnny

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Feb 11, 2009
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Exactly my point. Most of these fans show up watch Royce cross over and have a monster dunk and think that he dominates the game. I miss a pleyr like Fizer who battled every possesion, worked as hard def. as offensively and was always playing with a chip on his shoulder.

Bet your relationship with your old girlfriend didn't seem so bad look back on it 8 years later. Probably remember her being hotter than she really is too.

White is still raw give the guy some credit for having a solid foundation on which to build his game.

Clones played tough last night. The energy was there and the guys put it together to get a W. There is no such thing as a bad confrence win. Sometime you just got to do what needs to be done to come out on top.

The team is starting to gel a bit at the right time lets be pumped about that.

Go Cyclones.
 
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swarthmoreCY

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Aug 9, 2008
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I'm not concerned about Royce yet. Save some energy big fella when you're coming off puking your guts out for a few days. And having Royce as the press breaker occasionally is brilliant. Let the opposition pick their poison. Wanna leave a guard on him to try and pick his pocket? Fine, that's an easy pass out into a guard/forward mismatch on the other end of the floor. Want to try and use a forward to press him? That's fine, he'll burn you.

And Chris Allen makes me want to tear my hair out. Royce shouldn't touch the ball when the other team is going to foul unless you're at 4 in a 5 second count and everyone else is blanketed. Someone also needs to go over shooting in balance with him. He's a solid jump shooter and terrible trying to fade away or float sideways.

I agree on both accounts. For coming off the flu and in the first season of really playing major conference basketball, Royce is playing well. Unfortunately, after 6 plus years of disappointment and in desire of an All-American to lead us back, Royce tends to get judged on a tough rubric.

Chris Allen would be good if constrained as a role player.
 

Cyforce

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Nov 24, 2009
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Agree on all accounts. If he's going to get 15-20 FTA/game, he's got to get to 70%+ from the line. ISU isn't good enough to cover for a guy getting that many FTAs and making less than 50%. Unless you have Laker-grade talent (relatively speaking), very few teams can make up for Shaq-like accuracy from a guy that is going to get a bunch of FTAs.

I like the idea of him causing their bigs to foul him but yes he needs to make the FTs or finish better.
 
C

CyBer

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White doesn't hustle? You have to be crazy. He plays harder than anyone out there. Just because he isn't running around crazy doesnt mean he isnt playing hard.

Allen doesn't help the team? He played great D. He is playing out of position to help us win. Id sure love to see you switch careers and then call you out for being bad at it every day.


The OP is one of the worst I have ever seen in a while.

I wouldn't say he hustles more than McGee.
 

The_Architect

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Apr 11, 2006
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Does anyone else think he has a really good looking shot at the line? He simply has no routine.

Yes, and I've been saying it since the first game. His touch is very soft and he has a very nice release. It's almost always straight on but when he misses it's always short.