*** Official #9 Memphis vs IOWA STATE Game(Day) Thread ***

[madguy30]

If ISU had barely beat Memphis that loss looks less interesting.

But ISU smothered them.

 

[WhoISthis]

That Memphis win is looking less and less in terms of predictive value. And if we are "that" good, we are unlikely to need them to be a good win, although you can never have enough.

It has already has been a great win in many respects. Huge for TJ's young program to get the notoriety of being in the top-20 by December.

 

[Gunnerclone]

I hope so, but I'm not too confident. When I watched that Memphis team, I didn't really see all the basketball talent everyone else thinks there is. I saw off the charts athleticism with mediocre skill, but as we saw with Texas for years, if you don't have a good PG, chances are you aren't going to be good. They will overwhelm some teams with their athleticism and muck up some games enough to win, but I think at best this team sneaks in the tourney. I hope I'm wrong, but I see most of their problems as things you don't solve in-season.

Emoni Bates is exactly the opposite of this. His knock is that he is super skilled but doesn’t have elite athleticism/measurables.

 

[AuH2O]

Emoni Bates is exactly the opposite of this. His knock is that he is super skilled but doesn’t have elite athleticism/measurables.

Bates does not have great athleticism, but he has great length as a wing. Coming in he has been a shooter, and has shown some flashes of that, but hasn't completely put it together. I think it is more accurate to classify Bates as a guy who is a good ballhandler for a freshman 6-9 wing. I also think as we've seen there's an adjustment for shooters. As a team they struggle mightily against ball pressure.