Opening Night Observations
- Thread starter ClonesFTW
- Start date
Few thoughts:
- Keshon, while he throws his body at the bucket ending up on the floor a lot, seemed more under control hitting a higher percentage of his layup attempts.
- As we get to conference games and teams try to body Milan like last year, they may get a surprise! Secondly it was nice to see him not hesitating on pulling the trigger on his shot. He will regularly hit better than just 2 of 7.
- Interesting to start Jones over Milan, but they ended up within 2 minutes of each other in playing time so it likely doesn't matter. Will be interesting to see if he views Milan as more of a 3 or needs more minutes at the 4 this year.
- Liked seeing Nojus confident in putting up his shot, and even more so that he is better off the dribble than I realized as he slashes to the hole.
- Loved the defensive pressure.
Always rooted for Jackson, but he seemed to get himself caught in the lane and undersized. I think both Nojus and Heise are upgrades there.
Absolutely. It got to a point where you couldn't play Pav last year in Big 12 play strictly due to size and athletic ability. Heise and Nojus both can fill that role better, Nojus with a higher ceiling long-term and Heise with experience and high major athleticism.
This team is very deep compared to the teams of Otz's past.
not close our guys where to muscular and not gingersA one time I thought I was watching a Fran team...with Nojus, Heise, Milan and Chatfield in the lineup at the same time...
(but it was too athletic)
Let the hype come along as the competition gets tougher.
Last night looked like a showcase fundraiser type of night so it's tough to know what's to come.
Also need to see more out of what other teams out there are doing. It can be fun to see another good team and try to figure out how ISU would match up.
This is as deep a team as I can remember, the newcomers are all great fits and physically look the part of big 12 players. I like the added size in the backcourt with both Heise and Nojus and the frontcourt guys are going to be bruisers.
The rotation was interesting, if Milan is coming off the bench, he's going to be getting shots up as soon as he gets on the floor. I like the dynamics he and Jefferson bring, they really compliment each other well. I like the idea of Jefferson wearing out his defender who then has to chase Milan around when we sub. It seems like the rotations could be mixed up quite a bit in the non con, it'll interesting to see how they shake out.
One thing that stood out to me that we aren't going to be able to replace is Ward's rim protection. Watson is probably our next best shot blocker, he might not get a lot of run most nights and it doesn't seem like a big part of Jackson or Chatfield's game. It's really early, I'm sure things will change but right now, idk that we'll have the rim presence we had last year.
The rotation was interesting, if Milan is coming off the bench, he's going to be getting shots up as soon as he gets on the floor. I like the dynamics he and Jefferson bring, they really compliment each other well. I like the idea of Jefferson wearing out his defender who then has to chase Milan around when we sub. It seems like the rotations could be mixed up quite a bit in the non con, it'll interesting to see how they shake out.
One thing that stood out to me that we aren't going to be able to replace is Ward's rim protection. Watson is probably our next best shot blocker, he might not get a lot of run most nights and it doesn't seem like a big part of Jackson or Chatfield's game. It's really early, I'm sure things will change but right now, idk that we'll have the rim presence we had last year.
Agreed. Hopefully it is made up for with better rebounding stats from the bigs.
Can't comfirm but pretty sure ISU's system is set for the bigs to block out for the guards to board and start the break.
I don't get that all. When his name first came up I wrote it off because I thought a player of his caliber would go to a bigger brand/NIL.
Gilbert got you all spoiled because he's hardly getting mentioned.. NASTY!!!!.. He's better than last year. Looks stronger taking it to the rim and that hesitation move he's put into it. Best player on the team imo.
I really liked Jackson.
I missed the clock on the scoreboard.
Our row won the Papa John's pizza. It was probably the pinnacle of my life.
I missed the clock on the scoreboard.
Our row won the Papa John's pizza. It was probably the pinnacle of my life.
A lot of guys can put the ball in the hole. It will be very interesting to see how the team gels. Only one basketball.
- Lipsey and Keshon are who they are. Pretty much know what you’re going to get out of them night in, night out. I’d like to see Keshon be a little more patient/force it less, but it’s neither here nor there
- Curtis struggled early, but settled in nicely. Kind of a microcosm of who he is too. Just takes a bit to warm up some games. When he does, there isn’t a guy I’d rather have the ball than him.
- Jefferson was good. Pleasant surprise for me. Liked how he moved, really nice footwork and really liked the left hand. He needs to stay out of foul trouble, but I attribute last night to a crappy, yet chippy, opponent. We’ll see how he adjusts
- As many have mentioned Nojus looks good. You can tell he just belongs out there. I actually thought he looked good on both ends. Can he be better defensively? Sure, but I didn’t think he was a tremendous liability out there either. Has a smoothness about him and he is longer than I thought. Kid will be a good one assuming he keeps putting in the work
- Jackson was OK, IMO. He is a very big body, and moves pretty good. I felt he was slow on defensive rotations, and I seriously doubt he will be able to hedge up top like Bobby and Hasan did so well. We’ll see.
- Chatfield was OK. Not as impactful as Jackson, missed some bunnies he really needs to make. He might be a rotation piece but I’m not there yet
- Milan: ok…I might get smacked here, but after his first shot, which was a great stroke, he looked way off to me. Seems to be aiming, as opposed to just letting it fly. There is a hitch in his jumper I do not remember seeing last year. The talk about him having the green light and then not starting makes me wonder if there might not be a confidence issue there. I thought he did well on the boards and competed defensively, but consider me a tad concerned with what I saw offensively. It’s just one game, so I’m not going to overreact, but certainly something I’ll continue to watch
- Hiese was decent, but seemed hesitant. I’m sure there were a few nerves there. I didn’t see anything that would convince me that he deserves more minutes than D Wat, but it seems that is going to be the case. If he can knock down 3’s, and he did make one, maybe, but I can’t imagine he defends better than Watson and Watson does a great job of running the baseline and rebounding. Will be interesting to see how that shakes out.
That’s how I saw last night, FWIW.
- Lipsey and Keshon are who they are. Pretty much know what you’re going to get out of them night in, night out. I’d like to see Keshon be a little more patient/force it less, but it’s neither here nor there
- Curtis struggled early, but settled in nicely. Kind of a microcosm of who he is too. Just takes a bit to warm up some games. When he does, there isn’t a guy I’d rather have the ball than him.
- Jefferson was good. Pleasant surprise for me. Liked how he moved, really nice footwork and really liked the left hand. He needs to stay out of foul trouble, but I attribute last night to a crappy, yet chippy, opponent. We’ll see how he adjusts
- As many have mentioned Nojus looks good. You can tell he just belongs out there. I actually thought he looked good on both ends. Can he be better defensively? Sure, but I didn’t think he was a tremendous liability out there either. Has a smoothness about him and he is longer than I thought. Kid will be a good one assuming he keeps putting in the work
- Jackson was OK, IMO. He is a very big body, and moves pretty good. I felt he was slow on defensive rotations, and I seriously doubt he will be able to hedge up top like Bobby and Hasan did so well. We’ll see.
- Chatfield was OK. Not as impactful as Jackson, missed some bunnies he really needs to make. He might be a rotation piece but I’m not there yet
- Milan: ok…I might get smacked here, but after his first shot, which was a great stroke, he looked way off to me. Seems to be aiming, as opposed to just letting it fly. There is a hitch in his jumper I do not remember seeing last year. The talk about him having the green light and then not starting makes me wonder if there might not be a confidence issue there. I thought he did well on the boards and competed defensively, but consider me a tad concerned with what I saw offensively. It’s just one game, so I’m not going to overreact, but certainly something I’ll continue to watch
- Hiese was decent, but seemed hesitant. I’m sure there were a few nerves there. I didn’t see anything that would convince me that he deserves more minutes than D Wat, but it seems that is going to be the case. If he can knock down 3’s, and he did make one, maybe, but I can’t imagine he defends better than Watson and Watson does a great job of running the baseline and rebounding. Will be interesting to see how that shakes out.
That’s how I saw last night, FWIW.
Agree with all of it. Milan is a bit of a line drive shooter from perimeter. Sometimes seems like a 90 mph fastball at the rim. I love his fadeaway game which we didn’tget to see much last night, but we really need him to be a consistent threat from 3, also.
I actually think Jones is a better/more consistent scorer than Milan and he's earned the right to switch roles with Milan.
Milan oozes with potential and he had a number of big games last season, but he also had a number of games where he struggled shooting from the field.
Milan started every game last season, but he lacked consistency, which isn't surprising for a true freshman. Aside from Curtis's early season shooting slump, he was incredible last year. He's
earned the right to be in the starting lineup his final year.
Milan oozes with potential and he had a number of big games last season, but he also had a number of games where he struggled shooting from the field.
Milan started every game last season, but he lacked consistency, which isn't surprising for a true freshman. Aside from Curtis's early season shooting slump, he was incredible last year. He's
earned the right to be in the starting lineup his final year.
Hopefully Jackson and or Chatfield learn the defense quickly. They we both out of position or late on rotations. The ball screen defense was pretty bad as well. If that doesn't pick up, their playing time will decrease.
Jefferson looked great. His athleticism was tremendous on the ball screens. He seemed to understand the defense much better than Jackson and Chatfield. Against most teams if he stays out of fould trouble, he will see a lot of time at the 5.
Nojus is going to make it hard to keep him off the court. I think it's the international competition, but he just looked comfortable. He was in the right position defensively almost all the time.
If Jackson and Chatfield are slow to pick up the defense, we will see a lot of Jefferson at the 5. Possibly some lineups with Milan as the tallest guy with Jones or Heise trying to play the 4. Plenty of time to learn though. November will be good for them to get that in game experience and see if they will improve.
Jefferson looked great. His athleticism was tremendous on the ball screens. He seemed to understand the defense much better than Jackson and Chatfield. Against most teams if he stays out of fould trouble, he will see a lot of time at the 5.
Nojus is going to make it hard to keep him off the court. I think it's the international competition, but he just looked comfortable. He was in the right position defensively almost all the time.
If Jackson and Chatfield are slow to pick up the defense, we will see a lot of Jefferson at the 5. Possibly some lineups with Milan as the tallest guy with Jones or Heise trying to play the 4. Plenty of time to learn though. November will be good for them to get that in game experience and see if they will improve.
Agree with what you have here on Jackson and Chatfield. There were some straight line drives and ball-screen drives where they simply didn't cover like we're "used to" seeing from our bigs. But, they'll get there! I am not concerned athleticism-wise. And from a 'body' standpoint, the entire team (outside of Nojus) are jacked. Really striking how big/strong all of the guys look. Reminds me of the 2000 squad - those were dudes.
I do continue to see references about Watson. This is going to sound harsh but - folks, he's not going to play much. I do think he can be a sparkplug at times (and certainly brings things to the table that others don't), but just is not good enough overall to see a major increase in minutes.
What was the new intro music?
How will we live without 90s club music in our lives?
I got chills watching this.
It will be interesting to see if we adjust our defensive strategy at all. Jackson and Chatfield don't have the foot speed and positioning of Rob or the athleticism of Ward but they are huge.
