RECRUITING: Temple transfer Jeremiah Williams commits to Iowa State

cyclones500

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100%. Who cares who starts. Minutes are all that matters in the end and Gabe, or anyone who's struggling, will play less with a deeper roster.

That's my take - if roster-upgrade process is effective, plenty of returning players will be contributors, but fewer minutes on average, and not expected to be as high-impact.
 

t-noah

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Welcome JW! Best of luck. Hope you enjoy Ames and the Cyclones!
 

cyfan92

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Ya'll are crazy if you think TJ won't give minutes to maybe the best defensive guard in the conference. (Gabe)
Nobody is saying don't play Gabe, to my knowledge. But his minutes should be far less until his offense improves.

I really like him coming off the bench and playing lockdown d and being an inside out guard. Also think he's best when asked to limit his dribble. Just run off screens and plays back cuts.

Some nights, when he is having a night. Let him play. Same as Grill this last season
 

cyclonepower

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Nobody is saying don't play Gabe, to my knowledge. But his minutes should be far less until his offense improves.

I really like him coming off the bench and playing lockdown d and being an inside out guard. Also think he's best when asked to limit his dribble. Just run off screens and plays back cuts.

Some nights, when he is having a night. Let him play. Same as Grill this last season
His mins will probably go down a little but he is not coming back to come off the bench lol
 

madguy30

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Nobody is saying don't play Gabe, to my knowledge. But his minutes should be far less until his offense improves.

I really like him coming off the bench and playing lockdown d and being an inside out guard. Also think he's best when asked to limit his dribble. Just run off screens and plays back cuts.

Some nights, when he is having a night. Let him play. Same as Grill this last season

If an opponent's major offensive backcourt player needs to be bothered and someone else for ISU can create offense, Gabe will need to be out there to do that job.
 
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Cyforce

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If an opponent's major offensive backcourt player needs to be bothered and someone else for ISU can create offense, Gabe will need to be out there to do that job.
I could see a scenario where TJ tells Gabe you're in when so and so is in. When they come out Gabe could just go sit with him on their bench.
 
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WhoISthis

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Ya'll are crazy if you think TJ won't give minutes to maybe the best defensive guard in the conference. (Gabe)
Is he the best? Is he even the best on the team last year? Anyway, it was often a net negative. 170 3P attempts on 23% shooting and bad A/TO. He deflated the ball a lot too.

We got by with Gabe being a high volume, high minute guy last year. He's helping establish the foundation of the program, but we really need him to improve or play notably less.

We played 3 guards at a time and judging by the roster for next year, that will continue. That's 120 minutes. Even if we add someone like Green, 4 guards could get starter minutes, although I think we'd probably see 5 be in the rotation.
 
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cyclonehomer

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Is he the best? Is he even the best on the team last year? Anyway, it was often a net negative. 170 3P attempts on 23% shooting and bad A/TO. He deflated the ball a lot too.

We got by with Gabe being a high volume, high minute guy last year. He's helping establish the foundation of the program, but we really need him to improve or play notably less.
Agreed. Gabe wasn't even voted first team all-B12 defense, right? Not that I think that's the end-all-be-all and I think he's really good but he's not like, prime Tony Allen out there. I think people generally overrate single individual impacts on defense sometimes, when the strength for this year's defense to me was that the team on the whole was exceptional at rotations for the most part. They scrambled very well.

Ideally there is enough improvement on the roster both through talent upgrades and player development that Gabe can have a much lower usage role next season. He's got a long ways to go to be a net-neutral player on the offensive end.
 
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Statefan10

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The more quality guys we get, the more it’s going to elevate Gabe’s game. Think about our guards off the bench this year. Outside of select moments, it was only Grill who was really in the rotation. Jackson and Walker played situationally, especially down the stretch.

And I’m not just talking about scoring. Ball handling especially. Walker and Jackson struggled with pressure, Brockerington didn’t have a right hand (maybe his only criticism) but that made Gabe have to have the ball in his hands a lot and he struggled with that.
 
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Cyforce

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Agreed. Gabe wasn't even voted first team all-B12 defense, right? Not that I think that's the end-all-be-all and I think he's really good but he's not like, prime Tony Allen out there. Ideally there is enough improvement on the roster both through talent upgrades and player development that Gabe can have a much lower usage role next season. He's got a long ways to go to be a net-neutral player on the offensive end.
Hopefully we have better shooters next season and he'll alter his shot selection.
 

madguy30

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The more quality guys we get, the more it’s going to elevate Gabe’s game. Think about our guards off the bench this year. Outside of select moments, it was only Grill who was really in the rotation. Jackson and Walker played situationally, especially down the stretch.

And I’m not just talking about scoring. Ball handling especially. Walker and Jackson struggled with pressure, Brockerington didn’t have a right hand (maybe his only criticism) but that made Gabe have to have the ball in his hands a lot and he struggled with that.

It was a team where a ton of guys carried a lot of weight in responsibility.

Add just a couple of pieces to alleviate that and things are potentially way smoother.
 

WhoISthis

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The more quality guys we get, the more it’s going to elevate Gabe’s game. Think about our guards off the bench this year. Outside of select moments, it was only Grill who was really in the rotation. Jackson and Walker played situationally, especially down the stretch.

And I’m not just talking about scoring. Ball handling especially. Walker and Jackson struggled with pressure, Brockerington didn’t have a right hand (maybe his only criticism) but that made Gabe have to have the ball in his hands a lot and he struggled with that.
Gabe tended to stop the ball last year.

You're right though, and Hunter will really benefit. Gabe, Grill, IB and Conditt all made the court smaller for each other. It was easy for defenses to play downhill against us. Hunter is going to be really tough to stop if he's not the only competent ball-handler. Imagine him frequently getting to go against a defense rotating.

That's why I like Williams offense. He's another ball-handler that can drive a bit, but yet, doesn't need volume to make an impact. He's a connector type. Add in his defense, and he's a big contributor to wins while leaving shots for others.

I thought we could have used Kunc-Enaruna more to counter that cascading offensive failure, but Enaruna must have really been unplayable.

Maybe it was the best option last year, the offense will improve a lot without having a 5 that can't shoot or dribble, trying to get the ball with his back to the basket beyond the 3P line. Nothing against Conditt, but he should not have nearly double the assist rate of any guard not Hunter.
 

cyfan92

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I don't understand how anyone could watch Iowa State in 2021/22 and want Gabe to play starter minutes...

He's a great bench piece. Appears to be a great locker room guy. Dominant scout team defense is just as important to push more talented starters
 

cyfan92

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Outside of the Iowa game IB was garbage on defense. Go back and watch a lot of games, he is ball watching then trying to chase down his guy because he wasn't paying attention.

IB played out of position all year yet had more defensive rebounds, steals and blocks than Gabe.

IB had a bad game against Miami. But he was better for most of the season
 
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WhoISthis

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You guys are delusional if you think Gabe will come back and then turn into a Connor McCaffrey role off the bench.

In case some of you guys missed it his defense and leadership is elite and his offense is the reason we beat Wisconsin.
Connor McCaffrey?
That’s quite the strawman you resorted to.

To improve, Gabe will have improve or play less. And one way he can improve is have role player volume.