STANZ: Final thoughts from Portland & more

[JStanz51]

Coming to you live from the Denver Airport.

STANZ: Final thoughts from Portland & more

Nov 27, 2022; Portland, Oregon, USA; Iowa State Cyclones guard Jaren Holmes (13) drives to the basket during the second half against Connecticut Huskies guard Andre Jackson Jr. (44) at Moda Center. The Huskies won the Phil Knight Invitational Basketball Tournament 71-53. Mandatory Credit: Troy Wayry

cyclonefanatic.com

 

[BryceC]

Great read.

 

[AuH2O]

Great points by Stanz. On the rebounding front their bigs were occupying bodies their wings were flying in and crashing or tapping out.

I think the reality offensively is that Grill and Gabe are going to be inconsistent and we will just have to live with it. Hopefully most games one or the other will be good offensively, and they can both stay solid on the defensive end. If Lipsey can build on that and give us a consistent and efficient 8-10, Holmes can stay nails, I think we will be OK.

 

[CyBobby]

UCONN IMPRESSED THE HELL OUTTA ME! I think even on a good night our Cyclones would have a lot of trouble with UCONN...They are good enough in the front court to win a National Championship IMHO

 

[cyclones500]

Good recap, @JStanz51 ... hit most of the key points from throughout the tournament.

 

[CoachHines3]

The way they played gives me hope we can finish out this non-conf schedule 11-2/10-3

 

[BCClone]

Did the CF corporate jet have to refuel in Denver? Or did you just stop there and watch it all on TV like that one SI reporter used to do?

 

[BACyclone]

This is a killer article @JStanz51, more of this!

 

[MJ271]

Great article. On the rim protection piece, I think it's worthwhile to note that both UNC and UConn are more than just competent paint presences. It seems possible, if not likely, that those two teams each have a better group of big men overall than any other team Iowa State will face this year.

 

[Frak]

I would pay to watch a UCONN/Purdue game just to see those bigs go at it.

 

[VeloClone]

On the Grill question I think the answer is a hypnotist. You are absolutely right. If he can be convinced before the game that everything is going in, he likely won't miss many.

 

[Cyclad]

Great points by Stanz. On the rebounding front their bigs were occupying bodies their wings were flying in and crashing or tapping out.

I think the reality offensively is that Grill and Gabe are going to be inconsistent and we will just have to live with it. Hopefully most games one or the other will be good offensively, and they can both stay solid on the defensive end. If Lipsey can build on that and give us a consistent and efficient 8-10, Holmes can stay nails, I think we will be OK.

Pretty accurate.
Just like last year, we need at least two guys to be good on offense too win. We really need Gabe to be consistently good - but appears unlikely. We would not beat NC without Grill having the game of his career.
Zero the next night. I think our best hope is Tre king.

 

[Cyclonepride]

Great article. On the rim protection piece, I think it's worthwhile to note that both UNC and UConn are more than just competent paint presences. It seems possible, if not likely, that those two teams each have a better group of big men overall than any other team Iowa State will face this year.

Yeah, I have watched a few Big 12 games, and haven't noticed a dominant big yet. KU is actually pretty small this year.

 

[AuH2O]

Pretty accurate.
Just like last year, we need at least two guys to be good on offense too win. We really need Gabe to be consistently good - but appears unlikely. We would not beat NC without Grill having the game of his career.
Zero the next night. I think our best hope is Tre king.

I think a reasonable scenario with Gabe and Grill is this. Out of every 5 games:
- 1 game - they are both on, can beat anyone
- 3 games - one of them is on, the other is struggling; we will be in the game with a reasonable chance to win
- 1 game - they are both off offensively, and we are going to struggle to beat any respectable teams

Tre coming on will at the very least give ISU another option to play the hot hand.

 

[ZRF]

Great article. On the rim protection piece, I think it's worthwhile to note that both UNC and UConn are more than just competent paint presences. It seems possible, if not likely, that those two teams each have a better group of big men overall than any other team Iowa State will face this year.

It would have been one thing if they were simply going up and out-talenting us down low but a large majority of those boards were from guys like Kunc and Kalscheur kind of standing around, not grabbing balls, or waiting for it to "come to them". To UConn's credit, they hustled and were AWARE (key term) but that disparity doesn't happen if we do what we should have been doing.

My biggest disappointment was the fundamental lapses on the things I felt like we could control. Adjusting our defense and level of pressure once guys got into foul trouble, the rebounding (above), not really trying to get Grill open coming off a monster game, and the ineffectiveness of the zone (was also an issue at times last year. On the last point, we need to be able to deploy zone with effectiveness given our defense and propensity to get into foul trouble. When we do deploy it seems like guys come out to hard, can't recover, and we give up some easy baskets.

To be honest I would take all of the above "negatives" as a trade off for Lipsey's performance and continued development. He and Holmes (who is likely our best pure scorer) need to stay out of foul trouble and stay on the floor as we are an entirely different team with them out there. With Osun we have the potential to be a lethal pick and roll team and that will hopefully open things up for Grill (who hopefully shoots well this year. If Tamin can also spot up and knock down a couple of 3s a game that will also help spread the floor.

Defense, rebounding, and staying out of foul trouble...the things we can largely control, will be crucial as the offense will likely be an issue all year long. Oh, and I have a hard time seeing UConn being any worse than a 4 seed barring injury or effort issues. Their length and athleticsm is hard for anyone to match.

 

[madguy30]

It would have been one thing if they were simply going up and out-talenting us down low but a large majority of those boards were from guys like Kunc and Kalscheur kind of standing around, not grabbing balls, or waiting for it to "come to them". To UConn's credit, they hustled and were AWARE (key term) but that disparity doesn't happen if we do what we should have been doing.

My biggest disappointment was the fundamental lapses on the things I felt like we could control. Adjusting our defense and level of pressure once guys got into foul trouble, the rebounding (above), not really trying to get Grill open coming off a monster game, and the ineffectiveness of the zone (was also an issue at times last year. On the last point, we need to be able to deploy zone with effectiveness given our defense and propensity to get into foul trouble. When we do deploy it seems like guys come out to hard, can't recover, and we give up some easy baskets.

To be honest I would take all of the above "negatives" as a trade off for Lipsey's performance and continued development. He and Holmes (who is likely our best pure scorer) need to stay out of foul trouble and stay on the floor as we are an entirely different team with them out there. With Osun we have the potential to be a lethal pick and roll team and that will hopefully open things up for Grill (who hopefully shoots well this year. If Tamin can also spot up and knock down a couple of 3s a game that will also help spread the floor.

Defense, rebounding, and staying out of foul trouble...the things we can largely control, will be crucial as the offense will likely be an issue all year long. Oh, and I have a hard time seeing UConn being any worse than a 4 seed barring injury or effort issues. Their length and athleticsm is hard for anyone to match.

UConn's post players were more talented and Jaz and Gabe weren't the sole reasons for missed boards.

If Gabe's hip issues continue maybe some folks will get their wish and see what happens if he doesn't play.

 

[NickTheGreat]

I'd like to think Jared's head feels a little better after getting all those thoughts out. Not good to keep it all bottled up!

 

[cyclones12321]

UCONN IMPRESSED THE HELL OUTTA ME! I think even on a good night our Cyclones would have a lot of trouble with UCONN...They are good enough in the front court to win a National Championship IMHO

Absolutely agree. They match well to anyone. I wasn’t upset at all we lost that game and honestly thought we were losing to a final 4 team. Their size and defensive tenacity is almost unmatched

 

[CyPunch]

On Tyrese, when was the last time ISU had an NBA all-star?

 

[GMackey32]

On Tyrese, when was the last time ISU had an NBA all-star?

Hornacek?