I know our current generation of fans wants to believe Hilton Magic still has that kind of energy. Even in our highest runs w/ Fred there wasn't much competing with that 80/90s level excitement. There was less going on. Less distraction. It was truly another level.
Tamin Lipsey Commits
- Thread starter Cyched
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I'm thrilled by what TJ has been able to do in such a short time. I think he will do great and especially once he's able to make some real inroads with guys that are currently juniors and below in high school.
But I also think it's worth noting that in terms of these big recruiting victories, he's gotten Hunter (a Prohm commit) to stay, he's gotten Grill to come (who Prohm already got here once) and he's gotten Lipsey (who I imagine was already an Iowa State lean). Aside from that Kalscheur is a great signing, and Kunc and Jones are likely depth guys.
My point being while I'm thrilled to have some positive momentum, he's bringing in guys that I think Prohm could have brought in as well. I'm not sure our talent level is considerably better than what it was going to look like with Steve, granted I appreciate all TJ's done in a short time. It's all going to come down to how well he's able to coach and motivate them, which Steve obviously struggled with.
Identity and vision. Felt this was the biggest thing we struggled with. We've had talent the last 6 years, but there wasn't a team identity or vision. Teams need to figure out who they are, what they are going to best other teams at.
The identity for this last years' team was "we're gonna compete". And they did. They competed. They actually had some close games against more talented competition and they didn't give up on the season.
I feel like there's a good chance Steve could have lost some of those guys. And being a new coach to a team that went winless in conference play, it could have been really easy to lose those guys. TJ didn't lose them though and that's a credit to him.
I'll never forget the buzz and then the cheers going up in Hilton when ISU was struggling and the guy who had been hit by a truck on Lincoln Way and had to get his head stitched shut just a few days before got up from the bench and headed to the scorer's table.
Prohm was not getting Lipsey. The only guy that Prohm would have kept is Hunter. Grill left after one year of Prohm to be coached by TJ. No way was Grill ever coming back to play for Prohm. None of these guys were. Would Xavier Foster have stayed for a continuing debacle?
You beat me to it. CSP's teams had no identity. Offensively there was no creativity and he never stressed playing fast or pushing the tempo. We literally ran the same offensive set over and over and his end of half and end of game strategy was just plain awful. Defensively we were just awful. I fully expect TJ to bring back that offensive swagger that we had when he was an assistant and some of that toughness those teams had as well.
I have a feeling Prohm might have lost some of those guys -- and more of the present roster.
Things had a feel like the end of the McDermott era. An already bad team was losing what talent it had after Brackins departed, Gilstrap graduated, and Hamilton "wanted to be closer to home."
Like then, there was nothing to replace them coming in and little hope of improvement. I hope Hunter can be kind of the Ejim equivalent from that era in the holdover recruit who comes in and changes everything.
It was time to make the change. I have no doubt that TJ has built a far better roster already than Prohm would have returned and recruited to make up the difference. Notice, too, that TJ is bringing in guys from high-major programs (e.g., Minnesota, Washington State, and Grill from Iowa State in a roundabout way) instead of the Jeff Beverly and Merrill Holden all-star chucker in an obscure southeastern conference methodology of the prior regime.
Agree with this. Especially cell phones. Instead of 14,000 people losing their minds, about half of them are looking at their phones. Just cuts into the energy. I'm as guilty of it as anyone.
I don't love the forced distractions either: smile cams, farmstrong flex, et al. I mean I get it, and when the opponent is North Central Florida Panhandle A&M, its fine. But if we are in a 2 point game vs Kansas, stopping to watch a banker hand a cardboard check for $500 to some charity is a huge crowd killer.
Prohm's problem wasn't really about talent, it was what he did with that talent. Even having the program on equal ground after a coaching change and over a thousand kids entered the portal is a big deal IMO. I dont have any expectations for next season but not having to take a step backwards during a rebuild is huge. I'd hate to be a team like Tech looking at filling 9 spots right now.
Thigpen played over 30 games in both his junior and senior years and never had over 100 assists in either. So less than 4 a game. He was a 6-2 SG, which is great in college, but he needed to be more of a distributor to have an NBA future. He played some classics for Orr though.
Lipsey on the other hand looks to have PG skills and his shooting stroke looks good. I need to stop watching his film because my expectations just keep growing.
Which I guess was the only point I was trying to make. I think TJ is doing a much better job crafting a recruiting plan and looking to fill needs. But I'm not sure we've taken huge strides in terms of talent on our roster from where we would have been with Prohm.
Even with what he's managed to do in just a month, we are still probably a bit talent-poor compared to the rest of the Big 12. That's where you hope motivation and coaching will come in.
With a Franny Mac type coach in Adams as well. TTU is back in the basement with this hire. And Im ok with that.
Hey now. The Stinkbugs are my team in the SWAC.
I disagree on the bolded. IMO Prohm's biggest issue was talent. Pretty much all of the role type players he recruited all ended up being misses.
Ive been going to games for 30+ years. That 2013 Iowa game when Gessell was at the free throw line to tie it was the loudest I've ever heard Hilton. The building, floor and hoop were literally shaking.
Edit: That group on the floor to end the game Morris, Kane, Hogue, Ejim, Niang...Damn!
Double edit: Love how Niang shoves White out of his way as the buzzer sounds.
You mean TJ's eggplant?
To have any relevance, you should probably refine it to possible positions. 32 NFL teams: athlete could play maybe 2-3 positions so looking for 1 out of 100 slots available. NBA has 30 teams, athlete could play 1-2 positions so trying for 1 out of 60-70 slots available. I could be wrong, but it seems like the NBA cycles through more players (shorter career) than NFL too so all mixed together, probably about the same odds.
I have no way to net this out or prove it. But to me, this is like saying all the QBs the Browns ever drafted before Baker were busts. To me, talent is important, but team culture and a healthy system is far greater.
I'm a KC guy, so I'm fond of Mahomes, and truly think he has some special things to him, but believe if he goes elsewhere it's not quite the same as the situation he had/has in KC and other QBs could've had similar success.
Or a basketball analogy. Kobe ended up being one of the all time greats, but am a firm believer that you switch him and AI or McGrady with 99-02 Shaq and the results are just about the same. Kobe carrying a team that loses out Shaq and a dynamic scorer.
