Welcome to the final day of the college basketball season.
Connecticut and San Diego State will square off tonight in Houston for all the marbles, and the result feels like a foregone conclusion after the way the Huskies have rolled through their first five games of this tournament.
Iowa State’s first round loss to Pittsburgh feels like a lifetime ago. The Cyclones are already deep into the offseason and are digging into the transfer portal.
Activity on that front is set to heat up significantly this week when the dead period ends on Thursday. We’ll have plenty to talk about at that point as visits are set and next year’s roster starts to come into focus.
For now, we’re going to focus on the players who will be returning to Iowa State and some of the things those players could be focused on from a development standpoint as the summer progresses.
How will the Cyclones be expanding their bags this summer? Let’s discuss.
Tamin Lipsey — There are no questions as to Lipsey’s No. 1 priority in the offseason, and that’s jump shooting. Lipsey was unquestionably fantastic around the rim this season, shooting an eye-popping 69.1 percent on close 2-point shots, which is a number more comparable to centers than fellow point guards. Osun Osunniyi shot 69.5 percent on such shots this season for Iowa State.
But, the issues for Lipsey arise once he gets away from the rim, where he shot 31 percent on long 2-pointers and was just 5-of-25 from 3-point range (20 percent). Again, those numbers are more comparable to centers than the average point guard as, for reference, Robert Jones shot 35.9 percent on those longer 2-pointers this season on one more attempt than Lipsey.
A significant leap for Lipsey would be getting that mid-range number closer to 40 percent and connecting on 30 percent of his 3-pointers as a sophomore next season with more volume. It would be unrealistic to expect much more than that in one summer.
Still, Lipsey’s mechanics as a shooter aren’t the problem. It comes down more to having the mindset of being a shooter and scorer. He needs to improve with catching the ball ready to shoot, which means getting his feet set and being ready to let it fire once you make the catch.
Failure to improve in this area will allow defenses to sag off Iowa State’s point guard in the same way many teams did late in the season. It has to get better for Iowa State’s offense to get better.
Tre King — I’m not sure there’s a player already on Iowa State’s roster who seems poised to make a bigger leap than King. He’s already one of the team’s best around the rim, connecting on 67.3 percent of his close twos, and proved to have a versatile bag on the block that could make him one of the league’s best low-post scorers next season, especially if Iowa State’s outside shooting improves.
Outside shooting is where King can find more consistency as he was just 4-of-15 from deep for 26.7 percent. Bumping that number up another five percentage points to get it above 30 percent will be more than enough to keep teams honest when King leaves the painted area offensively.
Another key for King will be improving as a defender without fouling. His 5.7 fouls per 40 minutes were the third-highest number on the team. You can’t make an impact if you can’t stay on the floor because you’re in foul trouble all the time.
He played 23 games for Iowa State this season and had three or more fouls in 15 of them. He scored in double figures in five of the eight games without three or more fouls. When he’s able to stay on the floor, he’s one of the best the Cyclones have got.
Demarion Watson — If you’re looking for another guy poised to make a significant leap, look no further than the wing from Minneapolis with sky-high potential. The mold for the kind of player Watson could become fits the traditional NBA archetype of a “3 & D Wing.”
He’s already a high-level defender, who has proven capable of effecting shots at all three levels and defending players across nearly every position, but now it’s time for the second half of that equation to come into form.
Watson shot just 4-of-19 from 3-point range this season, and, until late in the season when his off-ball cutting shined, was more or less an offensive zero once he stepped on the floor. Being able to consistently hit corner threes will help Watson’s minutes increase drastically even as Iowa State actively searches for extra help on the wings.
You can bet that extra help will be able to knock those shots down, so if Watson wants to see his role expand, he better be able to as well.
Robert Jones — Big Rob Energy’s bread and butter is on the block, and he’ll need to continue to improve his footwork and touch around the rim to remain a consistent threat down low. If he can make improvements from this season to next in the same way he did from last season to this season, he’ll continue to grow as an option in the post despite the expectation that Iowa State’s arsenal of weapons will grow, as well.
The question becomes whether or not Jones can facilitate some offense on the block rather than being a black hole. If guys dump the ball into the post, is there any chance it will come back out without a turnover? Can Jones improve enough to force teams to double him, allowing him to kick back out to open shooters on the perimeter?
Jones will need to continue to improve as a defender, especially from a timing aspect, in order to drop his foul production as well. He averaged more than six fouls per 40 minutes this season.
Hason Ward — Defending without fouling might be the biggest area of growth Ward can make this offseason. He averaged more than seven fouls per 40 minutes, which makes it difficult to keep him on the floor even despite his high-level ability to create havoc defensively.
Nobody on the team shot better around the rim than Ward, connecting on 80 percent of his close 2-pointers on 35 attempts and he finished the year with the team’s second-most dunks behind only Osun Osunniyi despite having a long stretch of the year where he barely played.
Being able to step out and knock down a mid-range jumper to keep teams honest would be nice, but it might be best to just focus on helping Ward get the ball in the spot where he’s most comfortable, which is right around the rim.
More Musings
*** The officiating in Sunday’s women’s basketball national championship game couldn’t have been worse for both teams. Nobody tunes in to watch the people in stripes rather than some of the best players in the country, but the officials blew their whistles for an NCAA Tournament record 37 fouls anyway.
Instead, fans were forced to watch stretches where LSU star Angel Reese and Iowa star Caitlin Clark were forced to the bench by some really poor whistles. I’m not one to say star players should be protected by the officials, but officials need to have enough wherewithal to understand the time and situation.
This is another of those situations when officials should have to talk to the media and answer real questions (not stock questions from pool reporters where officials can hide behind the bylaws of the rulebook) after the game in the same way coaches and players have to talk. How did you guys approach officiating this game? Was there ever a point when you wondered if you were calling too many fouls? We’ll never get the answers to those questions even though we should.
It’s the freaking national championship game. If there was ever a time to just let the players play, this was it.
*** The conversation around Reese’s trash talk toward Clark near the end of Sunday’s final has become an absolute cesspool. I’m not going to wade into the cesspool region, because I think it is the dumbest conversation we’ve had in awhile.
I’m willing to bet there wasn’t a person on the planet less offended by Reese’s actions than Clark. Clark is one of the best women’s basketball players on the planet, and is one of the most vocal women’s basketball players on the planet, too.
You don’t dish out what you can’t take back. Caitlin Clark did a lot of dishing out during his tournament, and, thus, nobody can be upset when she’s forced to take it back.
You don’t have to like it, but Reese talking her mess did nothing but elevate the conversation around women’s basketball. You want entertaining basketball? You want drama? You want excitement? You want tension? You want passion and theatrics?
Then, you want one of the best players in the country talking the talk after walking the walk against another of the best players in the country.
*** On that note, get Iowa and LSU on next year’s non-conference schedule, please.
*** Former TCU big man, and former Cyclone Fanatic podcast guest, Eddie Lampkin is headed to Colorado via the transfer portal. I hope things work out for Big Eddie out west. I’ll be cheering for the Buffaloes.
*** The Horned Frogs picked up a massive transfer addition over the weekend when Delaware guard Jameer Nelson, Jr. announced his commitment to Jamie Dixon’s program. He’ll have a chance to be TCU’s lead guard after Mike Miles announced his intentions to enter the NBA Draft.
Does Jameer Nelson’s son being old enough to be a college star make you feel old? It’s only been… *checks calendar* … 20 years since Jameer led St. Joe’s to a dream season and won National Player of the Year.
Where does the time go?
