Williams & Blum: Is Iowa State’s 2026-27 basketball roster final?

[cykadelic2]

Johnson was the highest rated transfer of the 5 by the couple of publications I looked at. Most ratings articles I read had him in the top 50 of transfers.

Those rankings are foolishly looking at numbers only and it is clear that Singleton and Bond have more high major potential.

Listen to Blum on last night's pod. He suggested Bully is a 15-20 mpg backup PG. I think it will end up being more like 10-15 mpg max.

 

[ForeverIowan]

We finished 5th in KenPom on defense this season. On paper, we improved on the defensive end of the floor through the portal additions. We will see if that translates to the floor. Can this roster end up a top 2-3 defense?

The giant question mark is where does our offensive efficiency go with the departures of Milan, JJeff and Lipsey? We finished 21st in KenPom offense last year.

Toure, Batemon and Singleton all need to take big jumps in offensive production from their freshman to Soph seasons. We need all 3 of those guys to make major leaps and be the building blocks of the program moving forward. Can all 3 of those guys average around 12-13 points a game? If so, we are likely in good shape. We likely see a much more balanced scoring attack next season. Im not sure I see anyone averaging over 14-15 ppg.

 

[purpleclone]

Prather worst-case to me is another Jaren Holmes, who was a pretty good player for us.

Johnson best-case another Tamin Lipsey

Singleton best-case another Jefferson

Not sure on a comp on Bond but he's "athletic"

Sign me up!

Probably poor man’s Izaiah Brockington for Bond?

 

[HouClone]

What we need to do is find the Nick Weiler-Babb notebook on how to improve outside shooting and give it to Toure.

 

[MyNameEhJeff]

I like how you're thinking and can agree that we haven't really had capable players (including playing D!) sitting on the bench, but it's hard to believe TJ playing more than eight until it happens.

I'm trying to sip some Kool Aid/cope while I take in the news that potentially our best defensive player in football is done for the year.

 

[FinalFourCy]

IZB

2021

 

[1UNI2ISU]

Those rankings are foolishly looking at numbers only and it is clear that Singleton and Bond have more high major potential.

Listen to Blum on last night's pod. He suggested Bully is a 15-20 mpg backup PG. I think it will end up being more like 10-15 mpg max.

Bully is the type of kid that you put on the floor and you're better because he plays so damn hard. I'd certainly bet he averages around 20. He's so good as an on ball defender.

 

[rosshm16]

Tamin finished at the rim pretty well and he's a generous 6'1" with unremarkable wingspan and a reconstructed knee.

 

[bawbie]

Probably poor man’s Izaiah Brockington for Bond?

that's probably a pretty good comparison I hadn't thought of. I would guess he's more of a defense/rebounding/glue guy than the primary scorer that IB was, but that was in part a function of need on that team.

Very similar size and the numbers for their Junior years are quite similar (IB at PSU, LB at UNI)
Bond shot more 3s and was more efficient shooting in general. They were both around 12ppg, 5 rpg and 1.5 assists.

however Brockington took a huge leap to 17 & 7 in his one year at ISU and I wouldn't expect that from Bond given who else is on the team

 

[rosshm16]

Brockington had a pretty unique offensive game at ISU (lots of long two-point jumpers), I haven't watch much of Bond but I doubt that's his bread-and-butter.

 

[bawbie]

What we need to do is find the Nick Weiler-Babb notebook on how to improve outside shooting and give it to Toure.

I think his shot looks good and his main problem is he was streaky, which probably somewhat due to being a freshman and hitting a couple walls physically and then the mental side of the game, which we should expect to improve

First 9 games: 9-22 (41%)
Next 9 games: 2-17 (12%)
Next 8 games: 9-21 (43%)
Final 5 regular season games: 0-11
6 postseason games: 6-12 (50%)

I could easily see him making a leap to the 40% range with a full offseason of work

 

[rosshm16]

I hadn't looked at his statline in a while. Toure finished the year shooting 31.3% on 2.2 three-point attempts per game, that's pretty good!

He seemed to go through a mid-season Freshman-Tamin type stretch in @bawbie's "Next 9 games" above where he had no confidence in his shot. The 0-11 stretch towards the end of the year he just seemed to be missing.

 

[Letterkenny]

There were people not exactly wild about Jefferson when we signed him from St. Mary's.

Same with Buchanan.

 

[SolarGarlic]

Tamin finished at the rim pretty well and he's a generous 6'1" with unremarkable wingspan and a reconstructed knee.

He was also strong as hell and had great leaping ability. We don't need Johnson to finish at the rim. We need him to be another reliable ball handler, create some offense, and play aggressive on ball defense.

 

[cyclones500]

I chuckled when Blum mistakenly said, "Two in the hand, one in the bush."

As Willy Wonka said, "Strike that. Reverse it."

 

[SolarGarlic]

I chuckled when Blum mistakenly said, "Two in the hand, one in the bush."

As Willy Wonka said, "Strike that. Reverse it."

I could make a long list of CW and Blumisms


"to be quite candid"
"fascinating"
"It just is"
"It just isn't"
"Right?"
"I could make the argument..."
"literally"
"the ckkkkqquuestion is" Blum may have the hardest w sound in North America

In Blum's defense on "C-Dub", he's learned to use that at the end of a sentence to make sure CW doesn't interrupt him.

 

[Carlisle Clone]

Prather worst-case to me is another Jaren Holmes, who was a pretty good player for us.

Johnson best-case another Tamin Lipsey

Singleton best-case another Jefferson

Not sure on a comp on Bond but he's "athletic"

Sign me up!

Bond will be our Deonte Burton. Super athletic and will do things to make you smile and shake your head.

 

[DoctorZ]

I could make a long list of CW and Blumisms


"to be quite candid"
"fascinating"
"It just is"
"It just isn't"
"Right?"
"I could make the argument..."
"literally"
"the ckkkkqquuestion is" Blum may have the hardest w sound in North America

In Blum's defense on "C-Dub", he's learned to use that at the end of a sentence to make sure CW doesn't interrupt him.

You forgot "There's a universe in which..."

 

[MartyFine]

 

[psycln11]

Paulk approves!!