Lard looks good

[NATEizKING]

You mentioned Long, but no McNeil. I'm thinking he plays ahead of Long next year.

We could be exciting and lose a lot or we could be exciting and pretty good. We need Juiston or someone like him and a grad transfer guard. We'll have to win differently.

Watching these other teams play is rough. Skill wise we definitely could have made a run, but these teams are physical. We need to get bigger and more athletic, but a lot of it's philosophical too. Need more Prohmball, less Hoiball.

With Wigginton and Jackson on the court Babb will be defended by a wing. I'll take that over Jackson and Wigginton.

Long could end up being very good, but he didn't even get young-guy-behind-good-players minutes. Prohm didn't try at all to get him time to help him for next year. Imo the staff isn't counting on him contributing, but maybe he'll make a Naz type jump. That would give us a lot of options in the backcourt!

I think McNeill and Long will be in a dead heat for playing time off the bench, and whoever loses that battle may not stick around long. Long would have to have the advantage being ranked 126 to 232 for McNeill, being 3 inches taller and 42 pounds heavier, and having been in the system a year longer. There was just no way to get him on the floor with how the season went; TCU in the semi was the only game all conference play long that was in hand enough to give mop up minutes.

I really like the thought of him playing PG and letting Jackson and Wigginton play off the ball

I think we'll play more of a PG by committee type approach with different guys bringing it up, we started doing that more towards the end of this year even with having Monte.

NWB is a solid ball handler for his size..in no way is he playing PG full time. I see Lewis playing a lot his frosh year..Kid can score and shoot. The amount of playing time might depend on his defensive readiness. If we land Juiston he will likely start day 1..kid is complete stud. We have gone all in on Juiston now and he is a must get IMO..After Juiston or a juco/grad transfer big..we have to bring in 1-2 Juco or grad transfer shooting guards. Suddenly we have little depth at the 1-3 positions..

I can see next years team being better defensively and probably being one best defensive teams in the conference..offensively might struggle at times. But you can be in a lot of games if you are solid defensively and rebounding.

1-3 is DJ, NWB, Wiggi, Lewis, McNeill, and Long. We really only need about 5 guys there, which is probably the first 4 and whoever wins the battle between the last two. A pure shooter grad transfer would be nice. 5 guys for the 1-3 and 3 for the 4-5 is an 8 man rotation, and that seems to be ideal. That's where we were at this year but a little more height would have been nice.

Remember Long was behind 3 senior guards averaging 30 minutes per night along with two top upper classmen reserves getting the other minutes who also needed seasoning for next year. Throw in ISU was in mostly close games all year there wasn't an opportunity to get him in many games.
Young did get limited minutes in the non-con but didn't really force his way into the lineup until the last 11 games and that was due to having a massive hole at the center spot. Credit him for earning Prohm's trust but if Holden/Bowie would have been more effective at the 5 we don't know how much he would have played.

Long was a high 3 star by definition that is a player who need some development and likely starter as a Jr/Sr. Most scouts didn't expect him to come in a play immediately. He now has a year under the staff to develop and work on his weaknesses. Jacoby already has a B12 size and athleticism and if nothing else should be able play the role of slasher and D that Babb provided this year. If he refines his shot he could be in for a larger role.

I know players don't really RS much any more, but this would have been as good a time as any for Jakolby to take one. You'll have a hard time convincing me these minutes were worth it this season:

Sav St. 9 min (won by 42)
MSMs 2 min (won by 18)
Citadel 14 min (won by 67)
Omaha 8 min (won by 44)
MV St. 3 min (won by 28)
OU 1 min (won by 16)
TCU 1 min (won by 13)
TCU 2 min (won by 21)
WVU 0 min (won by 6)

 

[Sigmapolis]

I think McNeill and Long will be in a dead heat for playing time off the bench, and whoever loses that battle may not stick around long. Long would have to have the advantage being ranked 126 to 232 for McNeill, being 3 inches taller and 42 pounds heavier, and having been in the system a year longer. There was just no way to get him on the floor with how the season went; TCU in the semi was the only game all conference play long that was in hand enough to give mop up minutes.



I think we'll play more of a PG by committee type approach with different guys bringing it up, we started doing that more towards the end of this year even with having Monte.



1-3 is DJ, NWB, Wiggi, Lewis, McNeill, and Long. We really only need about 5 guys there, which is probably the first 4 and whoever wins the battle between the last two. A pure shooter grad transfer would be nice. 5 guys for the 1-3 and 3 for the 4-5 is an 8 man rotation, and that seems to be ideal. That's where we were at this year but a little more height would have been nice.



I know players don't really RS much any more, but this would have been as good a time as any for Jakolby to take one. You'll have a hard time convincing me these minutes were worth it this season:

Sav St. 9 min (won by 42)
MSMs 2 min (won by 18)
Citadel 14 min (won by 67)
Omaha 8 min (won by 44)
MV St. 3 min (won by 28)
OU 1 min (won by 16)
TCU 1 min (won by 13)
TCU 2 min (won by 21)
WVU 0 min (won by 6)

Saving that redshirt on Naz Mitrou-Long ended up being pretty important.

Just saying.

 

[NATEizKING]

Saving that redshirt on Naz Mitrou-Long ended up being pretty important.

Just saying.

Either way it's 5 years unless you're Jess Settles.

 

[Sigmapolis]

Either way it's 5 years unless you're Jess Settles.

Must have been a lot of "that guy... STILL!?!" about him this year from other teams.

 

[Tre4ISU]

It's going to hurt some to have 2 guys using up scholarships in Carter and Kasongo that according to many on here won't be giving us much of anything next year.

We need Wigginton to be the real deal, and I'm very confident he will be. Then we need NWB to take the next step into being one of THE guys versus just being a role player like he was this year. Prohm said going into this season something about how NWB had the most NBA potential as anyone on the roster. I hope we see a lot of that next year.

Donovan is Donovan, he will make everything go and will likely be the team leader IMO. He'll be good.

I'm hoping Long can at least come in and give us some minutes, especially defensively being such a big guard like he is.

Lewis is going to be a stud a few years from now, but we'll need him to give us 15-20 mins a game I think with everyone we're losing. I think he can.

Young is going to be good, he already is, but I think he'll be even more improved and confident next year. If Lard is all that is advertised, then I truly think making another NCAA Tourney is in the cards for sure.

I do think Prohm needs to bring in another oustide shooter, and another post for sure though. We're losing too many shooters and not replacing them. Donovan is a great shooter, but outside of him, everyone else is a question mark. I think Wigginton is decent, and Lewis looks like he can be a VERY good outside shooter too, but you never know how they will be once they get to the college level.

We aren't ever going to have a roster full of guys that are contributing. Someone has to not play and the good ones aren't going to sit around just to practice so I'm split on guys like Carter. Sure, it looks like a waste but if you have a guy with good size that's not a walk for Lard and Young to go against, is that the worst thing in the world? Besides that, Carter is a really good team guy and I wonder if that's not part of the reason he's still here.

All that said, I don't know that he'll be back. I do hope Long's back though. He never really had a chance to play this year.

 

[cyhiphopp]

We aren't ever going to have a roster full of guys that are contributing. Someone has to not play and the good ones aren't going to sit around just to practice so I'm split on guys like Carter. Sure, it looks like a waste but if you have a guy with good size that's not a walk for Lard and Young to go against, is that the worst thing in the world? Besides that, Carter is a really good team guy and I wonder if that's not part of the reason he's still here.

All that said, I don't know that he'll be back. I do hope Long's back though. He never really had a chance to play this year.

I think Long should see next year as an opportunity with all the guard minute available. He has the whole off season to work on his shot, which will help.

 

[State43]

I think a lot of players do not redshirt for 2 reasons. They think they can compete for minutes and also want it in the back pocket in case they stuggle to play and wish to transfer out.

 

[FinalFourCy]

I love the optimism on Long. I don't see it, but if we have two "Long" jumps in five years we'll have a very good backcourt next year! Yeah, we had 4 good guards in front of him, but he got walkon level minutes. Maybe that's more incriminating of the staff than Long, but given they gave Babb minutes they're not totally against some development time. If he were close I'd hope Naz Long isn't playing 34 minutes in the blowout of TCU, and that's just one example.

 

[cyclone101]

NWB, LW, and DJ backcourt is similar to a Tinsley, Horton, Nurse look, in my opinion. All three can handle the ball. Hopefully all three can score it next year. That would be a great recipe for success.

 

[EarthIsMan]

Don't sleep on Jakolby Long. Big, strong guard, really gets after it on defense and he's learned under some great guards this year.

For a comparison that ISU fans will relate to, I think his game is comparable to Deandre Kane.

 

[FinalFourCy]

We aren't ever going to have a roster full of guys that are contributing. Someone has to not play and the good ones aren't going to sit around just to practice so I'm split on guys like Carter. Sure, it looks like a waste but if you have a guy with good size that's not a walk for Lard and Young to go against, is that the worst thing in the world?

Redshirting transfers are perfect for that. Also freshman. Bad juniors-to-be? Pass.

 

[blutarsky]

Hard to say how Long and others will fit. We have't seen how Prohm really wants to assemble a team. No question this offseason will be key to Long, Babb, Lard, Carter, etc.

Long strikes me as a guy that will maul you on defense and can slice to the rim on offense. Not much of a jump shot, but fantastic in transition. If he can work out the kinks in his jumper he has a chance to be a contributor.

 

[IAStubborn]

A shots a shot. He shot that way in high school and scored with the best in the nation.

A jumper is like a baseball or golf swing, its preffered to have the best form possible. But, if you work at something long and hard enough it doesn't matter the form as long as it starts going in. I've seen some broken shots in my day, and his is not great but not atrocious. I think the biggest thing for his shot is that he needs to rise up more, get off the ground a bit more and he has the ability to make more shots, easier for himself.

Anyone who saw Hornacek shoot in College can attest to this.

 

[Cydkar]

We aren't ever going to have a roster full of guys that are contributing. Someone has to not play and the good ones aren't going to sit around just to practice so I'm split on guys like Carter. Sure, it looks like a waste but if you have a guy with good size that's not a walk for Lard and Young to go against, is that the worst thing in the world? Besides that, Carter is a really good team guy and I wonder if that's not part of the reason he's still here.

All that said, I don't know that he'll be back. I do hope Long's back though. He never really had a chance to play this year.

The guys that don't contribute aren't recruited for that purpose. Upgrade if you can then the ones sitting are even better and have more potential. They won't all be happy but you have a better talent pool to choose playing time for.

 

[Cyclonepride]

I love the optimism on Long. I don't see it, but if we have two "Long" jumps in five years we'll have a very good backcourt next year! Yeah, we had 4 good guards in front of him, but he got walkon level minutes. Maybe that's more incriminating of the staff than Long, but given they gave Babb minutes they're not totally against some development time. If he were close I'd hope Naz Long isn't playing 34 minutes in the blowout of TCU, and that's just one example.

Make that 6 good guards in front of him. 4 are now gone.

 

[FinalFourCy]

Make that 6 good guards in front of him. 4 are now gone.

6?

 

[Cyclonepride]

6?

Morris/Thomas/Mitrou-Long/Burton/Jackson/Weiler-Babb. Yes, Burton played the 4, but that was a 4 guard lineup.

 

[FinalFourCy]

Morris/Thomas/Mitrou-Long/Burton/Jackson/Weiler-Babb. Yes, Burton played the 4, but that was a 4 guard lineup.

But that also means he was net neutral to Long, given we played 4 guards rather than 2 or 3. 160 guard minutes available a game and he got walkon minutes. Babb struggled and wasn't a high level Big 12 guy many nights, Either he's far from ready or the staff is not keen on him

 

[Cyclonepride]

But that also means he was net neutral to Long, given we played 4 guards rather than 2 or 3. 160 guard minutes available a game and he got walkon minutes. Babb struggled and wasn't a high level Big 12 guy many nights, Either he's far from ready or the staff is not keen on him

6 guards in a 4 guard lineup, however you want to slice it, and 4 of those guards were fantastic. The kind you don't take off the floor for anything but rest. Long wasn't going to get minutes unless he was fantastic for a freshman. In short, we have no real read on how good he is, unless it is "less than fantastic". We'll know much more about him next year.

 

[bozclone]

You can't read too much into his lack of playing time. There are only so many spots in a rotation. CSP settled into his rotation with Jackson, Babb, and Bowie coming off the bench. That is an 8 man rotation. Pretty rare to see a 9 man rotation on a good team and especially with the 4 seniors we started.