Just so tired of the yearly drama between Prohm and players. From McKay to Lard, to Wigginton, now TLew, there's always something. It has to be exhausting and a locker room killer. I'm so ready for Prohm to move on...
INSTANT REACTION: No. 1 Baylor 67, Iowa State 53
- Thread starter ChrisMWilliams
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I'm just so over things with Prohm. Without beating a dead horse, he's underachieved relevant to the talent he's had. The "product of his own success" stuff in nonsense. We've had double digit NBA players on the roster over his 5 years with only marginal success.
I see nothing on the floor that suggests he is a good coach. Offensively, we are totally aimless. What's our plan? What are we trying to accomplish? You watch Baylor, and there is purpose to everything they do. The ball moves. People move. Part of the reason they can offensive rebound like they do is because they have the defense out of position. We, on the other hand, seem content to just dribble without a purpose for 15 seconds then try something out a desperation.
And the shot selection. My god---the shot selection. Just in the first half alone, Tyrese took a pull-up 3 from the Pioneer logo with a full shot clock, Bolton did similarly, and Nixon tried some kind of step-back three nonsense that damn near broke the backboard. There's no discipline. There's no purpose or plan.
Defensively, we just don't guard, and we just don't rebound. Getting absolutely owned on the boards is a byproduct of bad defensive position and a lack of hustle. Both are coachable issues.
Then you have Lewis as Steve's random doghouse guy. He's got to have one every year. It's gone from McKay to Lard to Lewis. It's just bizarre.
I'm just sick of getting run off the floor by good competition. Iowa, Kansas, Tech, Baylor (x2). We were down double digits most all of the game against Auburn but made it respectable with a late rally. It's not just losing, it's looking like we don't belong on the same floor.
I see nothing on the floor that suggests he is a good coach. Offensively, we are totally aimless. What's our plan? What are we trying to accomplish? You watch Baylor, and there is purpose to everything they do. The ball moves. People move. Part of the reason they can offensive rebound like they do is because they have the defense out of position. We, on the other hand, seem content to just dribble without a purpose for 15 seconds then try something out a desperation.
And the shot selection. My god---the shot selection. Just in the first half alone, Tyrese took a pull-up 3 from the Pioneer logo with a full shot clock, Bolton did similarly, and Nixon tried some kind of step-back three nonsense that damn near broke the backboard. There's no discipline. There's no purpose or plan.
Defensively, we just don't guard, and we just don't rebound. Getting absolutely owned on the boards is a byproduct of bad defensive position and a lack of hustle. Both are coachable issues.
Then you have Lewis as Steve's random doghouse guy. He's got to have one every year. It's gone from McKay to Lard to Lewis. It's just bizarre.
I'm just sick of getting run off the floor by good competition. Iowa, Kansas, Tech, Baylor (x2). We were down double digits most all of the game against Auburn but made it respectable with a late rally. It's not just losing, it's looking like we don't belong on the same floor.
I only get my basketball info from CF.....so the view could be skewed
But doesn't this seem to be the case year after year? Every season some drama bubbles up and it sure doesn't seem like coach can keep a lid on it.
I hate to say it, but coach just might not be a good fit. Again. Hope he turns it around, but the levee is starting to break
Juat read the comments/tweets. He’s either not putting out or the coaches don’t think he’s putting out. Same result either way, every b-ball player has been there.
I think it's true to an extent, but it follows the exact same pattern.
Early season lack of playing time, gradual increase, return to glory, fade back away.
Because he has to play with Nixon and Jacobson. You think it's a coincidence that Solo started playing well when he's not on the court with those two?
This happens at a lot of programs, Michigan just recently suspended their SR pg for a game for violating team rules. WVU with Konate was a weird situation too. There are countless others too, I think its just a product the college game and the immaturity of a lot of young players. Fred had his share of this too, do we forget about BJD and Anthony Booker?
That's fair. However, we're looking at a bottom of the Big 12 finish 2 out of 3 years, and the year sandwiched in between was a disappointment as well if you look at the talent that was on that team. Definitely trending in the wrong direction program wise given our relative success the past decade, which makes it feel worse than it probably is.
I just can't figure out how a team that spent the majority of the last decade in the top 25 and playing in the Ncaa tournament finds itself in a position where they have 2 players who can shoot a basketball.
I think I heard CW make this point, and it is dead on...ISU just lacks too many basic basketball skills.
The situation in the AAU and the other elite pre-college leagues was recently discussed here and in other media outlets. I think the bottom line is that college coaching staffs need to be prepared to teach the basic basketball skills (both on the individual and team level)...particularly rebounding, defense, and how to play the interior...because these things aren't being taught in the elite leagues, who are now focusing on 3pt shooting.
It seems that the ISU staff struggles at this, because as many posters have noted, players at ISU don't seem to improve at these basic skills from year to year.
As far as shooting, some nights you are on, some nights not...but giving up 44/67 points in the paint...something is not right when that happens...
The situation in the AAU and the other elite pre-college leagues was recently discussed here and in other media outlets. I think the bottom line is that college coaching staffs need to be prepared to teach the basic basketball skills (both on the individual and team level)...particularly rebounding, defense, and how to play the interior...because these things aren't being taught in the elite leagues, who are now focusing on 3pt shooting.
It seems that the ISU staff struggles at this, because as many posters have noted, players at ISU don't seem to improve at these basic skills from year to year.
As far as shooting, some nights you are on, some nights not...but giving up 44/67 points in the paint...something is not right when that happens...
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I also wonder if Lewis was targeted to leave after last season and said no.
Winner. Nixon and Jacobsen shouldn’t get to play many minutes anymore. Jacobsen can’t stop his defender, can’t rebound and is either hot or cold shooting. Nixon is a disaster on offense. When he chucks up a shot and misses it almost always leads to a runout transition opportunity for the other team.
Whomever is on the court to accompany Bolton, Halliburton, Jackson/Lewis just plain works better. We do not have a third scorer and the 4 position is completely missing. Wiggy or THT would be a HUGE difference for this team... if coach actually would play them if they were here.
I know Fred is our frame of reference, but at this point, can we all just forget about Fred?
That era is gone and buried. He's not coming back.
Prohm deserves to be judged on his own and frankly it seems like he's dying a slow death. It might be the way of the world now, but has Prohm proved he's a leader at this point?
This isn't a shot at you. The bring Fred back and Fred Fred Fred stuff just seems sad and unproductive
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Lewis is at 33% this season which is way better than the high volume 22% Nixon is currently shooting or the 17% Gill is shooting. I'm not arguing for 30 minutes a game, but at least 5-10 to see if he can bring a spark to the offense like he did in Auburn. Not playing him with the rest of the pieces we have is just a huge head-scratcher to me.
Is it happening every year though, and without getting resolved? I suppose BJD never really got it fully together but aside from kicking him off the team I'm not sure what else you do there.
No way Lewis is here next year is there? I think Steve is going to have 2-3 schollies to fill this spring. It will probably make or break him. He essentially will return Bolton and a handful of role players. Solo and George are serviceable, Foster should be nice in the mix but everyone else can be recruited over. He'll need 2 more big 12 caliber players in addition to hoping at least 2 of the frosh are ready right away. Hopefully Johnson can fill one of those roles.
The thing is, for next year to be successful, Prohm likely has to recruit over guys like Grill, Jackson and Griffin. I can see us bringing in a GT that takes away minutes from those guys and then we have another exodus where between graduation and the transfer portal, we are right back to this spot again in 2 years.
The thing is, for next year to be successful, Prohm likely has to recruit over guys like Grill, Jackson and Griffin. I can see us bringing in a GT that takes away minutes from those guys and then we have another exodus where between graduation and the transfer portal, we are right back to this spot again in 2 years.
The fact that Nixon continues to take the 3 point shot with his shooting percentage from deep is an indication that Prohm has no control over his team. According to Alex Halsted, Nixon has made three 3 pointers in Big 12 games so far. Nixon is shooting 33 percent overall and 22 percent from behind the 3 point line. Dakich called him multiple times in the Auburn game on his lack of effort on defense.
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From 1970-2010 Iowa State had an above .500 record in conference play only 7 times.
From 2010 to 2020 it has happened 6 times and that is not counting last year's .500 record.
We obviously should expect our coaches to perform but I think some of the criticism of Prohm on here is a little over the top.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Iowa_State_Cyclones_men's_basketball_seasons
From 2010 to 2020 it has happened 6 times and that is not counting last year's .500 record.
We obviously should expect our coaches to perform but I think some of the criticism of Prohm on here is a little over the top.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Iowa_State_Cyclones_men's_basketball_seasons
It was disappointing that we didn't go farther in the NCAA tournament but calling last year a disappointment would be a bit unfair. Although we lost some games we shouldn't have, we were ranked in the top-25 half the year, we won the Big 12 Tournament, and we got a nice seed in the NCAA tournament. Sure we lost some games we shouldn't have but some people think that last year's team should've won the Big 12 outright and made an Elite 8 run or something. We didn't even do that with some of Fred's best teams and those guys were filled with terrific juniors and seniors.
Last year, our team was made up of strictly underclassmen, two transfers, and then Babb. I think looking at the season overall you can understand why there were ups and downs, as well as an early NCAA tournament exit. Imagine this years team having Wigginton and THT.. We'd have a lot of problems fixed. Wigginton, THT, and Halliburton as the guards.. Holy cow that team would be fun. But, we don't have them obviously because Lindell and THT decided to take their next step in their careers.
So now this year we're stuck with another team essentially playing together for the first time. Our starting lineup consists of 3 sophomores, and two 5th year seniors who frankly aren't good. Jacobson's ability was covered up by the talent surrounding him last year. Nixon's overall production has been one of the worst I've seen from a Cyclone considering their minutes played. That's the spot I scratch my head at as to why Lewis isn't playing and he definitely should've played a lot more last night. There's no doubt about that. And although I don't think Lewis is great, I 100% think he'd be shooting better than 12% from the 3 in conference play if he'd be given the opportunity.
I've said this before and I'll say it again. I think Prohm is a nice coach and has the recruiting ability to do well at this level, however he's going to have to make some sort of change. I don't know if that's coaching style, recruiting tactics, staff changes, etc. But, something is going to have to change or else he will be fired. I don't want him to be fired because then it feels like we're back to square one, but at the same time, Iowa State basketball is starting to lose it's reputation. No matter what the "excuses" or "justifications" are, Prohm is going to be the one that takes the blame for it, whether he deserves it or not.
