Is Lewis injured because

[ISUCubswin]

We all know how this is going to go.

Prohm will play Lewis a lot on Saturday at Texas after we get down 15

Lewis will score 14 and grab 6 boards, we lose by 5.

Hines will write an article on how Lewis is breaking out

Prohm will comment how proud he is of Lewis for taking strides but still has a way to go

Lewis doesn’t play against West Virginia and we lose by 30

 

[CycloneErik]

We all know how this is going to go.

Prohm will play Lewis a lot on Saturday at Texas after we get down 15

Lewis will score 14 and grab 6 boards, we lose by 5.

Hines will write an article on how Lewis is breaking out

Prohm will comment how proud he is of Lewis for taking strides but still has a way to go

Lewis doesn’t play against West Virginia and we lose by 30

I feel like I just looked into a crystal ball.

 

[enisthemenace]

Academics have nothing to do with him. He has no issues there

I agreed with this post, because from everything I’ve heard, TLew is a really good student. Soooo...if everyone is intent on trying to figure this out, go another direction.

 

[Cyinthenorth]

I agreed with this post, because from everything I’ve heard, TLew is a really good student. Soooo...if everyone is intent on trying to figure this out, go another direction.

What is it then? Weed? Showing up late to practices/skipping practice? Goofing off in practice? Some other non-descript violation of team rules?

 

[GrindingAway]

I posted a longer version of this in the Coach Prohm thread but probably more appropriate here. There are lots of issues with this team right now. Some harder than others to fix. The one area that is easy and quick is to fix the rotations. Coach Prohm has always been a little head scratching in that area, but this year he is basically Fran McCaffery. We play 10 guys and there's no real rhyme or reason on who gets minutes.

In Big 12 Play Haliburton and Bolton are our only players with a BPM above 2. They should play as many minutes as they are capable.

Grill (-7.6 BPM in Big 12 play) should not be getting minutes. Bright future, but not ready.
Jacobson (-2.4 BPM in Big 12 play) and Nixon (-2.1 BPM in Big 12 play) should be playing in very limited situations. Only when matchups dictate.

That leaves Solo, Tre, Conditt, T-Lew and Zion. Assuming consistent time and better defined roles get Conditt and T-Lew back to positive BPMs combining them with TH and Bolton could be a strong offensive line up. That group has combined to shoot 37% from 3 during Big 12 play.

Specific to this thread and T-Lew he hasn't been great in Big 12 play (BPM of -1.2) but he has a BPM of 2.9 for the season (3rd on the team). I think the issue with the drop off is likely related more to inconsistent play than anything else. He hasn't shot well in conference, but it's pretty hard to shoot well with the weird on/off minutes he is getting.

Could that group defend? Probably not, but name a rotation on this roster that can. Our defensive woes are more related to scheme and confusion with that scheme than individuals in my opinion. Shortening the rotation will help on that end as well. It's hard to build a defensive identity rotating 10 players. Shorten the rotation and I believe the D will improve (it'll still be bad, but less bad).

Fixing the rotation is the one thing I can see that is a quick impact. Will Coach Prohm change it? I doubt it.

 

[CyTwins]

What is it then? Weed? Showing up late to practices/skipping practice? Goofing off in practice? Some other non-descript violation of team rules?

Why do you need to know? Not trying to be mean or anything I'm just asking if you want to know so you can judge Prohm and how he is handling it

 

[Cyinthenorth]

Why do you need to know? Not trying to be mean or anything I'm just asking if you want to know so you can judge Prohm and how he is handling it

I've seen it happen too many times. A little transparency would be nice. I'm not dying to know, I can wait til he announces TL is transferring after the season, that's fine. But if someone knows, I'd like to know too. Guys like Terrence, Jakolby Long, and Simeon Carter take big leaps of faith moving across the country to Iowa and then have to sit through our miserably cold winters and also not get delivered the results they may or may not have been promised upon committing to play here. And at least in TL's case, watch lesser players play over him.

 

[Statefan10]

I've seen it happen too many times. A little transparency would be nice. I'm not dying to know, I can wait til he announces TL is transferring after the season, that's fine. But if someone knows, I'd like to know too. Guys like Terrence, Jakolby Long, and Simeon Carter take big leaps of faith moving across the country to Iowa and then have to sit through our miserably cold winters and also not get delivered the results they may or may not have been promised upon committing to play here. And at least in TL's case, watch lesser players play over him.

Long wasn't good. Carter had a plethora of issues. Terrence also has his own issues but they're different than Carter's. That's all I know.

 

[enisthemenace]

What is it then? Weed? Showing up late to practices/skipping practice? Goofing off in practice? Some other non-descript violation of team rules?

I have no idea. Just as I hear it, the young man is doing well with the school part.

 

[ISUTex]

Hitting three's would completely open the floor though. We are such an easy team to guard right now it's not even funny.

We can't hit threes. True. We also suck at driving to the rim, moving without the ball, and passing. So sick of forced passes that end up being a turnover. They look like a damn 6th grade team on offense.

 

[clonehoodie]

We have never played defense. Why should the fans care now?

"Coach promised me an NBA career. They don't play defense; why should I ? "

 

[CyTwins]

We can't hit threes. True. We also suck at driving to the rim, moving without the ball, and passing. So sick of forced passes that end up being a turnover. They look like a damn 6th grade team on offense.

I mean we're way worse defensively than we are on offense

 

[exCYtable]

What is it then? Weed? Showing up late to practices/skipping practice? Goofing off in practice? Some other non-descript violation of team rules?

It's obvious what is going on here: Lewis is critical of baggy pleated dress pants and chapstick.

 

[tzjung]

It's obvious what is going on here: Lewis is critical of baggy pleated dress pants and chapstick.

This is EXACTLY what I think as well. Lewis has probably expressed his frustrations with his playing time in a less than courteous manner and is being put in his place.

Edit: At this point we can all be pretty sure his transfer is imminent.

 

[ISUCubswin]

I mean we're way worse defensively than we are on offense

Which is like saying the electric chair is more humane than firing squad

 

[TacoCorp]

So suspending him for a game or two with no real explanation would make you happy?

Why not just play him? He earned more than two minutes with his production in the Auburn game. 12 points and 5 boards in 21 minutes, was also a big part of why we made it competitive at the end instead of getting blown out.

 

[TacoCorp]

Why do you need to know? Not trying to be mean or anything I'm just asking if you want to know so you can judge Prohm and how he is handling it

Because fans pay for tickets, EPSN+ subscriptions, etc. that support the coaches salaries. Watching us get blown out at home while a guy sits on the bench after showing he's earned more minutes is frustrating. And a terse "No" in the press conference only adds fuel to the fire.

 

[Tre4ISU]

Why do you need to know? Not trying to be mean or anything I'm just asking if you want to know so you can judge Prohm and how he is handling it

I think people just want to know if there's a viable reason to keep him off the court when Nixon has been awful and no one else is a clear option. That's the answer we want. Lewis has shown flashes when he's gotten consistent time. Nixon hasn't so we mostly wonder why Lewis doesn't get extended action over a course of 3-4 games to see what he can put together for a body of work. I mean, ****, when Hali was out he started and now he's not even playing after only getting better? It makes zero sense. The other thing that doesn't make sense is that if he's had these issues seemingly for 3 years, why is he still here? I know Prohm wants to help guys but is he going to keep guys on scholarship to not play them after 3 years of "trouble." This is nonsensical in our current situation.

Honestly, if I'm Lewis I probably just would have left at semester or I would have given Prohm an ultimatum. At some point you need to know where you stand and if Prohm wants consistency from you, it's fair that you ask for it back when you perform well. It's also not like he's just shot well. He goes hard, he adds that elite cutting ability to a good shooting capability which is just such a great combination, he gets shots off quick, he puts his nose into loose ball situations. How many other guys offer that much on this team? 2? Maybe?

It's not that we feel we deserve an answer. It's that none of it makes any damn sense. At least Lard and McKay made sense and you could see what the issues were. With Lewis, we see a lot of good and not much bad when we watch games.

 

[CyTwins]

Because fans pay for tickets, EPSN+ subscriptions, etc. that support the coaches salaries. Watching us get blown out at home while a guy sits on the bench after showing he's earned more minutes is frustrating. And a terse "No" in the press conference only adds fuel to the fire.

I think people just want to know if there's a viable reason to keep him off the court when Nixon has been awful and no one else is a clear option. That's the answer we want. Lewis has shown flashes when he's gotten consistent time. Nixon hasn't so we mostly wonder why Lewis doesn't get extended action over a course of 3-4 games to see what he can put together for a body of work. I mean, ****, when Hali was out he started and now he's not even playing after only getting better? It makes zero sense. The other thing that doesn't make sense is that if he's had these issues seemingly for 3 years, why is he still here? I know Prohm wants to help guys but is he going to keep guys on scholarship to not play them after 3 years of "trouble." This is nonsensical in our current situation.

Honestly, if I'm Lewis I probably just would have left at semester or I would have given Prohm an ultimatum. At some point you need to know where you stand and if Prohm wants consistency from you, it's fair that you ask for it back when you perform well. It's also not like he's just shot well. He goes hard, he adds that elite cutting ability to a good shooting capability which is just such a great combination, he gets shots off quick, he puts his nose into loose ball situations. How many other guys offer that much on this team? 2? Maybe?

It's not that we feel we deserve an answer. It's that none of it makes any damn sense. At least Lard and McKay made sense and you could see what the issues were. With Lewis, we see a lot of good and not much bad when we watch games.

Prohm's not going to throw the kid under the bus. That's why he's not giving an answer

Lewis wouldn't have P5 opportunities if he left Iowa State. He knows this. Could be a good fit at UW Milwaukee

 

[TacoCorp]

Prohm's not going to throw the kid under the bus. That's why he's not giving an answer

Lewis wouldn't have P5 opportunities if he left Iowa State. He knows this. Could be a good fit at UW Milwaukee

What could possibly be the issue that he gets an opportunity to at Auburn, demonstrates he's earned more minutes only to be relagated to coming in for Jackson when he's in foul trouble? We know what we're getting from Nixon, Jackson, and Grill. It's time for Lewis to get a stretch of 20ish minutes per game to see if he can sustain it. If he did something in practice this week, allude to it in the presser with a vacuous platitudes (Prohm has plenty of them). For someone who always preaches doing things the right way, it sure doesn't seem like he's handling this situation as such.