You take the best available/fit but it's interesting that we added guys that will be sophomores (2) and a junior (1)
Iowa State Transfer/Recruiting Class 2023
- Thread starter CoKane
- Start date
It does seem like an intentional change in direction for TJ from the focus on one year, very experienced, players the last two transfer portals.
I think you can look at those three as fairly direct replacements for Holmes, Grill and Gabe.
Holmes - Gilbert — combo guard who can create and play point in a pinch
Grill - Pav — shooters
Gabe - Young — SG who can score and defend.
Not saying the skill levels are equivalent, but the roles do seem to align.
Solomon Young was granted a medical waiver and is back for his 6th year. He's much smaller now and has developed a 3 point shot.
It would be nice to have a another 6'10" rim runner, but those guys all seem to have elbows that are way to pointy. Not sure I want...
For those concerned about height, average height for next seasons team is 6’6
Really hurt Kansas' chances in the Big 12 this year having a 6'7" center... Texas was really bad in the postseason having no players over 6'9"...
That was a great read. He'll be a great culture fit!A nice article on Curtis Jones for people wondering about his work ethic and skill set...
Sullivan: ‘Throwback’ style helps UB’s Curtis Jones make most of unexpected opportunity
He has terrific court vision and snaps off crisp, fundamental passes that would make any hoop clinician smilewww.google.com
Agreed. KU had some injuries with back-up big men in Udeh (6-11) and Ejifor (6-9) the 2nd half of the season. I don't think those two 'fully' returned to the rotation which really hurt KU's bench.
It's not guarding big guys that worries me, it's holding up on the glass. Offensive rebounds are as good as turnovers, arguably worse because they usually lead to a good shot.
I'm actually not too worried about our rebounding under TJ and KG. I think with the guys we've had the last two years it's less about size and more about effort and the will to want the ball. Having long and athletic guards/wings who want to rebound down, while our bigs like Robert/Ward/King take out their 5 man is a good recipe.
Having small posts doesn't hurt you until it does. Texas was fortunate in it's NCAA run that Nunge was the only traditional post they faced in games against: PSU, Colgate, Xavier and Miami
So when a coach is building a team to take a deep NCAA Tournament run, having a couple solid bigs can help win the match-up battle. UConn was able to take advantage of two really solid traditional posts in Sonogo and Klingan plus a physical stretch PF in Caraban. We saw a talented small-ball Miami roster struggle against UConn's interior height and physicality.
I feel a big reason for Steve Prohm's lack of success, even when ISU was talented his first couple years, he could only win ONE way. We had to make a high % of jump shots to outscore people. We weren't going to play better defense, out rebound, out physical or even out execute teams in the half court.
Whereas, TJ gets how to build a roster. We will definitely have a preferred style, but we will be able to match-up to our opponents or create mismatches. And if we continue to play a trapping style half court defense, having a couple rim protectors is critical.
If we can land Jones, I like the balance in classes. No class has more than 4 and none are less than 3.
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Uconns starting center was 6'9.
I know they had the 7' ft off the bench but he only averaged 13 mins a game
I believe he was being sarcastic given that KU won the Big 12 and Texas made the Elite 8
That's what I get for never reading beyond what I wanna readI believe he was being sarcastic given that KU won the Big 12 and Texas made the Elite 8
