I wonder how the game goes if Iowa State only plays its "last" seven men.
Five scholarship guys plus the two walk-on players.
Opening Night Observations
- Thread starter ClonesFTW
- Start date
I wonder how the game goes if Iowa State only plays its "last" seven men.
Five scholarship guys plus the two walk-on players.
Yep. That's why the other leagues that play 20 stick a league game or two in early December. Really odd that the Big 12 chose not to because, like you said, you get big gaps between games.
I totally agree, we'll still be ourselves defensively, it'll just be a bit different. I had the same thoughts about a couple of shots that Hason would've gotten to but to be fair, expecting to replace what he brought is impossible. He was an elite shot blocker and his combo of length and athleticism is very rare not just at ISU but anywhere in the country. You can't just go grab those guys every year in the portal.
I thought we looked really talented. A lot of our guys shots were not going down but that’s first game stuff. I didn’t think we looked quite as together as last years team but that should come with time. Lots of news guys trying to figure out their spot on the team. Hope it all comes together
Auburn will get to warm up against Houston before they play us in Maui. I think that’s a huge advantage for them.
we'll play against a better team in practice than we will in our first three games
I usually don't think fighting someone in a phone booth is a good warm up to fighting someone in a phone booth.
Our strategy is still to get as many non-con wins as possible so we schedule cupcakes? I personally would rather we play challenging games to perform better in the conference schedule. Although I'm dumb and they know better than me. I understand we have new transfers so getting them up to speed is important but every other team has the same thing. Ultimately I'm just a dumb monkey and want games with more flash lol.
This topic was discussed ad nauseum last year. The wins come as a side effect to scheduling lesser teams in the non-con, but the strategy (I believe) is to develop chemistry with the new guys, test different lineups, and practice fundamentals/execute game plans without the pressure of the scoreboard in the first few games of the season against opposition other than your own teammates whom you might have figured out in practice. Two years ago our non-con included some stealthier opponents and we faired well but last year our roster definitely benefitted from an easier schedule. Some would argue it cost us a seed line and it may have but losing games may have had a more profound effect. Regardless, the outcome was favorable and this year with the Maui Tournament and Big 12 sched our SOS will be sufficient without risking additional losses up front
I think it's exactly that. Throw in two more non-con games in these first three weeks and it would be a pretty normal schedule in past years.
We beat Houston in the 2nd conference game of the season, last year. I don’t think playing slappies hurt us for getting ready for conference season. With Maui and getting Marquette in the Big East Challenge game, combined with 2 less crap non-con games, there can't be a huge fuss made about our non-con schedule. Even with last year's crappy non-con, we'd have been a 1 seed if we'd have beaten VaTech and FAU, maybe even if we'd have just beaten A&M, with the VaTech loss.
Auburn looked great last night - Bruce Pearl also does an amazing job of assembling all the right pieces. They have a McD's AA freshman PG, a 4-yr transfer at PG, two athletic bigs, and 2-3 wings that are all 6'5"+ that are great shooters.
They look like a final 4 type team to me.
I know we'll be ready, but we'll have to play great to win!
They look like a final 4 type team to me.
I know we'll be ready, but we'll have to play great to win!
I am not worried about our schedule.
pending on if we win and if these teams continue to win there is a chance that ISU plays
Auburn, UNC, UCONN and Marquette in the next 3 weeks. If they are undefeated by then they would be Top ten teams (marquette would be close)
Then go on the road to an Iowa team that will probably shoot 112% from 3point land.
We will have probably get 12+ games during the conference and B12 Tourney against ranked teams.
That is a huge upgrade from last year.
pending on if we win and if these teams continue to win there is a chance that ISU plays
Auburn, UNC, UCONN and Marquette in the next 3 weeks. If they are undefeated by then they would be Top ten teams (marquette would be close)
Then go on the road to an Iowa team that will probably shoot 112% from 3point land.
We will have probably get 12+ games during the conference and B12 Tourney against ranked teams.
That is a huge upgrade from last year.
The team this season has 14 men on the roster.
I am going to say these are the top seven...
Chatfield
Gilbert
Jackson
Jefferson
Jones
Lipsey
Momcilovic
Which leaves these guys as the "JV" team in the hypothetical...
Fish
Hawley
Heise
Indrusaitis
Kelderman
Rock
Watson
I would speculate your starting lineup is something like this...
Indrusaitis
Heise
Watson
Fish
Rock
---
Kelderman
Hawley
Kelderman is the only "true" PG, but I would imagine you play the scholarship guys much more than you want to play the walk-on guys and Nojus and Nate can trade off as needed.
The Prohm team beat two "buy-game" teams (Arkansas Pine Bluff and Jackson St.) no problem. Their issue was they couldn't handle good mid-major teams (South Dakota St.) much less Big 12 teams.
Their "best" lineup without injuries or infections was probably something like this one...
Jackson
Bolton
Coleman-Lands
Johnson
Young
---
Harris
Conditt
I think that Prohm team wins but only like ~65% of the time.
Indrusaitis >= Jackson (Jackson had a high floor, but Nojus' ceiling is sky high)
Heise = Bolton (Bolton is a better scorer but Heise is a much better defender)
Watson < Coleman-Lands (JCL was a good player, Watson can D him up, though)
Fish < Johnson (Johnson ended up being a good player for DePaul)
Rock =< Young (loved me some SoYo, though injuries robbed him of his burst)
---
Kelderman < Harris (both are really short but Harris was very quick)
Hawley < Conditt (Conditt played in the D-League, Hawley is a walk-on)
Our JV team would have similar guards but much worse forwards/big men.
We struggled to field a team towards the end of that season with injuries and quarantining.
There was another season under Prohm that we were down a bunch of players toward the end of the season.
Top-to-bottom program depth is so much better now under TJ.
Heaven forbid, but if Curtis Jones had to miss a month, I wouldn't like it but... moving Milan back into the starting lineup and playing Heise and Nojus a lot more isn't much of a drop.
If you lost a starter under Prohm then there was rarely anything behind him.
Cyclonepride
Thought Police
Fair point, though we will get to see how they try to solve Houston’s defense.
