Buchanan had a lot of dunks this year. He's a good jumper but lacks a little in bulk/strength. He needs to keep developing that little floater/push shot in the lane and add a baby hook.
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Cyclonepride
Thought Police
If I'm reading the positions right, it seems like we'll have a ton of potential combinations.
1: Johnson/Prather/Toure
2: Toure/Prather/Batemon/Wiggins/Gray
3: Batemon/Bond/Wiggins/Gray
4: Singleton/Manning/Kiss/Rinaldo-Komlan
5: Buchanan/Pleta/Rinaldo-Komlan
1: Johnson/Prather/Toure
2: Toure/Prather/Batemon/Wiggins/Gray
3: Batemon/Bond/Wiggins/Gray
4: Singleton/Manning/Kiss/Rinaldo-Komlan
5: Buchanan/Pleta/Rinaldo-Komlan
Our fans are always so willing to eat up these dumb stories about ourselves. That said, I do think our expectations, discipline, and practice style are more difficult and demanding than almost every program in the country.
I think the 3 guards will get plenty of minutes, but you can't put all 3 of them in the starting lineup when one of them is 5'9-5'11. Batemon is a good rebounder for his size but he's still too thin to be a Big 12 SF. I think it has to be:
Toure
Batemon
Bond
Singleton
Buchanan
That part I agree with. I think he certainly runs 'regular' practices at a higher pace than a lot of places but his off-season stuff isn't any different than what you'd see at any Top 100 type program.
I tend to think it looks more like this, but it will be interesting to watch. This has basically a platoon at each position, with the backcourt being 3 for 2 positions. I know Prather has been listed as a PG in some places - but he looks more like a Wing that can handle to me.
PG: Toure / Johnson (Gray)
SG: Batemon / Johnson (Wiggins)
Wing: Prather / Bond (Mitchell)
PF: Singleton/ Manning (Kiss)
C: Buchanan / Pleta (DRK)
Cyclonepride
Thought Police
Yeah, PG/SG is probably an interchangeable mix and SG/Wing is probably that as well (other than Johnson)
Not completely wrong, but they need to hit on at least a couple of guards to get there. Right now they have Combs and that's about it for guard play. Howard/Sage are more wings, as is Coon coming in. Then they'd have 6 bigs if they added McKeever. They are still trying to get Banks another years as well I believe.
So they probably need to not just land 3 guards from the portal and hope for all, or at least two, to really hit in order to realistically be on the same level as last year.
I mostly agree, but I think Bond will start over Prather and I could see Johnson starting over Batemon, with Batemon being the prototypical 6th man/instant offense guy, playing starter minutes.
I agree-
I believe the money was not the problem. The problem is the timing. Iowa State cannot be placed in limbo similar to the AJ Green scenario with potential transfers. It is what it is- welcome to college athletics.
Until we see him in the tournament with a Florida or UConn, etc...
I think the Portal Season is a vacation for TJ. The dude eats, breaths, and exudes being a head basketball coach.
Don't know if this is authentic or not, but it rings true.
I'm sure you're right, but there does seem to be something about TJ's summer/preseason program that establishes cohesiveness to an extent most teams don't seem to have early in the season. Commentators and Opposing coaches have spoken about it.
Either he's really good at it or he only recruits the type of players who buy in, or both.
Hamilton? Maybe thinking Buchanan?
That's a "big" lineup. Was thinking the same if Manning could go to the 3 (if capable, which I'm unsure - could he?) & have any mixture of the others at 4 & 5.
If this is the lineup you are proposing, this would be a very rough group offensively, but elite defensively:
Toure
Johnson
Bond
Singelton
Buchanan
I see no way Prather is not part of our best lineup (call that "starting" if you want).
Just be listed to the podcast. I’m pretty convinced TJ goal is a 10 man rotation until someone develops as a sixth starter and warrants start minutes from the bench. Everyone we have has starter capability and brings something unique to the table.
Defense is always going to be TJs calling card. This weekend he just doubled down. FTs should improve. Guys like Singleton are going to live at the line. No reason not to believe next season isn’t another elevation to the TJ era.
Defense is always going to be TJs calling card. This weekend he just doubled down. FTs should improve. Guys like Singleton are going to live at the line. No reason not to believe next season isn’t another elevation to the TJ era.
I like this breakdown. It seemed like TJ liked to put his best defensive team on the court first (+ Milan). I imagine we'll see that trend continue.
TJ liked having some combination of Toure, Nate, Tamin and Jefferson on the floor to bring the ball up. For everything else he does well, Batemon wasn't overly strong in that department, so I'm curious if he'll see an increased role there or not. That sorta tells me that we'll likely see a combination of Toure, Johnson, Bond and Prather doing most of the ball handling in the back court. When Gray gets healthy, he'll factor in as well. I don't remember if Singleton has decent handles to do this or not. Maybe someone has better insight on this.
For that reason, I could see more minutes from Johnson than this board antcipates. It'll obviously depend on how well he handles guards with size on both ends. He seems like a gamer, though.
Since we're lacking that jump-off-the-page superstar, effort and matchups will probably determine lineups. And, who knows, maybe we're in for a surprise from our Freshmen class like last year. Hopefully, we'll be singing their praises like we did with Toure, Batemon and Pleta
