MONDAY MUSINGS: What a weekend

[FinalFourCy]

Did you not watch the last two years of Iowa State basketball or something?

Are you new to CF? Go back and look at the predictions for MT leading up to 2013. My comment wasn’t as much on MT’s career as the overly optimistic expectations for what type of player he was going to be, particularly early on.

People interpreted MT’s recruiting rankings as him being an (immediate) impact guy, not taking two years to develop into an honorable mention player. Determination of bust is always relative to expectations, and if you were one to expect Thomas to be more than honorable mention as an upperclassman the label isn’t far off. I never expected that, so I don’t share the bust opinion.

 

[jcyclonee]

Did you not watch the last two years of Iowa State basketball or something?

I do think FFC's statement is meant to reflect his first two years only rather than his last two years. I don't think anybody would consider Matt Thomas a bust for his Cyclone career. His improvement as a defensive player was one of the most spectacular transformations I've ever seen in ISU basketball.

 

[Cyclonepride]

I've been thinking about it, and I think the key difference between Campbell and McCarney/Rhoads is that Campbell coaches based on a pretty regimented system, and the other guys seem to be more about emotion. Outside looking in, of course.

 

[jsb]

I've been thinking about it, and I think the key difference between Campbell and McCarney/Rhoads is that Campbell coaches based on a pretty regimented system, and the other guys seem to be more about emotion. Outside looking in, of course.

I think there’s a lot of truth to this. But, I have to laugh at those people who think he is emotionless out there. Watch him on the sidelines, he’s not rhoads out there. But he’s far from Kirk. Everyone wants to believe he is the polar opposite of rhoads.

I think the big difference is that he’s done it before. He was a head coach. And I think he learns from his mistakes.

 

[Iastfan112]

Much of the Thomas being a bust postings were in the context of the expectations for Thomas based on his recruiting rankings. He clearly wasn’t a bust in the general sense, but for those that take recruiting rankings too seriously he was never the impact player many declared he would be back in 2012-13.

He may not have been a bust but he was very underwhelming regardless of rank. Despite getting good minutes he average 5.5 pts on 36% shooting with some pretty porous defense.

 

[madguy30]

I've been thinking about it, and I think the key difference between Campbell and McCarney/Rhoads is that Campbell coaches based on a pretty regimented system, and the other guys seem to be more about emotion. Outside looking in, of course.

There's been mention by players that they've had to work harder in practice under CMC...I don't know if it's their own revisionist history or what Rhoads was like, but it's interesting.

CMC at the moment excels at putting his best players in their best situations and gives them the real chance to make the play out of their own will.

 

[cyhiphopp]

Did you not watch the last two years of Iowa State basketball or something?

Many Cyclone fans were expecting him to be the next Fred Hoiberg when he committed. In the end he was a great team player and a great Cyclone. He could have scored a lot more points if he had to, but he was on good enough teams that he was never forced to be the man.

 

[Cyclonepride]

He may not have been a bust but he was very underwhelming regardless of rank. Despite getting good minutes he average 5.5 pts on 36% shooting with some pretty porous defense.

Judging freshmen as busts is the past time of people who don't understand sports. When looking at his full career, his ranking was absolutely accurate and he was proven worthy of all the accolades.

 

[jbindm]

There's been mention by players that they've had to work harder in practice under CMC...I don't know if it's their own revisionist history or what Rhoads was like, but it's interesting.

CMC at the moment excels at putting his best players in their best situations and gives them the real chance to make the play out of their own will.

Just a guess, but maybe that's because the roster is deeper and more talented than it was under Rhoads. Guys can't coast just because the guys behind them can't play. It could be as simple as the front line guys getting pushed and forced to work harder by the backups, which is great. You want practices to be competitive and you want guys earning their place on the field.

 

[jbindm]

Judging freshmen as busts is the past time of people who don't understand sports. When looking at his full career, his ranking was absolutely accurate and he was proven worthy of all the accolades.

It happens mostly in basketball. If a guy doesn't play much or at all his freshman year, there's always a handful of fans who want to help pack his bags so that scholarship can be used on "an impact guy".

Not everyone is ready to play right away. And not every school can be a one and done factory. You have to give some players time to develop.

 

[acgclone]

Judging freshmen as busts is the past time of people who don't understand sports. When looking at his full career, his ranking was absolutely accurate and he was proven worthy of all the accolades.

Agreed. I bet if you ask most B12 fans, players and coaches from Matt's time, they would say without a doubt he played up to his ranking and expectations.

 

[CycloneErik]

I think there’s a lot of truth to this. But, I have to laugh at those people who think he is emotionless out there. Watch him on the sidelines, he’s not rhoads out there. But he’s far from Kirk. Everyone wants to believe he is the polar opposite of rhoads.

I think the big difference is that he’s done it before. He was a head coach. And I think he learns from his mistakes.

He's also used to winning a whole lot. That's huge. He knows what winning takes and that he can get his job done.

 

[StLouisClone]

Matt Thomas made an incredible leap between his soph and junior year. He shot only 34% and 33% from three during his first 2 years. Those were Hoiberg's last 2 years. Maybe something clicked under Prohm. MT shot 43% and 45% from deep in his last 2 years. His rebounding and assists also went up.

I have seen big men improve, but I have never seen a guard improve as much in one season as MT did.

 

[FinalFourCy]

Is maxing out at Honorable Mention level as an upperclassman and being a wallflower as a freshman what many expect top-50/top-60 freshman?

I don’t think Thomas was a bust, but I never bought into his hype. He was a solid player as an upperclassman-a Big 12 quality starter for two years.

 

[NickTheGreat]

Matt Thomas made an incredible leap between his soph and junior year. He shot only 34% and 33% from three during his first 2 years. Those were Hoiberg's last 2 years. Maybe something clicked under Prohm. MT shot 43% and 45% from deep in his last 2 years. His rebounding and assists also went up.

I have seen big men improve, but I have never seen a guard improve as much in one season as MT did.

In our household, we always used to say f***ing Matt Thomas.

By the the end of his career we started saying Matt F***ing Thomas!!!