COLUMN: An analysis on the future of Iowa State basketball
- Thread starter ChrisMWilliams
- Start date
If we're only looking at his freshman year I thought Naz was going to get recruited over and I'd be surprised if anyone pointed at him and said "yep, there's an all time fan favorite in the making with multiple memorable moments right there" at that point in time. Credit to him though for putting in as much work as he did.
I get this is a normal saying for sports, but like....what? We're setting records for biggest home losses and got beat by a MEAC team. You're probably gonna need to explain this one a bit.
Busting out the ever hated triple post to say that this is one of the most bizarre comments I've ever read on here, and that includes BodeClone posts. Like I didn't totally disagree at first and then line 3 happened and oh boy.
People that say the NBA plays no defense don't watch the NBA.
I don't even watch much NBA but I know there's defense, it's just REALLY difficult against the best players in the world.
Besides, if somebody says "never" or "always" then it most likely isn't true.
I think the point was comparing the current freshmen to Naz and Matt as Freshmen. Naz played a few minutes as a tall PG that couldn't handle the ball very well or shoot at all. Then his first game as a Soph. he drops 26 and a few games later goes 4-6 from deep in the Chuck McGary Michigan game. And between just watching and hearing Naz or Fred talk about it, Naz was not a case of normal development. He made a conscious decision and put in stupid hours to completely transform his game.
As for Matt, though he was certainly a CF whipping boy and struggled his first two years, I think most people figured he was that highly recruited for a reason. But still, it was pretty reasonable to think he might end up being a marginal player. He finished his Soph. season not playing much, shooting 33% from three, and struggling on defense.
I have no idea how Jackson and Grill will end up. Very different teams. Grill in particular would not have gotten minutes on those teams when Naz and Matt were underclassmen. But Jackson has been better as a Freshman than Matt and Naz were. He's shooting the deeper 3 at a high rate in conference play and is a plus defender. Matt's stats weren't too bad as a freshman, but he had some good games early against the no-name teams, and for the most part in conference play his minutes, role, and production went down significantly. Meanwhile, Jackson struggled early and is coming on against the better conference teams. And as has been said a few times, Grill's a big unknown due to playing so many sports in HS. He's played a lot less basketball than most freshmen.
it seems that you really really misremember where a lot of the players you’re trying to use as a rationalization for a flawed group think talking point, were actually from
Maybe it will be proven a Midwest guy will end up being the right answer, but not because of where kids they recruit are from.
Quite a few people on here wanted Naz to transfer after his Freshman season. Pretty much the reason people get mad when someone needs to say a players name when talking about a potential transfer out. If posters had their way, Naz wouldn't have seen his sophomore year here.
I agree with this, but I think the obvious reason for the lack of comparison is that Prohm took over a program that was in a good position with veteran players that could go out there and win from day one. The other two had some, but not as many. Hoiberg haters aside, I think most would agree Fred had built something that resulted in some early successes for Prohm. I'm not sure he can reach that level again going forward.
I blocked him a long time ago but he must be up to his old tricks.
I'm talking about players that make a difference, really the only two non-Midwest, non-Canadian difference-makers from the last 10 years are Georges Niang (Mass.) and Craig Brackins (CA). I'm not talking about guys to fill out a roster, I'm talking about dudes! Check the list below.
Tyrese Halliburton - Wisconsin
Matt Thomas - Wisconsin
Donovan Jackson - Wisconsin/Iowa Western
Jameel McKay - Wisconsin/Indian Hills/Marquette transfer
Scott Christopherson - Wisconsin
Deonte Burton - Wisconsin/Marquette transfer
Diante Garrett - Wisconsin
Monte Morris - Michigan
Melvin Ejim - Canada
Naz Long - Canada
Jamie Vanderbeken - Canada
Jake Sullivan - Minnesota
Dustin Hogue - Indian Hills
Abdul Nader - Illinois
Deandre Kane - Marshall transfer
Korie Lucious - MSU transfer
Chris Babb - PSU transfer
Will Clyburn - Marshalltown CC/Utah transfer
Tyrus McGee - JUCO
Chris Allen - MSU transfer
Royce White - Minn. transfer
I think you’re stretching what is considered Midwest. Chris & Nick Babb, Clyburn, Kane, McGee, BDJ are all from outside the Midwest. Let’s not act like we haven’t had guys from outside the Midwest be quite successful here.
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Michigan isnt the mid-west. Neither are Pennsylvania or West Virginia.
Also, maybe you missed that the current sophomores are all from either Wisconsin or Chicago, Illinois. And half the freshman class was from Missouri (Leech) or Kansas (Grill). So stating that this staff only recruits the SE is completely a falsification.
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Michigan is considered as part of the Midwest.
This is not always the case. In practice, you can be fundamentally sound, do all the little things, and look perfect, but once the bright lights come on, everything goes out the window. It happens all the time in every single sport. From listening to Prohm, the guys are educated on the defensive and offensive side of things when it comes to scouting, but then out on the court, they go off into their own little worlds.
Difference-makers - only Halliburton on the current roster. Leech and Grill not dudes.
