I don't enjoy losing to anybody...I would rather be playing our best basketball in March...that comes with team.
Missing One Piece
- Thread starter jburke
- Start date
I don't enjoy losing to anybody...I would rather be playing our best basketball in March...that comes with team.
I can understand that. We just have different viewpoints a lot of the time and that's fine. We might be playing our best basketball in March but it's unlikely that the games will have any real postseason implications or meaning.
Also, the Lakers won three straight with a team full of guys that pretty much didn't even like each other. Playing as a team is nice but it takes great talent to differentiate yourself from the herd. I do hope Gilstrap is that much of a difference maker for us.
One wildcard on next year's team may be Pomlee.
I haven't heard much about him or how he's doing in practices? Is he going to provide rebounding/toughness? What's his game like?
I haven't heard much about him or how he's doing in practices? Is he going to provide rebounding/toughness? What's his game like?
God I hope you are the only one. You couldn't possibly be more wrong, unless you think it is a positive to be a worse basketball team and win less games.
Let me guess, you were one of those who thought it was a good thing when Taylor left? And Stinson before him?
Raw...Redshirt will really help him. Should be fun to watch if he reaches a high level of aggressiveness and explosiveness.
So much hope being on Brakins not going pro after this year.
Otherwise, next year will ne another year of "rebuilding"
Otherwise, next year will ne another year of "rebuilding"
Scott Christopherson (Sp?) will also be able to play next season and I would expect him to be in competition for minutes as well.
Assuming he does...which I highly doubt.
Hamilton, Vanderbeken, and LA...probably end up posting Gilstrap some.
To win consistently in the Big 12, ISU needs somebody to brutalize the post. In conference play, when was the last time you saw an ISU player at the hoop go up amongst two or three defenders and jam the ball through hoop, whether it be a rebound or offensive set, while drawing a foul to boot (like Texas did a couple of times to ISU last Saturday).
ISU got a bunch of offensive rebounds last Saturday, but didn't convert them to points. Several of the followup shots were not strong. Last Saturday, on several occasions ISU spread the floor very nicely...the posts/PFs got several one-on-one opportunities close to the hoop but couldn't finish.
One of the things that makes dribble-penetration successful is the guys inside getting in position to recieve the pass from the guy penetrating when the help comes over, and then finishing off with a hoop after they get the pass. You've got to make the post defender pay for helping out to cut off the guard penetration. ISU is not good at that yet.
Right now, I'd take a post/PF brute over another guard in a heartbeat. The leading scorer (and probably best player) on the best team in the Big 12 right now isn't a guard...
Gilstrap is just a fill in for a super 3 prospect in the 10 class. It could be Barnes. It could be Ejim (sp). But having an super athletic 3 to create his own shot and tear up defenses is exactly what this team needs. We have zero middle game. Which is better than last year when we had no game period. The post game has improved and the perimeter game has improved. We need the middle game and this team is complete.
I think that Gilstrap helps us a couple of ways. First, he is going to be tough to guard because he has a perimeter game, yet can post up. Second, he is versatile enough that he can play SF or PF, so if we need to go with a small lineup, he could play PF with Brackins at C. An example would be the iowa game. We had to go small because they had Gatens playing PF. Brackins couldn't handle him on the perimeter. So, going small, we had Lucca at PF and Brackins at C. With Gilstrap, he can easily play PF and still be able to guard smaller perimeter players, yet burn them posting up on the other end. Of course, WJ would have been even better at this.
IMO with WJ, we may just have 1 loss right now.
IMO with WJ, we may just have 1 loss right now.
Funny, you must have missed CycloneErik's "Wesley Johnson is an idiot," post a couple of days ago. :biggrin: Great stuff.
One piece doesn't necessarily mean Top Twenty-five, but it certainly could mean NCAA Tourney. :yes:
Yeah, WJ would have played this role perfectly. And that is why we are missing that role and had to get an emergency JC guy as a filler. The staff was building a team around WJ and Craig. We lost a piece of the foundation. It sucks. With a healthy WJ, I agree we have maybe 1 or 2 losses. We certainly don't lose to Hawaii or SDSU.
You don't have to be a "fill in" to be the missing link for a single season's success. Certainly Jamaal Tinsley was a "fill in" until better four year point guards arrived (and after losing a certain point guard recruit to Kansas), but he certainly was lightning in a bottle, especially in combination with Fizer.
I suppose it might be appropriate to say that Gilstrap is a "bridge", but one that most certainly will carry it's own traffic.
The term "fill-in" wasn't meant to be a knock on Gilstrap. Heck, I'd be the first member of the Gilstrap fan club. He is exactly what we need. But with 1 year of play time, he is a 3 that gets us to the next 3. Bridge is probably a better sounding term.
I don't need the season to be complete to see that we would have won more games this year with Wes Johnson than without.
It has been a pretty sad trend for the team and ISU fans.... losing a missing piece before the season starts. IMO we would have at least been an NIT team, maybe an NCAA team last year if Taylor would have hit the books and stuck around. IMO we would be in the same position this year if WJ wasn't a punk quitter.
Man do I hope we don't continue that trend next year.... my worry is that Brackins will come out a year too early and he will be the missing piece next season.
Do you think we could possibly see a guard (or two) redshirting next season, if we don't have any attrition at the position?
With the numbers we would have in the guard court, at least 1 or 2 of the guards won't get that much PT. I wonder if the odd man out would redshirt? All of them have a RS year to use except for SC.
