Naz

[HFCS]

I figured this thread would be about how Naz is now a dominant all around senior grown-@$$-man player on both ends of the court who is going to eat up inexperienced newbies all year. The guy isn't just a spot up shooter anymore, neither is Thomas which should help a lot off the bench.

 

[mjhavlo76]

You could make the argument that Morris, Niang, and Naz all stole the show! Nadar had a huge second half!

Naz was arguably our best player tonight

 

[ThatllDoCy]

If Naz was 75% last night, I am geeked to see him at 100%.

 

[Hoiball92]

He played good but a little sloppy with the ball, he had 5 TO's.

 

[ISUChippewa]

Naz played one of the best games of his career mentally wise. His shot wasn't falling so he took it hard inside. At the end of the year he did not do that. He did what he had to do to score and it worked. Well. The development he has made since his Redshirt Freshman year is insane.

I completely agree with you about the development in his game, but if memory serves me correctly I don't think he ever actually had a redshirt freshmen year, which in a way makes his development all the more impressive.

 

[Hayes30]

I completely agree with you about the development in his game, but if memory serves me correctly I don't think he ever actually had a redshirt freshmen year, which in a way makes his development all the more impressive.

This is correct he was a back up PG his freshman year playing behind KL and Palo.

 

[HFCS]

This is correct he was a back up PG his freshman year playing behind KL and Palo.

Naz's huge jump from freshman to sophomore year is the kind of thing sunshine pumper fans always pencil in happening but rarely actually happens.

 

[jahfg]

Naz's huge jump from freshman to sophomore year is the kind of thing sunshine pumper fans always pencil in happening but rarely actually happens.

Agreed. Development in basketball is the exception. You can usually tell if a guy can make an impact during his freshman year, especially guards.

 

[cyrocksmypants]

Naz and Nader are both absolute horses. Those two need to take it to the rack every time because they're stronger, quicker, and more athletic than most the guys guarding them. I don't think we'll need to rely on the three as much this year, and that's a good thing.

Yeah, no. Naz is one of the most prolific three point shooters in ISU history. I love the added skillset, but he doesn't need to do it every play. We still need him knocking down threes for us.

 

[heitclone]

Yeah, no. Naz is one of the most prolific three point shooters in ISU history. I love the added skillset, but he doesn't need to do it every play. We still need him knocking down threes for us.

The best part about the CU game was that he just took what they gave him. They were putting tons of pressure on our wings and clearly weren't going to let the 3 beat them. If Naz can keep proving he'll torch you off the dribble as well as from behind the arc, he'll get more good looks from 3. All of our guys did a great job with that, only a couple of our 3pt attempts were rushed or forced. In some games we struggled to score last year (USC, maryland, UAB), that wasn't the case. We kept chucking and expecting to eventually start getting hot.

 

[BWRhasnoAC]

If 40% from 3 and 56% from the field equals "shots not falling" then you need to dial down the expectations a bit.

I might just have to go back and count the number of easy lay ups, finger rolls, and shots that rattled out. It was not a small number. We should have shot around 55%. The three they took away, give them credit.

 

[Dingus]

Naz's huge jump from freshman to sophomore year is the kind of thing sunshine pumper fans always pencil in happening but rarely actually happens.

True that it's not the norm, but if players do make a big jump it's often after the first year. More common than a player being Ina program for two years and then making a jump.

Although I certainly hope Nader has one of those Ejimesque senior year leaps.

 

[heitclone]

Naz's huge jump from freshman to sophomore year is the kind of thing sunshine pumper fans always pencil in happening but rarely actually happens.

I think that leap was pretty exaggerated, people forget that prior until the Okie St game his SO year, he had almost played himself out of the lineup once big 12 play had started, in fact, the only reason he was on the floor to hit the shots he did in that game were because we had 2 or 3 guys fouled out. He barely played until OT that game. That game was a springboard to some great games later in the year but he didn't really find his groove until the last 2 or 3 weeks of his soph year. It was a huge turnaround but it didn't happen all at once.

 

[Cardinal2001]

It appears that the hip injury forced Naz to focus on upper body workouts. He got huge!

I liked his driving game against Colorado. That will only get better this year.