*** Official #19 IOWA STATE vs Creighton Game(Day) Thread ***
- Thread starter CycloneRulzzz
- Start date
That team only had seven going into that season and six going into the Big 12.
Burton
McKay
Mitrou-Long
Morris
Nader
Niang
Thomas
They lost Naz after eight games to his hip injury.
That team would have needed 2-3 more guys to have the depth to play at this level of intensity on defense. Those guys needed to buy into the program immediately *and* bring enough on offense not to slow that down (or at least be wise enough to get out of the way of the stunning quantity of offensive firepower the squadron above could boast). If anybody could do that in Ames, it was TJ, though.
But yes, as an academic exercise, pair these two together...
#5 offensive efficiency (Iowa State, 2016 on Torvik)
#10 offensive efficiency (Iowa State, 2021 on Torvik using only data from this season)
...and you've easily got the best team in the country.
For comparison, the best two teams in the country last year were...
Baylor (#2 offense, #25 defense)
Gonzaga (#1 offense, #11 defense)
So that team would have been a #1 seed/Big 12 champion/national title favorite.
Hunter
Kalscheur
Brockington
Hawkins
Conditt
---
Jackson
Grill
Enaruna
Kunc
No more Jones -- just play a small-ball with Hawkins or Kunc at the "5" when Conditt is out.
Assuming Hawkins can keep up on defense, imagine what that does to the offense.
Hunter running a high pick-and-roll with Hawkins... who is a genuine threat to both roll and pop, unlike Conditt... with Conditt lurking in the dunker's spot and the guards in the corners looking for a kick and/or looking to slash to the basket for the offensive rebound... yeah, that would have been nice.
I know Prohm ran that play into the ground, but it's a good play. It's like the standard play. With Hawkins, they'd have the personnel to run it, so a shame he has to languish in Omaha.
We didn't have space on the roster to take him. Otherwise I'm sure we would have.
We had space.
The same way Bolton is now at Gonzaga despite wanting to come back. Being a high major staff is about finding space to put the best team together. No more accepting time to do that than in coaching transitions and with known poor fits with what you’re trying to establish.
Hence the wish, all water under the bridge of course, a few guys who left in the fall left in the spring.
No Javan Johnson past March, and maybe that roster slot is Ryan Hawkins.
I love that you're not ready to eat crow now, even though TJ has taken a 2-22 program to an 8-0 start, a number 19 ranking, and 2 wins against ranked opponents. You'll eat crow only if TJ continues to grow with this team.
Go ahead and eat the crow now and get it over with. You'll feel better.
Are you implying with this that Hawkins wasn't seen as a cultural fit?
He was all-conference honor roll each of his years at Northwest. He won two national titles and might have won another one if COVID didn't cancel the postseason that one year.
I know this only matters so much, but he's a native Iowan, too.
Seems like exactly the winning habits culture guy that TJ would want.
Hawkins is a nice player for sure. But I'm not going to complain TJ has got things rolling with the hand he was dealt/put together. It is going way better than 99% of this board ever thought it would. Of course we are going to lose some games this yr, but this team is a ton of fun to watch. (I just hope we don't lose this week )
)
I'm not going to wish/regret any roster changes for this team. Whether an accident or a master stroke of coaching TJ has found the perfect mix of players and motivational tactics to form a squad whose whole is well beyond the sum of its parts.
Yes, Barone was the Creighton coach when they took out Grayer with a cheap shot. Grayer was fully elevated (sky high for those who didn't get to see him play) and the defender was trailing and had no chance to contest the shot. He had no chance to get to the ball, but still chose to run through Grayer's legs causing the knee injury as he came down. The real shame is that Grayer would have had a much more impactful NBA career if he could have played on 2 healthy knees.
I remember that play well. Jeff lost his first step after that. For those that never saw him play he just glided down the court and between defenders with or without the ball. At the end of a game he would have 26 pts, 8 rebounds and a couple of steals and it seemed effortless.
It'll probably be Enaruna and Kunc with some brockington at times that doesn't work.
I think TJ would have been a better hire than previous coach, 5 years ago. I also think TJ is 2-3x better and more prepared now to lead Iowa State, than he was 5 years ago. He has matured and learned from his mistakes. He is open to change and learning from what works and doesn't work. He is into analytics now and for the past couple of years I think. Not sure if analytics was a big thing to him 5 years ago (neither here nor there, he could have 'adopted' that anytime).
But I was thinking about Green also. We are really in a good position now. We have TJ with 5 years of head coaching experience, AND Kyle Green who brings SO much to the table himself. Would Green have been willing to come to Ames 5 years ago? Don't know. It's a perfect storm now though and we should ride this for as long as we can.
