Praise for the Cyclones Basketball Team

[Busch Light]

Added bonus in the "Teams that have disappointed" section of the SI article is a couple swipes at Oregon for not being Top 25 worthy.

 

[bawbie]

Am I the only one who Haliburton has pretty much completely snuck up on? I liked the length at the point and the long term potential, but did not see him being this much of an impact player. Granted, he has probably been the biggest beneficiary of Wigg's injury from a minutes and experience standpoint so that has something to do with it. The physical game is impressive, but his savvy and b-ball IQ make him a really good all around player. Offensively and defensively, he's in the right spot a LOT of the time, and that's no accident.

Big tip of the cap to Prohm for landing him along with the rest of this freshman class.

Tyrese has totally surprised me - I didn't expect the poise, maturity and all around fundamental game. He's been absolutely outstanding - in a "I'm going to make you play me" type of a way. I expected him (and Griffen after he got sick) to be players that took a year or two to get into the rotation, and I couldn't have been more wrong about Tyrese.

Unless it's how wrong I was about Michael Jacobson, who doesn't really get mentioned in these articles, but has been mind-blowingly good. I expected a sophmore-year Jamie Vanderbeken, but got ... junior year George Niang (I know, they aren't the same player - but he's exceeded Georges' stats from '14-'15 so far)

 

[Sigmapolis]

Tyrese has totally surprised me - I didn't expect the poise, maturity and all around fundamental game. He's been absolutely outstanding - in a "I'm going to make you play me" type of a way. I expected him (and Griffen after he got sick) to be players that took a year or two to get into the rotation, and I couldn't have been more wrong about Tyrese.

Unless it's how wrong I was about Michael Jacobson, who doesn't really get mentioned in these articles, but has been mind-blowingly good. I expected a sophmore-year Jamie Vanderbeken, but got ... junior year George Niang (I know, they aren't the same player - but he's exceeded Georges' stats from '14-'15 so far)

You, wrong about stuff...?

Anyways, I completely agree on Haliburton. We have had snippets and leaks from the beat writers telling us that Jacobson and Shayok were really good last year, and JS indicated that Haliburton was good enough to be in the rotation in October.

I think we all just think it is 1995 and "scrawny" Haliburton needs to bulk up. The game is different now. Raw mass matters far less than skill, speed, and length.

Nixon // Haliburton // Horton-Tucker sounds like a nice starting three and a nice start to the guard rotation for next year after losing Nick and Marial, too.

 

[Cynonymous]

Gary is starting to like us now too.

https://www.cbssports.com/college-b...e-is-7-1-heading-into-thursdays-game-at-iowa/

That's not a surprise since the team is filling in all the boxes in advanced stats which he relies on so heavily with his lazy reporting. This is a good thing mind you.

 

[JM4CY]

Just wish Iowa was worth a crap so it would turn more heads when we win tonight.

 

[Halincandenza]

Added bonus in the "Teams that have disappointed" section of the SI article is a couple swipes at Oregon for not being Top 25 worthy.

Which is weird because looking at what they lost I didn't think they would be great this season. Seemed they got ranked from the last couple of years and because of Bol Bol not because of how good they would actually be this year.

 

[Halincandenza]

Just wish Iowa was worth a crap so it would turn more heads when we win tonight.

Well they are still ranked so it would be a win on the road against a ranked team.

 

[madguy30]

Halliburton has really been a pleasant surprise. I knew he would be a good player but I thought he would need time to find his place but he leap frogged Lewis day one. Future is bright.

And Lewis has been in a bit of a groove since Maui. Much more fluid. ISU may need him tonight for a chance

 

[madguy30]

Which is weird because looking at what they lost I didn't think they would be great this season. Seemed they got ranked from the last couple of years and because of Bol Bol not because of how good they would actually be this year.

When i saw them play Altman looked like he knew he had some work to do...didn't seem frustrated, just coaching guys up.

 

[Busch Light]

Which is weird because looking at what they lost I didn't think they would be great this season. Seemed they got ranked from the last couple of years and because of Bol Bol not because of how good they would actually be this year.

Exactly, all based on Bol Bol hype and the coach who is decent but they have no other pieces. It's all good if it can give us a win over a "ranked" opponent tonight.

 

[Cyclonepride]

I was gonna comment on this, and psi somewhat touched on it. But NWB is the oft-forgot player on this team by national media people. I think his style of play is a huge part of our team's ability and how it functions. Obviously, we have more options around him than we did last year, so what is expected of him scoring wise will not be as big of a deal, but I'd be surprised if he doesn't at least get a summer league shot with someone.

Absolutely. He's a game manager and usually defers to players around him. That's actually perfect for this year's team where we're loaded with scorers. Last year, he was still really good, but needed to hunt his shot more as he didn't have a lot of help.