ISU 4 point favorite. That is without Jefferson playing
Virginia or Tennessee?
- Thread starter casey1973
- Start date
You didn’t get much appreciation for your comment, but I’ve been doing a deep dive into this, and there is some merit to this…at least in certain situations. Tennessee may be one of those. They have done worse against guard-heavy teams like the one we would employ without Jefferson than they have with a teams who have a central hub like Jefferson.
The problem we are going to have is in getting by Michigan…where we really need Jefferson’s length and rebounding. Even more so if we have a rematch against Arizona.
And I didn’t spend much time on your specific points, but they are all also at least mostly true by the way. Nate is an elite defender and quick decision-maker. He also opens the lane so that Tamin can drive more easily.
I say that if Jefferson is not healthy yet on Friday, you either sit him or use him sparingly…but I think you have to use him against Michigan if he’s available and we get to that point.
Tennessee isn’t a significant upgrade over Kentucky.
We've had Heise and Toure step up big in the first two games without Jefferson. Jefferson has games where he has been a turnover machine and a liability, but 9 out of every 10 games he's a monster difference maker. We will need him back against Michigan or Alabama for sure. Let's hope he's good to go on Friday night.
I like that we have a Friday game instead of Thursday as that extra day could mean the difference between Jefferson playing or not.
If there is one thing we don't know, it's this. I do not envision either J Jeff or TJ deciding him to play if he's not close to 100%. This scenario may slightly impact Tenn's prep as they don't know which team we will present, but at this point in the season I would guess that this is even minimal with the number of different opponents a team has prepped for to date. My guess is coaches' focus may be reminding players of how we defended or attacked a similar player/team but wholesale philosophy changes are not implemented. I would also guess that to some degree all coaches practice it but TJ vocalizes it more, to work on the daily habits--more of a mindset rather than a physical fine-tuning from here on out.
Cyclonepride
Thought Police
I think he has been in rage mode since the postseason started. He looked like he was ready to get in a scrap yesterday too.
JJ didn’t clog the lane. Heise and moreso Toure going through their offensive slumps and not shooting or attacking clogged the lane. Toure and Heise flipped the switch when JJ went out. Well Toure did in KC.
Now I’ll say if I have to choose between ISU with JJ with Toure and Heise in their passive mode from a couple weeks ago vs the team with aggressive Toure and Heise, I’d take the latter.
My hope is JJ can come back well enough to be effective and Toure and Heise retain their current aggression on offense. That’s a NC team.
I guess it depends on what 80% means. If it means he can only do 80% of what he does or can only go at 80% of speed and power, sure. If it means he gets sore or tired 20% quicker you absolutely play him a bit. Tennessee having to adjust back and forth between offense with Jefferson and Heise is much better than the Vols being able to concentrate on solving one of those options.
As long as it won't slow down JJeff's progress, if you can play him - even a few minutes a half - you do just to give the other team another look and another problem to solve. Also JJeff getting a little game action to try to keep him sharp is also helpful.
I know people will give you a lot of **** for this but there's some merit to what you're saying.
I'm not going to say that Iowa State is better off without their All American but I do feel that when JJ is on the court, the other players tend to watch him too much and kind of fade into the background as a result and I feel that the ball movement is better without an alpha on the court dominating the ball so in some ways I feel like the offense flows better without JJ.
However, without their #1 option they lose their gamechanger, a guy that can take over games on his own and a go to guy when games are inevitably close down the stretch none of what they've seen since he went down.
Either way, we want him back and playing at full strength but I feel that they can get by Tennessee at least without him. If they play Michigan, that's another story.
Tennessee starts three guys that are 6’11. Beat them with speed and pressure.
Plot twist JJ sits against Tenn, leave him on the bench for the Michigan start bring him in shortly after the start ISU fans in the arena GO NUTS!!! The team would already know but it would be quite the crowd boost.
Found this scout on Tennessee from a Miami of Ohio board and found it fairly informative (did a little light editing):
First, Tennessee is hard to watch. I’ve tried to watch them casually throughout the year and they're hard on the eyes. They’re probably a great looking team coming off the bus, but they aren’t the most skilled. However, they play hard, making it difficult on you at both ends.
When we have the ball, they won’t put heavy ball pressure on us, but we’ll feel their presence. They mix up their ball screen coverage. It will be important for the ball handler to keep their dribble, not only to avoid turnovers, but to also create scoring opportunities. I watched the game against Vanderbilt from last week. Vanderbilt is probably the most similar team to us that they’ve played. Vanderbilt is guard-driven, undersized, scrappy on defense with shooters that can spread the floor.
I feel I’ve been saying this on repeat but you want to attack their bigs, either through ball screens or weakside action. They get lost easily and are late on closeouts, so anything that’s popping Elmer or Byers out will be open. Gillespie isn’t the best helpside defender either, he can get lost as well. Their bigs, just like SMU’s, will crash hard into the lane to stop the driver, so shooters will be open. Skip passes will be open, but it will be hard to see through Tennessee’s bulk and height.
We have to dribble through contact. I see a lot of Skaljac and Suder in what Miles was able to do for Vandy. Keep your dribble and make them move their feet. They aren’t the quickest team on defense so after a point, they will put their hands on us and we can draw some fouls.
And if we can push the pace, let’s push the pace.
When we’re on defense, we don’t need to guard them hard outside the 3 point line. Vanderbilt trailed guys around ball screens. I don’t think we need to do that. Go under screens, then come up on them. Boswell and Burg are the only guys I’d worry about behind the 3 point line unless Gillespie and Ament find a rhythm.
Tennessee runs some nice sets. If there’s a flash up to the high post, they’re going for the high low dump in. If there’s a high post entry, a perimeter player is coming around from the weak side to drive or dump it in the post. When they have wing pick and rolls, don’t trail the ballhandler. Either double hard and help from the weakside or drop completely and fight through the screen, which gives them time to make the 3, but Tennessee will likely turn that down.
Also, when they come around pick and rolls, they’re looking to throw the lob so that’s why we need to either go under or hedge hard, no in between on ball screens, especially on the wing.
Vandy didn’t double the post much, I think that’s an option given Tennessee’s below average shooting numbers.
First, Tennessee is hard to watch. I’ve tried to watch them casually throughout the year and they're hard on the eyes. They’re probably a great looking team coming off the bus, but they aren’t the most skilled. However, they play hard, making it difficult on you at both ends.
When we have the ball, they won’t put heavy ball pressure on us, but we’ll feel their presence. They mix up their ball screen coverage. It will be important for the ball handler to keep their dribble, not only to avoid turnovers, but to also create scoring opportunities. I watched the game against Vanderbilt from last week. Vanderbilt is probably the most similar team to us that they’ve played. Vanderbilt is guard-driven, undersized, scrappy on defense with shooters that can spread the floor.
I feel I’ve been saying this on repeat but you want to attack their bigs, either through ball screens or weakside action. They get lost easily and are late on closeouts, so anything that’s popping Elmer or Byers out will be open. Gillespie isn’t the best helpside defender either, he can get lost as well. Their bigs, just like SMU’s, will crash hard into the lane to stop the driver, so shooters will be open. Skip passes will be open, but it will be hard to see through Tennessee’s bulk and height.
We have to dribble through contact. I see a lot of Skaljac and Suder in what Miles was able to do for Vandy. Keep your dribble and make them move their feet. They aren’t the quickest team on defense so after a point, they will put their hands on us and we can draw some fouls.
And if we can push the pace, let’s push the pace.
When we’re on defense, we don’t need to guard them hard outside the 3 point line. Vanderbilt trailed guys around ball screens. I don’t think we need to do that. Go under screens, then come up on them. Boswell and Burg are the only guys I’d worry about behind the 3 point line unless Gillespie and Ament find a rhythm.
Tennessee runs some nice sets. If there’s a flash up to the high post, they’re going for the high low dump in. If there’s a high post entry, a perimeter player is coming around from the weak side to drive or dump it in the post. When they have wing pick and rolls, don’t trail the ballhandler. Either double hard and help from the weakside or drop completely and fight through the screen, which gives them time to make the 3, but Tennessee will likely turn that down.
Also, when they come around pick and rolls, they’re looking to throw the lob so that’s why we need to either go under or hedge hard, no in between on ball screens, especially on the wing.
Vandy didn’t double the post much, I think that’s an option given Tennessee’s below average shooting numbers.
