I am pretty sure TJ just wanted to get rid of anyone that had anything to do with that 2 win season. Like bad Karma, Bad aura or whatever. Just move on, get new guys who had nothing to do with last year, and win. Bolton would have offensively did us wonders this season. However, would he have bought in on the defense? If not we would have won less games.
Bolton Article
- Thread starter TopCy
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Rasir Bolton is not toxic, but it's true he didn't fit with what we are doing now with this team. He's a talented offense-minded guard who likes to hang around the perimeter, spot up and run pick and rolls. He gets caught ball watching and doesn't like to mix it up physically without the ball in his hands.
Steve Prohm was inconsistent. I don't think it was by design or came from a bad place, but it resulted in roster mismanagement and a lack of success. On the court he had a hands-off laissez-faire style who didn't demand much from his players for fear it would stifle their play on the court.
It paid dividends on the recruiting trail, but left a lot to be desired in terms of creating a finished product that could out compete a rugged conference filled with elite head coaches. At the same time, he was a high character man guided by a deep abiding Christian faith who would do what he thought was best for his kids. If Fred didn't play you as much as you'd like, you got the sense that it was for basketball related reasons. If Steve didn't play you, there was a very good chance it had little to do with basketball and more to do with trying to shape your character in a positive direction.
On paper, this is a good thing. Ideally, you would get the best of both worlds, freedom of play by disciplined mature individuals. Instead, we kind of actually got the worst of both worlds, an undisciplined disjointed style of play with some of our better players feeling disillusioned and alienated by his tough love tactics when applied.
This is not to say Steve is 100 percent to blame for everything that went wrong, and I don't take any pleasure in stating how I believe it played out in reality. I think it's fair to say he had a lot of bad luck and couldn't catch a break at the end, but it was not going to work in its realized form.
Steve Prohm was inconsistent. I don't think it was by design or came from a bad place, but it resulted in roster mismanagement and a lack of success. On the court he had a hands-off laissez-faire style who didn't demand much from his players for fear it would stifle their play on the court.
It paid dividends on the recruiting trail, but left a lot to be desired in terms of creating a finished product that could out compete a rugged conference filled with elite head coaches. At the same time, he was a high character man guided by a deep abiding Christian faith who would do what he thought was best for his kids. If Fred didn't play you as much as you'd like, you got the sense that it was for basketball related reasons. If Steve didn't play you, there was a very good chance it had little to do with basketball and more to do with trying to shape your character in a positive direction.
On paper, this is a good thing. Ideally, you would get the best of both worlds, freedom of play by disciplined mature individuals. Instead, we kind of actually got the worst of both worlds, an undisciplined disjointed style of play with some of our better players feeling disillusioned and alienated by his tough love tactics when applied.
This is not to say Steve is 100 percent to blame for everything that went wrong, and I don't take any pleasure in stating how I believe it played out in reality. I think it's fair to say he had a lot of bad luck and couldn't catch a break at the end, but it was not going to work in its realized form.
I think it is incredibly cool that Bolton, Coleman-Lands, Grill, Jackson and Conditt are all playing in the Sweet 16. Based off of Prohm's last 2 years, no one saw that coming.
Handing out bus passes and burgers to homeless people in the rain must mean he’s toxic.
It’s possible to both be a great kid and also not like your proposed role in the program or even lose the faith of your teammates while enduring a two-win season. Human beings are complex. I’m glad its worked out for him at Gonzaga. He faced adversity at ISU and ultimately had a choice made for him and he’s taken advantage of his new opportunity. He has probably come out better because of it.
Part of it is when the culture starts to deteriorate, it can cause people to act out of character. It is easy to get caught up in it (I've been a part of bad cultures that caused me to do things I later regretted).
The other thing is that I think some of the "issues" has been due to possible mis-interpretation. What some might consider him being a "me first" could also be him feeling like he had to put the team on his shoulders and carry them.
Either way, Rasir is now in a great situation and is having a lot of success. I'm really happy for him and wish him the best.
Well between this and the radio guy in cedar rapids, it's been a slow week of basketball news leading into game day. I suppose that's better than the hype train the TOE was riding.
I'm happy for Rasir and I'm happy for us. Both are in the sweet 16. Could have been neither if he stayed or it could have been an even less bumpy path. It really doesn't matter at this point.
I'm happy for Rasir and I'm happy for us. Both are in the sweet 16. Could have been neither if he stayed or it could have been an even less bumpy path. It really doesn't matter at this point.
Yet you keep guys like Johnson, Hinson, and Foster?
Bolton never got a chance under this staff, guys like those above did. Odd given this is P5 basketball. Let’s be real, in the future we’ll need to be on the Gonzaga end on this. I’d like to think TJ could have gotten Bolton to play like Few has gotten him to. Coaches that can’t handle guys that are talented like Bolton and get them to be sufficiently bought in generally have a harder time being consistently successful.
I agree with most of this. If Rasir was willing defender he could've played on this team and helped tremendously on offense. He'd have been a great pairing with IB. Keeping him may have come at the expense of either IB or Gabe though, too.
All in all, Rasir just got drug through the mud a bit too often in his stint in Ames. Played on a bad team his first year, then a really bad team the following. That can wear on a guy. He doesn't seem as toxic to me as some make him sound. He just wanted to win and wasn't able to do it enough here and became frustrated. I thought his attitude was great on that '19-'20 team with Haliburton, and he tried to carry the team to the finish line that year, it just isn't in his skill set to be the guy on a high-major team. He fits in perfectly at Gonzaga with the role they have him in. I'm happy for the guy and wish him well.
I always felt like Bolton got a bad wrap. Watching him you felt like he was so competitive, and things were going so poorly that he felt he had to take matters into his own hands. The games I have caught of him this year, I see no signs of selfish out of control balling. I also felt bad he had to take over the point guard job, when he wasn't a point guard, especially under those circumstances.
I can also see that TJ had a vision, and Bolton wasn't in that vision, it seems to have worked out for both parties.
I wish him well.
I can also see that TJ had a vision, and Bolton wasn't in that vision, it seems to have worked out for both parties.
I wish him well.
He initially kept half the squad (Johnson, hinson, foster, conditt, Jackson, walker) so I'm not sure how your statement equates.
I just want to say this is my favorite post on the topic covering the entire thing. I think it's garbage that the common narrative became Bolton being a terrible person and teammate when no one has anything better than second-hand (at best) info that can only have come from one party involved if it wasn't made up entirely.
In reality, I don't think it's anything more than TJ knowing keeping Hunter in the fold was mission #1 and wanting to have room for Kalscheur to start, moving Rasir to the bench if he had stuck around. Anything beyond that is just speculation. Plus, Few has Rasir defend their opponent's best perimeter player fairly often, calling him "an unsung hero there." Obviously different systems defend differently, so who knows how he would have fit. I just don't buy that he's the worst defender alive as people on here have tried to paint him as.
In the end, it has worked out really well for both parties. But it makes me sick seeing someone who did nothing but love Iowa State and has never done anything we actually KNOW of to put that in question. Yet, there's been a push to paint him in an extremely negative light that just doesn't sit right with me. To judge any single player based on last year's debacle is dumb enough to me, let alone vague rumors that never came up prior to him being gone. If it was such a thing, no way those stories aren't out prior, IMO. He wanted to be a part of the rebuild, the new coach didn't see his role as being what Rasir wanted. It doesn't have to be this big thing with Bolton as the big villian.
Source for the Few quote:
Rasir Bolton follows motto 'remain humble, may stumble, never tumble' to find perfect fit at Gonzaga
“A journey,” Rasir Bolton says matter of factly. “It’s been a journey, up and down, good and bad, but I kept my head down and kept working and stayed the
I used to call him "Bolting"... Because he would bolt to the hoop and throw up some crap that occasionally went in.
Anyways, happy for him, glad he's doing well.
Anyways, happy for him, glad he's doing well.
I don't understand this line of thinking. We've been missing a point guard since Haliburton went down for the season in 19-20. Hunter is a true point guard. Not an off guard pretending to be a point guard. What's the difference between Hunter/Bolton/Gabe starting vs Hunter/Brockington/Gabe starting?
No I agree with you, I'm just saying it being a role thing feels a lot closer to reality than Rasir being some incredibly toxic teammate or something. From a purely basketball standpoint I think he would have fit really well for a big hole this year's team has had, but I also feel like Rasir was probably told he would be coming off the bench in a smaller role.