How Long Until We are Good?

[Cyphor]

By good I mean 20 win seasons and NCAA births. Personally, I'm thinking 2 years at the earliest. We really need a PG and some stout post defesne. While I believe the recruits comming in have the potential, they're still just freshman. I doubt Garrett, Brackins or anyone else will be able to step in right away and dominate. This team is going to need at least two years to develope.

 

[ColoradoClone]

WJ and Dodie's senior year with the incoming class having some experience and perhaps a few more strong recruits that have played a year in the big XII. I'll be dissappointed if we're not a very strong team in 3 years.

 

[JJ4ISU]

We need one good guard who makes everyone on the team better. Right now, we don't have that player.

 

[cstrunk]

We should be good in two seasons. By then we'll have WJ and Dodie as juniors, Brackins and Garrett as sophomores.... and should have other players ready to step up. I am expecting good things to happen then.

 

[isucyfan]

I think the piece we are missing is a center that can seriously alter shots, a la Cato. Even someone as lame as Erik Hansen can drastically improve a team if they can make opposing guards think twice about coming into the lane.

 

[ISUKyro]

I went with two year. I still think we could really use a BIG man at center and a solid PG. I figure within two year we should be able to start and get the recruits that best fit what we are trying to do.

 

[bos]

If we get guys coming in who play 3/4 as hard and skilled as Wesley Johnson, our winning will happen sooner.

 

[BryceC]

We should be good in two seasons. By then we'll have WJ and Dodie as juniors, Brackins and Garrett as sophomores.... and should have other players ready to step up. I am expecting good things to happen then.

Completely agree.

 

[ISUKyro]

If we get guys coming in who play 3/4 as hard and skilled as Wesley Johnson, our winning will happen sooner.

That's a good point too. This team has shown some amazing heart in most of their games this year. No matter what level of talent we get I hope that can stay the same.

 

[CYdTracked]

I'm being optimistic and saying next year but 2 years may be more realistic. I guess I see this sort of like the year before we had the Elite 8 team (not saying next year will be Elite 8 though!) but we had guys playing roles they weren't being used properly at with Mike Nurse playing PG sort of like Taylor has had to and a promising young freshman in Fizer where we have Wesley but at a different position. We added a few key pieces in Tinsley and Horton and everyone was able to slide into their better roles and magic all the sudden happened.

Obviously Wesley is not a dominating post player like Fizer and Garrett is not an expirienced Juco transfer like Tinsley but moving Taylor to a true SG role, Wesley to SF and add some depth in the post with Brackins and Thompson this team is deeper and bigger all the sudden and the only graduation loss we really have is Gray. I would hope we could at least challenge for a NCAA berth next season.

 

[liljones13]

Personally I think that we will be very deep next year and will go very far with our depth and having more experience.... Craig will bring us hope next year and hopefully is very intense, because I think that is what we are missing on this years squad, INTENSITY!!

 

[CTAClone]

I put next year also, it's optimistic but we are only a couple of players short of becoming a very competitive team. Wesley, at SF will really help and Taylor at SG will also. I don't know if we'll get 20 wins, but I think an NCAA berth isn't out of the question.

 

[huntt26]

I think the piece we are missing is a center that can seriously alter shots, a la Cato. Even someone as lame as Erik Hansen can drastically improve a team if they can make opposing guards think twice about coming into the lane.

i totally agree with this..

 

[isuno1fan]

While next year is possible...I think those of you who think next year are also the ones who felt we had a shot at 8-8 or higher in conference this year.

Next year should be NIT
Year after will be NCAA bubble
Wesley senior year solid NCAA team

 

[CTAClone]

This isn't football, so I think we definitely can be good in 2 years. Yes it helps the longer the program has, but you can turn it around in 1 year. Look at Ohio State. 1 or 2 really solid players can turn a whole team around.

 

[cygoat]

I admit, I thought 8-8 was possible after the first 3 conf games, but I definitely think we're 3 years away from being good now. I am very impressed with the level of talent/coaching in the Big XII, and I think wins are going to be tougher than ever to come by. We'll be a better team, but so will our competition.

 

[CyBobby]

You are right Kyro!!!!! A good big man CENTER and a good Point Guard and we are on our way to a good postseason berth in the big dance.

BTW...I voted for 2 years also!!!!!!!!!


Come On Clones...Lets "Saw'em Off" come saturday afternoon in Austin TX!!!!!!

 

[DaddyMac]

I put down next year, given your criteria of 20 wins and the dance. As I stated in another post, I think we definitely have what it'll take to at least be in the mix. So might be a little off base w/ my selection and say that we'll be maybe a 17 or 18 win team on the bubble.

I agree with a couple posters above, that a solid center would be a difference maker. But I think a true PG who can be a general and not just somebody to bring the ball up the court would make more of a difference. Fact is that our biggest problem these past few weeks has been Taylor has the ball in his hands TOO MUCH. Defending us has been easy - stop Taylor = stop ISU.

Our offense is limited to two options. If Taylor is required to create his own shot from the outside, it relies on WJ or JH to come out and set screens, taking them away from offensive option. Otherwise, if he tries to dribble penetrate, the entire D is allowed to collapse because we don't have much of an alternative outside threat. That's about 75% of our game right there.

Get a guard that takes the responsibilities off MT, and I think you open up a world of possibilites. Again, not to compare players. But what was more important in '00? The arrival of Jamaal Tinsley or the emergence (he he) of Paul Shirley? (This is not a prediction of Conf Championships or Elite 8 run in 2008)

 

[Cyphor]

I admit, I thought 8-8 was possible after the first 3 conf games, but I definitely think we're 3 years away from being good now. I am very impressed with the level of talent/coaching in the Big XII, and I think wins are going to be tougher than ever to come by. We'll be a better team, but so will our competition.

Quite agree!

Playing Missouri in a few years is really going to suck. Once Anderson starts getting the players he needs it's going to be hell. Huggins has taken K-state to a level it's never seen in a matter of one year. Even bottom dwellers like Colorado, and Baylor have good coaches. I think the Big XII is really on the way to being a basketball super conferance. It's going to be hard for any team to win consistantly.

 

[CYdTracked]

I thought 8-8 was not necessarily realistic going into this season but I thought 7-9 at least after the way we started conference play. Let's face it, we were a couple mistakes away from beating Kansas and we did play horrible against K-State, Mizzou, and Colorado I thought we'd at least get 2 wins out of those games. This team has shown flashes how good it can be (Kansas) and how bad (Mizzou and Colorado) but I thought after how we have played at times in the conference we'd be sitting with 5 or 6 conference wins right now and not 3 and while the remaining schedule is tough I would hope that Colorado at home and Nebraska on the road would be at least 2 wins we could pick up so 7 or 8 wins should have been realistic. This is not a terrible team, it's just not disciplined, deep, and expirienced enough right now to win some of the games it lost.

Why can't we hope that Garrett and/or Brackins have the immediate impact next season like Wesley has given us? If they do this team should be shooting for an NCAA berth next season. With some added depth and a somewhat expirenced post addition in Thompson plus the guys coming back this team on paper looks much better than it does right now.