Most pleasant surprise(s)

[cyclones500]

In your opinion, what were a couple of the most pleasant surprises of the 2011-12 MBB season?

Be specific.

Obviously, getting to the Round of 32 and finishing 3rd in B12 (to name 2 examples) were exciting, but whether those qualify as a "surprise" depends on your preseason expectations.

Anything goes, but say why.

Two of mine, both player-related vs. W-L achievement:

1. Royce's all-around game, especially passing and playing "point forward."

A lot of you probably knew more than me about his skill set prior to the season, but I mainly figured he would be a scoring and rebounding force.

I was thrilled about the whole package (it was good enough that I could live w/ the FT part).

2. Depth.

I've mentioned that numerous times in past month or so, but it still impresses me. We knew the roster had more beef, numbers-wise, compared to 2010-11, and highly anticipated the strength of transfers.

What I didn't expect was how dynamic the lineup would become, how many players could get useful minutes in multiple games, and it could depend on the situation.


A couple others I could include. I'll post those only if nobody else does.

 

[CyFan61]

Chris Babb's defensive prowess

 

[hexodat64]

The teams ability to fight. I know we gave some games away, but our home game against K-State really stands out to me. We were down double digits and could have given in but they fought hard and came back.

 

[cyclonedave25]

Babb's scrappy defense.
Fred's overall coaching, in only his 2nd year.
Tyrus McGee's spark off the bench.

 

[marothisu]

Chris Babb's defensive prowess

This. I heard he was a good 3 point shooter, and a streaky shooter from my PSU friends but I never heard anything much about his defense. Real good defender..

 

[Wesley]

Royce hitting two three pointers in a game.
CA making a crazy UK dunk past theior front line.
SC winnning the free throw percentage in B12.
Bubu silly shot in UK game that hit high ion the backboard.
Booker three pointers.
Ejim second half heroics/hustle running down the floor.
Tyrus guarding people half a foot taller than himself.
Percy popping in shot after shot like a walk in the park.

 

[Jordanj6502]

The teams ability to fight. I know we gave some games away, but our home game against K-State really stands out to me. We were down double digits and could have given in but they fought hard and came back.

That game was great. Just today I went back and read the game day thread (just the 2nd half). Such an intense game, and a great memory.

 

[cyclones500]

That game was great. Just today I went back and read the game day thread (just the 2nd half). Such an intense game, and a great memory.

That win appeared to swing ISU from bubble to "in," too. Huge in that regard.

EDIT: I confused this with the road game vs. KSU.

Attempted to delete, not sure if it stuck.

 

[cyclone357]

The ability to protect the homecourt. Very impressive we were only defeated twice in Hilton, and only once in conference. The magic was back.
Very pleased with coaching staff's game plans. Always looked very prepared, just sometimes lacked execution.

 

[RandomFan]

Biggest/Most pleasent surprise for me was Percy Gibson.

 

[83Clone]

Return of The Magic

Ability to withstand a "Punch" and still win instead of wilt and lose

 

[pulse]

The team lived up to my expectations, so not a lot surprised me. I would have to say:

1. Tyrus' tenacity.
2. Royce's passing and dribbling.

 

[Al_4_State]

Things I had no clue about coming into the season:

1) Babb's D
2) Booker Bombs
3) McGee's "Give a s**t" button being permanently stuck in "on" mode

 

[Cyclonepride]

Too many to list, though I will say the first thing that came to mind was depth. I'm very impressed with how many solid players we suddenly had that could hit the floor and produce. That's a great sign for things to come.

 

[Mr Janny]

Biggest/Most pleasent surprise for me was Percy Gibson.

I think I'll have to go with this one, as well.

Obviously lots of people expected Royce to do well, although he surprised me with the way he excelled.

But I had no idea that I would be as excited to see Percy develop as I am about any other player on the team. I never considered him a throw away scholly, but like with most young big men, I didn't think he would be anywhere near ready to contribute this year. And while his defense has a ways to go, his offensive game is very advanced for a freshman. By the time he's done here at ISU, he's going to be an absolute terror on the low post. He's already got a Big 12 body, but after a summer of hitting the weights, he's going to be even stronger. Really looking forward to seeing him progress.

 

[klamath632]

Ejim's hustle. It went from "Please Dear God Edge stop shooting threes from the corner!" to "Man, I wish Edge didn't have three fouls, we could use him in the game right now!"

Also, RW's progression with free throw shooting this year. He looked like a guy who had confidence that he would make them, when earlier in the season it was even odds that the next one would be an airball.

 

[clonetil01]

Hoiberg's willingness to change the way he was doing something if it wasn't working. After so many years of watching our coaches try to force a round peg into a square hole it was so refreshing watching coach adjust and thus critque himself and play to the strengths of his players.

 

[Brentwood]

Royce hitting two three pointers in a game.
CA making a crazy UK dunk past theior front line.
SC winnning the free throw percentage in B12.
Bubu silly shot in UK game that hit high ion the backboard.
Booker three pointers.
Ejim second half heroics/hustle running down the floor.
Tyrus guarding people half a foot taller than himself.
Percy popping in shot after shot like a walk in the park.

That shot was vs. UCONN, it was over Drummond.

 

[Mr Janny]

That shot was vs. UCONN, it was over Drummond.

I think you might be mistaken. He's talking about the shot that hit "high ion." Pretty sure it was Michael Faraday defending.

 

[Spam]

Royce's sweat.