He's growing on me. He does give some interesting perspective on a lot of things that only a player really notices. Almost any announcer is annoying when things aren't going well, often because the truth hurts. King does know the Big 12 well.
*** Official #25 IOWA STATE vs Oklahoma Game(Day) Thread ***
- Thread starter CycloneRulzzz
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Holmes has quietly been one of our more effective players, even on nights when he appears to struggle. He is not great at driving and finishing against P6 competition from what we've seen so far, but just having him around to put pressure on the defense is huge and something that we didn't have a lot at times last year as even Izaiah tended to settle into more of a mid-range/spot up shooter type as Big 12 play got going. He does a lot of other things pretty well too. Adequate defender, solid rebounder, and sees the floor well as you alluded to when you mentioned his assists. He doesn't quite have the athleticism to do what he did so effectively in the A10 at this level, but that is fine. The skills have translated just with a bit of drop off which was probably to be expected.
I'm not sure if it's the guys forcing him the ball or if it's him just forcing an awkward shot after getting walled up on by his defender, and often times a double team. Offensively he looked better early in the season, but by and large against P6 opponents has not looked a whole lot better than last year. The last couple of games he's almost looked worse, but again, I think it's because he's forcing the issue. He needs to slow down and let the game start coming to him again.
Agreed - the last couple years I was not thrilled if he was calling our away games however I thought he did a fine job last night. ESPN clearly sees it the same way as he is moving up the ranks.
I find it interesting how much more pick and roll we are doing this year. Last year we seemed to exclusively rely on getting the ball to the high post and doing handoffs and back cuts. That could have had alot to do with trying to iso Brockington, but I think it probably has more to do with having a point guard that you trust to make the proper pass.
I've been good with him for a couple years now. I felt bad for the guy during the covid season, as he had to watch and commentate on a lot of that Steve Prohm trainwreck with the rest of us so that kind of endeared me to him a bit.
Also think the team from last year and this year has earned his respect. His perspective seemed to be based upon the previous few years, and generally didn't respect ISU.
100% agree. There was a noticeable difference his super senior year. He was so much more aggressive at attacking the rim.
It was a great win. Osun had a great stat-line. Very high shot percentage. And nailed a three!
The ball stuck with Jones a bit last night and a bit on the perimeter.
Some of that was OU really tightening up the D but hopefully ISU figures out how to keep it moving.
Not a bad thing to get a road win and still have room for growth.
Some of that was OU really tightening up the D but hopefully ISU figures out how to keep it moving.
Not a bad thing to get a road win and still have room for growth.
I know I've shared before, but I don't think this is really true regarding Tamin's recruitment.
He missed all of his Soph. year, but played every game his Jr. year. In fact, he was back from his injury to start as QB as a Jr. and in the first game had 369 yards, 5 TDs passing, 203 yards and 3 TDs rushing. He answered any questions about returning from injury by August.
He had a lot of interest as Freshman because he was a 6'2 Fr. with PG skills. Like most freshman boys, it was assumed he'd probably grow a few more inches. When he was back as a Jr. he clearly was all the way back athletically, as his football performance proved. The problem was as a Jr. he was still 6'2.
The injury lost him some momentum and opportunities, but there was definitely some projection as a freshman that he was going to possibly grow more, but he didn't. He had a full Jr. football season, basketball season, and a full AAU circuit after his Jr. season.
Now, I suppose if you assume the injury put him several months behind, and his 3P shooting would be much better, then I think that's valid. Regardless, he's a damn good player, and just what this team needs. He's tough as hell and has the perfect demeanor.
Holmes sure is an interesting player. Last night we went to him and he was basically posting his guy up getting to the hole. Made some awful tough shots. Almost Pratt like. But other times scoring looks to be a struggle. Is it possible that guys that transfer in have never played quite this 'all out' on the defensive end that it takes a little away from their offensive game? Having said that, defense travels. We couldn't have won without it last night. But that 8-9 minute drought....woof!
It's probably harder as a player to push down the bias right after your playing days are done. The farther out we get, the less people he's going to have to talk about that he directly faced.
Hopefully his production starts to ramp up as the season progress. Some transfers it takes about a half of a season before it "clicks".
He's having trouble finishing at the rim through contact. From watching his highlights at St. Bonnies, he wasn't really that great of a finisher. I think he's at his best when he's playing off both feet and we saw that being effective those two possessions in a row.
He's currently averaging the exact same amount he did last year, so I don't think there's been much of a drop off. I'm excited for him to get his shooting going though because he's been off lately and I think he'll settle in here soon.
I don't think the projection of his size is what kept him from being that highly rated of a recruit. I mean look at Tyrese Hunter for example (4 star top 40 kid), he was (and still is) barley 6 ft and 160 lbs. Tamin has a more mature body being 6'2 200 lbs coming out of HS.
I recall recruiting sites in early 2020 calling him a 'potential 5 star PG' and there are a few highlight videos of him as a freshman with "5-Star Guard" in the title, one specially made by Courtside Films.
Either way, he's been a Cyclone for life and it's exciting what he can do in Ames.
I'm not saying his size limited his ranking. I'm saying he was that highly projected as a Fr. in part because he was a 6'2 PG at the age of 14. If you are going to be a 5 star kid at 6'2" you are typically a freak athlete, great shooter, or at least be putting up some gaudy stats. I guarantee if those scouts could see the future and know that by his senior year he'd still be 6'2" and shoot around 20% from 3, and put up 16 and 6 in Iowa, they would not project him to be a 5 star guy. When guys are scouting kids that early, it's always a little strange. They are talking about 5'7" PGs, 6'2" combo guards, 6'3" wing/PFs. For most of those kids they are assuming they will grow, become good shooters, etc. There's a ton of projection.
That doesn't mean he wasn't significantly underrated, but it was more because what makes him great is hard to quantify, and is underappreciated by recruiting services. Their HS slow pace and his unselfishness also led to him putting up less than eyepopping stats.