I am honestly more worried about the defense than the offense this year. I think we have added enough offensive firepower to be fine, but do we have enough guys willing to be dawgs on the defensive end. Defense has been the reason we have won games the last 2 seasons, and has been the foundation of TJ’s program. Have to have the guys buy in and maintain that defensive intensity
Preseason Hype Thread 23-24
- Thread starter CoKane
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Agreed, but, TJ isnt going to change that. Its been a foundation for him at every place hes coached. That doesnt just suddenly change. Im guessing these guys can play both at a higher level than the previous teams
Agree that TJ is not going to change, but not all guys are willing to put that kind of effort in on defense. I do have full confidence that TJ has brought in guys that are willing to play D to his standard. Just that the last 2 teams have been pretty unique in being a bunch of guys with chips on their shoulders that weren’t super highly thought of and were willing to lay it all out on the defensive end to win games. All that being said, I think this team will figure it out and have a great year. I think the offense will be MUCH improved
You watch those highlights of Lipsey…. and he really does have elite ball skills. He has that thing on a rope, great handle. He can easily get into the lane at will it seems.
If he developed an outside shot…. he’d be an elite PG IMO.
I’m really excited about this season. Paveletzke is someone not many people are talking about, but I’m really excited to watch. He seems like a real dawg…. tough as nails and extreme competitor.
If he developed an outside shot…. he’d be an elite PG IMO.
I’m really excited about this season. Paveletzke is someone not many people are talking about, but I’m really excited to watch. He seems like a real dawg…. tough as nails and extreme competitor.
By all accounts the expectation up front is to be a dawg no matter what is going on. The players seem to not only embrace, but love it.
The defense taking a step or two back won't be an issue if the offense can be viable enough to keep up.
Last season during a WVU or maybe it was TCU game Tamin was the best player on the floor for 3 to 4 possessions in a row. He was unstoppable and during that time I was thinking he's realizing his potential. Que Mobius matrix meme.
He really never had a stretch of mins like that the rest of the season but if Tamin can get close to that level once a game when needed he is going to dominate the B12.
He really never had a stretch of mins like that the rest of the season but if Tamin can get close to that level once a game when needed he is going to dominate the B12.
This team has a ton of similarities to the 18-19 roster.
Tamin Lipsey/Nick Weiler-Babb
The steady, do-it-all point guard.
Omaha Billiew, Milan Momcilovic/Tyrese Haliburton, Talen Horton-Tucker, Lindell Wigginton
The NBA potential freshmen(+Lindell). Flashy, but young.
Hason Ward/Cam Lard
The high ceiling, low floor big man with next level athleticism and foul prone.
Robert Jones/Michael Jacobsen
The low ceiling, high floor big man. Great culture guys.
Tre King (Keshon Gilbert? Curtis Jones?)/Marial Shayok
The 5th year player ready to be the guy. Shayok came to Ames from Virginia to show he could pair his lockdown defense with an ability to hit big shots. I feel like Tre is ready to be that guy, but I could also see Jones or Gilbert taking over that role.
Tamin Lipsey/Nick Weiler-Babb
The steady, do-it-all point guard.
Omaha Billiew, Milan Momcilovic/Tyrese Haliburton, Talen Horton-Tucker, Lindell Wigginton
The NBA potential freshmen(+Lindell). Flashy, but young.
Hason Ward/Cam Lard
The high ceiling, low floor big man with next level athleticism and foul prone.
Robert Jones/Michael Jacobsen
The low ceiling, high floor big man. Great culture guys.
Tre King (Keshon Gilbert? Curtis Jones?)/Marial Shayok
The 5th year player ready to be the guy. Shayok came to Ames from Virginia to show he could pair his lockdown defense with an ability to hit big shots. I feel like Tre is ready to be that guy, but I could also see Jones or Gilbert taking over that role.
2018/19 was arguably Prohm's worst coaching job at Iowa State (probably better than the two win season, but I checked out of that one quickly thank goodness). There were so many ways to take that roster. Bill Self probably wins 15+ B12 games and gets a 1 seed with them, but instead they went 9-9, 6th seed and out first round. Steve couldn't manage the egos or build reliable rotations with all the depth. I expect TJ to do better, but it will be a new challenge for him unlike his first two years here.
CycloneErik
Well-Known Member
But with an actual coach.
CycloneErik
Well-Known Member
I've only seen some of them, and I can't find a reason to be worried about anything.
This dude is 2/2 on trips to the tourney with a lot less talent than he'll have now. Guys coming in know what he expects. I'll be shocked if we're anything but excellent (which still might mean 7th place in this conference, but an excellent team).
Agreed. Lipsey is elite defensively, has great hands and good dribbling / ball skills. He's pretty decent as a playmaker as well, not quite up there with Monte yet at playmaking, and nowhere near Monte at shooting yet, but hope he'll make a leap this year. We will need it to improve with the way the offense is run.
So much of shooting is just confidence and mental. Got to keep believing in yourself no matter what. A coach once told me, "good shooter's have irrational confidence." Hope he has it.
I agree. I don't think the people worrying about the defense / rebounding taking a step back should have to worry much. That's effort and intensity and a lot of those guys that give it are back (Lipsey, Jones, King). I think the big thing will be offense. Can the offense improve? Hope so.
IMO, rotations is what did him (and team chemistry) in. One of the things I was most thankful of for TJ was that they were frequent. Prohm seemed set on riding with the starters for the first 8 minutes of each half, come hell or high water. Bench basically had maybe 1-2 chances to get in per half.
I got the impression that among other things, players didn't have a clear vision for what their role was or where they stood.
In other aspects of life, if follks don't know where they stand, things can get toxic.
Otoh sometimes a coach can only do so much although I have more confidence in TJ handling that better.
I am out of the loop a little so I could be wrong, but isn’t Gilbert tough defensively too? With his size and athleticism, he and Lipsey could lock down a lot of opposing backcourts. I am excited for this team.
Rock and Hamilton are going to redshirt. Should be really helpful for the program going forward.
Glad the hype train is internal and doesnt reach to the national media. Love when a good team comes in under the radar and then exceeds the worlds' expectations. Should be a super fun year! Man, what a gauntlet the Big 12 will be this year and going forward!
I think your concern is legit. It's gonna be hard to match the level of defense we've played the last 2 seasons.
However, we have 10 guys on this roster who can flat out play, so keeping guys fresh enough to bust their rears on defense shouldn't be a problem. Also, we have guys who really excel at the defense end of the court (Omaha, big Rob, Lipsey, etc.), so TJ can put the right guys out on the court when we really need to defend.
Defense is a lot about effort. If there's one thing we know about TJ, he demands effort from all his players. I don't expect a huge drop off in defensive play this year