Cyclones have some great shooters coming in. I'm very impressed by Lewis. What we need are a couple of very athletic Pf's and a post to compete at the highest levels.
Shooters for next year?
- Thread starter CycloneVet
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Cyclones have some great shooters coming in. I'm very impressed by Lewis. What we need are a couple of very athletic Pf's and a post to compete at the highest levels.
We need a post presence and 3-point shooters? We could kill two birds with one stone if we got that 6'10" 3-point shooter CF has been clamoring for.
Lewis should help and J. Long might surprise some people (his D might get him on the court). NWB needs to work on that aspect of his game; I bet he will get much more consistent from deep. He won't be the solution to this need but Young is going to surprise some people with his shooting; I was watching him shooting around at the Orlando tournament - with his left hand wrapped - and he had very good technique and backspin. He was consistently hitting from 15 - 20 ft.
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Maybe if we got five of those? Has anyone ever thought of doing that?
Jakolby has one of the more odd releases I've ever seen. He releases the ball on the way down from his jump...and I mean almost hits the ground before letting it fly.
It feels like he has a long ways to go on the offensive side but he has the tools to be a good defender.
I start considering you a "sniper" around 40%.
I know Matt and Naz have that reputation, but, with the season well over 1/3rd the way over, they are just not delivering on that promise so far. The numbers back it up.
Shooting is contextual, however -- it is incredibly noticeable this year how teams are *not* sagging off our shooters compared to past seasons. Matt and Naz did not forget how to shoot, but teams are so unafraid of what our big men can do under the basket in a 1v1 post up or being in available position on a drive that they are not giving up guarding position on the outside. Thus, our guys do not have the quality of shots that they had before, and it makes it much harder to make it when somebody is guarding you closely.
When we had posts like Ejim, Niang, and even Hogue or McKay around, teams had to respect us inside and double most of the time. Niang could beat anybody in CBB 1v1 without much trouble, and the others were either big, fast, or crafty enough to cause some damage if you left them alone or against even numbers (if only as a dunker or, in many cases, on the offensive boards). That is just not the case with our current set down low.
This is more of a symptom of a cause. I try to have a holistic view of the offense, and I think our shooting problems come from how teams are defending the outside, which comes from how they do not much have to defend the inside.
Jackson has turned out to be the "this guy can shoot" player that CW promised, however, so that is nice. I will be excited next year to see how he will do with a much more prominent role in the rotation as a likely starter, full health and recovery after his wrist injury, the experience of this season, and a talented, athletic, but raw co-PG in Wigginton with him in the back court. Heck, you could make a case that Jackson should start now. He is small, but probably our best shooter and tenacious on defense. He featured heavily in the TTU comeback.
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What has surprised me is we haven't implememted an offense that leverages our quickness. We like to have guys pound the ball on the perimeter and then beat guys off the dribble. We also look to run the pick &roll and we don't have the post guys who set good picks or offensive skills to roll or pop out and shoot the 3.
I was expecting the coaches to implement more of a motion offense with back cuts or screens to get shooters open. IMO Matt and Naz would shoot a higher % of 3s if they came off screens.
I was expecting the coaches to implement more of a motion offense with back cuts or screens to get shooters open. IMO Matt and Naz would shoot a higher % of 3s if they came off screens.
Naz and Matt are more likely to pull themselves up to their career averages than stay at their current % for this season so I'm looking at it as if we've got some bullets saved up for conference season.
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fred hoiberg shot 25% from 3 when he was on the bulls. then he shot 48% playing with garnett.
a decent big man would boost naz and matt's %'s into the mid 40s in no time.
a decent big man would boost naz and matt's %'s into the mid 40s in no time.
That works if the big man actually kicks out to the wing when the defense collapses.
A "decent" big man isn't going to draw double teams in the college game. You need an all-American type Big to get that treatment.
Not really, if you just have a big man who can score inside that pulls the defense in to protect/defend that threat and thus leaves shooters more space....
At this point that Niang/Ejim/White post isn't on the roster. In the staff's defense Malou would have been that guy and losing him late left them with a hole.
The one issue with having both Naz and Matt on the floor at the same time is their game is very similar, great set shooters who rarely slash to the rim. If Monte of Burton isn't getting to the paint their defenders area lowed to just stick to them. ISU made the run Friday when Donovan and Weller-Babb were probing passing out to open Monte/Donovan. Moving forward I think ISU will need more penetration and dish out from the guards and Burton to Naz and Matt at their spots on the perimeter to get their percentages up. I see lineups with more time for Jackson and Babb subbing for either Matt or Naz to add that element to the offence.