I certainly expected more offensive focus based on being with Fred, and SDSU and UNLV, though I really didn't play a ton of attention to those two schools while he was there (though I did watch them out of curiosity).
T J
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I think what is "special" is the amount of trust he and the players build with each other. They know exactly what he wants from them individually and as a unit, without any hesitation or question. He knows them and their abilities and tendencies probably better than they know themselves. Not saying other coaches don't develop quite as strong of a bond, but TJ spends more time with his players than probably 99% of the coaches out there.
I think he'd love to have more offense, but those skill players are also incredibly hard to get nowadays due to NIL and the Portal. Fred thrived because we were largely on equal footing with all but the blue bloods. Nowadays, scorers are damn expensive. That means he's got to find guys like Milan to intermix with the guys he can get from the Portal.
Notice Fred not having the same success with offense at Nebraska. It isn't that everybody else caught up to him in finding transfers, it's that the playing field has changed.
The one part of college basketball I can’t stand is how micromanaging some coaches are. Everyone knows what I’m talking about. The coaches that are on the court screaming out every movement a player should make during a play. Sometimes even out ON the court. If you can’t trust your players to move or cut or defend without screaming it out is pretty reflective of their coaching ability.
Yeah, I don't mind the defensive focus at all. Love it, in fact, and understand that players that can do that and score are fairly elite but believe that he has the recruiting chops to pull that off enough.
Great point (and melvin ejim as another great foundational piece to cyclone success) as well as leaving without it costing us.
I also am generally happy for McD. It didn't work out here...but all i've heard is he is a great human and having success now. It can be easy for fans to "dog" on coaches that don't work out.
I've thought about this fork in the road before and considering the success the past 3 years the choice has worked out for Pollard, TJ and ISU today.
I am not so sure it wouldn't have worked if TJ had been hired to replace Hoiberg. That team was stacked with talent with players who TJ helped recruit and rumored they wanted to play for him. Prohm had success with that team, I fully believe TJ would have had it too. Considering TJ aptitude for recruiting I think he would have had immediate success coming of a NCAA tourney run like Prohm did but would have continued that success on the trail after the Hali/Horton Tucker class and not had the steep drop off that lead to CSP firing and TJ's Hire.
I am sure TJ was more prepared 5 years later for the job after coaching SDSU and UNLV, just suspect it would have worked out either way because I think he's a top 20 coach in the game and his commitment to ISU.
One of my favorite things is to listen to his coaching show (and in some pressers) where he will drop a very dry joke. I think last week Heft made a comment about something at shootaround he noticed and TJ without missing a beat (in a serious voice) did (paraphrase) "well first I need to ensure our staff take a critical look at who we allow at shootarounds moving forward"
Count me as one to admit I was wrong on TJ. Took me a bit to be ok with the Prohm hire. Took me a bit to be ok with the TJ hire. But, I'm glad he was able to get HC experience at other programs to be able to experiment and know what he likes in his program. I think that aided in spring boarding ISU and TJ's decision to go after Green. I think Green is a big part of TJ's overall success due to really improving on defense. Kudos still goes to TJ for recognizing where the biggest and quickest impact could occur. The way TJ conducts himself during games is really impressive. At first, it became a little annoying because I wanted to see some fire with him and some of his players, but this year especially, his regular demeaner has benefitted him and the team and the players carry themselves the same way, which is better for the long run.
Under Fred, we all knew they didn't play much defense and their mantra was you have to score more than we do to beat us. They hit a road block quite often. It's nice with TJ's teams because they can be versatile and beat teams differently and matchup differently too. This team is really clicking and watching the team grow each game has been awesome!
Under Fred, we all knew they didn't play much defense and their mantra was you have to score more than we do to beat us. They hit a road block quite often. It's nice with TJ's teams because they can be versatile and beat teams differently and matchup differently too. This team is really clicking and watching the team grow each game has been awesome!
Also, four opposing coaches in a row have been t'ed up. I feel like those stem from how frustrated our defense makes the other team. It's fun to watch the other team get frustrated- we've had enough of those frustrations over the years to know what the other end feels like and I'm sure we'll have more days of it in the future too but for now love watching our defense frustrate the other team.
I think it would have worked in terms of that group of players being successful. But I'm not necessarily sure it would have worked for Otz the way it's working now. For instance, I doubt that group of players would have been as ready or able to play the hard-nosed style and defense that has been implemented in Otz's three seasons. Then the question would be whether Otz still would have worked towards the more balanced team or if that's something that would have been a more difficult transition, or maybe only something that he was ready to do after the other head coaching experiences.
Basically, with the benefit of hindsight, I think Otz would have become a successful coach either way. But I think it's very possible that the previous head coaching stops helped him get through growing pains beforehand and helped him realize the kind of style he wanted to build when he finally did get a chance at Iowa State.
Imo it was the perfect approach if the idea was to 'win now' especially with the style of the conference. If nothing else they were able to muck up enough games with less talent to be successful enough to get a tourney bid.
Hoiberg still has the highest career winning percentage at .673, followed by Eustachy at .638. T.J. is tied for third with Floyd right now at .633. Ken Trickey is by far the worst at .245.
It’ll be ok. Most of the guys mentioned are averaging 15+ ppg. Keshon probably should have gotten a little mention but I don’t see why Jones should be. He’s doing exactly what we need with 9 ppg off the bench.
Speaking of ESPN nonsense, did you see this?
Harris is maybe the 3rd or 4th best PG in the Big 12. He certainly isn't anywhere near the best in the country.
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-b...t-men-college-basketball-point-guards-2023-24
Harris is maybe the 3rd or 4th best PG in the Big 12. He certainly isn't anywhere near the best in the country.
I guess they are going strictly off scoring then. Gilbert averages almost 14 a game. If Touissant gets an honorable mention I don't see why Gilbert can't.
Yeah, saw that, 7 points and 2 boards a game is alot better than Lipsey I guess. Vitale might be losing his cognitive ability.
Definitely established a culture of defense, work ethic and toughness, which is a great foundation