I don't see how were not better next yea. Focus on Kane and ejim. Everyone I know who got to watch practices says that Nader is the best player on our team. I think he picks up the production from Kane and is a big12 1st or 2nd teamed. Give McCkay half of ejim production and throw the other half on hogue and Niang. We saw what happens a few times this year when hogue gets the rock. Although not pretty, dude put up huge numbers in certain games. I'm very excited for naz to get more minutes, guy needs to be on the floor. Monte is going to be scary next year. We will be better than this year.
We'll Be Back Better Than Ever
- Thread starter ISUCubswin
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Sweet 16 at minimum next year. The max is final four in my opinion.
Monte Morris has stud written all over him. The kid can pass, shoot and defend.
Naz Long - Long Range specialist. If he can improve his inside game, watch out.
Matt Thomas or Abdel Nader - Thomas should improve his 3 point shooting and gain more confidence in his shot. I have not seen Nader play, but I expect good things
Georges Niang - Gamer through and through.
Dustin Hogue/ McKay - With McKay not starting until after the winter semester, Hogue will get the last starting spot. We know the potential Hogue has, and if he can work on his shot some more, he can be Ejim lite. McKay could win the starting job by the end of the year if he can be a rim protector and scorer.
Bench
SDW - I expect a Naz Long type leap from this kid. He has the talent, but was just very young this year.
Custer - If he can have half the impact he had in high school, he will be a great back up to Monte.
We'll also have either Hogue, McKay, Thomas or Nader on the bench as well.
Looking at what we will have next year, this is a NCAA Tournament team. Yes, we lose a lot of stats and experience from Kane and Ejim, but we were saying the same thing last year.
Hoiberg will be able to implement a ton of different lineups that he was unable to do this year and get consistent production. Teams will have a difficult time preparing for us due to these lineups and the fact that everyone will be able to contribute.
Also due to a deep lineup, I think we can play more aggressively on defense. The players know that of they get in foul trouble, their replacements are more than capable of maintaining production.
We are going to be better next year. Book it.
Monte Morris has stud written all over him. The kid can pass, shoot and defend.
Naz Long - Long Range specialist. If he can improve his inside game, watch out.
Matt Thomas or Abdel Nader - Thomas should improve his 3 point shooting and gain more confidence in his shot. I have not seen Nader play, but I expect good things
Georges Niang - Gamer through and through.
Dustin Hogue/ McKay - With McKay not starting until after the winter semester, Hogue will get the last starting spot. We know the potential Hogue has, and if he can work on his shot some more, he can be Ejim lite. McKay could win the starting job by the end of the year if he can be a rim protector and scorer.
Bench
SDW - I expect a Naz Long type leap from this kid. He has the talent, but was just very young this year.
Custer - If he can have half the impact he had in high school, he will be a great back up to Monte.
We'll also have either Hogue, McKay, Thomas or Nader on the bench as well.
Looking at what we will have next year, this is a NCAA Tournament team. Yes, we lose a lot of stats and experience from Kane and Ejim, but we were saying the same thing last year.
Hoiberg will be able to implement a ton of different lineups that he was unable to do this year and get consistent production. Teams will have a difficult time preparing for us due to these lineups and the fact that everyone will be able to contribute.
Also due to a deep lineup, I think we can play more aggressively on defense. The players know that of they get in foul trouble, their replacements are more than capable of maintaining production.
We are going to be better next year. Book it.
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More than anything, I think the added depth will help our defense. That really improved this year, and I feel one of the reasons we were a second half team was that we had to hold down on the aggressive defense inside at the start to make sure we had everyone in good shape for the end.
This team struggled against anyone with tall people. It was fundamentally flawed from the start.
Guys, seriously. We are losing our key player. I don't see how we can get to the NCAAs with out Tyler on the bench and awkwardly clapping in the locker room while Fred throws down the dance gauntlet.
Wow. What a downer.
Every team has a weakness. The eventual national champion is going to have lost 5-10 games and be "fundamentally flawed" in some way, shape, or form.
Funny you point that one out, given some of the size we have coming in for next year will help with that and give us more of a traditional size continuum, instead of the "all big G/small F" thing we had this year.
There is a big difference in could (or should) be better, and will be. If we add the right pieces this spring we could be, perhaps even should be.
Compare this year to last year. 11-7 last year with several last second and OT losses. Last year's team should have been better, but had so many teams make last second shots against it. This year the team won a lot of close games and came through when it mattered in all but a few. Some of that is toughness, some of that is luck. Will we have as much of both next season?
-Counting on Nader to be as good as Kane is very optimistic, but I suppose possible. Countless guys get the best player on the team title from observers in practice, only later to realize practice is not even the MAC, let alone the Big 12.
-If Hogue certainly showed the past month that he has some tools to work with. I am anxious to see if what improvement he can make. If he can make a similar improvement on his 3P and handle as Ejim, that will really open things up. You know he will work.
-It was great to see Naz drive some the last month. He will never be a Kane or Morris type driving guard, but with his 3P shot going, he could at least be a slasher. Thomas's role is unknown imo. Once he gets more confident, I think Thomas could be better at setting up his shot with the dribble than Naz, similar to Scotty. If he progresses towards that, he is hard to keep off the court.
-We will miss Ejim's and Kane's rebounding and defense. Edozie will get an opportunity to bring those. We could definitely use a guy like Lee.
Yeah, I do not see how anyone watching the past month could think Hogue's starting spot is in doubt. This is not a McGee situation where he is starter level at only one thing. The only question about Hogue is can he improve enough to replace Kane as the primary option along-side Georges.
Have you not been paying attention the last two years? We didn't think Fred could replace Royce's production and that team came within a whisker of the Sweet Sixteen. Then we didn't think Fred could replace the production of Babb, Clyburn, Tyrus and Lucious. That team DID go to the Sweet Sixteen. Not to diminish what Kane and Ejim meant to ISU, but if you think we can't be a regular in the Dance then you don't grasp how good the program has become. We bring back five key contributors plus the usual infusion of transfer talent with Nader and McKay, and recruiting for 2014 isn't over yet. And we have one of the best coaches in college basketball at the wheel. From here on out anything less than an appearance in the Big Dance is a disappointment. NIT? Set your sights higher.
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We had the Big 3+ this year, and I think we have a Big 2 now (Niang and Hogue), with Monte/Nader/McKay/Naz as possibilities to make that a Big 3 or 4.
Like this year, that many options make for a successful team, and no one player will have to replace DeAndre or Melvin
I'm already looking past what will likely be a lame football season, and looking forward to next year's team.
My only hope-- the defense is something that's instilled early. I think it improved this year, but still too leaky. They were limited for numbers, so that may have had something to do with it.
My only hope-- the defense is something that's instilled early. I think it improved this year, but still too leaky. They were limited for numbers, so that may have had something to do with it.
Our team spent the year over achieving: 14-0 run, big twelve camps, sweet sixteen! They did it by playing hard nosed basketball and not taking no for an answer. We lose two of our captains but those two have spent the year showing the younger players the way! I have never seen another transfer like Kane. His legacy will be: how he helped his team, Not how he helped himself. The investment that Kane and Ejim have made in their teammates will pay dividends.
I couldn't believe how good Georges was playing by the end of the year. It is like having a coach out on the floor. By the end of the year Georges had taken his game to a new high. In light of that, I wouldn't be surprised if he shares some point guard duties, especially if he can improve his outside game and ball handling skills. I predict Georges and Monte will be throwing a lot of lobs next year!
When it is all said and done, I think we will remember this year as the beginning of a new era in cyclone basketball. The future is bright indeed!
I couldn't believe how good Georges was playing by the end of the year. It is like having a coach out on the floor. By the end of the year Georges had taken his game to a new high. In light of that, I wouldn't be surprised if he shares some point guard duties, especially if he can improve his outside game and ball handling skills. I predict Georges and Monte will be throwing a lot of lobs next year!
When it is all said and done, I think we will remember this year as the beginning of a new era in cyclone basketball. The future is bright indeed!
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Numbers wise, no, but having a perimeter mismatch to go with front-court mismatches was huge, and his leadership as the go to guy is best if replaced by one guy imo.
Compare this year to last year- '12-'13 may have been a better roster, but this year had Kane. You need an alpha player like that in the backcourt imo.
Limited in numbers and size. Not many elite defensive teams run with a frontline of 6'6" and a below the rim 6'7".
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Our guys are going to be solid yet again next year. ISU will be vying for another Big 12 title with the talent we have. Just get used to it people, Fred's a winner.
Hard to say but Ejim's role will be the easiest to replace next year. But it'll be done by two players. McKay will be the inside presence that Ejim gave on the boards with the added benefit of rim protector. Nader will replace Ejim's wing ability with better perimeter shooting.
I think we'll be significantly better defensively next year and slightly better overall. We'll finally have a rim protector and quality interior depth. They'll still need to protect Niang defensively, but everyone else can get more aggressive. If we add an impact transfer to the mix then all the more reason to have higher expectations.