Finally, some good news for ISU basketball
Craig Brackins is staying in Ames for another year.
ISU should finish no worse than 6th in the conference next year, and could earn an NCAA bid.
But boy, even with all the talent we have, the Big 12 is still loaded next year, and it will be tough to break into the top half of the conference. Here are some benchmarks that ISU needs to meet in order to call next season a success:
First of all, Hilton Magic needs to be resuscitated. Is it too much to ask for an undefeated, anxiety-free, nonconference home stand? Didn't used to be. Let's stop making a meal out of games with teams that have no business being within 20 points of a Big 12 team on their home floor. No more South Dakota State debacles, please.
Second, we need to beat the lower-half conference teams on the road. That means Nebraska, Colorado, Baylor, and Texas Tech. These four teams represented all our conference wins at home last year. With these road wins and appropriate defense of Hilton Coliseum, our conference record is a more-than-respectable 12-4. Of course, that means that we need the following home wins: Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M, Kansas State, Missouri, Nebraska, Colorado. It looks bad on paper, but ISU was in most of these games last year, such as an 8-point loss @Texas in the conference opener; one also recalls a heartbreaker against KSU late in the year, and Brackins' 42-point freak show against KU. (The lone exception was Mizzou; Coach Mac needs a better game plan for dealing with their system.)
Two big things need to improve statistically on the court--rebounding and scoring. Beyond Brackins, both categories were anemic last year; the second-leading rebounder was a 6-1 guard (who has graduated), and no other player averaged scoring in double figures. For the team to be successful, I believe there need to be at least three other players who average double-figure scoring. Incoming transfer Marquis Gilstrap can be one of those. It's possible that incoming frosh Chris Colvin can be the other, but he would need to mature very quickly. Who's the third? Possibly it could be done by a committee of bench players, such as Lucca Staiger, Charles Boozer, and Scott Christopherson shooting from the perimeter, or Justin Hamilton, L.A. Pomlee, and transfer Laron Dendy crashing the offensive boards. The clearest plan would be for Jamie Vanderbeken to step up and fulfill both of those roles, at least in part. Near the end of last season he developed into a reliable second option, but mainly from the perimeter. If he wants to start regularly, he's going to need to show he can stand up to the best big men in the league and get to the offensive glass for putbacks; otherwise Coach Mac will have to go for the interior bulk offered by Hamilton or possibly Dendy.
This leaves rebounding. Having an athletic wing like Gilstrap on the floor will definitely improve things (much like when Wesley Johnson was around.) But Hamilton has to start imposing himself, on the defensive glass in particular. Last year, Brackins was the only person who could go and get the ball through a combination of strength and athleticism; if he wasn't in the vicinity, opposing players would usually get a tip on the ball or come down with it outright. Hamilton with his size is the obvious choice to become Brackins' foil on the interior.
A likely starting lineup:
F Craig Brackins
F Jamie Vanderbeken
F Marquis Gilstrap
G Chris Colvin
G Diante Garrett
Top reserves:
C Justin Hamilton
F Laron Dendy
F Lucca Staiger
G Charles Boozer
G Scott Christopherson
G Dominique Buckley
ISU should finish no worse than 6th in the conference next year, and could earn an NCAA bid.
But boy, even with all the talent we have, the Big 12 is still loaded next year, and it will be tough to break into the top half of the conference. Here are some benchmarks that ISU needs to meet in order to call next season a success:
First of all, Hilton Magic needs to be resuscitated. Is it too much to ask for an undefeated, anxiety-free, nonconference home stand? Didn't used to be. Let's stop making a meal out of games with teams that have no business being within 20 points of a Big 12 team on their home floor. No more South Dakota State debacles, please.
Second, we need to beat the lower-half conference teams on the road. That means Nebraska, Colorado, Baylor, and Texas Tech. These four teams represented all our conference wins at home last year. With these road wins and appropriate defense of Hilton Coliseum, our conference record is a more-than-respectable 12-4. Of course, that means that we need the following home wins: Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M, Kansas State, Missouri, Nebraska, Colorado. It looks bad on paper, but ISU was in most of these games last year, such as an 8-point loss @Texas in the conference opener; one also recalls a heartbreaker against KSU late in the year, and Brackins' 42-point freak show against KU. (The lone exception was Mizzou; Coach Mac needs a better game plan for dealing with their system.)
Two big things need to improve statistically on the court--rebounding and scoring. Beyond Brackins, both categories were anemic last year; the second-leading rebounder was a 6-1 guard (who has graduated), and no other player averaged scoring in double figures. For the team to be successful, I believe there need to be at least three other players who average double-figure scoring. Incoming transfer Marquis Gilstrap can be one of those. It's possible that incoming frosh Chris Colvin can be the other, but he would need to mature very quickly. Who's the third? Possibly it could be done by a committee of bench players, such as Lucca Staiger, Charles Boozer, and Scott Christopherson shooting from the perimeter, or Justin Hamilton, L.A. Pomlee, and transfer Laron Dendy crashing the offensive boards. The clearest plan would be for Jamie Vanderbeken to step up and fulfill both of those roles, at least in part. Near the end of last season he developed into a reliable second option, but mainly from the perimeter. If he wants to start regularly, he's going to need to show he can stand up to the best big men in the league and get to the offensive glass for putbacks; otherwise Coach Mac will have to go for the interior bulk offered by Hamilton or possibly Dendy.
This leaves rebounding. Having an athletic wing like Gilstrap on the floor will definitely improve things (much like when Wesley Johnson was around.) But Hamilton has to start imposing himself, on the defensive glass in particular. Last year, Brackins was the only person who could go and get the ball through a combination of strength and athleticism; if he wasn't in the vicinity, opposing players would usually get a tip on the ball or come down with it outright. Hamilton with his size is the obvious choice to become Brackins' foil on the interior.
A likely starting lineup:
F Craig Brackins
F Jamie Vanderbeken
F Marquis Gilstrap
G Chris Colvin
G Diante Garrett
Top reserves:
C Justin Hamilton
F Laron Dendy
F Lucca Staiger
G Charles Boozer
G Scott Christopherson
G Dominique Buckley