I have never been this excited for any ISU team and believe I’m borderline obsessed. 
Scoring and rebounding numbers are conference only. Sorry for the length but that's what happens when we have a bye week.
Question #1 is who will start at the 4? Otz would love to run a 3 guard lineup but that means Milan will have to play the 4. IMO that will work against some, smaller teams but not all. This team’s biggest detriment last year was defensive rebounding. We were dead last in a 14 team conference. We gave up more offensive rebounds than any other team so having Milan at the 4 for every game will exacerbate that deficiency. IMO Jefferson was the biggest get and will help the rebounding numbers drastically.
Otz answered this question in an interview when he said he may have different players start game to game. That was really the only solution but not something coaches usually do. But our coach isn’t like a lot of other coaches thank God.
Question #2 is how the new front court will compare to last year’s? Simply put I’m bullish on the new additions and added depth. Again, rebounding was a very, very big issue for us. Tre was the leading rebounder with only 5.3 per game. BRE only averaged 4.2 (less than both Lipsey and Gilbert). Jefferson averaged 6.5 reb per game over an average of 25 minutes / game for a top 25 Saint Mary’s team that prided itself on defense. Jefferson was highly sought after by Virginia in the Portal (very defensive minded team) and VA’s recruiting page went into great detail about his defense and how he would fit in. Other recruiting sites called him an “elite rebounder” and “He was created in a lab to play for Iowa State”. But not only can he rebound he is a great passer / facilitator and can take defenders off the dribble. I loved Tre’s fight and he had a great mid-range jumper, but he could not do these other things at a high level. At 6’ 9” 240 lbs. Jefferson will bring greater size and can play the 5 when needed. Tre seemed to be undersized at 6’7” much of the time.
Dishon also brings more size to the center position at 6’11” 274 lbs. and he will provide rim protection that BRE didn’t. Despite his size he is athletic and per Otz can do all the closeouts, switching, etc. expected in their defense. I loved BRE and his defense /effort but he only averaged 4.2 reb per game. Again, we need to do better at rebounding and I believe Dishon will provide that. In addition, he will be more of an offensive threat. He is a good ball handler, can use either hand at the rim and was a 70% free throw shooter. BRE seemed to miss at least 1 layup per game and shot 57% from the foul line.
We will miss Ward as an offensive lob threat and rim protector, but he only played 16 minutes per game and was always in foul trouble. Brandton Chatfield is another large, hard nosed player (6’10” 260 lbs.) that Otz compared to BRE and said the fans will love. I love that he’s a career 34.4% 3-pt shooter and if he can improve that just a little he can provide a different dimension to the post. He shot 39.3% during the 2022-2023 season so he’s capable. Much like Ward, he needs to learn how to play without fouling.
Question #3 is how do you manage the playing time for a minimum of 9 guys? I took the minutes played last year and tried to keep them the same. Below are the minutes per position with last year’s total avg minutes per game in parentheses. I don’t have last years average per position but I did include total minutes for the comparable person on last year’s team. This is obviously going to change as players develop, injuries, etc. Note that I don’t have any minutes for JT Rock but I do think he will get some, just mot many. I think Nojus will redshirt but could be wrong and although Heise will get more minutes than Pav’s 10 min / game last year I only have him at 15 which could be far lower than he gets. He’s just a baller! I’m hopeful Watson takes a big step this year – love that guy! The challenge, again, is finding the minutes for 9-10 players.
Sorry again for the length... 6 months of pent-up anticipation and excitement. Go ahead a poke holes but if you disagree with the minutes projection please tell me who’s minutes will be reduced.
Minutes breakdown by position:
Point guard
Lipsey (31.4): 20 minutes
Gilbert (31.1) 20 minutes
Off Guard
Lipsey (31.4): `10 Minutes
Gilbert (31.1): 10 minutes
Jones (26.9): 20 minutes
Off Guard
Jones (26.9): 10 minutes
Heise (Pav 10.5): 15 minutes
Moncilovich (30.2): 15 minutes
Power Forward
Moncilovich (30.2): 15 minutes
Watson (9.5): 10 minutes
Jefferson (Tre 23.4) 15 minutes
Center
Jackson (BRE 22.5): 25 minutes
Jefferson (Ward 15.9): 10 minutes
Chatfield (only 2 centers last year): 5 minutes
Scoring and rebounding numbers are conference only. Sorry for the length but that's what happens when we have a bye week.Question #1 is who will start at the 4? Otz would love to run a 3 guard lineup but that means Milan will have to play the 4. IMO that will work against some, smaller teams but not all. This team’s biggest detriment last year was defensive rebounding. We were dead last in a 14 team conference. We gave up more offensive rebounds than any other team so having Milan at the 4 for every game will exacerbate that deficiency. IMO Jefferson was the biggest get and will help the rebounding numbers drastically.
Otz answered this question in an interview when he said he may have different players start game to game. That was really the only solution but not something coaches usually do. But our coach isn’t like a lot of other coaches thank God.
Question #2 is how the new front court will compare to last year’s? Simply put I’m bullish on the new additions and added depth. Again, rebounding was a very, very big issue for us. Tre was the leading rebounder with only 5.3 per game. BRE only averaged 4.2 (less than both Lipsey and Gilbert). Jefferson averaged 6.5 reb per game over an average of 25 minutes / game for a top 25 Saint Mary’s team that prided itself on defense. Jefferson was highly sought after by Virginia in the Portal (very defensive minded team) and VA’s recruiting page went into great detail about his defense and how he would fit in. Other recruiting sites called him an “elite rebounder” and “He was created in a lab to play for Iowa State”. But not only can he rebound he is a great passer / facilitator and can take defenders off the dribble. I loved Tre’s fight and he had a great mid-range jumper, but he could not do these other things at a high level. At 6’ 9” 240 lbs. Jefferson will bring greater size and can play the 5 when needed. Tre seemed to be undersized at 6’7” much of the time.
Dishon also brings more size to the center position at 6’11” 274 lbs. and he will provide rim protection that BRE didn’t. Despite his size he is athletic and per Otz can do all the closeouts, switching, etc. expected in their defense. I loved BRE and his defense /effort but he only averaged 4.2 reb per game. Again, we need to do better at rebounding and I believe Dishon will provide that. In addition, he will be more of an offensive threat. He is a good ball handler, can use either hand at the rim and was a 70% free throw shooter. BRE seemed to miss at least 1 layup per game and shot 57% from the foul line.
We will miss Ward as an offensive lob threat and rim protector, but he only played 16 minutes per game and was always in foul trouble. Brandton Chatfield is another large, hard nosed player (6’10” 260 lbs.) that Otz compared to BRE and said the fans will love. I love that he’s a career 34.4% 3-pt shooter and if he can improve that just a little he can provide a different dimension to the post. He shot 39.3% during the 2022-2023 season so he’s capable. Much like Ward, he needs to learn how to play without fouling.
Question #3 is how do you manage the playing time for a minimum of 9 guys? I took the minutes played last year and tried to keep them the same. Below are the minutes per position with last year’s total avg minutes per game in parentheses. I don’t have last years average per position but I did include total minutes for the comparable person on last year’s team. This is obviously going to change as players develop, injuries, etc. Note that I don’t have any minutes for JT Rock but I do think he will get some, just mot many. I think Nojus will redshirt but could be wrong and although Heise will get more minutes than Pav’s 10 min / game last year I only have him at 15 which could be far lower than he gets. He’s just a baller! I’m hopeful Watson takes a big step this year – love that guy! The challenge, again, is finding the minutes for 9-10 players.
Sorry again for the length... 6 months of pent-up anticipation and excitement. Go ahead a poke holes but if you disagree with the minutes projection please tell me who’s minutes will be reduced.
Minutes breakdown by position:
Point guard
Lipsey (31.4): 20 minutes
Gilbert (31.1) 20 minutes
Off Guard
Lipsey (31.4): `10 Minutes
Gilbert (31.1): 10 minutes
Jones (26.9): 20 minutes
Off Guard
Jones (26.9): 10 minutes
Heise (Pav 10.5): 15 minutes
Moncilovich (30.2): 15 minutes
Power Forward
Moncilovich (30.2): 15 minutes
Watson (9.5): 10 minutes
Jefferson (Tre 23.4) 15 minutes
Center
Jackson (BRE 22.5): 25 minutes
Jefferson (Ward 15.9): 10 minutes
Chatfield (only 2 centers last year): 5 minutes
