As I've said before, the fun is back in Iowa State basketball. I've never seen any team play this up tempo an entire game, let alone every game. First off, TJ assembled one hell of a coaching staff led by the grizzled assistant Mike Green And young guy J.R Blount. Both are top x and o guys who teaches fundamental basketball. And TJ is smart enough to let him coach. He knows what he doesn't know, unlike the previous coach who wanted to call every play, every move on the court. I said then and will say now, you coach in practice and times outs, not during the entire game. The players need to not think when they play, they need to react and simply play the way they know how, passing the ball and looking for the open shot. Its hard to do that if a coach is directing everything all the time.
Our strengths
-in your face defense all the time
-moving the ball and looking for the open man
-having an offense that gives you lots of options to run
-using simple things like pick and roll and bounce passes, that are a lost art in basketball
-players that know their role, and don't overplay their position
-straight up defense high and double team low. We had George playing at the top of the circle on D the last two years, which was stupid. He was not in a position to rebound and picked up cheap fouls.
-strategic timeouts. When we had teams on the run this year, TJ doesn't use his timeouts to help the other team, we keep playing. Very good use of them when needed.
-The players seem to like each other. The big egos left, and this is what you get.
Are we for real? If we continue to play at this pace and level, we can play with anyone. Like I said, the fun is back.
Our strengths
-in your face defense all the time
-moving the ball and looking for the open man
-having an offense that gives you lots of options to run
-using simple things like pick and roll and bounce passes, that are a lost art in basketball
-players that know their role, and don't overplay their position
-straight up defense high and double team low. We had George playing at the top of the circle on D the last two years, which was stupid. He was not in a position to rebound and picked up cheap fouls.
-strategic timeouts. When we had teams on the run this year, TJ doesn't use his timeouts to help the other team, we keep playing. Very good use of them when needed.
-The players seem to like each other. The big egos left, and this is what you get.
Are we for real? If we continue to play at this pace and level, we can play with anyone. Like I said, the fun is back.
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