Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Naz

After reading a couple things on the Naz injury, obviously it hurts for this year.  Thomas is a good player and has shown increased confidence and better shooting so far, but there's a reason Naz passed him a couple years ago.  Naz was always the one to get in people's faces and be the vocal leader on the floor and that definitely hurts.  His ability and willingness to get to the rack so far this year has been undersold.  

That said, assuming, and I don't think it's a definite, he gets to come back next year, he'll be the bridge between past successful Cyclone teams and the future.  Thomas and maybe Monte would be the only other guys that've actually played more than a year for ISU on next year's team.  While the fan base (and that ESPN douche) don't give ISU much of a chance next year, Naz won't let the team slack.  Next year's team could really use an old voice on the court and sidelines. 

Most great teams have carryover from year to year to year and teams like Kentucky have built in expectations.  Without Naz and Monte next year, ISU would have neither.  Actually, next year the classes are pretty balanced so any success should be carried into future seasons.  I'm excited about the front court depth with Malou, Carter, Ernst and Young.  (Ernst and Young is one of the "big 4" accounting firms, look for it on future Cyclone bingo cards)  

So while the loss of Naz is a big blow to this year's team, it could possibly be just the thing needed to sustain ISU's success into the future.

1 comment:

  1. I agree with most of the above. I don't know if he was helping the team at all with his production and shooting under 30 pct from three. Granted he brought a lot of intangibles to the table.

    His injury will diminish the teams chances of a conference championship more than a National Chanpionship in my opinion. If you think back to last year there were about 3 or 4 games where ISU doesn't win without Abdel Nader who was the 7th/8th guy in the rotation. There are going to be a few games where their depth will become an issue with as fast as they play. I think the foul issues are overplayed. Isu is leading the nation in preventing teams from shooting free throws.

    One thing that could happen from all of this is that Matt Thomas could finally prove himself to be the big recruit he was. I wouldn't be surprised to see him land a spot as an honorable mention All-Big 12 player or better. There should be no mind-f***ing happening this year. He will be out there because he has to.
    Last (because I could go on forever), Niang is going to have to run some sets to give Monte a rest. I don't think you can put the ball in Cooke's hands when Monte is on the bench. The one thing I would like to see more of is Niang post touches and touches in general. With Burton they may feel more comfortable going for stretches without McKay and going Nader,Burton,Niang. To be honest, Niang just hasn't seemed to be the same low post scorer he was before McKay arrived....

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