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Iowa State men’s basketball prepares for new challenges
By Ben Visser, correspondent
Oct. 17, 2017 9:33 pm
AMES – Iowa State point guard Donovan Jackson was in the same place last year as eight of his teammates.
He was a newcomer who wanted to come in and prove what he could do.
It was frustrating for him at times because he felt he couldn't showcase his whole skill set. He was playing behind and an All-American point guard in Monte Morris and two of the best 3-point shooters in Iowa State history in Matt Thomas and Naz Mitrou-Long.
But he had to buy into the team-first concept and play his role. That's what the newly-minted senior leader is trying to get this year's team of new faces to do.
'It's going to be tough for those guys because even when I was the newcomer, those first couple of games I was so mad because I couldn't show what I could really do,” Jackson said. 'It's going to take some games for everybody to be like, ‘Alright, it's not just about me. It's about the team.' Once I figured that out last year everything was good for me.”
Coach Steve Prohm said this is Jackson's time to step up and be a leader and step into that role he wanted last year.
'I went from six seniors and now, I'm re-teaching everything,” Prohm said. 'We do have a few pieces that are back, and now you've got to see them take the next step for us to max out. They're not going to be perfect every day, but I'm pleased with where they're at.”
Starting from the ground up, there are sure to be good days and bad days. Junior guard Nick Weiler-Babb said it was frustrating at first going through all of the basics and having the new guys mess up the easy stuff.
But he's starting to understand it now and he's trying to help them along.
'I think it's all a work in progress, that's the toughest thing as a coach,” Prohm said. 'You want everything to be perfect and look pretty and everybody go, ‘Man, that's some good stuff, they look beautiful out there.' That's not going to be the case 12 days into (practice) with these guys right now. We're trying to evaluate our guys and see what would be the best for this team to be successful.”
Prohm has figured out this much: The perimeter guys have a much different skill set than the players he had last year.
Morris, Thomas and Mitrou-Long were all knock-down shooters from beyond the arc. Morris and Mitrou-Long had success getting to the rim and finishing, but that wasn't the main part of their game.
That's going to be different this year. Prohm called Jackson one of the best shooters in basketball, but outside of him, Iowa State's perimeter players like Weiler-Babb, Zoran Talley and Lindell Wigginton are better at driving and slashing than they are at shooting. Fans are going to have to get used to a different style of play.
Besides Jackson, Prohm said the only other guy who can shoot it at a high rate is freshman Terrence Lewis.
'(Fans) just have to be patient and stick with us,” Weiler Babb said. 'We're going to win games, we're going to do what we can, it'll just be from different ways and from different people.”
No one knows how many games though because of the youth and inexperience on the team.
But to expect anything less than an NCAA Tournament appearance would be a disservice to the players, Prohm said.
'If that's not our goal, then I'm cheating them,” Prohm said. 'That's our goal and hopefully we can continue to work and meet that goal at the end of the year.”
Make no mistake, this Iowa State team will have its ups and downs. The Cyclones will have some games that will leave fans scratching their heads, but the players and coaches know there will be a learning curve, and they believe they'll get it figured out sooner rather than later.
'We have a young team,” Wigginton said. 'We only have three returners and some graduate transfers, so there's always going to be some ups and downs and there's going to be a learning curve. I think the first couple months there will be a learning curve, but after that we're going to all buy into it and eventually we'll be a great team.”
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