Curtis Jones

A couple of weeks ago, he mentioned that he doesn't think that his lineups and his rotations are maybe going to be as static as they were in the past, where they had their set starting five really over the last couple of seasons.

And then they had their set substitution patterns off of the bench a couple of years ago, like Curtis Jones was like subbing in before the 17 minute mark of games.

Like he was going to the scores table, like 1830.

I think that that could change this year.

I guess what I was kind of saying is, can he actually become your go-to scoring option if you need him to be that? Because he just hasn't done it previously in his career.

And a couple years ago, when they really kind of started to break through, their kind of go-to scoring option was... to me on that first team in 23-24 was kind of Keyshawn Gilbert with his ability to get to the rim and score in the paint.

A year later, it was probably Curtis Jones because of his shot-making ability.

I mean, we all remember the way he performed against BYU in the Big 12 tournament.

I feel like this is the time in the show that I want to say this.

Every year we talk about how is Iowa State going to replace the scoring? Was it Keyshawn Gilbert and Curtis Jones? Is it Milo Mamchilovic and Joshua Jefferson? Every year, T.J.

Altsberger finds a way.

And that's the consistency of coaching that you brought up that really sets Iowa State apart.

And then as we get into the later parts of the season, I think – You could see him as a seven man more consistently, really not necessarily in like an order sense, but like that first unit back up on the floor.

And that brings me to the point I wanted to make really quickly on Jamari Bateman.

I'm thinking of Jamari Bateman right now, and I think he makes the jump as what Curtis Jones was a few years ago.

That sixth man, that's really a fifth.

It was also his most healthy year for the most part.

And that's really before Keyshawn Gilbert and Curtis Jones were consistently great players.

I just, I was watching a little bit of Taman and I think he's almost too good of a teammate sometimes and can be too passive to get other guys involved.

And there was a couple takeover moments that he had yesterday.

We've been really fortunate for the work habits, and then the guys have reaped the benefits in our program.

You look at guys like Keyshawn Gilbert, Curtis Jones, Joshua Jefferson, where guys that weren't seen as Power 5-level recruits all have signed NBA contracts.

So to me, those guys coming into our program, getting better, and then moving forward and bettering things for themselves and their families.

It's an unbelievable feeling.

I mean, it's going to happen.

I mean, if we react it – if we're going to write off Ryan Prather, we really should have written off Curtis Jones.

But the way he shot the ball the first several games he played as a cyclone and then look at what happened with him.

Now, I'm not saying Ryan Prather is Curtis Jones.

Very different type of players.

But I do – I don't think TJ and his staff are bringing Ryan Prather thinking, oh, this guy's just a seat holder.

And, you know, he had a rough game, but, again, he hasn't played much basketball in a long time.

And I think pump the brakes on overreacting on him, I guess I would say.

Is he going to be a star? I don't think so, but I do think he can be really good in his role.

And I think, you know, Henry, that's probably my biggest takeaway from today, and it's something that I'm going to be really intrigued to follow moving forward, is at least on the offensive end, if Jamarian Bateman isn't making a lot of shots, like today he was 3 of 11, does this group have a go-to offensive hub or a go-to offensive playmaker like they did last year in Joshua Jefferson and a go-to shot maker in Emile Mamchilovic? Or the year or two years before that, you had Curtis Jones and you had Keyshawn Gilbert to kind of get you into those actions.

It's something that I've questioned with this team moving into the year is does this team have a go-to offensive piece? And after one showing, it's one game, it's an exhibition.

I still think that that's a fair question to ponder as we look forward to the exhibition in a week from now against Northwestern.

Um, but yeah, uh, I, one thing I also thought was really interesting that Atzberger said is they really put an emphasis on getting into the paint this year.

Um, we've talked a bunch on this network that, you know, Iowa State's been a decent, a pretty good three-point shooting team the last couple years with Milan Momcilovic, Curtis Jones, those kind of players.

But this year it seems like they put a lot of emphasis on getting to the rack and getting the ball inside of the paint.

Because you think about Don Plata, who, who I think has a pretty good back to the basket game despite, you know, not very, seeing very limited of it in games last year.