Last year if I was a Colorado State fan I would have been wondering where my scoring/minutes were coming from. The previous year stats of the guys who ended up fueling their NCAA run (guys who played 15+ mpg and were part of the rotation in the tournaments:
Nique Clifford: 36 starts, 30 minutes, 12 points -> 36 starts, 35 minutes, 19 points
Jalen Lake: 4 starts, 23 minutes, 6 points -> 36 starts, 31 minutes, 11 points
Kyan Evans: 0 starts (9 games total), 6 minutes, 2 points -> 36 starts, 28 minutes, 11 points
Jaylen Crocker-Johnson (at Little Rock): 33 starts, 23 minutes, 9 points -> 29 starts, 22 minutes, 9 points
Rashaan Mbemba: 2 starts, 11 minutes, 4 points -> 29 starts, 19 minutes, 7 points
Ethan Morton (at Purdue): 0 starts, 10 minutes, 1 point -> 9 starts, 24 minutes, 4 points
Bowen Born (at Northern Iowa): 31 starts, 28 minutes, 13 points -> 0 starts, 15 minutes, 5 points
There were a couple other guys, Kyle Jorgensen a freshman from Minnesota, and Keshawn Williams from Northern Illinois) but their minutes faded as the season went on and the rotation tightened. Ethan Morton also lost his starting job but stayed in the rotation.
I kinda think we are done with the formation of our core rotation. I expect we will add a couple more depth/role/developmental guys but I don't think we have a big money star walking through that door. Niko seems to be big on developing/elevating guys. I'm curious to see if we have an alpha guy step up, a la Clifford/Isaiah Stevens/David Roddy/Robert Tonje or if it is a more balanced approach, as it seems like Durkin/Omot/Reynolds/Willis could all trade nights as our top scorer. I'm also really intrigued to see how Asuma develops as well as Nehemiah Turner.
Also I was interested to see that a few guys I thought would have larger roles like Keshawn Williams (scored 18 ppg at Northern Illinois), Bowen Born (15 ppg at Northern Iowa) and Ethan Morton (started 29 games for the #1 seed Boilermakers 2 years ago) did not while some of the guys who developed in Niko's program earned the minutes instead.
Nique Clifford: 36 starts, 30 minutes, 12 points -> 36 starts, 35 minutes, 19 points
Jalen Lake: 4 starts, 23 minutes, 6 points -> 36 starts, 31 minutes, 11 points
Kyan Evans: 0 starts (9 games total), 6 minutes, 2 points -> 36 starts, 28 minutes, 11 points
Jaylen Crocker-Johnson (at Little Rock): 33 starts, 23 minutes, 9 points -> 29 starts, 22 minutes, 9 points
Rashaan Mbemba: 2 starts, 11 minutes, 4 points -> 29 starts, 19 minutes, 7 points
Ethan Morton (at Purdue): 0 starts, 10 minutes, 1 point -> 9 starts, 24 minutes, 4 points
Bowen Born (at Northern Iowa): 31 starts, 28 minutes, 13 points -> 0 starts, 15 minutes, 5 points
There were a couple other guys, Kyle Jorgensen a freshman from Minnesota, and Keshawn Williams from Northern Illinois) but their minutes faded as the season went on and the rotation tightened. Ethan Morton also lost his starting job but stayed in the rotation.
I kinda think we are done with the formation of our core rotation. I expect we will add a couple more depth/role/developmental guys but I don't think we have a big money star walking through that door. Niko seems to be big on developing/elevating guys. I'm curious to see if we have an alpha guy step up, a la Clifford/Isaiah Stevens/David Roddy/Robert Tonje or if it is a more balanced approach, as it seems like Durkin/Omot/Reynolds/Willis could all trade nights as our top scorer. I'm also really intrigued to see how Asuma develops as well as Nehemiah Turner.
Also I was interested to see that a few guys I thought would have larger roles like Keshawn Williams (scored 18 ppg at Northern Illinois), Bowen Born (15 ppg at Northern Iowa) and Ethan Morton (started 29 games for the #1 seed Boilermakers 2 years ago) did not while some of the guys who developed in Niko's program earned the minutes instead.
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