Georges Niang was an Iowa State staple over the last four seasons. The 6’7″ all-purpose forward provided the Cyclones with a level of offensive versatility as a facilitator and scorer that few teams in the country possessed. As a senior, Niang used 28.7 percent of the team’s possessions and assisted on another 19.2 percent when he was on the floor. Now with the two-time all-Big 12 first teamer no longer on the roster, head coach Steve Prohm has needed to adjust his offensive attack to make up for the void. Conventional wisdom was that point guard Monte’ Morris would take on much of Niang’s role.
(Source: sports-reference.com)
Although his numbers do not match those of former Prohm point guards such as Isaiah Canaan and Cameron Payne, Morris is certainly much more involved this season. As the table above shows, he is taking 5.8 more field goal attempts per 40 minutes this year and has raised his points per 40 minutes average from 14.5 to 21.9 on the back of a hot start from three-point range. Morris is now also the team’s only consistent distributor. He has increased his already impressive assists per 40 minutes rate from 7.2 to 8.9 and raised his assist rate to 34.9 percent, a full six percent higher than last season. All of this has occurred while Morris has simultaneously reduced his turnover rate by nearly four percent. Simply put, the preseason All-American has been one of the best offensive players in college basketball through the first few weeks of the season.
Morris isn’t working alone. Iowa State’s other returnees are picking up the slack by playing bigger offensive roles of their own. Senior Matt Thomas remains a solid three-point specialist, but he has also increased his midrange game by 3.5 attempts this season. Naz Mitrou-Long is also taking nearly five shots more per 40 minutes compared with his shortened season a year ago. For the first three games of this season, Mitrou-Long fired away more than any other player on the roster, but behind a pair of strong performances against Miami and Gonzaga at the Advocare Invitational, senior Deonte Burton has since taken over that role. At 6’4″ and 240 pounds, Burton is an interesting piece to the puzzle. Prohm has experimented with lineups that feature the burly forward at center, generating similar mismatches to those that Niang has created in seasons past. But even though he is not as creative of a passer, he is a brutish force capable of barreling to the rim against nearly any defender. So far Burton is averaging 21.0 points per 40 minutes in the first three weeks of the season.
Monte Morris is off to a great start for Iowa State. (Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Dyer-USA TODAY Sports)
Whether these results are sustainable remains to be seen. Morris’ talent and history suggests that he’ll likely continue his offensive production, but how Thomas, Mitrou-Long and Burton fare may play a bigger role in shaping Iowa State’s future. It’s a reach to argue that this season’s roster is more talented than the one that hit the floor in 2015-16, but in a Big 12 that doesn’t appear as strong as a year ago, that might not matter. The best news for Iowa State, though, is that the early returns on replacing the staple in Ames have been mostly positive so far.