Monte Morris: Improving Iowa State’s pace ‘starts with me’

AMES - The video paused after every play. Steve Prohm and Monte Morris sat together and dissected what they saw, making sure they were on the same page.

The Iowa State men's basketball coach and his senior point guard had been texting the day before, but thought the messages would become clearer if they worked face-to-face.

On Sunday afternoon, Prohm and Morris watched the Cyclones' loss at Iowa in its entirety and came away with the same conclusion.

Iowa State has to play cleaner and faster.

'We have to start playing in transition,” Prohm said at his news conference Monday. 'We have to get some easy baskets by playing in transition, by pushing the tempo with the point guard, wings running and bigs running to the rim.”

'I need to take more ownership and I'm going to take more ownership in this season and this offense,” Morris said. 'It starts with me. My pace has to get better, my play has to get better and it will and the guys behind me, they trust me.

'It's a bright future and a bright road down the line. It's tough right now and it might be hard to see for you guys, but it's definitely going to be a change and it's going to get back to normal around here.”

Iowa State, which fell out of the AP Top 25 after being ranked in the previous 61 polls, has played at a fast pace at times this season. But in losses to Gonzaga, Cincinnati and Iowa, the Cyclones have averaged 68.3 possessions and 18.3 seconds per possession. In all nine games, they've averaged 74.7 possessions and 17.0 seconds per possession.

For reference, Iowa State averaged 15.4 seconds per possession last season.

Against the Hawkeyes, Iowa State had 74 possessions for 17 seconds on average, meaning it had plenty of scoring opportunities.

'It is kind of surprising in a sense where I think that's who we are, that's our natural DNA and ultimately it just provides a different challenge,” said Naz Mitrou-Long. 'We've talked as a team a couple times, especially our leaders and coaches, so it's just about getting the ball and moving, man, running the floor.

'We're not really getting a lot in transition right now, we're giving up a lot in transition, our half-court defense is good but we have to seal the rebound and run. That's just all it comes down to.”

Part of that stagnation is Iowa State doesn't have a strong post presence to help like it has in the past. Darrell Bowie is the steadiest forward, averaging 8.4 points and 6.8 rebounds, while freshman Solomon Young is averaging 7.2 points and 4.6 rebounds. Merrill Holden is averaging 4.6 points and 3.2 rebounds with 8.4 fouls per 40 minutes.

Some of Iowa State's shooting troubles - 213th in 3-point percentage (34.0) - come with a post presence that has trouble holding its own on the block.

'We've got to have a post presence down there,” Prohm said. 'If it's not to score, then just to get the defense sinking some. When you do get it in there, we have to finish those five or six plays around the rim. Finish half of them and (the Iowa loss) a different game.”

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