He has really blossomed this season. I wish he could get more touches down low because he has been almost automatic this season. He's shooting 34-47 this year. Thats 72%! Meanwhile Tevin Glass has made 34 field goals as well, with 78 attempts! Not a knock on Tevin, just showing how efficient Banks has been. Great to see him have a great year.

It seems to me that Banks is the only big man on the team with a decent offensive repertoire around the basket. He's obviously worked hard to get to this point, having come a long way from where he began.

Glass can move away from the basket more reliably, I think, but that's what we have guards for. I do not recall Banks making any regular mistakes this season, so far. That's just as important, especially if Glass is the foil for comparison. I'd like to see Banks at 4 with a bigger 5 alongside any time the opponent puts two bigs in.

It's been really awesome seeing Ike play so well this season. He's such a high character, humble, hard-working player. He's dealt with some incredible adversity personally and as a college player but seems to have persevered and thrived in Johnson City. He's the type of player I'd like to see stick around as grad assistant like Petey to help next year's new players adjust. He'll have some chances to contribute a lot as Socon play continues.

So good to read these comments from folks who know these players more up close. I, for one distant Bucs fan, appreciate it.

I've made the point a couple of times already, but I'll make it again:

Banks's success is in large part due to 2 things:
1) Having higher-quality other bigs on the team. Thus whoever is defending Banks may be the other team's second, third, or maybe even fourth best inside defender.
2) Forbes giving him better opportunities to have high-quality shots in close. This is related to #1 above, but slightly different. Remember last year when we all were so complementary of Isaac for developing his mid-range shot and beginning to hit it? Well, how many of those has he taken this year? Maybe 3-4 all year? Maybe, although I can only recall 1 at the moment. He's shooting 72% (it was even higher earlier in the year) because most of the shots he's taking are within 5 feet. Heck, most are within 3 feet. And don't take that the wrong way.... That's *by design*, and is what's allowed him to find his comfort zone, comfort shot, and thus to flourish.

Those things noted, I'm not trying to take away from what he's doing. It's great. His (offensive) "niche"/(slot) is fairly narrow, but he's taking absolutely full advantage of it. And we know he works as hard as anybody on the boards.

As shampoo points out, Glass has a much broader repertoire, including an outside shot (sometimes). I would say Banks *has* made mistakes, but few. I would say his biggest 'mistakes' are those of omission rather than commission, due to his lack of confidence, especially in the realm of putting the ball on the floor. I suspect Forbes has warned him away from doing that too much, but don't know that for a fact. It's clear that if he gets the ball more than 10 ft. from the goal, he wants to get rid of it as immediately as possible.
To summarize, he's doing a wonderful job of his greatly enhanced opportunities, brought about by the other bigs around him, Forbes's excellent use of him, and his own hard work.

(01-11-2017 03:51 AM)posterformerlyknownasthedoctor Wrote:  I've made the point a couple of times already, but I'll make it again:

Banks's success is in large part due to 2 things:
1) Having higher-quality other bigs on the team. Thus whoever is defending Banks may be the other team's second, third, or maybe even fourth best inside defender.
2) Forbes giving him better opportunities to have high-quality shots in close. This is related to #1 above, but slightly different. Remember last year when we all were so complementary of Isaac for developing his mid-range shot and beginning to hit it? Well, how many of those has he taken this year? Maybe 3-4 all year? Maybe, although I can only recall 1 at the moment. He's shooting 72% (it was even higher earlier in the year) because most of the shots he's taking are within 5 feet. Heck, most are within 3 feet. And don't take that the wrong way.... That's *by design*, and is what's allowed him to find his comfort zone, comfort shot, and thus to flourish.

Those things noted, I'm not trying to take away from what he's doing. It's great. His (offensive) "niche"/(slot) is fairly narrow, but he's taking absolutely full advantage of it. And we know he works as hard as anybody on the boards.

As shampoo points out, Glass has a much broader repertoire, including an outside shot (sometimes). I would say Banks *has* made mistakes, but few. I would say his biggest 'mistakes' are those of omission rather than commission, due to his lack of confidence, especially in the realm of putting the ball on the floor. I suspect Forbes has warned him away from doing that too much, but don't know that for a fact. It's clear that if he gets the ball more than 10 ft. from the goal, he wants to get rid of it as immediately as possible.
To summarize, he's doing a wonderful job of his greatly enhanced opportunities, brought about by the other bigs around him, Forbes's excellent use of him, and his own hard work.

Very, very well put. Myself and my dad (swvabucsfan) have talked about this to each other several times. Isaac is just simply better than most teams' second units, allowing him to flourish in a different role. It's been a blast to watch!

(01-11-2017 08:41 AM)Running_Fool15 Wrote:  

(01-11-2017 03:51 AM)posterformerlyknownasthedoctor Wrote:  I've made the point a couple of times already, but I'll make it again:

Banks's success is in large part due to 2 things:
1) Having higher-quality other bigs on the team. Thus whoever is defending Banks may be the other team's second, third, or maybe even fourth best inside defender.
2) Forbes giving him better opportunities to have high-quality shots in close. This is related to #1 above, but slightly different. Remember last year when we all were so complementary of Isaac for developing his mid-range shot and beginning to hit it? Well, how many of those has he taken this year? Maybe 3-4 all year? Maybe, although I can only recall 1 at the moment. He's shooting 72% (it was even higher earlier in the year) because most of the shots he's taking are within 5 feet. Heck, most are within 3 feet. And don't take that the wrong way.... That's *by design*, and is what's allowed him to find his comfort zone, comfort shot, and thus to flourish.

Those things noted, I'm not trying to take away from what he's doing. It's great. His (offensive) "niche"/(slot) is fairly narrow, but he's taking absolutely full advantage of it. And we know he works as hard as anybody on the boards.

As shampoo points out, Glass has a much broader repertoire, including an outside shot (sometimes). I would say Banks *has* made mistakes, but few. I would say his biggest 'mistakes' are those of omission rather than commission, due to his lack of confidence, especially in the realm of putting the ball on the floor. I suspect Forbes has warned him away from doing that too much, but don't know that for a fact. It's clear that if he gets the ball more than 10 ft. from the goal, he wants to get rid of it as immediately as possible.
To summarize, he's doing a wonderful job of his greatly enhanced opportunities, brought about by the other bigs around him, Forbes's excellent use of him, and his own hard work.

Very, very well put. Myself and my dad (swvabucsfan) have talked about this to each other several times. Isaac is just simply better than most teams' second units, allowing him to flourish in a different role. It's been a blast to watch!

I am glad the "perfect world" some wished for didn't happen, Banks never getting off the bench.

Ike, on and off the floor, has been a privilege to watch and talk to.