1. Signs of life.
It was Iowa State’s first competitive game in nearly a month, and that’s worth celebrating. It’s not a pretty rest of the slate, but at least the team showed it’s still capable of competing and willing to compete.
2. Signs of health.
Javan Johnson was the only remaining absence. Which is, again, encouraging.
3. Mixed results from Jaden Walker.
On the one hand, Walker was present in a big way during the comeback. Some are arguing that he sparked it. Whatever sparked it, he deserves some credit.
The turnovers, though, were an issue. Six of them.
He’s just a freshman, so this isn’t unsurprising, but probably best to not overhype the guy.
4. George Conditt’s really struggling.
It was another quiet night from the big man. Some of this was Solomon Young’s return and effectiveness, but it’s still striking to compare Conditt’s numbers between the last two years:
| 2019-20 | 2020-21 | |
| % Minutes | 40.6% | 27.9% |
| O-Rebound Rate | 14.8% | 7.1% |
| D-Rebound Rate | 19.7% | 22.1% |
| Block Rate | 10.3% | 4.5% |
| Offensive Rating | 103.6 | 60.6 |
| FTA/FGA | 0.472 | 0.391 |
Context: These are all from KenPom. FTA/FGA is free throw attempts per field goal attempt, or how good a player is at getting to the line. Rebounding rates are percentages of possible rebounds. Block rate is percentage of possible blocks. Offensive rating is a personal efficiency rate in which a player with a 100.0 rate would be expected to produce one point for every individual possession.
Part of the story here is that Conditt had a really solid 2019-20. Part of the story is that the regression’s been significant. Hopefully, the last part of the story is some progress over the next month or so, to end the year on a good note.
