(photo: ISU Athletics)
12/7 Card:
Tamin Lipsey o5.5 assists (7:30pm ET – ESPNU)
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Tamin Lipsey o5.5 assists : Tamin Lipsey is quickly turning into one of my favorite point guards in the country. The 6’1 sophomore is entering tonight’s game coming off of a triple-double in a win over DePaul. The 7th in school history.
Lipsey’s facilitating was on full display. Whether it was finding cutters or open three point shooters, the passes were zipped in efficiently. I am excited to back his playmaking ability coming into tonight’s rivalry game. The Iowa game means a lot to Tamin. He was born in Ames and has lived and breathed this rivalry for his entire life.
Iowa State got blown out by Iowa last year. Lipsey was one of the few bright spots for the Cyclones that night. He scored 11 points and collected 5 assists in his first taste of the rivalry. The assist number is impressive as Iowa State only scored 56 points. Make no mistake about it. He will be out for revenge tonight.
This Iowa defense is pathetic. Subhuman almost. We talked about all of their short comings when it comes to defending an Edey led offense in the write-up on Monday night. The Hawkeyes will also struggle against a Tamin Lipsey led offense tonight. Iowa comes into this game as the 238th rated defense in the Shot Quality adjusted efficiency rating. There are many areas of this defense that Lipsey can attack with his playmaking abilities. Iowa is 332nd in the country in defending cuts. They are allowing 1.48 SQ PPP on this play type. That is literally as bad as it gets folks. Lipsey is one of the best passers in the country when it comes to finding a slashing cutter. Iowa is also 341st in the country in defending catch and shoot 3’s. Edey was able to take advantage of this by kicking out when he was doubled. Lipsey will be able to take advantage of this by driving into the paint and kicking out to open shooters just as Braden Smith did. Iowa is also rated 296th at defending shots around the rim. Lipsey is phenomenal at the fake lay-up loop around pass to a big. There are so many areas to attack.
Iowa has allowed monster assist numbers from the playmakers of their opponents in their three losses. Trey Alexander had 9 assists for Creighton, Milos Uzan had 9 assists for Oklahoma, and Braden Smith had 8 assists for Purdue. Lipsey also has a very high floor when it comes to assists. He has bottomed out at 4 assists three times this year. All of these instances were against quality defenses in VT, VCU and Texas A&M.
I love this play enough to qualify it as a Best Bet. Let’s go 1-0 on this night with limited hoops!
Prediction: Tamin Lipsey – 8 assists
Best of luck! Let’s snipe!!
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