Peterson: Iowa State basketball's best player right now is Curtis Jones
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – I don’t know who you’d want hoisting an Iowa State men's basketball game-deciding shot from beyond the arc if something like that crops up...
...or shooting with the shot clock winding down...or quite simply, making a basket when a basket desperately must be made...
But I know who I’d want.
I’d want the ball in Curtis Jones’ hands.
From the start of the season to where we are now, the Buffalo transfer is clearly the most improved player for No. 8 Iowa State basketball – and really, there doesn’t seem to be must disagreement.
I asked some of his teammates before Thursday’s Big 12 Tournament quarterfinal game against Kansas State the same. I asked directly:
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Who is your most improved teammate – from the season-opening win against Green Bay way back in November, to what awaits at 6 p.m., Thursday at the T-Mobile Center in downtown Kansas City?
The response?
Curtis Jones, of course.
“Just the way he’s been playing the last couple months,” freshman Milan Momcilovic said. “He’s got adjusted to (this level). He’s really taken the next step forward for us — and we’ve needed that. He’s getting us into offense. He’s playing really well for us.”
What says Jackson Paveletzke?
“The steps he’s taken — he’s been playing at a really high level,” Paveletzke said. “I’m happy for him. It’s all about his confidence and his preparation. He works on it, so when he’s out there, he’s confident. He’s hit a lot of big shots for us.”
And this from the Tre King corner:
“His pace and the speed with which he plays has really improved,” King said. “When the Big 12 (schedule) started . . . experiencing this conference and what it has to offer for the first time, definitely shakes up everybody.
"There was a stretch when he wasn't making shots, but he was still working and defending and doing other stuff to help us win. Now, he’s making shots, and it's all coming together. I couldn't be more proud of him. He’s been huge for us.”
Let’s go back to Iowa State’s 14-point deficit against BYU in the season’s final regular-season home game. The Cyclones trailed 46-32 with 15:56 remaining in the game.
Jones made all four of his field-goal attempts, including a 3-pointer, during the comeback. He had three defensive rebounds. He made a free throw, but there’s more.
With a smidge more than two minutes to play, and Iowa State down a point, he blocked a shot – in a game the Cyclones eventually won 68-63.
“(Coach T.J. Otzelberger) told me to be aggressive,” Jones said after the game. “He told me that after every timeout.
“We really didn’t have a lot of big time or moments where it looked like we could get back in the game until that moment. So, it was huge.”
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Jones’ scoring average has jumped from 8.3 points after the season’s first 17 games, to 13.8 heading into Thursday night’s game. His field-goal shooting has improved from 36.8% after the first 17, to 41.4%. He’s scored 10 points or more in each of the last 14 games after doing it just six times over the first 17.
The coaches challenged him. His teammates challenged him.
"If you want to develop and be the best player you can be, you should want to be challenged, you should want to have all those things be demanded because Curt's capable of a lot," Otzelberger said. "It's my job to continue to remind him all the greatness that he has in all these different aspects and be demanding and make sure that it shows up for him every single day."
The "oh wow" moment was in January, at TCU – when Tamin Lipsey was injured, and Jones started. The response was noticeable – 17 points, 6-of-12 shooting (including 3-of-4 from beyond the arc) – and a Cyclones victory.
“I didn’t do anything different preparation-wise,” Jones said. “It was a mindset thing — a confidence thing. Once that TCU game happened, that gave me a lot of confidence. I just took that and ran with it.”
The change was noticed by Jones. It was noticed by his teammates.
"They continued to believe in me," Jones said. "They’ve seen me make a lot of shots, since the summer and during the fall. Sometimes it doesn't show up in the game, but now it has, so you just trust your work. It pays off.
“I’d say I’ve always had (poise), but sometimes it takes me a bit to get adjusted to things at every level. When I went to junior college, it took me a while to get adjusted and once I did, I was poised. Same thing at Buffalo, and now I think you can see it here.”
Iowa State columnist Randy Peterson is in his 52nd year writing sports for the Des Moines Register. Reach him at rpeterson@dmreg.com, on X @RandyPete, and at DesMoinesRegister.com/CyclonesTexts
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa State basketball's key to Big 12 Tournament 2024 is Curtis Jones
