The Iowa State Basketball Rotation Adjustment That Could Define March Madness

With the start of the NCAA tournament right around the corner for the Iowa State Cyclones, the team has to like how things are going heading into March Madness.

Despite some struggles to end the regular season, the program was able to build some momentum in the Big 12 tournament. Two lopsided victories against the Arizona State Sun Devils and the Texas Tech Red Raiders led the Cyclones right into a massive showdown with the Arizona Wildcats.

While Iowa State might not have been able to defeat the Wildcats, they did play them right down to the wire. As one of the top teams in the country, the Cyclones proved that they could play and compete with the best of the best.

Despite a bit of a lull at the end of the year, Iowa State has seemingly found their groove once again. However, in order to live up to lofty expectations, they will need key players to continue to perform at a high level. Furthermore, sometimes it is unsung heroes who rise to the occasion in March, and the Cyclones have one area that will be key to getting good production from.

What Rotation Adjustment Could Be Key

Iowa State Cyclones guard Killyan Toure coming up the court — Iowa State Cyclones guard Killyan Toure | William Purnell-Imagn Images

While the rotation for the Cyclones isn’t overly complex, the last couple of weeks have highlighted that T.J. Otzelberger does have one area that he is a bit worried about. Due to some of the offensive struggles of Killyan Toure, playing time has increased a bit for both Jamarion Batemon and Nate Heise.

Since Iowa State runs a fairly strict eight-man rotation, Toure did see his playing time drop amid him seemingly losing confidence in his offensive game. However, one of the top takeaways for the team during the Big 12 tournament was the freshman guard finding his groove a little bit against the Arizona Wildcats.

With Toure’s ability to be an impact player on the defensive end of the court, providing something offensively is needed to keep an opposing team honest. When he was struggling, teams were frequently double-teaming him and also leaving him wide open to shoot.

If Toure starts to struggle again, Otzelberger does have options with Batemon and Heise off the bench. Batemon has had some excellent offensive performances for the Cyclones, and Heise is an all-around solid option. Ideally, Toure is able to build off the momentum he started against the Wildcats, but the program will at least have options if need be.