Peterson: Snubbed Monte Morris showing hoops world his talent
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — I don’t know who votes for the Bob Cousy Award.
But whoever you all are, Iowa State thanks you.
Whether your snub of the Cyclones point guard with the off-the-charts assist-to-turnover ratio was the most significant reason for Monte Morris’ near-triple-double in Thursday’s 92-83 victory against Oklahoma State in the quarterfinal round of the Big 12 tournament — I don’t know.
I do know that not making your top five list placed a big chip on his shoulder, irked his coach, and made for enlightening postgame conversations with players after 24th-ranked Iowa State (21-10) advanced to Friday’s 6 p.m. semifinal against TCU, which stunned top-seeded Kansas 85-82.
“I don’t know how the voting goes,” Steve Prohm said. “I don’t know how it works. I’m not involved in that, but he’s the best point guard in the country. There’s no question about it.
“He’s going to play in the NBA for a long time. He’s going to be very successful. His assist-to-turnover (rate) makes everybody better.”
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Prohm promised on Wednesday that he’d eventually have his say about Morris not being among the top five still contending to be college basketball’s top point guard.
And, oh brother, the coach delivered. Just as Morris did, with his 21-point, 10-rebound, nine-assist performance during the Cyclones’ 10th victory in a row against the Cowboys (20-12).
“Think about what he lost off last year’s team, and all the questions everybody had about this team,” Prohm continued. “And who’s pressure was it on? Monte’s.
"He’s our guy. He’s got this team playing as good as they’ve played all year right now.”
Morris helped get his team playing well on Thursday. He was tied up near midcourt. He shoved someone. One thing led to another, and teammate Donovan Jackson and Oklahoma State’s Brandon Averette received technical fouls.
The score went from 62-57 Iowa State with 10:05 left to 76-63 Cyclones 3½ minutes later.
Too bad he couldn’t have received an assist for that. It would have meant his second triple-double.
But back to the Cousy snub. Even Kansas point guard (and Cousy Award finalist) Frank Mason knows Morris was disrespected, and that’s heavy stuff from the Big 12’s player of the year.
“We talked a lot over the last week and a half,” Morris said of Mason, his good buddy. “I reached out to him and told him congrats on player of the year. He told me he thought I got snubbed (that) I wasn’t on the list.
“Everybody knows how good I am. I just have to go out and keep producing in March so the whole world will know.”
Oklahoma State certainly knows.
“Monte Morris (an) assist away from a triple-double — that’s a pretty effective day at the office,” Cowboys coach Brad Underwood said.
Iowa State shot 64 percent in the second half, including 87.5 percent from 3-point range. The Cyclones got a combined 33 points and 17 rebounds from post players Deonte Burton, Solomon Young and Darrell Bowie.
Burton also scored 17 points, Naz Mitrou-Long had 14 and Matt Thomas 13.
On this afternoon, however, they were sidebars. When your leader gets snubbed ...
“We were laughing about it,” Long said when he heard the news last week. “That’s a joke. I don’t mean any harm or disrespect to anybody who picks those selections, but you want a point guard that doesn’t turn the ball over. You want somebody that has ball security, and somebody that can go score for you when the time’s right. He does all that.
“It’s funny when people say they want a point guard who does all those things, and then you have one who’s, in my opinion, the best PG in the country and he’s not on the list of the top five.
“It’s a laughable situation.”
Morris has a 7.1 assist-to-turnover ratio this season against Big 12 opponents. His career assist-to-turnover ratio against everyone is 4.8.
College basketball’s career assist-to-turnover record? It's 4.8.
“He’s the nation’s all-time assist-to-turnover ratio leader,” Prohm said. “Ever. Ever.
“He’s the No. 1 guy. He’s the all-time leader at Iowa State. His character is off the charts. He represents our university the right way.”
And ...
“I know it’s a year-by-year deal, but look at his stats,” Prohm continued. “And he’s getting 17 points a game ... and we finished second place in the toughest league in the country ...
“... And he’s not one of the top five point guards in the country? Come on.”
Prohm even offered a solution.
“Re-vote,” he said. “We had the presidential election, and everybody was saying re-vote, right?
“I shouldn’t probably go there, but let’s re-vote. Let’s vote again. It’s ridiculous.”
I presume he was talking about the Morris snub.
Randy Peterson, senior sports reporter, has been with the Register for parts of five decades. Randy writes opinion and analysis of Iowa State football and basketball. You can reach Randy at rpeterson@dmreg.com or on Twitter at @RandyPete