Iowa State University Cyclones guard Tamin Lipsey (3) lays the ball around Baylor Bears guard Adam Flagler, guard Dale Bonner (3) and forward Flo Thamba (0) during the second half at the Hilton Coliseum on Saturday December 12, 2019. December 31, 2022 in Ames, Iowa. Photo by Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune
SOUL – A true freshman making a significant impact on Big 12 men’s basketball in 2022 is something remarkable. It’s not easy being the youngsters when you’re playing adults every night you put them on.
To play and make an impact as a true freshman in the Big 1`2, you need to be an excellent player. You have to be the kind of player that nobody realizes is a freshman until someone says he’s a freshman.
Iowa State point guard Tamin Lipsey is one of those players. TJ Otzelberger known. Lipsey’s teammates know it.
by Baylor Scott Drew discovered Saturday at the hilton coliseum.
Lipsey had eight points, eight assists and five rebounds to help set up Iowa State’s 77-62 win over No. 1 Drew. 12 bears in the first game of the Big 12.
Lipsey won’t be Iowa State’s top scorer too often this year. He might not be setting up headline-grabbing overnight statlines. He will win, however.
It will have an impact. He will be the straw that will stir the Cyclone drink and step into the shoes as Iowa State’s next great general. He already does or has done these things, in fact.
Tamin Lipsey is a special player, and everyone in this league is about to find out.
“I think every freshman that plays in this league has to be special,” Drew said after the game. “Because you’re not going to play freshmen if they’re not special.”
Lipsey’s numbers this season don’t look too impressive on paper. He is averaging 6.3 points, 4.7 assists, 2.8 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game in 12 games.
However, the numbers don’t do what Lipsey does for this team’s justice.
There are no statistics to stabilize the presence or the it factor. There’s his almost three-to-one rotational assist ratio, but I’m not even sure that really demonstrates what Lipsey does for this team.
He is the driver of the car. He’s the train driver. He’s the one who keeps the wheels off the Iowa State offense and keeps the Cyclone defense on track.
“Pretty amazing,” Otzelberger said of his freshman point guard. You see this aplomb. You look at him over there and you’re like, ‘Man, this guy can’t be a freshman. There’s no way. It’s his character. This is how he prepares. That’s how he works. We’re lucky to have a guy like that, who cares as much as he does and wants to play the right game.”
The perfect example of Lipsey’s ability to make the right play, and not just make the right play, but make the play that most freshmen don’t see, came when Iowa State held a 12-point lead with five minutes left on Saturday.
Lipsey had one of his three interceptions and started pushing the ball forward in transition. Most first-year point guards would start their straight to the basket, to the opportunity on an open layup.
This lay-up is the glory. Points are the thing that makes this game go and turn basketball players into icons.
Tamin Lipsey doesn’t care about points, though.
At least no points for himself.
He quickly returned the ball to the following man, and Gabe Kalscher got up to score his fifth 3-pointer of the night and seal his record 23 points.
Nail meets coffin.
“Watching this game, without knowing (Lipsey) a freshman, you’d think he played in the league for a few years,” the Iowa State guard said. Caleb Grill, who added 18 of his five 3-pointers, said. “Tamin does a really good job of doing what’s best for the team and playing to their strengths. He’s not trying to do something he shouldn’t be doing. He’s always doing the right things. things he knows he can do and plays the games he can (do).
I’d go so far as to say there’s a strong case to be made for Lipsey as Iowa State’s best player.
Yes, he’s young and, I know, he’s not putting up the numbers people usually expect from the “star” of the team. But what makes Lipsey so great is his ability to make you think someone else is the star when the whole operation revolves around him.
He lives to support his teammates, set up his shooters, and make plates for wide-opening dunks. Players want to play with a point guard like that. People want to be around people like that.
“I think he just did a great job with us giving him the keys,” Kalscheur said. Kind of like this faith like, ‘You’re the guy. You are our facilitator, our floor general. He does a great job with that.
What comes next for Lipsey and his development as a college player will be a fun thing to watch. He can take it to another level with the development of a consistent jump shot, and he will continue to gain strength when attacking the rim as the years go by.
The game will continue to slow for him, which is crazy to think considering how slow the game is for the Ames rookie.
He’s just going to keep getting better, and he’s the kind of player whose legacy will be judged by how many good players he’s played with (and looks really good) and how many matches that the team places in the win column.
Lipsey might not set records for points, steals or even assists. These things don’t matter.
Don’t start thinking Lipsey isn’t a star, though. It turns out to be a right before our eyes. It’s just hard to notice when he helps everyone look good.
TJ Otzelberger knows though. The same goes for Tamin Lipsey’s teammates, and now Baylor head coach, Scott Drew.
“I think the best thing he does is take care of the basketball,” Drew said. He is fantastic. Don’t flip it and get its shooter shots. The other thing is defensively, he’s really, really good for a freshman. TJ did a great job identifying some really good point guards, and that’s why they got to play freshman.”
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