Iowa State basketball wants Milan Momcilovic to be aggressive

AMES — On one hand, it's kind of baffling that the Iowa State basketball coaching staff has to ask Milan Momcilovic for a shot.

The sophomore has the size and skill set to essentially be a cheat code. At 6-foot-3 and an incredibly clean shot, Momcilovic can be a scoring threat anywhere, but especially from the 3-point line if he — and Iowa State wants him to — in cuts a good figure in almost every situation.

And it's not that Momcilovic lacks confidence. In a sport full of confident personalities, there are few as confident as Momcilovic.

So why he doesn't take advantage of the green light he was given as if he were driving a Maserati remains unclear.

On the other hand, the last man an Iowa State coaching staff had to cajole and beg to shoot the ball was Tyrese Haliburton, who became an NBA draft lottery pick and All-Star with a quarter-billion dollar contract and an Olympic gold medal.

So maybe this is a good sign for everyone involved.

Assuming, of course, Momcilovic starts shooting with a little more abandon, starting with the sixth-ranked Cyclones' season opener on Monday against Mississippi Valley State (7 p.m.; ESPN+).

“He’s been really, really good lately,” Iowa State coach TJ Otzelberger said Thursday of Momcilovic’s instruction to shoot the damn thing. “There is no player you could have more confidence in because of the work he puts in off the court, the time he puts in, how much he cares about the cause and how important basketball is to him.”

“We have a lot of confidence in him and the aggressiveness with which he plays. We want him to be ready to shoot from anywhere, anytime when he's out there.

“When he does that, he plays his best.”

As a freshman, Momcilovic averaged 10.9 points per game while shooting 35.9% from distance and 42.4% from the floor.

In Big 12 play, he averaged four 3-point attempts per game.

“(Otzelberger) wants me to double that,” Momcilovic said, “and be a threat every time I catch the ball to score.”

There are two problems for Momcilovic.

First, he often let the perfect become the enemy of the good.

“Last year I took the wide open ones and a few difficult catches,” he said, “but this year I'm going to chase my shot every time I can and on every catch I can get.

“I'll only shoot a few wide open shots per game, so I have to be prepared to shoot every time, even if I have a defender in my face.”

The other problem is…he's too thoughtful?

“He’s a great guy,” Otzelberger said. “He cares about his teammates. He's almost one of those people who says, “You know what, I've taken a few shots now.” “I don't want to be selfish, I don't want to take too many.”

“We want to continue to make it clear to him that it is selfish if he does not take these vaccinations.”

Momcilovic had a very good season as a freshman, but it left her wanting more. Not for lack of effort, but because it is clear how much Momcilovic can still achieve.

Feedback he received from the NBA last spring suggested that Momcilovic could have been a second-round pick in June, but another year in college could push him not only into the first round, but perhaps further would advance into the area where Haliburton landed.

It's not hard to see this path for Momcilovic, but it involves making and taking more shots from distance, improving his defense and adding some playmaking to his repertoire. A big jump in even one of these three areas will likely make him a top draft prospect.

“We need him to be (aggressive),” Otzelberger said. “Our team needs him. This is important to us.

“Regardless of what happened in the last shot, we want him to focus on the process – keep hunting, keep hunting, keep hunting.”

Iowa State columnist Travis Hines has covered the Cyclones for the Des Moines Register and Ames Tribune since 2012. Contact him at [email protected] or (515) 284-8000. FFollow him on X at @TravisHines21.

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