rebound, but then threw a careless left-handed outlet pass th

AMES, Iowa -- There are times when senior Deonte Burton can be the most spectacular and maddening player on the floor for No. 25 Iowa State -- often in the same sequence.Harnessing Burtons strengths and minimizing his weaknesses will be a big challenge for both Burton and coach Steve Prohm this season.Burton has been occasionally spectacular for Iowa State. The 6-foot-5, 250-pounder is averaging 14.1 points, a team-high 7.6 rebounds and is shooting 47.4 percent from 3-point range.If Burton can continue to overcome the little mistakes that hold him back, like forced shots and the nearly two turnovers per game so far in 2016-17, the Cyclones can be a serious threat in the Big 12. Iowa State travels to face Iowa (4-5) on Thursday.Some of those shots that he shoots, youre like `Oh man, Prohm said. But those are lessening. Now the biggest thing weve got to get him to do is to make that extra pass, and I think hes seeing that. But hes just an offensive talent.Last season, Burton was a role player for a team with plenty of scoring options.This year, the Cyclones are counting on him.Burton was a top-50 recruit coming out of Vincent High in Milwaukee, and he earned Big East All-Rookie honors for Marquette as a freshman. But after losing his mother to breast cancer just before the start of his sophomore season, Burton opted for a change and left Marquette after just eight games.Like so many transfers before him, Burton found a home with the Cyclones. He became eligible last December and was immediately inserted into a rotation that had just lost starting guard Naz Mitrou-Long to injuries.Burton averaged a career-high 9.7 points and 3.9 rebounds. But with frontcourt stars like Georges Niang and Abdel Nader leading the way and a first-year coach in Prohm that he barely knew, Burtons focus wasnt always where it needed to be.Hell tell you. Last year...he wasnt hard, necessarily, to coach. But he wasnt easy to coach, either, Prohm said. I really just talked to him about my expectations, what I wanted him to do to help him ... the way you go about things, the way you prepare, the way you work, the way you handle yourself. Hes done all that.Prohm also said at media day in October that he wanted Burton to get a double-double every game. Burton is talented enough to come close.Burton has scored at least 20 points three times this season, including a 29-point performance in a 73-71 loss to No. 8 Gonzaga.Burton has shown a knack for getting hot and scoring points in bunches -- like when scored the first 13 points in Mondays win over Nebraska-Omaha -- but hes learning not to do that without disrupting Iowa States game plan.If I start hitting some shots, then I start taking bad shots. So I just try to keep with the flow of the game, Burton said.That 91-47 win over Omaha also featured a sequence that encapsulated Burtons game.Burton grabbed a tough defensive rebound, but then threw a careless left-handed outlet pass the Mavs stole. Burton stayed under the hoop, blocking the ensuing layup try and allowing the Cyclones to get back up the floor in transition.If Iowa State can get those types of plays from Burton -- minus the miscue -- it will be much closer to reaching its full potential.I think Deonte is playing a lot smarter right now. And we need him to, Prohm said.---More college basketball at www.collegebasketball.ap.org Cheap Custom Pistons Jersey . - NASCAR announced a 33-race schedule for the 2014 Nationwide Series with virtually no changes from this years slate. Custom Pistons Jersey China .2 billion agreement with Rogers Communications for the leagues broadcast and multimedia rights. http://www.custompistonsjersey.com/ . Team physician Dr. Steve Traina performed the surgery Friday. Robinson was injured in a spill underneath the Nuggets basket during the first quarter of Wednesday nights loss to the Charlotte Bobcats. Custom Pistons T-shirts . Just as Montreal was settling into the first full working week of a new year, the Impact announced the appointment of their new head coach. Pistons Jerseys China . - Levi Browns tenure at left tackle for the Pittsburgh Steelers is over before it even began. WASHINGTON -- Watching Stephen Strasburg on the mound in 90-degree heat, Washington Nationals manager Dusty Baker recalled how he heard the right-hander would wilt in these situations.Nothing about Strasburgs outing against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday night, or any other opponent this season, has resembled wilting. Strasburg is the first National League starting pitcher to begin a season 13-0 in more than 100 years, a recapturing of the dominance he showed early in his career before Tommy John surgery.Strasburg has won 16 consecutive decisions dating back to September and during that stretch has struck out 182 batters and walked 37. This season his 2.51 ERA is sixth in the majors, and his command of his pitches is reflected in the numbers.In my opinion this has been the best year Ive seen him pitch, catcher Wilson Ramos said through an interpreter. Hes been very effective attacking the zone, keeping the ball down. Hes been hitting his spots very well with all his pitches. Usually a starter that attacks the zone like that and doesnt miss his spots very much will usually has success like hes been having.Mixing his overpowering fastball with a cutter, curveball and change-up, Strasburg has thrown an impressive 66.4 percent of his pitches for strikes this season, and yet batters are hitting .195 against him with only 11 home runs in 17 starts.Perhaps the most impressive number is the zero in the loss column.He hasnt lost, Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. Thats pretty hard to do up here. Its in late July and he hasnt lost a game. Whatever hes doing, hes probably going to continue it.Strasburgs 13 victories to open a season are tied with teammate Max Scherzer and Ron Guidry as the sixth-longest streak in major league history and mark the longest in the NL for a starter since Rube Marquard of the New York Giants went 18-0 in 1912.Asked if this felt like a 13-0 season, the 27-year-old didnt know how to answer.The results, I cant control, said Strasburg, who signed a $175 million, seven-year contract extension in May. Im trying to go out there and execute pitches and roll with the highs and lows. Its always going to be that way. You ask any veteran pitccher in the league, there are years where they feel like they really dominated all year and just didnt have the numbers to show for it and there are other years where they feel like they realty didnt pitch to the level they expected and they had all the numbers to show for it.ddddddddddddhere are tangible explanations for Strasburgs numbers, and Baker said it starts off the field. The veteran baseball man said the Nationals staff urged Strasburg to increase his work between starts.After an injury-filled 2015 that included a strained left trapezius muscle, a strained oblique and other tweaks that had little to do with pitching, Strasburg changed his workout approach. He may not work out more, but he does it differently.As Ive gotten older its not trying to go out there and lift the house in the weight room, Strasburg said. I think Ive just been trying to get back to square one, ready for the next start. Throwing that many pitches, doing that over and over again, it kind of takes a beating on your body, so were just trying to work with the training staff and identify what areas I need to work on to get feeling good for the next one.Strasburg missed two weeks this season with an upper-back strain, but that didnt slow him down. Since returning from the disabled list July 3, he has allowed just two earned runs on five hits and struck out 20 in 21 2/3 innings.Some of that dominance is mental, according to Ramos, who said Strasburg had the tendency in previous years to get down when things didnt go his way or the defense let him down. Ramos has talked to Strasburg extensively about letting his pitches work and the defense take care of things.We have a great team playing behind him and hes finally taken to that and hes pitched extremely well and the teams helped him out a lot, Ramos said. So far hes having a great year and his attitude is, I think, the biggest difference with the way hes going out there and just being aggressive -- a lot more aggressive than he has been in the last few years and I think thats made a big difference. ' ' '