Williams Blog: Loss at OU disappointing for multiple reasons

[kucyclone]

This years defense has been BY FAR the worse of Fred's 3 years here. Last year they were 57 in Kenpom for defensive effiencey, which is right around where it needs to be. I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt this year that this will not be a yearly occurrence

This is a big part of it, I think.



It's pretty poor for a guy who is essentially playing the 5. (Check out those player comps, though) Hopefully, Georges will make some big strides defensively in the offseason. They are sorely needed.

[simply1]

I don't get why the Kansas game would break this team. They have everything to play for now that they did before, unless you think we have the weakest, least courageous team on the planet

[CyCloned]

You know, sometimes teams just have crap luck, and this team has it bad. Yes, they played bad today, but OU going 34/34 from the FT line? And how about yet another desperation 3 pointer from 30 feet with the shot clock expiring? How many of those have we seen this year? 6 or 7? That is just crazy. You should see one or two of those a season. Most of the time it has been a guy that shoots 30% from 3 point land too. I could see this game coming, the Clones have been pretty darn salty on the road this year without a heck of a lot to show for it. Hard to believe that the players are not pretty sick of it. I know I am.

[gocubs2118]

This is a big part of it, I think.



It's pretty poor for a guy who is essentially playing the 5. (Check out those player comps, though) Hopefully, Georges will make some big strides defensively in the offseason. They are sorely needed.

Agree. This team as a whole doesn't do itself any favors by not blocking any shots. I'm sure that's something Georges will look to improve over the summer. Hopefully Amardi can come in and help out with that as well.

[CyJack13]

This years defense has been BY FAR the worse of Fred's 3 years here. Last year they were 57 in Kenpom for defensive effiencey, which is right around where it needs to be. I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt this year that this will not be a yearly occurrence

I agree, my main disagreement is with CW's statement that the "program" is taking the stance that defense doesn't matter as much to ISU as it does to other teams. I'm sure Hoiberg doesn't really feel this way.

Although I am concerned about how our defense will improve next year as Ejim and Niang will still get most of the minutes up front and now we will be playing a lot of freshman in the backcourt too.

[CyJack13]

This is a big part of it, I think.



It's pretty poor for a guy who is essentially playing the 5. (Check out those player comps, though) Hopefully, Georges will make some big strides defensively in the offseason. They are sorely needed.

I saw that earlier, a bunch of first round draft picks on those comps. It will be fun to watch Niang develop the next few years.

[ISUChippewa]

There is another alternative here, as Eustachy and Floyd showed

This. The frequency of black OR white mindsets on here, with ABSOLUTELY NO SHADES OF GREY ALLOWED, damn it!, is just plain bizarre.

[kucyclone]

This team is basically 2012 Missouri* defensively. But instead of being the best offense in the country like Mizzou** was, ISU is about 12th best.

(*Missouri sucks)
(**Mizzou sucks)

[CycloneErik]

This team is basically 2012 Missouri* defensively. But instead of being the best offense in the country like Mizzou** was, ISU is about 12th best.

(*Missouri sucks)
(**Mizzou sucks)

No on the 12th best. Top 3 nationally.

[kucyclone]

No on the 12th best. Top 3 nationally.

Look at points per possession, not points per game. It's a more accurate look of how efficient an offense is.

[CycloneErik]

Look at points per possession, not points per game. It's a more accurate look of how efficient an offense is.

I simply look at the fact that we do it to everybody, and no one else is. I really don't need to stare at stats all day.
We're not 12th best. Way too good for that.

[kucyclone]

I simply look at the fact that we do it to everybody, and no one else is. I really don't need to stare at stats all day.
We're not 12th best. Way too good for that.

I always love "I don't care what objective data says" posts.

[CycloneErik]

I always love "I don't care what objective data says" posts.

It doesn't say everything. There has to be a balance between numbers and observation. Numbers aren't fully objective, either. They lack necessary context.

[psyclone51]

This is the playing style Fred has decided to run, either get used to it or become a fan of a Big 10 team. This isn't the first blow out and it won't be the last, but personally I'll take 20+ win seasons over defense and NIT bids.

Thank you. Do these whiners really think that our record would be any better if we tried to play "their style" of basketball? Not very likely - and this is a whole lot more fun to watch.

[Wesley]

What we have seen is we can score with anyone.

Come the last two minutes, we do not have a go to guy to make the big shot. How many big game winners do we have as a group?

The last five seconds of a half have resulted in poor strategy.

If Will cannot drive against a team (ie turnovers), then he needs to shoot jumpers.

We need Babb to be a shooting threat every game.

We need some funky signs for the OSU free throw shooters.