So how good is Okie State?

[CRAZYGREG]

Looks like the Jack E knew exactly what to do to beat his old boss.

I was at the game so i listened to the osu postgame show. Jack was responsible for the scouting report, they did acknowledge that.

[BoxsterCy]

I was at the game so i listened to the osu postgame show. Jack was responsible for the scouting report, they did acknowledge that.

I think it was more than professional, probably personal. It didn’t have the appearance of an amiable separation. I don’t get the idea that they are on one another’s Christmas card list.

[Oldgeezer]

A better question might be "How bad is Iowa State?" 15 available scholarships, and we have 4 or maybe 5 players the the skills and athleticism needed to play at this level. Two of the 2 deep lineup are walkons. Below freezing shooting percentage and 15 + turnovers per game seems like a lack preparation, and a lack of focus. Prins and Zimm aren't much improved from their freshman year. Ashley Arens(sp) Whitney Williams, Jessica Scroll and Emiah Bingley could all be contributing, but they (along with several others) have left the program. There hasn't been any infusion of new ideas or abilities into tne coaching staff in 15 years. This team was better in Nov. Where is this program going?

[acoustimac]

I would disagree (nicely). The team is much better than November and better than last year. One game doesn't make a whole season. This team is 4-2 in the toughest women's league in the nation. Prins is much better with her inside game, but her 3 point shot is a no-show this year. Her rebounding is much better. Pop has been struggling off and on since her concussion (not sure there is any tie to that). Zimm is a mystery and I agree she has stagnated. Not sure the reasons. We can't dwell on the players that have left any more than we can all the players that transferred in over the years and contributed. Williams is a non-entity at TCU so I can't imagine she would do anything but get a few bench minutes for our team. Bingley and Schroll would def be of help, but again...they aren't here. Irrelevant. So I don't think the question is how bad we are. Its perhaps what kind of team we are. When this team faces someone that is physical and quick (like ATM of the past few years or OSU this year) it typically spells trouble if we don't take care of the ball. The biggest outlier of the OSU game was the miserable shooting. We had open shots. We had bunnies. We just plain missed left and right. It was an perfect storm for OSU. I doubt we'll see it again like we did Sunday.

[Tornado man]

The biggest outlier of the OSU game was the miserable shooting. We had open shots. We had bunnies. We just plain missed left and right. It was an perfect storm for OSU. I doubt we'll see it again like we did Sunday.

I would repectfully disagree on this one. Okla State played great D that was a large contributor to the low ISU shooting %. We were not used to this kind of defensive pressure. Poppens in particular was held in check.

[jbhtexas]

We had bunnies. We just plain missed left and right.

If you look through your game summaries over the years, you will find yourself making the above statement quite often. It's a recurring problem that doesn't seem to be improving.

I agree with you that it doesn't pay to speculate who would be doing what if they still played for ISU. But I think discussing the suitability of the roster for Big 12 competition is completely fair game.

Do agree with Oldgeeser's statement that ISU has 5 players at most with the skills and athleticism needed to play at the Big 12 level?

[BoxsterCy]

Referencing the last five or six posts: IMHO, we have six Big 12 caliber players which makes us super thin with almost no margin for error in our games. If Poppens is not able to play like her old self we may not be a .500 club. If Moody has a bad game, the team is going to have a bad game. Just no margin for error.

[acoustimac]

Darn...you would remember something I've said a few times lol. I suspect when I referred to bunnies it probably was related to Prins. And yes, there have been too many games over the past several years where the team goes into a scoring funk for 7-8 minutes. Yet, usually defense is holding us in the game and in many cases we've gone on to win. Sunday, it reminded me of the football team. The defense was expected to do too much and it failed when the offense was completely missing. That's a rarity.

Yes, I think depth this year is a MAJOR issue. Coming into this season our strength was in the post between Pop and Hal with hopes Anna would improve being healthy for once. Huge question marks in the 1 and 2 positions. Well, we know who our point guard is. We have one that can play Big 12 ball at a decent level. Sunday def showed the diff between an all conference point and Moody. She's good, no doubt, but still lots of room for improvement. I firmly believe she will get there though. The two and three spots are pretty much hit and miss for this team. Sometimes good, sometimes absent without leave. I think of Hal as a hybrid 3-4 and sometimes she is impossible to match up with and other times she struggles. We haven't had a single player that has been consistent all year. Even Pop, as hard as she works and hustles has disappeared a few times. Bottom line? This is a team with little or no margin for error. A single injury would be devastating. I'm hoping the training coach is helping to prevent that. Now, look at other teams in the conference and their depth. Oklahoma has several injuries and their depth came from the volleyball team. Texas is struggling at the bottom of the conference after injuries. West Virginia lost their top player and you can see they have become a 50/50 team. I don't think there is much depth at a BIG 12 level anywhere in the conference. Some teams go 7 deep, but that's about it. This isn't just an Iowa State issue.

If we eliminate the two bad losses though, what I see is a good team that State puts on the floor. We have a point guard that leads the nation in assists. We are the top free throw shooting team in the conference and one of the best defensive teams. It is a team capable of finishing as high as 2nd in the conference. I still think that is very possible. That position will probably be a team with 3-4 conference losses minimum (assume 2 from Baylor for everyone).

[jbhtexas]

And yes, there have been too many games over the past several years where the team goes into a scoring funk for 7-8 minutes.

Why do you think that is? What helps during a scoring funk is a physical, athletic player that can make a drive to the hole or make a move/drive inside to draw a foul. You don't want to have to rely on tired legs to make jump shots. IMO, ISU has not had that kind of player for a number of years now.

A single injury would be devastating. I'm hoping the training coach is helping to prevent that. Now, look at other teams in the conference and their depth. Oklahoma has several injuries and their depth came from the volleyball team. Texas is struggling at the bottom of the conference after injuries. West Virginia lost their top player and you can see they have become a 50/50 team. I don't think there is much depth at a BIG 12 level anywhere in the conference. Some teams go 7 deep, but that's about it. This isn't just an Iowa State issue.

I agree that across the board, the Big 12 appears to lack depth. However, fundamentally, losing depth because of injury and not having depth to begin with are different matters.

[Royalclone]

I would disagree (nicely). The team is much better than November and better than last year. One game doesn't make a whole season. This team is 4-2 in the toughest women's league in the nation. Prins is much better with her inside game, but her 3 point shot is a no-show this year. Her rebounding is much better. Pop has been struggling off and on since her concussion (not sure there is any tie to that). Zimm is a mystery and I agree she has stagnated. Not sure the reasons. We can't dwell on the players that have left any more than we can all the players that transferred in over the years and contributed. Williams is a non-entity at TCU so I can't imagine she would do anything but get a few bench minutes for our team. Bingley and Schroll would def be of help, but again...they aren't here. Irrelevant. So I don't think the question is how bad we are. Its perhaps what kind of team we are. When this team faces someone that is physical and quick (like ATM of the past few years or OSU this year) it typically spells trouble if we don't take care of the ball. The biggest outlier of the OSU game was the miserable shooting. We had open shots. We had bunnies. We just plain missed left and right. It was an perfect storm for OSU. I doubt we'll see it again like we did Sunday.

Ashley Arlen would not be contributing this year because her eligibility would have been up last year.

[theshadow]

Ashley Arlen would not be contributing this year because her eligibility would have been up last year.

Same with Williams.

[kcdc4isu]

A better question might be "How bad is Iowa State?" 15 available scholarships, and we have 4 or maybe 5 players the the skills and athleticism needed to play at this level. Two of the 2 deep lineup are walkons. Below freezing shooting percentage and 15 + turnovers per game seems like a lack preparation, and a lack of focus. Prins and Zimm aren't much improved from their freshman year. Ashley Arens(sp) Whitney Williams, Jessica Scroll and Emiah Bingley could all be contributing, but they (along with several others) have left the program. There hasn't been any infusion of new ideas or abilities into tne coaching staff in 15 years. This team was better in Nov. Where is this program going?

Just a question for you, how many games have you attended in the last couple years?

[Three4Cy]

A better question might be "How bad is Iowa State?" 15 available scholarships, and we have 4 or maybe 5 players the the skills and athleticism needed to play at this level. Two of the 2 deep lineup are walkons. Below freezing shooting percentage and 15 + turnovers per game seems like a lack preparation, and a lack of focus. Prins and Zimm aren't much improved from their freshman year. Ashley Arens(sp) Whitney Williams, Jessica Scroll and Emiah Bingley could all be contributing, but they (along with several others) have left the program. There hasn't been any infusion of new ideas or abilities into tne coaching staff in 15 years. This team was better in Nov. Where is this program going?

Kelsey Harris, Jessica Schroll, and Emiah are the only three transfers who have left since this years seniors started.

No infusion of abilities into the coaching staff in the last 15 years, seriously? So since 1998, we've done nothing new, interesting.

[acoustimac]

Is the coaching staff that bad? Look at the results...I see a consistent winner.
12-13 (13-3 so far)
11-12 (18-13, 3rd in Big 12)
10-11 (22-10, 5th)
09-10 (25-8, 2nd)
08-09 (27-9, 3rd)
07-08 (21-13, 7th)
06-07 (26-9, 4th)
05-06 (18-13, 8th)
04-05 (23-7, 3rd)
03-04 (18-15, 7th)
02-03 (12-16, 8th)
01-02 (24-9, 6th)
00-01 (27-6, 3rd)
99-00 (27-6, 1st)
98-99 (25-8, 2nd)
97-98 (25-8, 2nd)
96-97 (17-12, 5th)
95-96 (17-10, 6th)

[majorcyfan]

Kelsey Harris, Jessica Schroll, and Emiah are the only three transfers who have left since this years seniors started.

No infusion of abilities into the coaching staff in the last 15 years, seriously? So since 1998, we've done nothing new, interesting.

Are you forgetting Mellisa Youngblut, (Kicked off the team last yr), Kileah Mays, Kelsey Harris, and Jessica Schroll all three transfered from last yr's team. Attrition and attitude problems for whatever reason have really hurt our team's overall strength.