Observations from Texas game!

[Ficklone02]

I agree with Coach22, Royce takes plays off and we will not be a tournament team if that is not corrected, along with Allen taking rediculous stepback contested shots. It looks to me like sometimes he just wants to work on getting drafted instead of being part of a team. On the other hand, Babb is exactly what we need. A team first guy who can knock down shots and defend hard every possession. He seems like a glue guy too. Love Babb. Also, great to see Booker stick with it and see some success, we will need him down the road.

 

[bosco]

Rick Barnes is a hell of a coach. This team was a bunch of freshman and one lone senior in the second half. They played hard. He holds his players accountable. He makes them play with intensity and is not afraid to get after them. There is a level of accountability he expects and if they don't give it, he pulls them out. I wish Fred would be more like that. White didn't hustle after several balls and he didn't ever say anything to him. That's the differnce is being a good or great team, until Fred holds these guys accountable, we will not take the next step.

Oh yeah?! Well...if you like Texas so much why don't you live there and marry Rick Barnes.

 

[BryceC]

Honestly I agree with those criticizing Allen. I'd love for him to play better but I absolutely cannot stand watching him play. He dribbles around constantly, takes terrible shots, and turns the ball over. It is so freaking frustrating it's unreal.

 

[imnclone]

Royce is a impact player who is already changing the game for ISU. Teams will need to plan around him. And yes, he still has a lot of area where he can improve

Allen hit the FTs to seal the game. Fred pulled him after several bad plays to talk about it. I think his development is key to this season. That and getting someone to rebound.

ATM game should be interesting. About all they can do is crash the boards. E. Turner was the only player that looked good against Baylor.

 

[abe2010]

Is it time to burn our tickets yet?

Nope, just email Pollard

 

[erikbj]

WOW...........ISU won their first opening conference game in 6 years, had a 15 point lead in the 1st and 2nd halves against Texas (granted not the best Texas team, but there are good players on that team, they are just young).

I thought they looked pretty good, I am sure 90% of us thought ISU was going to blow the game when Texas tied it up in the second half. I thought it showed a lot of this team to take control of the game again. Granted it wasn't the prettiest end to the game, but THEY WON..........remember last year or McD's tenure??? They would have lost the game. Winning takes practice and they will improve.

I give the team a grade of A- for last nights performance. This team just needs a little confidence and play with a little urgency and they will be fine.

see you in march!

 

[kingcy]

I have a tangential question related to this thread. I want an honest assessment, since I didn't see the game and I can assess only the stats about this: Royce was 8-of-17 from the line, which is obviously cause for frustration. But he did go to the line 17 times. Was that mostly because of the tight officiating on fouls? Or did UT start to foul him more because he was off from the FT line? Or was he doing things that forced Texas to foul frequently?

I'm sure it could be a combination, but getting to the line that many times in a game, for a post player, I won't complain — obviously, the percentage needs to be better. I simply don't remember many ISU players getting that many attempts — seems like he's had a couple other games with 8-10(?) attempts this season.

Most of the time he was fouled in the lane and there was contact. He looks for contact a lot and gets it most of the time. He does get frustrated when he doesnt get the call, he needs to understand the refs are not always going to call the foul. He FT shooting was ulgy last night.

 

[tim_redd]

I could have slapped CA with about a minute left. Dribbled up the court with relative ease. In no real danger then passes it to royce and they immediately foul him. That is exactly what they were waiting for.

 

[InAWord]

Okay, tell me how White dominated this game?

Did you watch the 2nd half of this game? If you did you would understand how stupid your question is. Aside from being a liability at the very end of the game because of free throw shooting, Royce did a great job penetrating and then either scoring, drawing a foul or kicking ball back out the shooters. I would credit his play as the reason the Cyclones were able to withstand Texas' 2nd half runs.

I suggest watching the next game with your eyes open.

 

[Rural]

Most of the time he was fouled in the lane and there was contact. He looks for contact a lot and gets it most of the time. He does get frustrated when he doesnt get the call, he needs to understand the refs are not always going to call the foul. He FT shooting was ulgy last night.

He completely stops when he thinks the whistle is going to blow and it cost us several times on both ends of the court.

That's going to be a tough habit to break.

 

[CYphyllis]

At what point in time over the last 6-7 years did ISU fans feel they have a right to ***** after wins?

 

[Cyballzz]

Just a few observations from this game:

This was a good win for Iowa State. This Texas team is not very good, expecially since Brown never played the last 15 + minutes.

Not having a point guard is so critical. We will not be able to close out games, you just as well get used to it. If White brings the ball up, expect the "Hack A Shaq." White looks awful at the line, sometimes he dribbles, sometime he does not. LOL,classic!

Chris Allen does nothing to help this team win. He looks to get his shots and is not a facilitator at all. I rather watch Bubu struggle at times than watch Allen take a contested shots, most of them off-balanced on a step-back.

I love Royce White's game, but he lacks fudmantals big time, and it pisses me off how he does not hustle 85% of the game. He is so skilled, but just one of those guys that will never dominate because he just doesn't have the mentality.

Chris Babb is a winner. I love how hard he plays, ecpecially on the defensive end. He is constantly in a good stance and worked hard tonight defending their perimiter playerss coming off screens.

Booker was impressive, but has to learn that he can't allow a guy to back him down that deep. When the post player catches, he needs to be straight up. He has a horrible tendency to chop down on the shooters arm. He is very skilled and can really spread the court with his ability to score from the arc. Could be a big piece to the puzzle.


Rick Barnes is a hell of a coach. This team was a bunch of freshman and one lone senior in the second half. They played hard. He holds his players accountable. He makes them play with intensity and is not afraid to get after them. There is a level of accountability he expects and if they don't give it, he pulls them out. I wish Fred would be more like that. White didn't hustle after several balls and he didn't ever say anything to him. That's the differnce is being a good or great team, until Fred holds these guys accountable, we will not take the next step.

85% of the time? I assume you have some sort of "Hustle Formula" using a series of

algorithms to determine the percentage of hustle one is exerting in a given game?


I would however suggest using Bill James' "Hustle Index". It takes "grit" into account...

You should probably buy a TV if you think Rick Barnes is a "hell of a coach."

 

[chuckd4735]

So, stats don't lie:

Chapman from Texas career highs:
7-9 from the field, 5-7 ft's, 14 rebounds, 4 offensive - 19 total points. 1 block, 2 tunovers, 0 assists
White's line:
3-6 from the field. 8-17 ft's, 6 rebounds, 1 offensive, 14 total points. 1 block, 4 turnovers, 2 assists.

That's the head to head matchup of one of the worst big guys in the league. Say what you want, but far from dominant like you guys think!

Have you ever had the flu before, serious question?

 

[clone99]

thought that the team is coming together a lot more. they are moving the ball so much better on offense. every player had good and bad momments during the game. White was definitely a force going to the basket and I can't believe how well he is distributing the ball to everyone, he needs however to get back on the defensive end of the court quicker (and everyone else). We cannot give up 10 points a game to uncontested dunks or layups. Still little disappointed with Allen thus far. Babb was awesome, not just his 3 pointers in the first half, his overall defensive intensity was great. Great Win, 1-0 in the conference is the berst start as possible. Lets go for 2-0

 

[bozclone]

This was a good win. We were a more talented team than Texas in my opinion. When was the last time we could say that? Both teams were loaded with new players and who was clearly the most talented new player on the floor......Royce White. He is basically a Freshman, so we need to cut him some slack. He just needs to continue to improve his overall game week to week. If he does that, we will be talking about how he is one of the most dominate players ever at ISU.

 

[Clone5]

We have a very interesting team on our hands that is for sure. It must be an absolute nightmare for Fred having to try to get these guys to give consistent effort and play smart.

 

[Clone5]

To the guy who thinks Rick Barnes is a good coach. What??? A solid recruiter maybe, but he is far from a good coach.

 

[Jerms]

The OP reminds me of the person who sits behind me at football games. That person *****ed THROUGHOUT the OSU game about all the mistakes ISU was making and ranted about what the coaches should be doing. Complained that ISU was just "lucky" after the interceptions. After Woody scored the winning TD he just turned and walked out.

Give it up people! Enjoy being a fan for once!

 

[ajk4st8]

White doesn't hustle? You have to be crazy. He plays harder than anyone out there. Just because he isn't running around crazy doesnt mean he isnt playing hard.

Allen doesn't help the team? He played great D. He is playing out of position to help us win. Id sure love to see you switch careers and then call you out for being bad at it every day.


The OP is one of the worst I have ever seen in a while.

 

[CyCloned]

Royce had times when he did not hustle and his FT shooting is scary, but he does bring something to the table offensively that teams will have trouble dealing with. Allen played okay for most of the game, but had 3 horrible possessions where he had decided to shoot the ball when he crossed the half court line. These are things that are problems and correctable. It is up to Fred to fix it.