Everybody is frustrated and I'm sure the team is, too. Now's not the time to criticize players or the team. Lets get behind them and rock Hilton on Tuesday! They'll need us. And for heavens sake, can we hold the predictions of what record they'll have in the first 8 games or where they'll be rated or how good they "should" be or saying they're the type of team that can beat Kentucky? Our job is to create a great home environment on Tuesday and support them, win or lose. Go Clones!
*** Official South Carolina vs #9 IOWA STATE Game(day) Thread ***
- Thread starter CycloneRulzzz
- Start date
Hit close to the norm on 3's and FTs, ISU wins by more than 15 (throw in the missed dunks and it's 20). It doesn't totally suggest shrugging it off as an off-night, and be encouraged that a typical game would have been OK. A-typical can happen once in a while.
South Carolina took ISU out of element in half court just enough to much-up the ball-movement, affecting some 3's (and it shows with the low-assist/high-turnover stat). I've never seen Niang and Long have airball 3's within minutes of each other. When Niang, Long and Dejean-Jones combine to go 1-for-15 from the arc, the opponent is doing something right.
For the FTs, it seemed like nobody could get going consistently, especially during stretches when we were trying to get over the hump and take the lead. And the player who got to the line the most, Hogue, has been struggling this year. I like the 13 attempts. McKay finished 7-for-10, that was good.
Bummer to lose a game that contained multiple exciting transition scores with thrilling passes.
South Carolina took ISU out of element in half court just enough to much-up the ball-movement, affecting some 3's (and it shows with the low-assist/high-turnover stat). I've never seen Niang and Long have airball 3's within minutes of each other. When Niang, Long and Dejean-Jones combine to go 1-for-15 from the arc, the opponent is doing something right.
For the FTs, it seemed like nobody could get going consistently, especially during stretches when we were trying to get over the hump and take the lead. And the player who got to the line the most, Hogue, has been struggling this year. I like the 13 attempts. McKay finished 7-for-10, that was good.
Bummer to lose a game that contained multiple exciting transition scores with thrilling passes.
If that's the case, then hopefully it was of the "warranted T" variety, not just accidental. And if so, maybe the guys competitive swag needs to turn into something a little less.... But I'm not on the floor, so I have no right to question. Not so sure that the team pummeling the Hawks as bad as they did was a good thing. Don't get me wrong, I loved every minute of it, and it will help our resume, but that outcome was too easy compared to the bigger fish we have to fry, much less the more physical ones.
So a team struggles more when they are not making shots? Riveting.
Do we let our struggles making shots get in our heads? Maybe, but any team that is not making shots is going to struggle regardless of whether they are emotionally impacted. Players could be ecstatic about the misses and it still would be bad play. The bottom line is that to handle an opponent you need to shoot better than we did. Our poor shooting due to SC's defense made this a close game, but we lost this game because we did not execute the little things you need to win slug-fests.
We do not live and die by the three schematically imo. 18 3-pointers out of 57 FG's is not that much, and we went to the line 33 times. Had we made our FT's, the narrative would be that although this team is elite when allowed to play cleanly and this shoot well, it is able win when forced to play "other styles".
Anyone that listens to Fred knows that one of the biggest keys is dictating how the game is played- making it a fast-paced, clean game. When the game is played that way we are near an elite level, and we have been pretty good at getting the game to go that way. When playing teams that are "masters" of the other way- we tend to struggle. Guys like Kane and White could help us over come that. I hope BDJ, Nader, McKay, and our increased depth can help this team do the same, but we may be short a ball-handling guard.
The question becomes does Fred have a three shooter that we can count on against aggressive tall eastern teams. Naz did not play the part tonight.
Niang tech: It came on an ISU defensive possession where the SC player was called for a foul. According to John, it sounded like Niang went to grab the ball from the SC player on the baseline to set up the inbound following the foul and change of possession, and that's when he was whistled for the T. John and Eric made it sound like BS, and that the official that called it is notorious for a quick T trigger. May very well have been BS, but I've watched enough ISU bball and fball with the radio in place of tv audio to know that John can be a homer.
If a "clean game" means both teams agree to play soft defense and allow their opponents to run their sets without contact or getting in the way - yeah, we're pretty good. If the other team wants to play "harder" than us - then we have problems. Getting a little gritty out there might help us.
And Niang plays no defense - none. Nice work if you can get it.
I've seen Niang do that before a couple of times. Whether he gets anxious or cocky, he'll walk up to the player and try to grab it from him. Without seeing what happened this time, I don't know his demeanor. He hasn't been T'd up before for it, but I could see a ref with a quick trigger calling it.
So by soft defense you mean not making contact? Viewing illegal contact as good defense. Nice work if you can get away with it.
A clean game means just that. Try not to measure basketball effort or execution by who makes the most contact. You are likely unfamiliar with sports, but no one is agreeing to anything, regardless of how the game is played- which is why Fred says that one of the biggest keys is we dictate how the game is played.
Niang when to grab the ball from Carolina's big (chet?) who he'd been getting a little pushy with. I think he said something to him as well. When one of the assistants went over to the ref to see what it was, the ref gestured like he was mouthing off at the carolina guy.
Monte should have been T'd up for his antics after the fast break pass. Or at least sat for a long while. ISU was still behind when it happened and it looked stupid anyway.
I appreciate a team that's allowed to play their style, but playing within one's self and being emotionally mature is a pretty important part of what it takes to win.
Damn you ESPN. Got home and checked the score and it had it backwards so I watched the game....
****
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That ISU will lose to every bubble team ever.
What does my sarcasm tell you? Hopefully it tells you that a sample size of TWO doesn't mean much.
Lol... Maryland a bubble team? That's why they're 14-1 lol.... Iowa and Arkansas are bubble teams and we raped them both.
All this ******** is comical.
The past few years we have been notorious for breaking down in physical games. Our players get caught up in emotions and it kills their focus. Hurts to say it but Niang has been on the forefront of this epidemic.
Nothing too concerning, it just needs corrected. Our players need to learn to stay even keel and keep their heads.
That being said, who gives a **** that we lost. It is a long season. You people freaking out should throw your computers out of a ten story window.
The past few years we have been notorious for breaking down in physical games. Our players get caught up in emotions and it kills their focus. Hurts to say it but Niang has been on the forefront of this epidemic.
Nothing too concerning, it just needs corrected. Our players need to learn to stay even keel and keep their heads.
That being said, who gives a **** that we lost. It is a long season. You people freaking out should throw your computers out of a ten story window.
