Nub hoops off to a great start!!!!!!!

[erikbj]

Fred should have had 2 final 4 appearances that were derailed by freak injuries in the tourney. Fred is a good coach and still wish he was in Ames.

I am just mad because i had Nebraska in my parlay last night - only game i lost.

 

[Statefan10]

Fred should have had 2 final 4 appearances that were derailed by freak injuries in the tourney. Fred is a good coach and still wish he was in Ames.

I am just mad because i had Nebraska in my parlay last night - only game i lost.

Yeah I wouldn't bet on Nebraska this year unless you're taking the other team.

 

[Kurttr]

Fred should have had 2 final 4 appearances that were derailed by freak injuries in the tourney. Fred is a good coach and still wish he was in Ames.

I am just mad because i had Nebraska in my parlay last night - only game i lost.

Do you really believe this? Continuing to live this dream, and I do mean, dream - that Fred's teams really accomplished more than they did, due to injuries, unfortunate circumstances, UAB,... - is why some folks can't be happy with any subsequent coach. Do you also feel let down by Campbell, because he didn't win the conference championships and have the top 10 finishes that McCarney essentially won?

It was great to have Fred here, and I wish he'd never left as well. But, those "should ofs" didn't happen - two Final Four appearances! C'mon.

 

[Cydkar]

Fred should have had 2 final 4 appearances that were derailed by freak injuries in the tourney. Fred is a good coach and still wish he was in Ames.

I am just mad because i had Nebraska in my parlay last night - only game i lost.

Betting 101: DON'T BET ON BAD TEAMS.

 

[AuH2O]

Fred should have had 2 final 4 appearances that were derailed by freak injuries in the tourney. Fred is a good coach and still wish he was in Ames.

I am just mad because i had Nebraska in my parlay last night - only game i lost.

Wow, that's a stretch and a half. Would've loved to have seen what would've happened vs. UConn, but 1. That was So. Niang, who was great, but not the dominant player he was as a Jr. and Sr.; 2. As a result of the injury Hogue had a huge role, and was HUGE with 34 points. With both guys healthy if you would've said you'd get 34 points between Niang and Hogue you'd take it every time.; 3. ISU made a bit of a push to get close late, but they handled ISU pretty well wire to wire; and 4. There's no way to know what would've happened in subsequent games. UConn caught absolute fire that tournament.

As for the Babb injury, saying that 10 seed team was going to get past Arizona and Wichita St. is a pretty big assumption.

 

[Sigmapolis]

Still would love to have Fred's team beat down the Hawks.

If that happens even once (and they play twice), then Iowa is in even worse shape that we might imagine. Iowa is #68 on BT; Nebraska is #144 and sinking fast.

Wow, that's a stretch and a half. Would've loved to have seen what would've happened vs. UConn, but 1. That was So. Niang, who was great, but not the dominant player he was as a Jr. and Sr.; 2. As a result of the injury Hogue had a huge role, and was HUGE with 34 points. With both guys healthy if you would've said you'd get 34 points between Niang and Hogue you'd take it every time.; 3. ISU made a bit of a push to get close late, but they handled ISU pretty well wire to wire; and 4. There's no way to know what would've happened in subsequent games. UConn caught absolute fire that tournament.

As for the Babb injury, saying that 10 seed team was going to get past Arizona and Wichita St. is a pretty big assumption.

Ding ding ding we have a winner.

The legend of Fred Hoiberg in Ames far exceeds his actual accomplishments. I know he was a favorite son returning to save his alma mater, but he benefited greatly from a glow of nostalgia around Johnny Orr and a fan base starving for anything to hang their hat on after the awful frustrations of the Morgan and McDermott eras.

I hope his tenure at Nebraska helps bring us back down to Earth about what he accomplished in Ames. He had some high highs and some big wins, but he also had numerous perplexing losses against bad teams that held the program back from truly elite circles. His record in the NCAA tournament was modest -- only made the second weekend once, and perhaps his best team lost to an awful #14 seed.

Any decent team in the NCAA tournament can construct a narrative of "if XYZ, we are in the Final Four," but you have to take the results for what they were. You are completely right that UConn ways playing out of its mind that month, too, and there was a very good Michigan State team waiting for us in the next round, plus Florida and Kentucky after that, both of which were much higher in the computer and net efficiency rankings than ISU.

I doubt we go 4-0 against that even with Georges. Giving Fred credit for two "mental Final Fours" when he never even made an Elite Eight is absurd.

 

[Statefan10]

If that happens even once (and they play twice), then Iowa is in even worse shape that we might imagine. Iowa is #68 on BT; Nebraska is #144 and sinking fast.



Ding ding ding we have a winner.

The legend of Fred Hoiberg in Ames far exceeds his actual accomplishments. I know he was a favorite son returning to save his alma mater, but he benefited greatly from a glow of nostalgia around Johnny Orr and a fan base starving for anything to hang their hat on after the awful frustrations of the Morgan and McDermott eras.

I hope his tenure at Nebraska helps bring of us back down to Earth about what he accomplished in Ames. He had some high highs and some big wins, but he also had numerous perplexing losses against bad teams that held the program back from truly elite circles. His record in the NCAA tournament was modest -- only made the second weekend once, and perhaps his best team lost to an awful #14 seed.

Any decent team in the NCAA tournament can construct a narrative of "if XYZ, we are in the Final Four," but you have to take the results for what they were. You are completely right that UConn ways playing out of its mind that month, too, and there was a very good Michigan State team waiting for us in the next round, plus Florida and Kentucky after that, both of which were much higher in the computer and net efficiency rankings.

I doubt we go 4-0 against that even with Georges. Giving Fred credit for two "mental Final Fours" when he never even made an Elite Eight is absurd.

The year Iowa State had the best chance to go the farthest under Fred should have been the UAB year. Would've played SMU/UCLA and then Gonzaga to go to the Elite 8. Now, I do think we lose to the national champion Duke in that round, but going to the Elite 8 would've been a fun accomplishment.

 

[RonBurgundy]

Now, I do think we lose to the national champion Duke in that round, but not losing to UAB in the very first game of the ******* tournament would've been a fun accomplishment.

FIFY

 

[Statefan10]

FIFY

Agreed. We were head over heals better than that team. That's March Madness for ya.

 

[Sigmapolis]

The year Iowa State had the best chance to go the farthest under Fred should have been the UAB year. Would've played SMU/UCLA and then Gonzaga to go to the Elite 8. Now, I do think we lose to the national champion Duke in that round, but going to the Elite 8 would've been a fun accomplishment.

Yeah, that was a pretty loaded Duke team.

 

[AuH2O]

Agreed. We were head over heals better than that team. That's March Madness for ya.

I think it would not have hurt so bad if it was one of those mid-majors that got hot and made a run. But watching them get completely undressed by 11 seed UCLA was disheartening.

That UAB team was ******* terrible. If you'd only watched UAB in UCLA, your thoughts would likely include "How is UAB anything but a 16 seed?" and "Holy ****, they need to go back to a 32 team field."

 

[Cyched]

The year Iowa State had the best chance to go the farthest under Fred should have been the UAB year. Would've played SMU/UCLA and then Gonzaga to go to the Elite 8. Now, I do think we lose to the national champion Duke in that round, but going to the Elite 8 would've been a fun accomplishment.

That was set up very well for us. Though in hindsight that team appeared to have some underlying issues that could have brought them down even if they had taken care of UAB

 

[Statefan10]

Yeah, that was a pretty loaded Duke team.

View attachment 68893

Oh absolutely. You look at teams like Wisconsin and Kentucky that year and I doubt ISU makes the final four unless they would've had the luck to be in Villanova's and Michigan State's side of the bracket.

The fact of the matter is, going far in the NCAA tournament is all about matchups, momentum, and luck. It's completely unpredictable and you never know what's going to happen. That's why I hate when people talk down on our last Sweet 16 appearance in that we didn't have to play Purdue to get there. Well, that's how it happens sometimes. Kansas State didn't have to play Virginia two years ago, got to play UMBC, beat Kentucky, and then lost to Loyala.. LOYALA! College basketball is a crapshoot, it's crazy, and I freaking love it.

 

[Statefan10]

I think it would not have hurt so bad if it was one of those mid-majors that got hot and made a run. But watching them get completely undressed by 11 seed UCLA was disheartening.

That UAB team was ******* terrible. If you'd only watched UAB in UCLA, your thoughts would likely include "How is UAB anything but a 16 seed?" and "Holy ****, they need to go back to a 32 team field."

They were definitely not a great team, but that night they did enough to beat us. We shot very poorly and let them define who we were. That year we played behind a lot of games but figured it out and I think that if UAB would've had Kansas, or UCLA on their jersey we would've won. Because it was UAB, we started to play hero ball because we thought there was no way we could lose to such a team. In the games we came back and won that year, we played together.

 

[Statefan10]

That was set up very well for us. Though in hindsight that team appeared to have some underlying issues that could have brought them down even if they had taken care of UAB

There were a ton of locker room issues that year, and I know for a fact players knew Fred was leaving before the UAB loss.

 

[Sigmapolis]

Oh absolutely. You look at teams like Wisconsin and Kentucky that year and I doubt ISU makes the final four unless they would've had the luck to be in Villanova's and Michigan State's side of the bracket.

The fact of the matter is, going far in the NCAA tournament is all about matchups, momentum, and luck. It's completely unpredictable and you never know what's going to happen. That's why I hate when people talk down on our last Sweet 16 appearance in that we didn't have to play Purdue to get there. Well, that's how it happens sometimes. Kansas State didn't have to play Virginia two years ago, got to play UMBC, beat Kentucky, and then lost to Loyala.. LOYALA! College basketball is a crapshoot, it's crazy, and I freaking love it.

This is why I generally think two things about the NCAA tournament --

You can easily construct a narrative to either overrate or underrate what you did in a tournament (e.g., Georges' broken foot, not having to play Purdue, etc.). Therefore, because it is all such a roll of a dice in a single-elimination format like that, I think you kind of have to "be what your record says you are." If you made the Sweet Sixteen, you made the Sweet Sixteen, you did not make the Final Four because you "should have" or "we would have, if XYZ happens differently." Nope, that is not how this works.

We overrate the NCAA tournament for determining a program's level of success throughout the season. I like to take a more holistic approach of their overall record, conference record, record in big games/wins over high-quality teams, and in discreet accomplishments such as winning their preseason tournament, the conference regular season championship, or the conference tournament. Success in the NCAA tournament is nice, even defining for many teams as a failure or success, but it is not the alpha and the omega. I can only be so disappointed if we at least make it in the first place, and the true secret to success seems to be having as many swings at the piñata as possible.

 

[Sigmapolis]

There were a ton of locker room issues that year, and I know for a fact players knew Fred was leaving before the UAB loss.

I think we all kind of knew, even if we fought against it consciously.

I am sure their knowledge that Fred was a lame duck and their leader was about to leave them made them extremely focused and well-motivated that season.

 

[Statefan10]

I think we all kind of knew, even if we fought against it consciously.

I am sure their knowledge that Fred was a lame duck and their leader was about to leave them made them extremely focused and well-motivated that season.

It also put a lot of players into tough scenarios regarding their own future. Guys like Georges and Monte were thinking about leaving early and others could've been thinking about transferring. It threw a huge wrench into the team chemistry. Luckily Jamie found a guy that the guys really liked and got them all to stay.

 

[Sigmapolis]

It also put a lot of players into tough scenarios regarding their own future. Guys like Georges and Monte were thinking about leaving early and others could've been thinking about transferring. It threw a huge wrench into the team chemistry. Luckily Jamie found a guy that the guys really liked and got them all to stay.

Said this before but I'll say it again --

The fact that Prohm won over Georges, Monté, Naz, Matt, and Deonte to the extent he did says all I need to know about the hands at the tiller of the program.

 

[FinalFourCy]

Continuing to live this dream, and I do mean, dream - that Fred's teams really accomplished more than they did, due to injuries, unfortunate circumstances, UAB,... - is why some folks can't be happy with any subsequent coach. Do you also feel let down by Campbell, because he didn't win the conference championships and have the top 10 finishes that McCarney essentially won?

I think you’re dreaming more than he is. This is an odd and illogical reaction to a benign comment.

He’s not saying they accomplished anything they didn’t. He pretty clearly acknowledged that Fred didn’t accomplish it, albeit attributing it to injuries. Which is logical in 2013-14, and perhaps 2012-13. It’s ******** to think losing Georges didn’t significantly decrease the odds of making the FF. I’d amend his comment to reference non-injury causes as well. 2014-15 was the second biggest missed opportunity, primarily due to Fred imo. 2011-12 was one as well, with that team besieged by its inconsistency leading to facing UK in the second round.

You really think the McCarney/Campbell comment is a rational parallel to saying Hoiberg’s teams were close to much more than they accomplished? The parallel is that CMC’s historic three year run, like Hoiberg’s unprecedented success, has been very close to having even more success. Unfortunate circumstances do play a big part in differentiating very good seasons from elite seasons. That’s sports.