Otzelberger comes to defense of players after blowout Big 12 Tournament loss to Texas Tech

[CYEATHAWK]

So take a look our record last year. How many wins do you see? Two. One of the biggest program turnarounds from one year to the next, EVER. It's not a "card", it's reality.

Then why even elude to it? The season isn't over is it? As of Sunday everyone in the tourney is 0-0 again, right?

He has done his job, no need to stoop to that as a deflection over one bad game.

I'm not mad, are you? They have one more game....at least, and regardless of that outcome this season was a success, right?

I don't get it. I guess next season if they don't reach 20 wins that will be because of what........the 2 win season?
And the third season if things don't quite go as planned.........blame Steve Prohm.
Then, at the start of year 4 JP will come to the camera's and proudly announce this is REALLY TJ's first year.
Don't laugh.......I remember that s*** show with GMAC.

ISU doesn't need to go down that pathetic road of excuses again. With this 20 year season last year has been officially exorcised. Great job TJ.

You lost last night TJ.........so what, it will happen from time to time. But let the past go or it will happen more than you want!

 

[acgclone]

I can live with losses, and what TJ has done overall is pretty amazing 2 to 20 is a crazy turnaround however you look at it.

But he does have to figure out some offense next year. This will be our ceiling as long as we consistently score in the 40's/50's in the B12.

 

[CloniesForLife]

I can live with losses, and what TJ has done overall is pretty amazing 2 to 20 is a crazy turnaround however you look at it.

But he does have to figure out some offense next year. This will be our ceiling as long as we consistently score in the 40's/50's in the B12.

I'm going to reserve judgement on his offense for now. He needs to get better players first. Our 3rd option after Brockington and Hunter is incredibly streaky Gabe or Grill. Not a recipe for success in this League.

 

[pourcyne]

Bottom line, what's our real record?

- How many players were arrested this year? 0

- How many of them got caught sucker-punching another player? 0

- How many of them threw tantrums for imaginary fouls? 0

- How many quit pre-season because they didn't like what the coach was saying? 2

- How many got shown the door for unacceptable behavior? 1

- How many of them showed up and worked? All the rest of them.

That's a helluva record, and one to be proud of.

 

[CycloneWanderer]

We need more consistent shooting. If we had that we'd be a top 25 team - which is pretty unreasonable to expect coming off a 2-win season. We play in the toughest league in the country and are still going dancing a year after a miserable season and with a new coach. Let's appreciate this season for what it is: a pleasant, but inconsistent surprise.

 

[VegasCy]

This team wins games on effort and it just wasn’t there last night.

1. Spacing was horrible on offense, one possession we had 5 out and we scored. I would have loved to see more of that.

2. Defensive rotations used to be amazing and now they’re just not there

3. How many layups and dunks did Tech have? At one point Tech had a 5 on 1 break.

4. This team is fun when they pressure the ball like Tech did to us last night, which led to easy buckets.

The energy just wasn’t there and I don’t know why. I really hope they get some rest and come with some energy next week.

 

[swiacy]

Hunter can go to the hole consistently & makes great inside passes off those drives that our Bigs can’t handle. Surprisingly Jones got better at scoring and Conditt never figured it out. Brockington can score unless an athletic defender is on him who is bigger and stronger. The rest of the team just can’t score, Kalschur was a huge disappointment, if he or Grill could be a threat Hunter and Brockington would have been even better. This team had a great season but was exposed in Conference for it’s flaws. TJ needs to find some 3 point threats and a post man child. I have no specific idea why they wore down so bad at the end of the season but they Hammered the Hawks at Hilton so we don’t have to listen to Hawkeye BS and that carries a lot of weight with me. Great first year TJ and thanks team for your effort and attitude!

 

[BillBrasky4Cy]

Hunter can go to the hole consistently & makes great inside passes off those drives that our Bigs can’t handle. Surprisingly Jones got better at scoring and Conditt never figured it out. Brockington can score unless an athletic defender is on him who is bigger and stronger. The rest of the team just can’t score, Kalschur was a huge disappointment, if he or Grill could be a threat Hunter and Brockington would have been even better. This team had a great season but was exposed in Conference for it’s flaws. TJ needs to find some 3 point threats and a post man child. I have no specific idea why they wore down so bad at the end of the season but they Hammered the Hawks at Hilton so we don’t have to listen to Hawkeye BS and that carries a lot of weight with me. Great first year TJ and thanks team for your effort and attitude!

Gabe playing starter minutes is absolutely killing this team offensively. TJ will get the offensive issues fixed, he just doesn't have the right tools right now to make the repair.

 

[2forISU]

After what TJ did for Brockington I seriously doubt he’ll have trouble finding a primary scorer on the transfer market.

A lot of programs have been able to capitalize on transfers and make them household names. Look no further then Baylor and Tech

 

[madguy30]

Tech is a terrible matchup for this team. Length and athleticism everywhere. They were also real fired up and played their A game. ISU was not going to win last night regardless.

That said, we have seen this movie before. The team gets in a funk, and they stay there. TJ didnt have any answers or seemed to not try anything different. Then our guys dropped their heads and it was over 10 minutes into the game. Tech clowned us in a scrimmage, and that part of it was embarassing.

Both things can be true- this was a Kobiyashi Maru game where there was nothing to be done, AND TJ needs to get better as a strategist and in-game X and O guy.

I'll be curious to see what the deal has been after the season. While I don't think Enaruna or Tre make as much difference as many seem to infer, a different look at least creates some flow maybe last night.

 

[twincyties]

Everything went right for Tech tonight. Nobody was going to beat them, let alone ISU.

Not about the loss. It’s about being down 30 with 10 minutes left. I cannot believe the number of people on this forum taking a “nothing to see here” approach to that.

If we lost be 10-12 the way Tech played last night I get it. You tip your cap to them and move on.

 

[twincyties]

Bottom line, what's our real record?

- How many players were arrested this year? 0

- How many of them got caught sucker-punching another player? 0

- How many of them threw tantrums for imaginary fouls? 0

- How many quit pre-season because they didn't like what the coach was saying? 2

- How many got shown the door for unacceptable behavior? 1

- How many of them showed up and worked? All the rest of them.

That's a helluva record, and one to be proud of.

Oh look. Moral victories. You understand this is big time college basketball. I respect all these things, but - Jesus Christ - you know it’s about putting a competitive team in the floor and making coaching decisions in-game to try and keep things close. The entire team and the staff gave up last night. That is a red flag.

 

[SCarolinaCy]

 

[CYdTracked]

If TJ can sustain this hard nosed culture on the defensive side and bring in some impact offensive talent we should be fine. This season has been a huge success when I think many of us here thought coming in reaching .500 on the season may not even be possible let alone make the NCAA tournament.

We are what we are at this point which is a team that struggles to score when we go up against good defenses. I don't like our chances to move past the 1st round based on what I have seen lately unless we just shoot lights out and get a favorable matchup. We don't have consistent 3 point shooting nor a presence in the paint so when teams shut down Brockington like they did last night and force our other guys to make plays it is not a good look. I do think we did not do a great job last night of keeping the ball moving and creating some more open shots or paths to drive to the lane. Just too much standing around and 1 on 1 situations or just a lot of sloppy passing when the ball stopped and TT got up in our grill while we tried to find an guy to pass out of it.

Here's to hoping we find some impact transfers in the portal in the offseason while TJ and his staff work on the next recruiting class. This incoming class doesn't have a player like Hunter in it and we need to get back to where we were early in the Hoiberg era where TJ was the guy bringing in at least 2 impact 3 or 4 year type HS players that give us a "base" while filling in the rest of the gaps with transfers. Will be interesting to see if any of the seniors decide to come back but if I had to guess Kunc and Kalshuer maybe are the 2 more likely to out of the 4. Would not be surprised if Jackson and Enaruna transfer out too after their playing time went away.

 

[CyCloned]

Not having this discussion in year freaking one - especially when the team has historically overachieved this season.

Getting hammered like that hurts. I'm sure the players were not happy about that either. The reality is that there is no way that this rag tag, throw together team should be in the NCAA tourney. The real key is what is going to happen in the future. Who is coming back? Who can TJ get in the transfer portal? Definitely needs to find at least a couple more scorers for this team. Probably 3 if Brockington leaves. As fans we just have to hope for more consistency next year. Who knows, if ISU gets the right matchup, they will get a win or two in the NCAAs.

 

[quasistellar]

Tech is a terrible matchup for this team. Length and athleticism everywhere. They were also real fired up and played their A game. ISU was not going to win last night regardless.

That said, we have seen this movie before. The team gets in a funk, and they stay there. TJ didnt have any answers or seemed to not try anything different. Then our guys dropped their heads and it was over 10 minutes into the game. Tech clowned us in a scrimmage, and that part of it was embarassing.

Both things can be true- this was a Kobiyashi Maru game where there was nothing to be done, AND TJ needs to get better as a strategist and in-game X and O guy.

Look at this nerd with the star trek reference.

Pay no attention to me and that I actually immediately understood the reference

 

[madguy30]

Oh look. Moral victories. You understand this is big time college basketball. I respect all these things, but - Jesus Christ - you know it’s about putting a competitive team in the floor and making coaching decisions in-game to try and keep things close. The entire team and the staff gave up last night. That is a red flag.

How long have you been an ISU fan?

 

[mynameisjonas]

TJ is a great recruiter, but I’ve seen zero evidence that he’s a good coach.

 

[Marcelason78]

If TJ can sustain this hard nosed culture on the defensive side and bring in some impact offensive talent we should be fine. This season has been a huge success when I think many of us here thought coming in reaching .500 on the season may not even be possible let alone make the NCAA tournament.

We are what we are at this point which is a team that struggles to score when we go up against good defenses. I don't like our chances to move past the 1st round based on what I have seen lately unless we just shoot lights out and get a favorable matchup. We don't have consistent 3 point shooting nor a presence in the paint so when teams shut down Brockington like they did last night and force our other guys to make plays it is not a good look. I do think we did not do a great job last night of keeping the ball moving and creating some more open shots or paths to drive to the lane. Just too much standing around and 1 on 1 situations or just a lot of sloppy passing when the ball stopped and TT got up in our grill while we tried to find an guy to pass out of it.

Here's to hoping we find some impact transfers in the portal in the offseason while TJ and his staff work on the next recruiting class. This incoming class doesn't have a player like Hunter in it and we need to get back to where we were early in the Hoiberg era where TJ was the guy bringing in at least 2 impact 3 or 4 year type HS players that give us a "base" while filling in the rest of the gaps with transfers. Will be interesting to see if any of the seniors decide to come back but if I had to guess Kunc and Kalshuer maybe are the 2 more likely to out of the 4. Would not be surprised if Jackson and Enaruna transfer out too after their playing time went away.

Agree with all of this, but you may be selling Eli King a tad short.

 

[CYdTracked]

Agree with all of this, but you may be selling Eli King a tad short.

I think Eli will help, I was referring more to the HS recruits coming in as we don't have a guy of Hunter's caliber coming in.