*** Official #25 IOWA STATE vs #17 TCU Game(Day) Thread ***

[Clonehomer]

Had to watch on delay tonight. Two things that I noticed that really stood out.
- The calmness of the team even when TCU had runs and eventually took the lead. They didn't panic and moved on the next play
- They didnt complain about any calls. TCU was talking to the ref and giving looks after each whistle against them. ISU players just went back to their huddle and didn't react.

These two things play on each other. This team doesn't let what's happening affect how they play the game. It's this maturity that I think will let this team make a run into March.

 

[c.y.c.l.o.n.e.s]

The last three games have got me wondering how in the hell we lost to Iowa this year.

Simple. At one point in the game we were 0 of 16 from the three point line while they were 9 of 16. Missed three pointers played right into their hand.

 

[Die4Cy]

Love these types of videos! Definitely shows a candid moment of the team enjoying a win.

But my bigger takeaway is how indicative it is of the culture TJ has built. You got guys that haven’t played hardly at all celebrating just as hard as the starters. And TJ highlighting Gabe’s day in and day out effort as much or more than this moment that resulted in a win.

So cool! And that man TJ can coach! He is a leader of men and it shows on the recruiting trail too. Anything he may lack (not saying he does!) when it comes to Xs and Os, he makes up for with the way he leads.

How does TJ find all these guys that are absolute dawgs? I don't know what criteria would be the ones to use in finding high school or lower competition collegiate players that would lead to the kind of hit rate for tenaciousness he's gotten the last two years.

Entirely possible he's responsible for a big chunk of it also.

 

[SolarGarlic]

Okay, I see this is getting dumbed. When you leave your feet and fly by the shooter you take yourself out of the defense and the result is leaving your team in a 5 on 4 situation. My high school coach would go ballistic when we did that. Most outside shots have little chance of actually being blocked, unless it is a severe mismatch like a 6'7 defender on 6'2 guy. You are better off staying in front of the shooter, getting a hand in his face and putting yourself in position to box out the shooter in case he tries to follow his shot.

There's a difference between recklessly closing out, which is what your high school coach hated, and contesting a shot. You're not trying to block the shot. At this level, if you close out without contesting, they will shoot right over you with no issue.

 

[4theheckofit]

So glad this is a 1pm game. I’ll eat my shorts if we win.

Has this happened yet?

 

[BWRhasnoAC]

There's a difference between recklessly closing out, which is what your high school coach hated, and contesting a shot. You're not trying to block the shot. At this level, if you close out without contesting, they will shoot right over you with no issue.

Just trying to effect his timing.

 

[cymac2408]

Get 2 wins over the next 1.5 weeks and maybe we can start to wonder what the real ceiling is for this group.

Right now I just want 5-6 more conference wins before March.

alright, this eggplant is lasting more than 4 hours.....

It sounds to me like you may need to take a more hands on approach.

 

[SolarGarlic]

Had to watch on delay tonight. Two things that I noticed that really stood out.
- The calmness of the team even when TCU had runs and eventually took the lead. They didn't panic and moved on the next play
- They didnt complain about any calls. TCU was talking to the ref and giving looks after each whistle against them. ISU players just went back to their huddle and didn't react.

These two things play on each other. This team doesn't let what's happening affect how they play the game. It's this maturity that I think will let this team make a run into March.

This is a directive from TJ, and I love it. A couple guys will make faces (Kalscheur, Jones) but we knock it off real quick.

 

[cayin]

There's a difference between recklessly closing out, which is what your high school coach hated, and contesting a shot. You're not trying to block the shot. At this level, if you close out without contesting, they will shoot right over you with no issue.

yes good point.

 

[qwerty]

Kyle Green makes and breaks bigs on the daily.

I'm dying to see what he does with JT Rock in a couple of years

 

[Pope]

After Gabe hit the game winning 3, just watch the expression on Grill's face when he walks up to Gabe. It really sums up the toughness of this team.

 

[madguy30]

How does TJ find all these guys that are absolute dawgs? I don't know what criteria would be the ones to use in finding high school or lower competition collegiate players that would lead to the kind of hit rate for tenaciousness he's gotten the last two years.

Entirely possible he's responsible for a big chunk of it also.

That internalized culture is fun to think about.

I really want to watch an ISU practice.

 

[AlaCyclone]

Last two games would’ve been losses under Prohm and probably FH.

Prohm has enough problems (lost @ Drake by 18 tonight) without giving him two more hypothetical Big Xii losses.

 

[Clone95]

Probably minority but not surprised that “losing Jaz” was not a catastrophic deal. I found CW’s claim a few weeks ago that we as fans weren’t worried enough about losing Jaz pretty odd. Jaz is a wonderful Cyclone and has to be a nightmare for other teams because of his smarts and effort. But he wasn’t crazy effective this year, has very little post-game, with not much bulk (which limited him last year guarding the bigger bigs in conference), and getting Tre King is the biggest boost we’ve had in years mid season. I think we’ll keep rolling, and this should allow Jaz the ability to slowly work his way back without rushing.

Jaz has the lowest TO percentage on the team, the leading rebounder, 2nd best 3 pt shooter, and can defend all 5 positions. He has the highest offensive efficiency on the team. All that said, I agree it was a weird comment by CW. Like, why isn’t everyone saying “the sky is falling”. Although he has said that Tre King has exceeded his expectations, so maybe the rest of us had more expectations out of King and that’s why we weren’t freaking out.

 

[tigerclone924]

That internalized culture is fun to think about.

I really want to watch an ISU practice

In sports we say things like “hitting is contagious” or “making shots is contagious”.

One thing that is definitely contagious is heart, hustle and energy within a program. Especially when your playing time is connected to those things. I said it once last year but it is almost like they try to one up each other with heart/hustle. “Oh, you’re gonna dive for a loose ball? Watch this!”

 

[madguy30]

Jaz has the lowest TO percentage on the team, the leading rebounder, 2nd best 3 pt shooter, and can defend all 5 positions. He has the highest offensive efficiency on the team. All that said, I agree it was a weird comment by CW. Like, why isn’t everyone saying “the sky is falling”. Although he has said that Tre King has exceeded his expectations, so maybe the rest of us had more expectations out of King and that’s why we weren’t freaking out.

There's still a few that occasionally throw out just a little passive jab at some of TJ's coaching decisions that has that 'see? It was justified to question the hire' vibe but overall I think many folks are comfortable with the idea that no matter what, whoever goes in is going to leave it out there.

 

[Darius Bieber]

Would love seeing some action against referees like this in the Big 12. Gotta hold them responsible somehow.

 

[IASTATE07]

Didn't get to watch the game. I just saw the leg kickout at the end. It was infuriating to see so I'm glad I didn't see it live.

 

[bosco]

According to Miles, he's quite pleased with the game! "It showed we can play with anybody," Miles said. "We didn't play our best game on either defense or offense. We shot bad from the line, we had a lot of turnovers, and we still only lost by two. It shows how good of a team we are.""

Look at the stats. You were propped up by the refs dude.

 

[clone4life82]

Would love seeing some action against referees like this in the Big 12. Gotta hold them responsible somehow.

There wouldn’t be any refs left.