Twister Sister Summary - ladies collapse in fourth lose to Hawks again
- Thread starter acoustimac
- Start date
This team lacks discipline sometimes. The high turnover numbers are unacceptable and we are basically telegraphing our offense as a 2 player game with Audi and Addy. Yes they are the 2 best players on the team and Audi is tough to guard but teams are jumping the passing lanes or crashing a 2nd defender on her as soon as we try to make that entry pass to the post. We made such an effort to bring in 3 point shooting and depth through the portal but so far no one has consistently stepped up to be that threat and 3rd or 4th scoring option we badly need when they contain Audi and Addy.
Tough to win when your very talented point guard has NINE turnovers, the team shoots 6-16 on free throws, and Brown only plays 19 minutes due to foul trouble.
Fennelly has never coached aggressive defense schemes like TJ and more athletic women’s teams play — instead he tries to play the percentages and force mid-range jump shots and limit offensive rebounds. Unfortunately, Olsen is very talented in the mid-range (as she always is) and we didn’t adjust. She finished the night with 25 points, five assists and ZERO turnovers. Iowa also scored off our live ball ISU’s turnovers (24 points off turnovers) and got too many offensive rebounds (12).
With Hare out, we need more offense from Joens and Hansford going forward and maybe Harris (who disappeared tonight) and our aggressiveness on defense has to be increased. Players looked lost and were caught out of position on defense many times last night.
Fennelly has never coached aggressive defense schemes like TJ and more athletic women’s teams play — instead he tries to play the percentages and force mid-range jump shots and limit offensive rebounds. Unfortunately, Olsen is very talented in the mid-range (as she always is) and we didn’t adjust. She finished the night with 25 points, five assists and ZERO turnovers. Iowa also scored off our live ball ISU’s turnovers (24 points off turnovers) and got too many offensive rebounds (12).
With Hare out, we need more offense from Joens and Hansford going forward and maybe Harris (who disappeared tonight) and our aggressiveness on defense has to be increased. Players looked lost and were caught out of position on defense many times last night.
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Bill has a ceiling, and as he ages, the ceiling lowers. The awkward comments in press conferences are becoming more and more prevalent too which just makes the whole aura around the program off.
I knew we were cooked when he talked about how hard it is to beat UNI.
I tried, I really did, but....how do people watch a full women's basketball game? It's SO bad!
When played at a high level it can be entertaining. That... that was not played at a high level.
This season is already a massive failure. Pre-season top 10 (for good reason) to now they shouldn't even be ranked. And we haven't even got to Big 12 play yet, going to get ugly.
The problem starts and ends with Bill Fennelly. His demeaner and condescendence to his players, coaches and fans whenever the team faces a challenge is juvenile. Instead of actually coaching the girls when things go wrong he yells at them; when games get competitive and tight (like last night) he doesn't solve the problem but panics and throw a temper tantrum.
What is worse is last night for the first time I saw our own players imitating Bill. When Audi is to slow to guard, instead of taking blame for the problem she was yelling at her teammates to cover for her. Where do you think they are seeing this behavior from?
Jamie needs to ask Bill to retire and move on with a completely new coaching staff at the end of the year. This idea that we need to keep Bill around for a lifetime coaching position is hurting ISU.
What is worse is last night for the first time I saw our own players imitating Bill. When Audi is to slow to guard, instead of taking blame for the problem she was yelling at her teammates to cover for her. Where do you think they are seeing this behavior from?
Jamie needs to ask Bill to retire and move on with a completely new coaching staff at the end of the year. This idea that we need to keep Bill around for a lifetime coaching position is hurting ISU.
TBF in conference play we get to play some real stinkers vs 3 of last years final 4 participants.
Before the season I predicted 3 losses in the Non-conference (SCAR, IOWA, UCONN) looks like we will have 4. It's more disappointing that it seems like they can't put a complete game together. At this point UCONN looks to be another bloodbath.
UCONN and SCAR loses are expected. But losing to UNI and Iowa are not. Iowa and UNI are not good and we shouldn't have lost to them.
Also, while we expected a loss to SCAR the margin was ridiculous.
Agree. Crooks looked absolutely gassed and that likely contributed to her not scoring in the fourth quarter. I’ve been working on a little commentary about some trends that I’ve been seeing this year and free-throw shooting is right at the top of the list. Any team in a close game with us will just start to play hack a Shaq at the end and force her to go to the line. Beyond free throws my biggest concern is the complete failure of the transfers to have any major impact on the team.
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I'm sure I'll get a lot of "dumb" reactions to my quote here but our fan base LOVES being the victim. Like you said, sure Iowa probably got the home whistle but the refs are not the reason we lost this game.
Going 6-16 from the line is absolutely atrocious....Fennelly teams are historically good at free throw shooting but this years team seems to be struggling, which is concerning.
The fact that our guards cannot create an ounce of offense is what is so concerning to me. And just so many careless turnovers that you'd see from a middle school C team, and these are DI athletes committing these just stupid turnovers.
While Audi is the focal point of this team, she cannot be 100% of our offense. The amount of times we turned it over trying to lob a pass to her was astronomical. Even despite our terrible free throw shooting, the game was lost in the amount of turnovers we had. Iowa had 24 points off of turnovers.
The game plan has to evolve and keep the defense on their toes. Our guards cannot just dribble around the perimeter and not move and expect to get a good look. The coaching has to be better.
I agree with you. I think it was @mred who posted this in another thread, but this has been a complaint since the beginning of CycloneFanatic. Bill isn't going to change now.
I absolutely do not understand why anyone would think standing around is a good game plan, like what is Bill telling the players and what is he trying to achieve?
Early that zone looked pretty good. Iowa has not been shooting the three well this year and they took the first look they got without attacking the zone and taking TOO many and bricking them. Later they had more patience and passed on some looks from three and made a lot more of them when they did take them.
Last night was disconcerting, to say the least. Just some observations - trying not to simply rehash concerns noted by others:
1) Late third-quarter "crash" - Sydney Harris and Aili Tanke confusion on offense - two empty possessions in a row they were both milling around the free throw line, seemingly not knowing where they were supposed to go or what to do. I don't care if they're playing in different player combinations, by the eleventh game of the season they should know the plays / sets.
2) For the first time ever, Audi appeared to be jawing at team mates in anger. The one I really remember was Lily Hansford, who allowed her charge to get inside. Not a good sign.
3) Lilly Tauleiei - why isn't she playing? In her brief glimpses, she's shown deft footwork and aggressiveness, neither trait I'd attribute to Alisa Williams.
4) Fans are complaining that a third scorer hasn't emerged to complement Crooks & Brown from the outside. I submit the outside complimentary guards haven't been issued a "license to shoot" by CBF. AJ took three shots (0-3) in 31 minutes. Joens took three shots (2-3) in 20 minutes. Hansford took five shots (1-5) in 20 minutes - why was she out there so much? Harris took two shots (1-2) in 19 ineffective minutes. Tanke took two shots (1-2) in 17 minutes. Even Hare was forcing shots (and shooting a low %) before her injury. These kids are taking their cues from CBF - he's obviously telling them to force the ball to Audi rather than hunting their own shots.
In closing, I've been a harsh critic of CBF for some time and I'm not howling alone any longer. He gets massive credit for putting our program on the map, but his time has passed - thirty seasons with one shared title to show for it would be considered unacceptable nearly anywhere else. Lastly, I would love to see what a creative coach could do with this assemblage of talent, such as what Tom Davis did with the team George Raveling recruited nearly 30 years ago.
1) Late third-quarter "crash" - Sydney Harris and Aili Tanke confusion on offense - two empty possessions in a row they were both milling around the free throw line, seemingly not knowing where they were supposed to go or what to do. I don't care if they're playing in different player combinations, by the eleventh game of the season they should know the plays / sets.
2) For the first time ever, Audi appeared to be jawing at team mates in anger. The one I really remember was Lily Hansford, who allowed her charge to get inside. Not a good sign.
3) Lilly Tauleiei - why isn't she playing? In her brief glimpses, she's shown deft footwork and aggressiveness, neither trait I'd attribute to Alisa Williams.
4) Fans are complaining that a third scorer hasn't emerged to complement Crooks & Brown from the outside. I submit the outside complimentary guards haven't been issued a "license to shoot" by CBF. AJ took three shots (0-3) in 31 minutes. Joens took three shots (2-3) in 20 minutes. Hansford took five shots (1-5) in 20 minutes - why was she out there so much? Harris took two shots (1-2) in 19 ineffective minutes. Tanke took two shots (1-2) in 17 minutes. Even Hare was forcing shots (and shooting a low %) before her injury. These kids are taking their cues from CBF - he's obviously telling them to force the ball to Audi rather than hunting their own shots.
In closing, I've been a harsh critic of CBF for some time and I'm not howling alone any longer. He gets massive credit for putting our program on the map, but his time has passed - thirty seasons with one shared title to show for it would be considered unacceptable nearly anywhere else. Lastly, I would love to see what a creative coach could do with this assemblage of talent, such as what Tom Davis did with the team George Raveling recruited nearly 30 years ago.
