Is TJ out of gas?

[Antihawk240]

Some of this is pure pure gold. I think I found myself in the right thread and that I am doing this right:

The first half of the season- we were all: "Honestly this conference is insane" followed quickly with "the coaches are the best of the best." As Iowa State wins and unfavored wins start popping up around the conference our fan base started chanting: "Anyone can beat anyone any night." " The Big 12 champion could have 5 conference losses- the conference is that tough." My personal favorite through it all was and is always: "The # 10 Big 12 team would still be #5 in the BIG and SEC."

So now we find ourselves in the 2nd half of the season and "Honestly this conference is insane." The "best of the best coaches" now get the opportunity to play the teams they previously lost to for the 2nd time. "Unfavored wins" are still popping up around the conference. "Anyone will still beat anyone any night." All while continuing to look like the conference champion will have 5 conference losses.

Only this time Iowa State is finding themselves in a rut and we are wanting to start burning things down.

Did I do this right?

 

[JimmyChitwood]

Locker room issues?

Just shut up. Go back on Twitter and think you're an insider. Jesus you're and idiot.

 

[CycloneErik]

If he's out of gas, let's send him some good chili. Boom, problem solved.

 

[Tre4ISU]

I think the truth is they have overachieved for most of the year. Talent wise we're in the bottom 3rd of the conference. The recent struggles have sucked to watch, but they fixed them for the tournament last year so hopefully the same happens this year. I can't wait to see this staff with the talent-upgrade coming over the next couple of years.

At the end of the day, these last two teams just haven't been very skilled. We don't shoot it well, we don't handle the ball well at all with only one good ball handler, we don't get to the rim all that well, and we don't shoot free throws well. Osun is skilled in the post but that's not something to live on and Gabe is alright in terms of midrange but when the offense stalls, if your answer is the true freshman who wasn't known as a prolific scorer, you're in a little trouble. We just cannot overcome losing our toughness and lapses on the defensive end. Our offensive skill gives us no room for error there and when it goes, we are going to get beat. Save the KU and Mizzou games, that's been the story. We get hit in the mouth and stood up to and we get beat.

This isn't an indictment of TJ as he tried to fix this with Williams and Green at least somewhat and I think the skill is coming, but it's the reality of where we are right now.

 

[Cyinthenorth]

At the end of the day, these last two teams just haven't been very skilled. We don't shoot it well, we don't handle the ball well at all with only one good ball handler, we don't get to the rim all that well, and we don't shoot free throws well. Osun is skilled in the post but that's not something to live on and Gabe is alright in terms of midrange but when the offense stalls, if your answer is the true freshman who wasn't known as a prolific scorer, you're in a little trouble. We just cannot overcome losing our toughness and lapses on the defensive end. Our offensive skill gives us no room for error there and when it goes, we are going to get beat. Save the KU and Mizzou games, that's been the story. We get hit in the mouth and stood up to and we get beat.

This isn't an indictment of TJ as he tried to fix this with Williams and Green at least somewhat and I think the skill is coming, but it's the reality of where we are right now.

The free throw shooting has been the most confounding issue in my opinion. Some of those other things, it just is what it is, and you can't just become a better ball handles, get to rim better, get more athletic in the middle of a season. Free throws can be practiced. Most of these guys have been shooting a basketball since they were old enough to pick one up. The fact that they are this bad is alarming. High schools teams at the 1A level in this state full of goofy looking white farm boys can shoot free throws better than this particular collection of scholarship athletes. No reason or excuse for it, it is just plain baffling. When Grill got fouled on that 3 attempt the other night, I immediately turned to my wife who was watching it with me and said "1 out of 3, book it". It is sad and frustratingly predictable at this point.

 

[isucy86]

Which is exactly why guys like Eli King needed more minutes in the non con. Ready or not, the reps could have really benefited him/the team for this stretch run.

I hope your joking to tweak some folks.

TJ can make a simple change and that's go back to starting Osunniyi & Kunc. That does a couple things:

1. It helps the guard court by splitting 120 minutes between Lipsey, Holmes, Kalscheur and Grill. Hopefully that gives those guys fresh legs down the stretch run AND gives TJ the flexibility to play who's hot.
2. It brings some clarity to post roles. We know that Osunniyi and Jones will probably split 35-40 minutes of the low post minutes. But more importantly it puts Kunc back in the starting lineup. He brings rebounding, defense and another paint defender to the lineup. He shoots the 3 the 3 well and is a solid passer. Plus it brings clarity for T King- when Kunc comes out, he goes in.

IMO Kunc is the key when we trap in the half court. When we played 4 guards, teams could isolate Osun or Jones on the perimeter and leverage that matchup. One by an opponent guard taking them off the dribble or two the guard penetrate and dish off to their post who is being guarded by an ISU player 6'4". Kunc gives the Clones another big defender in the paint.

 

[alenz95]

Threads like this make me wish a blue blood type program would hire TJ away in the off season, just so some of us can actually appreciate what has been going on the last 2 years. The man inherited a team coming off a 2 win season and immediately makes 2 straight NCAA tournaments. On top of that he has 2 straight, top 15 recruiting classes coming in. This is all happening in a time when the Big-12 is top-to-bottom one of the toughest conference in CBB history. It would have been so easy for a coach to come into this situation and rattle off 2 straight seasons of single didget wins.

I understand we are all frustrated with the last week, myself included, but my god TJ has managed to squeeze blood out of some stones that last 2 years. There's no question that this team has overachieved, and they're doing it by buying in and playing team basketball. Getting the most possible out of a roster is a sign of great coaching.

 

[Cyinthenorth]

I hope your joking to tweak some folks.

TJ can make a simple change and that's go back to starting Osunniyi & Kunc. That does a couple things:

1. It helps the guard court by splitting 120 minutes between Lipsey, Holmes, Kalscheur and Grill. Hopefully that gives those guys fresh legs down the stretch run AND gives TJ the flexibility to play who's hot.
2. It brings some clarity to post roles. We know that Osunniyi and Jones will probably split 35-40 minutes of the low post minutes. But more importantly it puts Kunc back in the starting lineup. He brings rebounding, defense and another paint defender to the lineup. He shoots the 3 the 3 well and is a solid passer. Plus it brings clarity for T King- when Kunc comes out, he goes in.

IMO Kunc is the key when we trap in the half court. When we played 4 guards, teams could isolate Osun or Jones on the perimeter and leverage that matchup. One by an opponent guard taking them off the dribble or two the guard penetrate and dish off to their post who is being guarded by an ISU player 6'4". Kunc gives the Clones another big defender in the paint.

Mostly joking. We did see TJ use Jaden Walker down the stretch last season to give guys a blow and preserve tired legs for March. I don't think Eli should be nor should have been seeing regular rotation minutes, but it doesn't seem crazy to think he could be filling a role similar to what Walker did for us last year. Your idea works well too, at least in theory. I just brought up Eli specifically because he is another guard who could potentially relieve some of the issue we have with ball pressure and only having one guy - Lipsey - naturally comfortable bringing the ball up against it.

 

[Cyinthenorth]

Threads like this make me wish a blue blood type program would hire TJ away in the off season, just so some of us can actually appreciate what has been going on the last 2 years. The man inherited a team coming off a 2 win season and immediately makes 2 straight NCAA tournaments. On top of that he has 2 straight, top 15 recruiting classes coming in. This is all happening in a time when the Big-12 is top-to-bottom one of the toughest conference in CBB history. It would have been so easy for a coach to come into this situation and rattle off 2 straight seasons of single didget wins.

I understand we are all frustrated with the last week, myself included, but my god TJ has managed to squeeze blood out of some stones that last 2 years. There's no question that this team has overachieved, and they're doing it by buying in and playing team basketball. Getting the most possible out of a roster is a sign of great coaching.

I think most of us, even the more vocally negative ones, understand and appreciate what TJ has done and is doing. It is the passion for the program that makes us want more and to do even better.

TJ to an extent, has been a victim of his own success each season so far. 15-0 non con in 2021-22 turned 'hoping for a 10-12 win season' into 'how high of a seed can we get in March?' In 2022-23, being in 1st place in the Big 12 over a month into the Big 12 season turned 'hopefully we can be an NIT/Bubble type of team' into 'let's win our first Big 12 regular season title in over 20 years!'. TJ giveth and TJ taketh away.

 

[ZRF]

We just need some legit Big 12 offensive players. The horses are on the way.

We definitely need better athletes that can create their own shots.

 

[jcisuclones]

Death. Taxes. Cylites having a really bad take.

 

[SayMyName]

The free throw shooting has been the most confounding issue in my opinion. Some of those other things, it just is what it is, and you can't just become a better ball handles, get to rim better, get more athletic in the middle of a season. Free throws can be practiced. Most of these guys have been shooting a basketball since they were old enough to pick one up. The fact that they are this bad is alarming. High schools teams at the 1A level in this state full of goofy looking white farm boys can shoot free throws better than this particular collection of scholarship athletes. No reason or excuse for it, it is just plain baffling. When Grill got fouled on that 3 attempt the other night, I immediately turned to my wife who was watching it with me and said "1 out of 3, book it". It is sad and frustratingly predictable at this point.

While admittedly not a stellar FT shooting team to begin with, I do firmly believe the recent futulity is a direct result of the style of play we run and having tired legs at this point in the season. Guys were mentally and physically gassed after the Tech meltdown, WV mauling, and low-energy OSU showing.

 

[Tre4ISU]

Threads like this make me wish a blue blood type program would hire TJ away in the off season, just so some of us can actually appreciate what has been going on the last 2 years. The man inherited a team coming off a 2 win season and immediately makes 2 straight NCAA tournaments. On top of that he has 2 straight, top 15 recruiting classes coming in. This is all happening in a time when the Big-12 is top-to-bottom one of the toughest conference in CBB history. It would have been so easy for a coach to come into this situation and rattle off 2 straight seasons of single didget wins.

I understand we are all frustrated with the last week, myself included, but my god TJ has managed to squeeze blood out of some stones that last 2 years. There's no question that this team has overachieved, and they're doing it by buying in and playing team basketball. Getting the most possible out of a roster is a sign of great coaching.

I don't think any of that is lost on anyone. It just kind of is what it is at this point in most of the areas we are deficient. I don't think anyone is saying this season is any sort of massive disappointment or anything. This stretch? Sure, but not the season. We just got off to such a perfect start in the conference that everyone wanted to believe something that wasn't going to happen might actually happen and it sucks to come to the reality that no, we are indeed not going to win the league with a roster that doesn't have any top end skill or talent right now. The whole is much greater than the sum of the parts at this point. This roster isn't massively better in terms of skill or talent than Prohms last couple and I think expecting that in two years, in the NIL era would have been an insane ask. In all actuality, this is a huge feather in TJs cap as talent acquisition wasn't and continues to not be a concern and he's answered every question in terms of on-court coaching which would have been the far bigger question mark when he was hired.

 

[Cyinthenorth]

While admittedly not a stellar FT shooting team to begin with, I do firmly believe the recent futulity is a direct result of the style of play we run and having tired legs at this point in the season. Guys were mentally and physically gassed after the Tech meltdown, WV mauling, and low-energy OSU showing.

They all look way out of sync at the line. Two guys that really bother me, because they should both be 80% plus from the line are Gabe and Caleb. They both rush. They act hurried. They don't seem to even breathe or gather themselves. They catch, dribble once, and shoot. Not sure if this how they're being coached or if this is just a result of them being tired or think they're better if they think less about it or what. But maddening to watch, whatever the reason is.

 

[NENick]

They all look way out of sync at the line. Two guys that really bother me, because they should both be 80% plus from the line are Gabe and Caleb. They both rush. They act hurried. They don't seem to even breathe or gather themselves. They catch, dribble once, and shoot. Not sure if this how they're being coached or if this is just a result of them being tired or think they're better if they think less about it or what. But maddening to watch, whatever the reason is.

I disagree about Gabe. He gets the ball, closes his eyes (I assume visualizing), takes a breath, dribbles and shoots. Seemed he was shooting FTs well earlier. He, like everyone else (except Tamin), has been off lately.

 

[ISpyCy]

E-mail Jamie Pollard?

 

[Jayshellberg]

Yeah, go back 3 months and we were hoping to get in the NIT with this group, especially after the guy that was suppose to be the starting PG got hurt for the season.

……but I am entitled to change my expectations

 

[matt]

What is happening here?

I read your post and right on que buffalo springfield‘s for what’s it’s worth playing on my iPad…. … “there something happening here..”

 

[matt]

I don't think TJ is sweating enough. Any other ridiculous CF cliches we can pull out of the chest?

Maybe TJ needs bigger biceps….

 

[Klubber]

Don't think TJ is but the players right now look physically and mentally tired to me. Hopefully they get a second wind.

Agree that this is the problem right now. Any season will have peaks and valleys and we're having a tough go right now.

But I do think we'll come out of it and play much better down the stretch.

Gabe and Jaren have logged heavy minutes thus far and both look a little worn out right now.