Playmakers were being forced to take tough shots leaving others open. If we had played more as a team in the UAB game, we would have been successful. That said, this strategy worked in the B12, just not the well coached UAB. Their team knew exactly what we were going to do.
It's on Fred
- Thread starter cyclonesherm
- Start date
I don't think Edozie should be the answer. The guys we had on the court all season were capable rebounders when they wanted to be. Boxing out is a fundamental skill, and all it requires is a little discipline. For whatever reason, they weren't doing it much.
And how many of those rebounds bounced over a jumping McKay's outstretched hand? They were missing a lot of long shots, which led to long rebounds. Those are the toughest for a defense to control. Then they capitalized in the chaos of the post-rebound offense. How would Edozie have fixed this? Can he jump higher than McKay? Would he have boxed out better than McKay, one of our best at boxing out? Or would you sub him in for Georges, meaning we have zero chance at any offensive fluency? Having one player on the floor that can't shoot the 3 is pushing it for Fred. He's not going to go to two all of a sudden in the tournament.
What BS. Coaches grade players on "effort" and "hustle" factors everyday in practice, and certainly in games. If they can find it "quantifiable" then why can't you.
And "shooting the ball through the basket" has huge variables, like say the distance from the hoop? Some shots...you know, are better than others?
I must have missed hearing about the change in seed. Friend, IF you've been a "longtime ISU fan going back to Barry Stevens", then it may be time to go visit the neurologist. Alzheimers, dementia...maybe just plain old senility simply must be behind this post. Either that, or.....
Obvious troll is obvious.
Exactly. You're just hoping. If Naz Long makes those 2 wide open corner 3's we have 6 more points FOR SURE and win the game, all things being equal. I'm sorry I'm frustrated but it's just been one thing after another this season where the focus is on the totally wrong place and every time I see the answer being touted as "We should play Edozie more". I don't believe that is the correct answer to any question regarding problems with this basketball team and if you do believe that, then you should have a MAJOR problem with the head coach.
Regarding Tempo: Iowa State averages the 17th most adjusted possessions per game by Pomeroy at 69.16....This game had 69 possessions.
Regarding defense: Critique whatever you want about getting around screens or boxing out or anything else but UAB score 0.87 ppp in the game. That is miniscule. ISU wins 99% of games where the opponent has a scoring efficiency anywhere near that low.
Whether it was just a bad shooting day or turnovers or UAB causing bad shots or contesting to force misses, the game was lost on offense.
That's all I have to say about that.
Regarding defense: Critique whatever you want about getting around screens or boxing out or anything else but UAB score 0.87 ppp in the game. That is miniscule. ISU wins 99% of games where the opponent has a scoring efficiency anywhere near that low.
Whether it was just a bad shooting day or turnovers or UAB causing bad shots or contesting to force misses, the game was lost on offense.
That's all I have to say about that.
Everyone had their part in the loss. I realize that Fred has been around the game a long time but it's still technically "early" in his career and I'm sure there are things he'll learn from this. He's got a big week or two coming up with filling out this team for next year.
UAB shot 34 percent from the field. Want to criticize the rebounding? Fine. But any educated fan could see that Iowa State's defense was not the problem last Thursday.
Don't bring your Shamanesque advanced analytics in to this discussion on the state of basketball in 1964. Rebounding, effort, hustle, and heart are the only things that can explain a loss.
Up to this point, I'm not sure how you could say this wasn't his best year as a coach. He replaced two All-Big 12 players who combined to average about 35 points and 15 rebounds. Yes, last year he did a great job, but this year he actually improved the team's conference record and the team's road record, won another Big 12 tourney title, and finished better in the standings. Considering BDJ was a bit of a flop and we didn't bring in anyone else, I think this year was his best.
1. If a team of 18-22 can't "get up" for an NCAA tournament game, I really doubt any coach would do this for them. A loss does not make a bad season, and one poor performance does not mean our team or coach stink. It was an off day, move on.
2. Yes, defense was shaky at times this season, but we did have the Defensive player of the year in the big 12, so maybe don't think the world is ending on this subject either.
3. Adjusting the tempo in real life is not like a video game. You better believe that the team and Fred wanted to get fast breaks, but you also better believe that at this point in the season the scouting on the team is to do whatever you can to slow us down: drop 3 after a shot, press the three point line to prevent our spacing.
4. Edozie is a great guy. He is not the savior of our team. I promise you that if Fred thought he would've helped block out the 6'6 wing players that were beating our guards to the loose balls, he would have played him.
5. Just because you never saw it, it doesn't mean that Fred didnt get on players. Also, i would imagine BDJ's disconnect happened due to a decision Fred made about getting on his play.
6. Matt cannot play defense any better than Naz. Naz has been the better player all year, 1 poor game for Naz does not mean he deserves to be benched.
7. Yes, tournament wins are great. Big 12 championships are also great, and we have 2 of those.
