Not at all. ABSOLUTELY NOT.
Full disclosure: BYU fan here.
ISU was in a very difficult spot, down 2/3 of the best backcourt in the Big XII and having played a tough game yesterday. If Iowa State had won this game it would legitimately have been one of the best wins in your program's storied history because it was a definite uphill battle to start with and the odds were SO stacked against you.
I think someone would have gotten second-degree burns if they had touched Curtis Jones in the first half, but I also thought that playing the game yesterday would hurt his long-range shooting in the second half and it did. The first place fatigue shows up is always in the jump shots, and the incredibly intense way he plays defense takes a LOT of energy.
Momcilovic had a great game, considerably better than the last time these teams played, and Jackson showed a tremendous amount of heart and muscle. BYU had a big rebounding advantage last game, but definitely not this time and a lot of that was Jackson. Not having Lipsey REALLY hurt ISU though because he and Jones together are absolute murder in the trapping defense you guys run. Kelderman gave it his best, but he's no Lipsey. No shame there: damned few are. Jefferson is a beast and a damn good ball handler for a big man, but not having Lipsey hurt there too.
This game wasn't remotely a fair test of ISU. I think with a healthy Lipsey, a healthy Gilbert and no game yesterday you guys probably win by at least ten.
Just as a side note, I was watching this game with BYU fans and they were yapping about all the fouls ISU committed that didn't get called. I think one thing we can all agree on is that officiating overall DEFINITELY needs to improve. Some of those guys look like they could use seeing-eye dogs out there!
One last comment: the more I see Coach Otzelberger, the more impressed I am. I don't know when his contract is up but when it is, whatever it costs to keep him, PAY IT.
Good luck in the rest of the season!
Always appreciate the insight from other fanbases, so thank you for sharing.
BYU has a ton of positive things going for it. Goodness, that offense is such a well-oiled machine. Really fun to watch! Seems like a group of nice coaches and players but my goodness, do the BYU players b*tch. All they do,
every single possession, is b*tch and whine. EVERY single whistle against them - not
some - not
half of the whistles
- but quite literally 100% of whistles - they flop and flail their arms and IMMEDIATELY whine to the nearest official. They flop and flail constantly to try to get fouls called on the opponent, and somehow it works! It’s the craziest thing. It works consistently! And not just 1 or 2 players. ALL are whiny b*tches, for 40 minutes. On the bench while seemingly getting rest - nope! Whining, b*tching - every single possession.
Again - what an offensive machine ya got at BYU. So fun to watch, truly poetry in motion. I think they can beat ANY team in the country. I really believe that. And normally I would root for a team like that to go deep in the tourney, represent the Big 12 in positive way, etc. But I cannot root for b*tches. When a team literally is getting EVERY whistle, and NOT having whistles called on them, yet they still insist on
crying to an official every single time (again, not
some of the time - but
every single time) - that is… not something I respect. I do NOT wish ill-will on players or teams or schools (because that would be silly - this is a game after all) - but I sincerely hope and pray that the universe finds a way to humble that group of whiny b*tches. No idea what that would even be, but I’ll leave it up to the universe to find the way…
