*** Official #23 BYU vs #10 IOWA STATE Game(Day) Thread ***

[AllInForISU]

That technical (awful call) was the difference in the game

A play or 2 before that he was warned to calm down. I doubt it showed it on TV but it was right before the tech and I turned to my brother in law and said, he’s going to get T’d up if they miss another call and he reacts. I agree what led up to it certainly looked like a couple missed calls on him, but TJ should have seen that boiling point coming and gotten him out.

 

[rosshm16]

14/15 was the weirdest team in my memory. You never who would show up and they had a few legit NBA guys.

Ward/BRE/King weren't crazy good but did enough to take the pressure off of the guards on both ends.

Fred's teams at least had an identity: we are running a "pro-style" offense with some pro-level talent, we aren't going to beat many/any teams with our defense but when our shots are falling, you are going to have to hit a lot of shots to beat us.

TJ's first three teams had an identity: defensive intensity, live-ball turnovers and scoring in transition. This year we've gotten away from that, it seems like the intention is to make our hay in half-court offense by out-talenting and out-shotmaking opponents, and we just haven't been able to do that consistently against good teams or in some cases even against bad teams. We don't have any NBA guys and it's hard to win like we appear to be trying to win when you don't have that talent.

I'm not a coach though, just a passionate fan who is mad my team isn't winning as much as I'd like. I'm sure if we implemented my ideas with this roster, we wouldn't be 12-7 in the Big 12. It's just disappointing for a team that had such high expectations and looked to be capable of living up to those expectations to be struggling as much as they have for the second half of this season, regardless of the reasons for those struggles. Still some tourneys to go here and a chance to end on a high note.

 

[jbhtexas]

Very true, every team is going to have injuries, it's how you play through the injuries is what counts. Looked like BYU was doing a lot of pushing in the back to get rebounds last night, not trying to take anything away from them, they rebound well, but it would be interesting to watch the tape and see if they were getting away with as much pushing as it looked like last night.

If I were in that scenario, my thought would be if the refs are going to let them push in the back to tune of 17 ORB, they may very well let us do the same thing. I'd at least give it a try.

 

[Clone95]

I know we shouldn't have been down 21, but if you put that aside, that 21 point comeback to get to OT was very entertaining. That game was a lot more fun than I thought it'd be coming out of half time.

 

[cyclonestunners]

This seems to be a recurring theme with this coaching staff. TJ is hitting on a 75% rate of falling apart once the calendar flips to February.

It's really diminishing what they are accomplishing here imo.

But then turns out on for march. I'll take that trade off. Bad February vs 2 sweet 16s? Yes please.

 

[OscarBerkshire]

Disappointed but not terribly surprised. BYU was coming in on a heater (arguably finally coming up to the level that they should have been playing at with all they had returning), we're still trying to get back in sync and they are just a tough match up for us. I think we'd be viewing this team way differently if the two OT losses had become wins, so while this team may not have totally lived up to their potential, they're very close to doing so.

Only complaint I have on the season is that I think if we're going to go balls to the wall for 40 minutes in every game, we need to go 9 deep. I think it just caught up with us in terms of injuries and fatigue. Watson can clearly play at a high enough level, so I'd have to guess that it's just a matter of not needing that extra guy at the 4 spot based on what we want to do. I think we might be going 9 deep if Indrusaitis was ready as an extra guard would be easier to mix in.

At this point, if anyone needs to rest, then I'd support resting them. Best case scenario barring a tournament championship is probably a 3 seed (and maybe even then) and a 4 is the worst. This is a team that looks like they need to get healed up and rested. I'm still very positive for March Madness, because we have the horses, and anything can happen there.

Watson is a negative, I’m sure he’s in the bottom 10% of offensive rating of D1 players. He cannot shoot the 3 and doesn’t have the size or explosive athleticism to attack the rim reliably. I love Watson, great defender, but when you’re that bad offensively it doesn’t make since to play him

 

[AuH2O]

I agree with all of that, though I don't really think they have a ceiling. All the pieces are there. Just need to tighten things up and catch fire a bit.

Agree to some extent. In a given game this team can be as good as anyone. The problem is there’s no indication they can play well for 3-4 consecutive games, which is needed in March.

I really think Gilbert dealing with this injury has had a huge impact on the team. He is not moving like he was early in the year or last year. He did a good job creating TOs last night, but he was such a weapon creating havoc and scoring in transition, that being diminished has changed this team a lot. A lot of the half four offensive deficiencies are magnified.

 

[cyatheart]

ISU runs a rather unsophisticated offense that depends a lot on athletic advantage for prolonged success. IMO, not a great approach if you want to win the conference regular season in the Big 12, or for tying to win 6 in a row in a post season tournament. The 25-minutes-of-dog-barf offense/15-minutes-of-good-offense personna that ISU exhibits on a regular basis isn't really helpful either. I also think these two things are related.

A number of folks are suggesting that Gilbert has regressed. Maybe, but I think it has more to do with teams having figured out his game and how he functions in ISU's simple offensive scheme. That scheme just doesn't do much to confound the defense and get guys easier looks.

It's also hard to conquer the Big 12 without consistent post/big play. Not really sure what is going on there.

Yes...just so easy to guard right now for a team that can handle a pick and roll.

 

[mj4cy]

This was another stinker. My biggest gripe is that we don’t seem to realize we have to play as hard as we did in the second half alll the time.

Bummer of a loss. And I’m sure I’m one of few at the moment to say this but if we can play like we did second half consistently we still can go far. Whether we want to play that hard though I don’t know.

I also can’t forget at full strength we still only have two losses.

Sigh.

Technically one loss. Jackson was sick last night. No way we get outrebounded by 30 if he's fully healthy and playing more.

 

[Farnsworth]

Did we win?

 

[BillBrasky4Cy]

Hate to say it but this team peaked around the first go through in the conference, and has been coasting since because of injuries and poor play. To be a great team, you have to bring your A game every night or close to it, Kansas used to be able to do that, Houston does it now. We go through stretches where we look lost and start throwing up 3 pointers that are not even close.

I hate to say it but we aren't built like those teams. We are a sum of the parts and when something breaks it truly impacts everything we are trying to do.

 

[cyclones500]

If I could have a past player (non-leading scorer) on this team, even for 10 minutes per game: Deonte Burton

"I'm goin' to the rim ... try to stop me, or get out of the way, but make no mistake, I'm goin', and I'm finishing..."

 

[mj4cy]

Just remember how much apathy and desolation was when we were 2-22 and a rebuild felt like it'd be an eternity.

 

[NENick]

Technically one loss. Jackson was sick last night. No way we get outrebounded by 30 if he's fully healthy and playing more.

Broadcast said Jackson hadn't practiced the last 2 days due to illness. The Chatfield couldn't be in for more than a couple of minutes without picking up a foul. That definitely impacted the rebounding margin. So did BYU turning it over 29 times, so no shot attempt on those possessions, meaning no defensive rebound opportunities.

 

[1SEIACLONE]

I hate to say it but we aren't built like those teams. We are a sum of the parts and when something breaks it truly impacts everything we are trying to do.

Isn't every team a sum of its parts, Houston lost their best player from last season, their go to guy in the clutch and they just find another. Who is our go to guy? The season is almost over and we still have not found that person that we can rely on for a basket when we need it. Hell Gilbert had the ball at the top of the key in OT, plenty of time to make a play, and he dribbles around and then tosses it over to Milan with 2 seconds left. Either drive the hoop or give him the ball earlier so he has at least got a chance. We are a team that when the outside shot is falling like against Arizona we are fantastic, when they are not falling we struggle to get and make shots.

 

[BillBrasky4Cy]

The point is we probably don't beat both Tech and Houston at home. The odds of us beating Colorado and UCF at home are very,very good. It would be more entertaining to play all the best teams at Hilton but we also would be more likely to have at least one more overall conference loss.

We literally just boat raced a really good Arizona team at home less than a week ago. To say we can't beat those teams at Hilton is a huge assumption.

 

[qwerty]

Before we started the climb out of the 21pt hole, we were shooting 27% at that time (10/37). Went 15/27 (56%) from there.

 

[BillBrasky4Cy]

Full strength or not, good teams don't look that completely inept against Oklahoma St and Kansas St. Those are two terrible basketball teams that took us to the woodshed.

Houston wouldn't have lost those games missing a starter. Last night we were at full strength. How do you explain getting down 21? How do you explain blowing an 18 point second half lead vs Auburn at full strength?

JFC goods teams lay eggs all the time. This just in.... we aren't built like Houston.

 

[FinalFourCy]

Agree to some extent. In a given game this team can be as good as anyone. The problem is there’s no indication they can play well for 3-4 consecutive games, which is needed in March.

I really think Gilbert dealing with this injury has had a huge impact on the team. He is not moving like he was early in the year or last year. He did a good job creating TOs last night, but he was such a weapon creating havoc and scoring in transition, that being diminished has changed this team a lot. A lot of the half four offensive deficiencies are magnified.

My hope is that we’re picking our spots more than usual because we’re physically and/or mentally exhausted.

Which leads to huge variance in quality of play, given how much we rely on effort and energy

That said, clearly our floor is lower than anticipated. This team has limitations. It’s not elite in talent and lacks some length/athleticism

Varying quality of play is normal, but imo there is a notable change since the deflating 3/4 court shot went in at AZ.

I think this staff has done a tremendous job overall. Debating whether a top-20 type season is disappointing with this moderately talented group is a product of that. But we’ve left some upside on the table not developing our small ball, and using a rotation like we’re a bubble team

 

[madguy30]

JFC goods teams lay eggs all the time. This just in.... we aren't built like Houston.

I think ISU has some weird habits and dynamics (not toxic, just kind of tend to be in a fog) that has played a part in some weird losses outside of injury, but the 'just do what KU and Houston do' stuff is the 'Just run a bubble screen like Ohio State does with Marvin Harrison Jr. for 70 yard TDs' takes from football season.