As I made the two hour drive home tonight I kept thinking about the Jekyl Hyde nature of this team. I tried comparing them to the football team that was loaded with talent. We all know that team kept finding ways to shoot toes off and snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. While there are definitely some similarities the differences keep that comparison from being valid. This team isn’t loaded with talent. If this team is going to win it’s going to be workmanlike and mistakes have to be kept at a minimum. AND a few things have to break in their direction.
Tonight I knew this team was in for a struggle in the second quarter. Joens was struggling to get anything going. Rae was still playing like she did against Iowa. Nez, as much as I love her on offense, has bad defensive habits (swiping at balls) that keep her in foul trouble. Kristen still wasn’t looking anything like who we saw last year. UNI had shifted gears and started to out rebound us. We were missing free throws. Outside of Maggie, guards weren’t shooting the ball and when they did they were missing from deep.
This game was a tale of two quarters. ISU won two of them and UNI won the other two. Unfortunately, the big quarter was number four and the sisters plain ran out or gas. A nearly six minute scoreless drought while UNI erased an 8 point deficit with a 15-0 run was when the fat lady started singing.
The game was strange. UNI used a ten deep lineup and part of the strategy was to beat us up. They fouled and fouled some more. How did we respond? We missed free throw after free throw. Those misses severely altered the game. The officiating was spotty at best. Sometimes downright terrible, but we know that’s a fact of life in the Big 12. This team continues to struggle shooting from deep. They also have a tendency to stand around too much on offense and on rebounds. I remember one example where an ISU player had a clear shot at a defensive rebound and rather than jumping for it, they stood and waited in the ball to come to them. A UNI player slashed in, jumped, rebounded and scored.
This is the way this season is going to look until a couple of things happen. First, we need some players to get more engaged on offense. There is a tendency to defer to others and too much standing and watching. Second, we have to develop more than a 7 deep lineup. We miss Wise terribly for many reasons. Obviously her heath comes first and I’m not counting on her return any time soon. Third, the coaches are going to have to manage minutes and adjustments better than they are. Tonight this team was gassed part way into the 4th. That just can’t happen.
I’ve said this in some of my other posts, but right now this team is a one trick pony. If Joens struggles (and she did tonight) we currently don’t have another player that can make up for it. I love the potential Maggie shows, but offensively she has a bad tendency to dribble into a crowd with no plan in mind. That’s something that is coachable. Nez' bugaboo is fouls. Rae is too hesitant and appears to lack some degree of confidence. Kristen appears to still be working her way back (she had some nice highlights tonight defensively). The team struggles from deep. The hope in this list is that most of it can be corrected through coaching and practice.
So, we lost to every D1 team in the state. It’s been a long time since that happened. None of the losses were pretty and all could have been wins if not for one or more of those weaknesses being exposed. The good is that there is time left to grow. The bad news? The conference is going to be a meat grinder and those three a Iowa teams have provided everyone the blueprint for beating ISU. Get physical and hustle.
So, my Christmas wish this year for our sisters is that they develop fixes for this problems and their potential shines through. Merry Christmas everyone. Have a safe and happy holiday season!
