ISU shot 46% overall and 52% from three against a tough defense, could have played even better on offense and still lost. Their issue isn't on offense. ISU needs to get better on defense. they are better than they were last year due solely to the presence of McKay but they still have a ways to go. I saw too many blown assignments and slow rotations that gave Baylor far too many easy looks at the basket. There isn't a lot that ISU is going to be able to do about their rebounding issues; they aren't getting any bigger this year. Continuing to work on their defensive rotations and remembering to box out when a shot goes up will help some but they need to improve on making the other team work harder to get their first shot. The comeback last night was impressive and overall ISU looked solid. I thought they lost their composure a bit in the first half when they were down big but regained to keep it from getting out of hand. And Naz Long really seems to be taking on the role of team leader. He was out there firing guys up and looked to be the main guy talking to the team in stoppages. And that range, holy moly. That was impressive. That guy is going to make some money in the NBA if he keeps extending his range every year like he has. All in all, a pretty impressive performance on the road for ISU. Tough to win on the road.
At this time of year, something is missing from almost ALL the Final Four contenders so I wouldn't sweat that. Kentucky, Duke, Wisconsin, Arizona and Louisville all have pretty glaring weaknesses right now. It is very rare that Final Four teams look like Final Four teams in January. Teams are better right now than they were 2.5 months ago and they'll be better 2.5 months from now than they are right now. ISU's offense can score on almost anyone and is definitely Final Four caliber right now. They just need to shore up their defensive issues, which is no easy task. At some point the players will need to buy into the fact that it is necessary to survive six games in the tourney. You can't just assume your shots will always fall. Gotta be able to make it tough for the opponents to even get good shots.
Niang strikes me as a guy that plays defense for the first 3/4 of the game very carefully so as to avoid any fouls that may send him to the bench. It will be hard to change that mindset and that mindset will keep you from battling for tough boards. His defense tightened up in the back half of the 2nd half when foul trouble is less of a concern. Hogue is limited with his size in fighting big guys for position and has to be a 100% scrapper 100% of the time to get his boards. McKay is pretty lean and will lose a lot of battles for spots against stronger. His length is ridiculous and will allow him to pluck a lot of boards from above just about everyone. If he can back his rump into the guy of the closest guy and try to clear him out then his length can still grab a good chunk of boards. Long guys like that who are new to D1 hoops sometimes fall back on just trying to out jump people for a board and they are surprised to find out that everyone can jump at this level. How fast McKay advance his skills on defense will go a LONG ways in determining how ISU will finish the year from what I have seen. Lots of potential there.
Go home, you're drunk. There are still a lot of question marks and things to work on.
Nice picture. An old friend of mine was the main female FBI agent in The Boondock Saints II.Wait - WUT? Did Tuco just tell panicking ISU fans to calm the **** down about last night's loss, that not even the other Final Four caliber teams have it all figured out yet? Without going all trolly or Tuco on us?(I can't believe that just ******* happened)
