I was hoping for more from our young squad playing on a neutral court. What I saw instead was a game that nearly mirrored what we saw in Des Moines against Drake. Close first quarter with ISU leading by 1. Disastrous second quarter where the sisters only score 4 points and the other team pulls away. Third quarter major comeback with the sisters closing within one. Fourth quarter fade and Vanderbilt cruises to a win.
That pretty much summarizes the game with one exception. The officiating. Wow...talk about inconsistency and some really bad calls and missed calls. Does that change the game? Maybe, but not likely the way the ladies were shooting. But geesh...the officiating was BAD.
Observations
There are a couple of things happening with this team that are really un-cyclone like. First is the free throw shooting. We've grown used to our sisters being nearly automatic and this crew is far from that. Shooting 50% just doesn't cut it. That rates in with some of the worst teams we see all season and can be very costly. Second, Turnovers. The first half was a turnover fest. Third, shooting by the guards. Joens and Belanger go a combined 3-15. All of those things together spell another loss and if it continues will lead to many more.
Free throws - the team is shooting well below previous ISU teams at 70% for the season and as mentioned a terrible 50% today. This has to change. Even worse is only getting to the line for 10 shots.
The Deep Ones - we know our guards can shoot. But wow the inconsistency is mind-boggling. Belanger goes from 50% at home to 16% today. Joens hitting about the same percentage and only 4 boards. That level of inconsistency has to change. Is the competition different? Yes. Is it Big 12 good...not even close.
Crooks - 14 points and 4 boards in 23 minutes. Some speculate she is getting breaks due to the rigors of college play. I don't buy that. We've seen a lot of players come into the college game and manage to play 5-6 minutes more per game easily. We need her out there. Why?
Natabou - I'm just not impressed with her so far. Way too many rebound attempts that are one hand taps that don't help us. No two handed authoritative rebounds. Scoring...not much of a threat at all. 2-5 today and that just isn't helping much. She manages 6 boards, but left several on the table. Keep hoping to see improvement here, but hasn't happened yet.
Brown - she's a stud. She finds ways to score, gets boards, and contributes in so many ways. In some ways I'd like to see her be set up more on the offensive end.
Diew - just call her streaky. She is either hot or cold and never in between. We need more consistency and sadly while her energy is there, she is either a mess or hotter than the sun. Today she fouls out and shoots 33% from the field.
The bench - I don't really consider Crooks a bench player even though she doesn't start. As for the rest of the crew there just isn't much in the way of offensive contributions here. Bristow and Jackson had considerable minutes (21 and 19) today and combined for 5 points. That doesn't cut it. Bristow does pull down a big 8 boards which led the team.
Stats - what if you saw these post game stats. Shooting percentage - both teams at 38%. Vandy makes ONE more shot. Three point shooting. Both teams shoot terrible (Vandy 25% to ISU at 19%). Rebounds - ISU leads 38-37. It all sounds like a close game doesn't it? But here are the killers...Vandy shoots six more free throws and makes TEN more than ISU. Turnovers - Vandy has only 8 to ISU's 16. Wow.
Scratching my head - I'm just not sure about a few things with this team. At home they are far different than on the road. OK, competition levels are different. But why the terrible 2nd quarter and why do they run out of gas late in the game (due to having to come back?)? It just seems they get taken out of the game in the second and I'm not sure why? Something is missing there. Maybe it's senior leadership. On that front Diew is as big a contributor to the bad second quarters as anyone.
In the end this game perfectly mirrored what we saw at Drake. Something very weird is happening in that second quarter that I find myself struggling to explain. They can make the comeback and somehow can't feed off the energy and the balloon bursts leading to another blowout loss.
What to look forward to? Syracuse annihilated Northern Iowa (who, gasp, is now 1-3) 71-54. ISU gets Syracuse (4-1) next and I can't see any difference in the competition level to what we saw today in Vandy. Unless a few things change in performance (such as getting to the line, making said free throws, cutting down turnovers, and having some people score the darn ball) it may be another tough one for the ladies. Coach Fen definitely has his job cut out for him with these youngsters. The skills are there it's just that the quilt needs sewn together.
That pretty much summarizes the game with one exception. The officiating. Wow...talk about inconsistency and some really bad calls and missed calls. Does that change the game? Maybe, but not likely the way the ladies were shooting. But geesh...the officiating was BAD.
Observations
There are a couple of things happening with this team that are really un-cyclone like. First is the free throw shooting. We've grown used to our sisters being nearly automatic and this crew is far from that. Shooting 50% just doesn't cut it. That rates in with some of the worst teams we see all season and can be very costly. Second, Turnovers. The first half was a turnover fest. Third, shooting by the guards. Joens and Belanger go a combined 3-15. All of those things together spell another loss and if it continues will lead to many more.
Free throws - the team is shooting well below previous ISU teams at 70% for the season and as mentioned a terrible 50% today. This has to change. Even worse is only getting to the line for 10 shots.
The Deep Ones - we know our guards can shoot. But wow the inconsistency is mind-boggling. Belanger goes from 50% at home to 16% today. Joens hitting about the same percentage and only 4 boards. That level of inconsistency has to change. Is the competition different? Yes. Is it Big 12 good...not even close.
Crooks - 14 points and 4 boards in 23 minutes. Some speculate she is getting breaks due to the rigors of college play. I don't buy that. We've seen a lot of players come into the college game and manage to play 5-6 minutes more per game easily. We need her out there. Why?
Natabou - I'm just not impressed with her so far. Way too many rebound attempts that are one hand taps that don't help us. No two handed authoritative rebounds. Scoring...not much of a threat at all. 2-5 today and that just isn't helping much. She manages 6 boards, but left several on the table. Keep hoping to see improvement here, but hasn't happened yet.
Brown - she's a stud. She finds ways to score, gets boards, and contributes in so many ways. In some ways I'd like to see her be set up more on the offensive end.
Diew - just call her streaky. She is either hot or cold and never in between. We need more consistency and sadly while her energy is there, she is either a mess or hotter than the sun. Today she fouls out and shoots 33% from the field.
The bench - I don't really consider Crooks a bench player even though she doesn't start. As for the rest of the crew there just isn't much in the way of offensive contributions here. Bristow and Jackson had considerable minutes (21 and 19) today and combined for 5 points. That doesn't cut it. Bristow does pull down a big 8 boards which led the team.
Stats - what if you saw these post game stats. Shooting percentage - both teams at 38%. Vandy makes ONE more shot. Three point shooting. Both teams shoot terrible (Vandy 25% to ISU at 19%). Rebounds - ISU leads 38-37. It all sounds like a close game doesn't it? But here are the killers...Vandy shoots six more free throws and makes TEN more than ISU. Turnovers - Vandy has only 8 to ISU's 16. Wow.
Scratching my head - I'm just not sure about a few things with this team. At home they are far different than on the road. OK, competition levels are different. But why the terrible 2nd quarter and why do they run out of gas late in the game (due to having to come back?)? It just seems they get taken out of the game in the second and I'm not sure why? Something is missing there. Maybe it's senior leadership. On that front Diew is as big a contributor to the bad second quarters as anyone.
In the end this game perfectly mirrored what we saw at Drake. Something very weird is happening in that second quarter that I find myself struggling to explain. They can make the comeback and somehow can't feed off the energy and the balloon bursts leading to another blowout loss.
What to look forward to? Syracuse annihilated Northern Iowa (who, gasp, is now 1-3) 71-54. ISU gets Syracuse (4-1) next and I can't see any difference in the competition level to what we saw today in Vandy. Unless a few things change in performance (such as getting to the line, making said free throws, cutting down turnovers, and having some people score the darn ball) it may be another tough one for the ladies. Coach Fen definitely has his job cut out for him with these youngsters. The skills are there it's just that the quilt needs sewn together.
