I'll gladly eat crow...

[ZRF]

Houston fought back and tied the game with 10 minutes left! And the Cyclones dug in and played even with the #2 team the rest of the game and pulled it out. Well done!

Unlike the OP I thought we could win the game (Hilton is a big advantage) but was skeptical. Ultimately effort, FTs (Lipsey's 4 misses were our only misses....18-22 from the line is outstanding), and taking care of the ball won us the game. Limiting ourselves to 12 TOs kept Houston out of transition (where their athleticism and lenghth is lethal) and allowed us to "manage" the game despite shooting the ball poorly.

Aside from shooting, which was abysmal (many a open 3 missed), the propensity to double/collapse and leave guys wide open is problematic. If we want to be better than a 500ish conference team, our players and coaches need to demonstrate they understand the personnel, location, and situation with which to double. If we are going to constantly collapse when BRE, Tre, and Milan are on the floor it will be problematic. If we continue to trap with BRE or Tre up high that will often be problematic. Milan is also a bad trap candidate. We simply have not demonstrated we have the personnel for rotational anticipation or recovery to prevent wide open shots. We saw that again last night.

On a side note, I thought Milan played his best defense yet in a Cyclone uniform. It wasn't perfect, but he had several defensive possessions of outstanding man to man defense. There was one possession in particular where he was absolutely phenomenal on the ball. If he can continue to make strides and mold himself into a consistently average (or above) defender that would be huge development for the team.

 

[ZRF]

underrated part of the game was that clearly their game plan was to go right at Milan on defense and he more than held his own.

Beat me to it.

When it comes to rotations, doubles, and some anticipation he has a lot to work on, but his man to man defense was easily the best defense he's displayed in his young cyclone career. For him to play like that against a stout opponent, especially one that had a lot of athleticism to throw at him, is a massive achievement.

The end of game shot? Money. But more than that I think his defense was what really won us the game.

 

[Pope]

underrated part of the game was that clearly their game plan was to go right at Milan on defense and he more than held his own.

They also went right after Lipsey. Trapped him almost every time down the floor, or maybe I should say they mugged him. Tamin showed incredible toughness.

 

[riceville98]

Love Momcilovic! Just want them to get him as many quality looks as they can. Make teams try to take him away and things will get easier for everyone else. He got some shots at OU at the end of that one. They just didn’t fall. I’ll take my chances with Milan any game. He’s the best shooter on the team.

poetic justice indeed that people on here were all over him after OU--"that guy can't hit a shot. Why does he have the ball at the end" etc

Then he hits the game winner (a really tough shot) and 2 clutch FT's to give us a huge win.

Give me him at the end of any game please

 

[riceville98]

Pretty impressive to outtough the toughest team in the country.

I believe Seth Greenberg coined it, Iowa State out Houston'd Houston tonight"

 

[Clonefan32]

I do think the biggest issue for us going forward, and really with this staff in general, is offensive adjustments. Last night was a good example. They hard-hedged every ball screen and handoff, daring us to throw it down to our bigs. This completely neutralized Tamin and Gilbert and they couldn't get going downhill. But we just kept running the same actions over and over. I also thought we should have gotten Milan in the post much sooner. All of his touches seemed to come 25+ feet from the basket, and against good defense he's just not strong enough to put the ball on the floor and create.

 

[riceville98]

Yeah icy as **** and walk not even shoveled from the handicap lot. (It was shoveled sometime during the game as afterwards it was clearer) . You would think they would give those lots a little attention.

Reading this--Glad me and my wheelchair stayed home. They always seem to do the Handicap lots last for some dumb reason!!

 

[Ms3r4ISU]

Houston fought back and tied the game with 10 minutes left! And the Cyclones dug in and played even with the #2 team the rest of the game and pulled it out. Well done!

I think they didn't go ahead until about 3 min. left. I remember looking at the clock and saying something to that effect. In amazement, but with a little trepidation.

 

[Halincandenza]

I do think the biggest issue for us going forward, and really with this staff in general, is offensive adjustments. Last night was a good example. They hard-hedged every ball screen and handoff, daring us to throw it down to our bigs. This completely neutralized Tamin and Gilbert and they couldn't get going downhill. But we just kept running the same actions over and over. I also thought we should have gotten Milan in the post much sooner. All of his touches seemed to come 25+ feet from the basket, and against good defense he's just not strong enough to put the ball on the floor and create.

Yeah good point about using Milan in the midpost or post more. That could have been more of a weapon because against what Houston does, it is sometimes easier to go one on one and generate looks than try to work off ball screens.

 

[cymac2408]

I usually bet $1 on games. I bet $5 on UH to cover. I usually bet against ISU so that it softens the loss. I really wanted us to win but didn't think we would so I bet $5. It felt like ISU was going to lose and cover and break my heart twice. Best $5 loss I've ever had.

I’ll set up a GoFundMe for you the rest of the season. That way you can keep doing your thing and won’t suffer huge losses.

 

[Billups06]

I do think the biggest issue for us going forward, and really with this staff in general, is offensive adjustments. Last night was a good example. They hard-hedged every ball screen and handoff, daring us to throw it down to our bigs. This completely neutralized Tamin and Gilbert and they couldn't get going downhill. But we just kept running the same actions over and over. I also thought we should have gotten Milan in the post much sooner. All of his touches seemed to come 25+ feet from the basket, and against good defense he's just not strong enough to put the ball on the floor and create.

In second half, both Lipsey and Gilbert missed opportunities to get the ball in the high post/elbow to Milan or King. TJ was not happy with them during a couple min sequence when they missed open-pass looks into the paint and we settled for jump shots/turnovers. Our guards got a little dribble happy for a short stretch.

Props to Houston's D, they likely made our guards second guess everything they were doing.

 

[Gunnerclone]

underrated part of the game was that clearly their game plan was to go right at Milan on defense and he more than held his own.

This defense can get even better imo:

1) Milan gaining experience
2) Ward getting fully re-embedded
3) Rotation fully stabilizes so guys get used to playing with each respective unit
4) wild card-Gilbert doesn’t seem quite fully bought in yet, if he fully buys in on that end he could be a menace. He’s still pretty good as it is though

 

[CyHans]

I went back and forth several times whether I wanted to drive up to the game from the DM area. My friend backed out so I hopped in my 4 wheel drive and went as I figured they'd need all the fans we could get. The drive was better than I expected. There we LOTS of cars in the ditch but the roads overall weren't terrible but it would go from dry to slick so you had to be careful. When I got there it was pretty empty and I thought this really sucks given we're playing #2 but like others have said, it filled in quite nicely given the circumstances and it got loud even with the majority of students not back. I have to admit when Houston took the lead (briefly) I thought it might be over but I underestimated our guys and I apologize to them for not having more faith in them. Congrats to the team for fighting and thanks to them for giving us this awesome experience!

 

[cymonw1980]

So, with 1:12 to play and again with 30 seconds left, and finally with 10.7 seconds left, we come out of a timeout on defense, I was a little surprised to see Momcilovic on the floor each time. Thought maybe they go offense/defense subs there. But, it worked out fine.. just thought it was interesting that they stayed with him. Thought he held up pretty well on defense... but seems like ward or watson may have been better defensive options. Obviously worked out and nice to have a 91% free throw shooter on the line at the end.

 

[NebrClone]

So, with 1:12 to play and again with 30 seconds left, and finally with 10.7 seconds left, we come out of a timeout on defense, I was a little surprised to see Momcilovic on the floor each time. Thought maybe they go offense/defense subs there. But, it worked out fine.. just thought it was interesting that they stayed with him. Thought he held up pretty well on defense... but seems like ward or watson may have been better defensive options. Obviously worked out and nice to have a 91% free throw shooter on the line at the end.

Best free throw shooter by a long shot and does pretty good on defense with the long arms.

 

[Big Daddy Kang]

How to Prepare and Cook Crow

Can you eat crow? Not after a mighty prediction or faux pas, but can you actually prepare and eat crows? The answer may surprise you.

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