I mentioned in another thread that I felt this week was going to be a tough and critical week for the sisters. We struggled at home with both KU and WVU and going to their home courts was going to be a challenge.
KU started off with a three and it took a couple of possessions for ISU to score. Both teams struggled to hit anything. ISU went 1-9 from the field early with everyone missing. The inside game was especially messy. Belanger would finally end the drought with a trey to put the sisters in front 5-3. On the plus side the defense looked solid. Crooks came back in and missed in close on two straight possessions. Neither shot were her forte as she kind of forced things. KU would end a 6:30 drought to tie it up inside. The offenses just struggled throughout the quarter to find any sense of rhythm. KU was leading 8-7 until Natabou hit 1 of 2 free throws to tie it. She continues to shoot close shots too darned hard. After her miss, KU would score on the other end. ISU held for the last shot and Belanger traveled. KU would lead after one 10-8. Not a good offensive demonstration…actually a terrible one. Lots of missed wide open shots and our posts were struggling against the size and length of KU. The defense though was excellent.
On the opening possession of the second KU fouled and then AB picked up an offensive foul. KU scored, but Crooks would counter to tie it and then hit the and one for the lead. KU then hit a trey on the first bad defensive breakdown by the sisters. The next few minutes were a mix of ISU miscues with fouls and turnovers. ISU didn’t score in three minutes and KU was right behind in levels of futility. Bristow would end the drought to tie the game hitting underneath. Bristow would then follow with a trey, but KU would answer with two. Bristow would hit another trey and the sisters would lead 21-19. This is just how it went all night. If ISU did something good on offense, the defense would break down. As usual, sketchy officiating is the norm for Big 12 basketball. Brown would make a nice move to score inside to tie the game at 23. The quarter painfully ended at 23 all. This was ugly offense and it’s not just KU defense. Eight turnovers didn’t help, but the offense just missed some good looks.
The third started with a KU basket underneath. KU would get too many second chance looks and took a 4 point lead. Crooks would hit a pair of FT and grabbed an offensive board to score. KU scored after yet another defensive breakdown. It was back and forth and ISU led by two at the media timeout after a nice six zip run led by great defense. The media timeout seemed to take the air out of the sister’s sails and another defensive let down would net KU a trey. Joens nailed a trey at the top of the key to regain a 4 point lead 38-34. The ladies were heating up and then good fortune looked the other direction. Crooks picked up her second foul on the offensive end. The sisters had another turnover and KU scored on another second chance to tie it. Jackson turned it over on two straight possessions with very lazy passes. KU would score on those and take a one point lead. The last possession of the quarter saw ISU come up empty. The sisters lost all of their luster after the media timeout. They had a chance to start pulling away and instead allowed KU to retake the lead 41-40 after three.
Crooks would open the fourth quarter with a nice shot down low. KU would answer right back. Crooks took a feed from AB for a pair. A defensive breakdown would give it right back. Crooks would hit her 20th point on a free throw to tie things up at 45. Diew took a nice pass from AB to score and hit the harm for a three point 48-45. KU would answer right back with a pair of free throws and a basket. There was just no pull away in the ladies tonight. Crooks would tie it up hitting 1 of 2 free throws. Lots of suspect fouls being called on ISU all night. The game was tied at 49 with 4:30 to go and KU led by one. AB would counter with a nice hook. Crooks would then turn it over with a bad pass when we had a chance to stretch things. Instead KU retook the lead. Crooks would redeem herself with a nice hook. But KU would answer right back. Crooks would pound inside. Two minutes to go, KU called a timeout and ISU led 55-54. After the timeout KU would drive and score. Our defense was letting them drive unmolested. Ryan would miss, Crooks would rebound and miss. KU led with one minute left. KU missed, threw Diew to the floor and would get a second chance. Crooks would rebound the miss and ISU called timeout with 30 tics left. Our offense was frenetic and completely out of sorts. It ended with a Belanger turnover with 18 secs left. Jackson and Diew would be called for dual intentional fouls. No shots awarded but KU ball. Weird. Diew was trying to foul Jackson as she was KU’s worst free throw shooter. She fouled out of the game. ISU fouled immediately…and it was now KU's best shooter. KU would make both and led by three with 17 seconds on the clock. Belanger would miss a rushed and contested three after a chaotic offensive set. ISU wouldn’t score in the last two minutes until Belanger hit an off balance trey with a second left. KU would win an ugly ball game 60-58.
Observations
This was one that was there for the taking. Our defense was solid much of the night. Our offense was off and on all night, but mostly off. There was never any flow to the offensive end of the court. Not enough passing. Not enough movement. It was almost as bad as what we saw at Tech last week. This is a BAD trend.
POG - Have to give it to Audi, but man she struggled at times. Scored 25 points, 8 points and three turnovers. Shot 45% from the field. Partially because of being fouled much of the time and other times just taking bad shots.
Three point shooting - the ladies continue to struggle from deep. Made five of fifteen tonight with many of those being bad misses. They have to find ways to set effective screens to open up shooters.
Free throws - Seven out of ten. Doesn’t sound bad, but some of those misses were in crunch time. It also meant we weren’t getting calls. It also means we needed to be more aggressive. Ten free throws doesn’t cut it with this program. KU meanwhile got lots of calls and shot 10-12.
Turnovers - 14. Not a terrible number, but many of these came when we had opportunities to stretch a lead. KU scored TWELVE points off of turnovers. That’s the ball game right there.
Ryan - She’s gotten back into a habit of dribbling too much on offense. Sometimes I wish they would adopt a strategy like the old 6 on 6 days. You get two dribbles and you’d better pass the ball. ZERO points tonight. Six assists. That doesn’t cut it.
Belanger - had a couple of threes, but couldn’t handle the KU defensive pressure. Two turnovers, but there were other plays that amounted to the same thing. She needs flow to be successful and the team never found it tonight.
Diew - Three points and four boards. That’s better, but she still doesn’t look like she’s back with it yet. Left some missed opps on the floor.
Brown - Ten points, seven boards and six assists. That’s POG stuff there too. But we need more points from her. She never seemed to be able to get herself open for shots.
Jackson - I like her because when she plays point the ball moves around. Well, she had two critical turnovers back to back in the second half that were crippling at the time. Three assists and three turnovers. Still struggling to score with her injured wrist. That hurts.
Bristow - wow…did she spark some fire when she came in. Scored eight points in a flurry and had five boards. Then she disappeared.
Joens - Seeing fewer minutes all the time. Had one big trey and that was it. What’s happening here?
Natabou - one of the coaches needs to work on her touch…too many misses because she shoots too hard. Can’t fault her work though. Three points and 3 boards in short minutes.
One last word - Officiating. It gets frustrating whether we win or lose to see such levels of incompetence from officials in the Big 12. These are supposed to be top notch officials and they keep managing to have negative impacts on each and every game. This shouldn't be happening.
The key to this game was KU shooting in the second half. As a team they hit over 50%. Why? Uncontested shots. Turnovers leading to points. This was killer for our chances. You’d like to think them going 4-18 from deep would be a good thing (it was), but they adjusted at the half. They started going inside in the second half. They actually outscored ISU by 2 in points in the paint.
I’m not sure what to think about this team right now. They haven’t won in nearly two weeks. They’ve had two terrible offensive outings on the road. And what’s next? A very tough WVU team in Morgantown. I’m not feeling very good about things unless this team can get’s its offense in gear between now and Saturday. I’d say we will need at least 9-10 threes and Brown scoring 15-16 to have a chance Saturday. Of course we need Ryan to contribute and Crooks to keep doing her thing, but better. Hang on to your hats folks…
KU started off with a three and it took a couple of possessions for ISU to score. Both teams struggled to hit anything. ISU went 1-9 from the field early with everyone missing. The inside game was especially messy. Belanger would finally end the drought with a trey to put the sisters in front 5-3. On the plus side the defense looked solid. Crooks came back in and missed in close on two straight possessions. Neither shot were her forte as she kind of forced things. KU would end a 6:30 drought to tie it up inside. The offenses just struggled throughout the quarter to find any sense of rhythm. KU was leading 8-7 until Natabou hit 1 of 2 free throws to tie it. She continues to shoot close shots too darned hard. After her miss, KU would score on the other end. ISU held for the last shot and Belanger traveled. KU would lead after one 10-8. Not a good offensive demonstration…actually a terrible one. Lots of missed wide open shots and our posts were struggling against the size and length of KU. The defense though was excellent.
On the opening possession of the second KU fouled and then AB picked up an offensive foul. KU scored, but Crooks would counter to tie it and then hit the and one for the lead. KU then hit a trey on the first bad defensive breakdown by the sisters. The next few minutes were a mix of ISU miscues with fouls and turnovers. ISU didn’t score in three minutes and KU was right behind in levels of futility. Bristow would end the drought to tie the game hitting underneath. Bristow would then follow with a trey, but KU would answer with two. Bristow would hit another trey and the sisters would lead 21-19. This is just how it went all night. If ISU did something good on offense, the defense would break down. As usual, sketchy officiating is the norm for Big 12 basketball. Brown would make a nice move to score inside to tie the game at 23. The quarter painfully ended at 23 all. This was ugly offense and it’s not just KU defense. Eight turnovers didn’t help, but the offense just missed some good looks.
The third started with a KU basket underneath. KU would get too many second chance looks and took a 4 point lead. Crooks would hit a pair of FT and grabbed an offensive board to score. KU scored after yet another defensive breakdown. It was back and forth and ISU led by two at the media timeout after a nice six zip run led by great defense. The media timeout seemed to take the air out of the sister’s sails and another defensive let down would net KU a trey. Joens nailed a trey at the top of the key to regain a 4 point lead 38-34. The ladies were heating up and then good fortune looked the other direction. Crooks picked up her second foul on the offensive end. The sisters had another turnover and KU scored on another second chance to tie it. Jackson turned it over on two straight possessions with very lazy passes. KU would score on those and take a one point lead. The last possession of the quarter saw ISU come up empty. The sisters lost all of their luster after the media timeout. They had a chance to start pulling away and instead allowed KU to retake the lead 41-40 after three.
Crooks would open the fourth quarter with a nice shot down low. KU would answer right back. Crooks took a feed from AB for a pair. A defensive breakdown would give it right back. Crooks would hit her 20th point on a free throw to tie things up at 45. Diew took a nice pass from AB to score and hit the harm for a three point 48-45. KU would answer right back with a pair of free throws and a basket. There was just no pull away in the ladies tonight. Crooks would tie it up hitting 1 of 2 free throws. Lots of suspect fouls being called on ISU all night. The game was tied at 49 with 4:30 to go and KU led by one. AB would counter with a nice hook. Crooks would then turn it over with a bad pass when we had a chance to stretch things. Instead KU retook the lead. Crooks would redeem herself with a nice hook. But KU would answer right back. Crooks would pound inside. Two minutes to go, KU called a timeout and ISU led 55-54. After the timeout KU would drive and score. Our defense was letting them drive unmolested. Ryan would miss, Crooks would rebound and miss. KU led with one minute left. KU missed, threw Diew to the floor and would get a second chance. Crooks would rebound the miss and ISU called timeout with 30 tics left. Our offense was frenetic and completely out of sorts. It ended with a Belanger turnover with 18 secs left. Jackson and Diew would be called for dual intentional fouls. No shots awarded but KU ball. Weird. Diew was trying to foul Jackson as she was KU’s worst free throw shooter. She fouled out of the game. ISU fouled immediately…and it was now KU's best shooter. KU would make both and led by three with 17 seconds on the clock. Belanger would miss a rushed and contested three after a chaotic offensive set. ISU wouldn’t score in the last two minutes until Belanger hit an off balance trey with a second left. KU would win an ugly ball game 60-58.
Observations
This was one that was there for the taking. Our defense was solid much of the night. Our offense was off and on all night, but mostly off. There was never any flow to the offensive end of the court. Not enough passing. Not enough movement. It was almost as bad as what we saw at Tech last week. This is a BAD trend.
POG - Have to give it to Audi, but man she struggled at times. Scored 25 points, 8 points and three turnovers. Shot 45% from the field. Partially because of being fouled much of the time and other times just taking bad shots.
Three point shooting - the ladies continue to struggle from deep. Made five of fifteen tonight with many of those being bad misses. They have to find ways to set effective screens to open up shooters.
Free throws - Seven out of ten. Doesn’t sound bad, but some of those misses were in crunch time. It also meant we weren’t getting calls. It also means we needed to be more aggressive. Ten free throws doesn’t cut it with this program. KU meanwhile got lots of calls and shot 10-12.
Turnovers - 14. Not a terrible number, but many of these came when we had opportunities to stretch a lead. KU scored TWELVE points off of turnovers. That’s the ball game right there.
Ryan - She’s gotten back into a habit of dribbling too much on offense. Sometimes I wish they would adopt a strategy like the old 6 on 6 days. You get two dribbles and you’d better pass the ball. ZERO points tonight. Six assists. That doesn’t cut it.
Belanger - had a couple of threes, but couldn’t handle the KU defensive pressure. Two turnovers, but there were other plays that amounted to the same thing. She needs flow to be successful and the team never found it tonight.
Diew - Three points and four boards. That’s better, but she still doesn’t look like she’s back with it yet. Left some missed opps on the floor.
Brown - Ten points, seven boards and six assists. That’s POG stuff there too. But we need more points from her. She never seemed to be able to get herself open for shots.
Jackson - I like her because when she plays point the ball moves around. Well, she had two critical turnovers back to back in the second half that were crippling at the time. Three assists and three turnovers. Still struggling to score with her injured wrist. That hurts.
Bristow - wow…did she spark some fire when she came in. Scored eight points in a flurry and had five boards. Then she disappeared.
Joens - Seeing fewer minutes all the time. Had one big trey and that was it. What’s happening here?
Natabou - one of the coaches needs to work on her touch…too many misses because she shoots too hard. Can’t fault her work though. Three points and 3 boards in short minutes.
One last word - Officiating. It gets frustrating whether we win or lose to see such levels of incompetence from officials in the Big 12. These are supposed to be top notch officials and they keep managing to have negative impacts on each and every game. This shouldn't be happening.
The key to this game was KU shooting in the second half. As a team they hit over 50%. Why? Uncontested shots. Turnovers leading to points. This was killer for our chances. You’d like to think them going 4-18 from deep would be a good thing (it was), but they adjusted at the half. They started going inside in the second half. They actually outscored ISU by 2 in points in the paint.
I’m not sure what to think about this team right now. They haven’t won in nearly two weeks. They’ve had two terrible offensive outings on the road. And what’s next? A very tough WVU team in Morgantown. I’m not feeling very good about things unless this team can get’s its offense in gear between now and Saturday. I’d say we will need at least 9-10 threes and Brown scoring 15-16 to have a chance Saturday. Of course we need Ryan to contribute and Crooks to keep doing her thing, but better. Hang on to your hats folks…
