Do I understand correctly that Audi is the first Iowa State Freshman to be named "Player of the Week"?
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2023-24 ISU WBB Season Thread
- Thread starter theshadow
- Start date
Do I understand correctly that Audi is the first Iowa State Freshman to be named "Player of the Week"?
That’s what I read as well. Crazy that it’s not impossible to have two this year
Nice mention of Iowa State in the The Athletic
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How the Comeback ’Clones struck again
Speaking of fun, perhaps no team in the country is having more of it right now than the baby Cyclones. Just look at Audi Crooks celebrate this game-winning basket against Baylor.
Iowa State has five freshmen in its nine-player rotation and still took down two ranked teams this past week. The Cyclones are just getting started, and they’re already ahead of schedule. A great deal of credit goes to Emily Ryan, who missed the first part of the season with a lower leg injury and is still on a minutes limit. The senior’s playing time (19.8 minutes per game) is about half of what it was last year since she’s coming off the bench, but her steadying influence is clear whenever she’s on the court.
She’s Iowa State’s best perimeter defender, with a block rate of 3 percent that’s more like a big than a 5-foot-11 guard. Ryan also improves the Cyclones’ shot profile; thanks to her ability to set up her teammates, they take and make more shots in the paint with her on the floor. When Iowa State trailed at halftime by 13 against West Virginia and by eight against Baylor, Ryan was on the court to start the second. The Cyclones are 7-0 with her available.
But the magic starts in the middle with Crooks. I asked a friend how many players had better footwork in the post than Crooks — there’s a handful, but they’re all All-Americans. Crooks is near-impossible to contain inside because she can back down her defender, she has moves to finish over either shoulder, and she’s patient despite being in her first year. Crooks takes 95 percent of her shots in the paint, including 68 percent directly at the rim, because she knows where she excels. For all the talk about the dynamic guards in this year’s freshman class, Crooks is the star of the frontcourt. She still has so much room to improve, too, with her conditioning and her touch, and she’s already scoring 16.7 points per game.
The Cyclones sit atop the Big 12 standings, tied with Kansas State at 5-0, and a massive showdown looms on Valentine’s Day.
—
—
How the Comeback ’Clones struck again
Speaking of fun, perhaps no team in the country is having more of it right now than the baby Cyclones. Just look at Audi Crooks celebrate this game-winning basket against Baylor.
Iowa State has five freshmen in its nine-player rotation and still took down two ranked teams this past week. The Cyclones are just getting started, and they’re already ahead of schedule. A great deal of credit goes to Emily Ryan, who missed the first part of the season with a lower leg injury and is still on a minutes limit. The senior’s playing time (19.8 minutes per game) is about half of what it was last year since she’s coming off the bench, but her steadying influence is clear whenever she’s on the court.
She’s Iowa State’s best perimeter defender, with a block rate of 3 percent that’s more like a big than a 5-foot-11 guard. Ryan also improves the Cyclones’ shot profile; thanks to her ability to set up her teammates, they take and make more shots in the paint with her on the floor. When Iowa State trailed at halftime by 13 against West Virginia and by eight against Baylor, Ryan was on the court to start the second. The Cyclones are 7-0 with her available.
But the magic starts in the middle with Crooks. I asked a friend how many players had better footwork in the post than Crooks — there’s a handful, but they’re all All-Americans. Crooks is near-impossible to contain inside because she can back down her defender, she has moves to finish over either shoulder, and she’s patient despite being in her first year. Crooks takes 95 percent of her shots in the paint, including 68 percent directly at the rim, because she knows where she excels. For all the talk about the dynamic guards in this year’s freshman class, Crooks is the star of the frontcourt. She still has so much room to improve, too, with her conditioning and her touch, and she’s already scoring 16.7 points per game.
The Cyclones sit atop the Big 12 standings, tied with Kansas State at 5-0, and a massive showdown looms on Valentine’s Day.
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I don't want to get too ahead of myself here but the next two games are very winnable.....we could be looking at 7-0 in conference play heading into another showdown with Kansas.
Even if we were 2-3 I think I'd be looking at both games as "should" wins. We will be favored. TCU will still be without 6'-7" Sedona Prince (broken finger) which is a BIG deal in countering our paint strength. I'll take her being out but would have liked to see a Crooks/Prince matchup from a purely basketball viewpoint.
Next two after that are road trips to Kansas and WVU. Those will be more difficult.
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TCU instead of Tech for Prince.
Tech doesn't seem to have much post presence at all. The only center that plays only gets ~7min a game.
Almost all guard play for them.
The TCU forfeit stinks because it may be a win that we need for the NCAA - the release says it counts in conference record but not regular season record.
The only reason it's "counting" in conference standings is for seeding purposes.
You would have to think the NCAA considers this come tourney time. It is something ISU had no control over.
Since we have no game here's a couple of Big 12 games to check out Saturday afternoon. Relevant to us and the standings. For sure I'll tune into the KU/KSU tilt. Could be a good game. Don't see Texas having much of a problem with short roster OSU. Not even listing the Baylor/FCU game, relevant to the standings but zero reason to watch that on.
So she'll be back when they face us...
Kansas State C Ayoka Lee out roughly 4 weeks after ankle surgery
Kansas State center Ayoka Lee underwent surgery Friday for a small fracture in her ankle and is expected to miss approximately four weeks.www.espn.com
Just what I immediately checked. Hopefully she gets back right after we face KSU but timing not looking good. Of course ISU get KSU twice and both after she is scheduled to be back.
Her being out is just an estimate. If it was a true 4 weeks, she would miss the game in Ames but present for the 2nd two weeks later.
That Lee news sucks. Assume that the surgery was installing some screws? Just a SWAG but four weeks might seem optimistic.