what's wrong with this team?
- Thread starter cyclones12321
- Start date
Yeah I believe that is what CW said. Also might have gotten Chris Boucher who would have been perfect in Fred's offense.
Keep the faith.. They had some bad losses earlier in the year and came back with strong efforts.
If anything these last few games allowed bench guys to get more playing time. Can only help right?
Would've liked to see those guys get more minutes earlier in the season, but should help. Maybe JM also had some time to rest his knee as well!
From what I can tell by looking at CF. We are a very dumb team, lacking in grit, with no depth because we didn't play some of the guys earlier, poorly coached, got hosed by Fred before he left and get screwed by the officials every game. Other than that, things are pretty good.
I could get on board with this but I think the problem is a lot of bandwagon/"new money"/falsely entitled fans coming along and then feeling like they've been cheated because we haven't lived up to their "expectations". It's as if these people have never been through a basketball season and to be "good" there needs to be no adversity, no losses, no derailing of anything, no hint of things going wrong for the entire year. Then these same people will turn a blind eye to any and all circumstances that lead to dents in their expectations such as Naz injury.
We're #14 in the country, haven't been out of the top 25 in years, back to back Big 12 tourney champs, soon to be half a decade straight NCAA tourney team with the most top 25 wins over the past two years yet there is seemingly no perspective at all.
This. Being tired of the ******** isn't the same thing as being spoiled, entitled, or a Hawkeye fan. For as bad as the meltdowners have been this season, the Anti-other fans crowd has been 10 times worse.
Chris Boucher is one of the best newcomers in the country. He would have been a bigger addition than any other option. He's averaging 13 pts, 8 rebs, 3.5 blocks, and shooting 35% from 3. That said, he wanted to start, and with or without Fred, Iowa St couldn't guarantee him that.
I think the fans have every right to be upset. This team has a Wooden Award caliber player, a Cousy Award caliber player, and the reigning Big 12 defensive player of the year and they have been very disappointing this year. The nice thing about basketball is that the regular season only matters to a certain extent. This team, while under performing thus far, can still make a run and win a National Championship.
I think one thing that upsets me is that they are wonderful at saying the right thing, but it feels like just words when they give up big leads and lose to much inferior teams. To me, it looks like they walk into games thinking they can show up and win. UAB should have taught them all that that doesn't happen. But like I said, the beauty of basketball is that this team can still make a run. They have the talent, hopefully they get hot down the stretch.
I think one thing that upsets me is that they are wonderful at saying the right thing, but it feels like just words when they give up big leads and lose to much inferior teams. To me, it looks like they walk into games thinking they can show up and win. UAB should have taught them all that that doesn't happen. But like I said, the beauty of basketball is that this team can still make a run. They have the talent, hopefully they get hot down the stretch.
CycloneErik
Well-Known Member
Of course, those first-round losses happen to everyone, and don't indicate some failure in the program.
Did Fred do something nasty to your yard or something? You've got an obsession with criticizing him after every loss.
Bad ref calls work both ways. If this team kept focused, turn 8-10 point leads into 15-20 a ref call doesn't matter. I hate to say it but on the drive to the basket by Niang followed by 2 FT's, he did the Texas 4 step. This is a good team waiting to play great but it sounds so 'cheap' that referring somehow causes the problems. The problems are in getting going, as a team, and ref's calls work both ways! Don't allow it to decide games is the answer---not complaining about a call.
Well, it's an online sports message board and sitting around staring uncomfortably at each other doesn't work as well in this format.
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Good point. There were a number of those type of games over the last two years and most of them involved the Hilton Magic difference. There are plenty of close games in college basketball and your right, many times it evens out over the long run. We've also been blessed with some real difference makers in the last few years that helped us win close games. For example, Kane and Royce White were absolutely a major mismatch for our opponents. BDJ had that potential also. Fred was really good at getting those type of players.
CycloneErik
Well-Known Member
Agree, I really think this is the biggest problem. I think in 4 conference losses (Bay, WV, Tech, OU), they had a lead with 3,4,5 minutes to go, and just collapsed. You can see Georges and Monte gassed, and then we put the ball in their hands to win it. Which is a different kind of mistake. Even Thomas seems to quiet down offensively in the 2nd half - probably from playing defense all game.
What if Naz was around taking 10 minutes each from Nader, Monte, and Thomas? How much fresher in the last 15 seconds is Monte Morris, after playing 30 minutes instead of 39? I didn't think losing Naz was so bad, esp with Matty Ice really coming into his own. But maybe just having him there to play point and share minutes is a big deal.
Do I think toughness and rebounding is a problem? Yes.
Do I think we miss having a grown *** man like Kane, Ejim, or Houge to fight for rebounds and buckets? Yes.
Do I think Prohm changing the style of play a bit has had mixed results? Yes.
Do I think Fred leaving hurt recruiting and the bench? Yes.
Do I think defense overall is hit and miss? Yes.
Do I think they have forgot to share the ball and move it around at times? Yes.
But I think the fatigue and depth are the biggest problems, when you look at HOW they have lost games late.
So what to do about it? I think either they need to start building up a lot more cardio (like Tinsley/Horton/Nurse levels) or else Prohm is going to HAVE to get more minutes out of Burton, Ashton, Cooke, & Carter. In both halves. So far he has been really hesitant. Maybe we gotta concede some ground at the 12 minute mark, in order to be able to close at the 1 minute mark.
The alternative is to go back to full Hoiball, and just rest on defense.
Last year's team constantly lived on the edge. This year's team is the same, but are falling off of it more often.