Now that Summer Dead Period -- that dreaded long wait between the end of the basketball season an the first football game -- is upon us, any predictions about football? Will we make a bowl game? How good will whoever steps up at QB be?

Matchday 13 of 14 tomorrow (Sunday) with the US playing a massively important match against Panama in Orlando.



Mexico travels to Honduras and Costa Rica plays away at El Salvador.

A draw for the US tomorrow will guarantee a finish no lower than 4th. A win for the most part would cement a finish no lower than 3rd (getting jumped by Costa Rica would require them to overturn a 7 goal difference in GD).

Great season, pretty much all that any of us could have hoped for. The real question is, what happens next year. The knows are the incoming freshmen and the King kid, plus assuming Grill, Jones, Hunter and Jackson will be back. Not sure on Walker, and at this point we have no clue what seniors will come back for their COVID year. It seems reasonable that TJ knows who is or is not coming back now or will soon. Just seems weird that he threw this team together, and next year it could look like a completely different team again. College BB has gotten quite complicated in the last couple years.

Yeah it’s sucks that we failed to show offense tonight. Yeah it sucks we couldn’t make the Elite 8. For men and women.

But my god people. This was a throw away season for the men and we made the ******* sweet 16. Just amazing!

I am one that will forever have this team at the top of my favorite teams ever. What they accomplished is honestly just incredible.

I have no sadness about this season at all. There were ups. There were downs. We struggled on offense but by god we were fighters.

Bring on next season. I’m a happy and proud Cyclone.

My column from Chicago.

Mar 25, 2022; Chicago, IL, USA; Iowa State Cyclones forward Aljaz Kunc (5) reacts as the Cyclones lose 70-56 to the Miami Hurricanes in the semifinals of the Midwest regional of the men’s college basketball NCAA Tournament at United Center. Mandatory Credit: Jamie Sabau-USA TODAY Sports



CHICAGO — I despise amusement parks. Having said that, the 2021-22 Iowa State men’s basketball season is one roller-coaster that I am glad that I got to ride. 



The excitement of the most surprising season in Iowa State history came to an end on Friday night in the Sweet 16, 70-56 at the hands of a toasty Miami squad. 



To be frank, these season-ending columns are generally the most difficult ones to write. Mainly because I don’t feel like I’m good enough at this to wrap up five months worth of basketball – in this case, 35 games – in 1,000 words. It’s impossible to capture, especially for a season as inspiring as this.



My emotions right now are quite odd.



After a...

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What will Ashley do? That is now the big question. Will she stay or will she go? From what I’ve read most think she is a first rounder. It would be a non-brainer if WNBA paid like it’s male counterpart. Unlike Bridget’s I just don’t see her game playing that well at the next level yet. Could she work on some things to improve her chances? Getting a masters in education on ISU’s dime could be an attractive fall back when she’s done with pro ball.

Prior to the game I posted some questions about the game. Well here are the answers.
1. can Creighton handle our bigs and Ashley inside? Yes. When the bigs miss layups and Ashley gets swarmed with not help.
2. will our drive and pass work? At times it was unstoppable. Em drove all day and scored. Others tried and missed.
3. can we guard their guards? In other words, can we knock them off their game? A big fat resounding NO. At times Creighton put on a clinic at our expense.
4. how will the game be called? some ticky tack stuff called. Overall not bad.
5. will ISU be on from deep (which is the key to every other part of our offense)? No. Lukewarm. We missed a bunch of wide open looks while shooting 32% overall.
6. Knowing we don’t really like pressure, will Creighton use their depth to hammer us full court? No.

The game started out with both teams trading blows. Diew started it for ISU with an opening three and I was hopeful that was a good sign. Sadly, it wasn't. Our team was colder than molasses in winter time from deep in the first half. Meanwhile Creighton seemingly almost hit their per game average in the first half. Whatever we did on defense just didn't work. Creighton either had wide open threes or cut to the basket and took advantage of our lack of foot speed to chew us alive. In the second quarter Ash went to the bench with two fouls and quite surprisingly the team stayed with Creighton. Just enough stops and a few baskets here and there and the half time score was tied at 30. I really thought at this point Coach Fen would make some defensive adjustments and we'd be ok. Surely we'd get better shooting right?

The third quarter was one of the worst I've seen since perhaps the beat downs by Baylor or Texas. Creighton came out and literally sliced and diced the sisters. They would find open threes. They would cut or drive to the basket. It all seemed to work and meanwhile the Sisters continued to struggle. When the smoke started to clear in the 4th quarter Creighton had built a 13 point lead and it seemed like this one was in the books. But, as you would expect the ladies still had fight left in their bones. They actually drew within three before making a few critical errors that shifted the game back in Creighton's direction. The ladies had to start fouling and hoping they could in turn score at the other end. It just didn't happen as even Creighton's worst free throw shooter was nearly perfect. In the end the better team won this game 76-68.

Observations
Defense - I was puzzled that our defense didn't seem more prepared for what Creighton was doing. It was the same thing they had done all season and yet our ladies seemed a step slow or way out of position all night long. The best defense we played was the last five minutes of the 4th quarter. So what changed?

Posts - our posts were an absolute non-factor tonight. They were slow plow horses compared to Creighton's quarter horses. Inside or outside (they were guarding guards) they couldn't keep up on defense. On offense they just couldn't find the hoop. 3 points and 7 boards between them. Much of what happened in the third quarter centered around their inability to cover on defense (although others had the same problem).

Playing fire with fire - Coach Fen waited until part way through the 4th to move away from our bigs and insert faster smaller players in an effort to slow Creighton down. Didn't always work, but they started getting some stops. Strangely after seeing Iowa's Czinano eat Creighton up inside our posts couldn't come close to replicating her effort. The only option was go small.

The three - When you watched the game you'd swear we made a total of about 5 threes and Creighton hit 21. In fact, Creighton only hit 3 more than we did on the same number of attempts. The difference was timing...when they happened. Creighton found themselves wide open time after time after time and it stymied anything ISU seemed to have going at the time.

In the lane. At one point Creighton had 24 points in the lane. These were slice and dice cuts to the hoop and it worked over and over again. They executed their offense quite well.

Our offense - for much of the game it seemed like our ladies were very disjointed. No flow to the offense and once we started missing it seemed like frustration set in a little bit.

The stat line - go look at it. Every single line of it looks nearly identical. Creighton made a couple more free throws. Made 3 more treys. Made a total of two more shots than the Sisters. Rebounds even. Turnovers even. The big difference? Assists. They had 7 more assists and each one was a knife in our back.

Ashley - sadly she picked up two fouls early and had to sit the bulk of the second quarter. We never really saw her exert her dominance as we expect. 3-11 from the floor, but 7-7 from the line. Without her offensive presence we were hurting. 14 points and 4 boards on what I hope isn't her last game in a Cyclone uniform.

Em - The little general did everything she could tonight. Made some mistakes - yes. A few of those "what were you thinking" moments. But her drives down the lane were fun to watch. 22 points, 6 assists, and 8 boards. Wow. She was the main reason we had any chance to win this game. 2:1 assist to turnover ratio.

Donarski - she started the game hot on defense and cold on offense. Made some exceptional hands plays. Did get beat a few times to the hoop, but she was working her butt off. Another tough shooting night missing threes and layups. 11 points and 3 boards. Another big missing link in our offense.

Diew - Probably the most improved player on this year's squad. She hit some critical threes. Played decent defense (although she was victimized a couple of times leaving open three point shooters). What a pleasant surprise she has been. Maybe her best game of the year tonight with 15 big points and 5 boards.

The bench - just not much happened there. four total points. One single player from Creighton's bench more than tripled that output.

So disappointing. I told friends that I just had to tip my hat to Creighton. You could tell their players were having fun. They knew their offense and ran it almost effortlessly, and their quickness exposed some of our flaws. The two teams were called "mirrors" of each other, but in actuality Creighton has some things we don't have. Namely, bench production and better team speed. On the other side, our team (like the one in the Replacements) has grit by the bucket load. Many teams might have folded when down by 13 and everything going the other way. Not our Sisters. They reached inside and grabbed some of that grit and found a way to cut that lead to almost nothing. Almost. Sadly, that "almost" means the most successful team (by win) in ISU history is done for the year. What a ride it was. We were privileged to watch some outstanding basketball and are able to say we were a part of it all. Thanks ladies. It's most definitely been fun.

Now for the waiting game. The only question remaining to be answered is what will Ashley do? Will she choose to go pro or will she decide to take one more stab at it? Of course I selfishly want her to come back next year. We will have a deeper bench with Fritz returning. We will be adding Shantavia Dawkins from Canada as another guard. It's possible the transfer portal might yield something, but I'm not sure what the team would be looking for. So, the question remains...what will Ashley do? Previously I was leaning 60-40 on a return. After tonight I think it is a total toss up. The rest of the team returns. You know this outstanding sophomore class will have fire burning in their veins to take things farther. Fritz will be ready to go. Hopefully our posts will make some marked improvement as well. The clock ticks while we wait on the big decision...

I'm tired and sad so I'll make it short. Wild season, pretty much an unthinkable year. The highs and lows were pretty much as high and low as you can get. Love you guys, thanks for making college basketball fun again for me this year. Get back in it next year

I hate this building - just the site of so many cyclone disasters (Floyd, Fizer, Gmac, Niang, etc.).

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I came here to Chicago but tickets too expensive and my toddler doesn’t want to do a game that late. PM if interested.

Just curious what everyone is carrying these days

Hadn't seen anything about a game watch in Cedar Rapids. Anyone know of one?

Anyone else in 324 tonight

Where is a good cyclone bar for a watch party tonight in Chicago?

This is a really good read.

Good for him. Hope it works out.

Edit: it's official.

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My husband and I were watching Severance on Apple TV last night (if you haven't seen it and like sort of sci fi-ish, dark dramas, it's great). He mentioned that he had read an article recently about how Amazon Prime is sort of losing the streaming war between the really big guns, that HBO Plus is incredibly successful, and so on.

What streaming services do you use? What are your shows you love on each?

Here's what we've got - we don't watch a ton of TV, but we'll watch an episode of something after the kids go to bed usually to systematically get through a series:

Apple TV - Severance, Ted Lasso, Morning Show. We thought The After Party was fun.

Amazon Prime - only have the one that comes with our Amazon subscription. Husband watched Wheel of Time and The Boys, I know I need to see Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. I've watched some of their movies and documentaries, but I can't think of any series offhand?

Hulu (packaged with Disney+ for the kids) - Only Murders In the Building, several documentary series, I watched the Tommy Lee & Pamela series (I'm ashamed to admit). The Great is on my to-watch list.

Netflix - BoJack, Russian Doll, Mindhunter, Queen's Gambit, Big Mouth, Ozark, I watch The Crown and Master of None, husband watches The Witcher.

We have also seen Succession but don't subscribe to HBO Plus, and Barry is on my list to watch. I heard that True Detective is coming out with a third season - we watched the first two when they originally came out.

I don't know the last time I've watched any actual channels of TV. I record a couple of PBS British dramas, I guess, but that's it.

Do you use streaming services? If so - what is your list?

A Facebook friend posted about her lucky Cyclone game-day socks during the Round of 32 - she'd lost one of them, but felt so strongly about their efficacy that she still wore the one she could find. I figured it was timely today.

Do you have any rituals or superstitions in which you'll be participating today for the game? Certain clothing items, playing a certain song, whatever you got?

vs


IOWA STATE (22-12, 7-11 BIG 12)
VS. Miami (25-10, 14-5 ACC)
FRIDAY, MARCH 25 | 8:45 PM CST
CHICAGO, ILL. | UNITED CENTER (21,223)


TV: TBS
Talent: Kevin Harlan, pxp Reggie Miller & Dan Bonner, analyst Dana Jacobson, reporter

Radio: Cyclone Radio Network (Varsity Network)
CRN Talent: John Walters (pxp); Eric Heft (analyst)

My first story today from Greensboro on the Iowa State's birth in the Sweet 16 and what Bill Fennelly told his team about it. I'll have another one going in depth on the matchup for y'all a bit later on:

"If you don’t do that, then why are we doing this?”

Iowa State and Creighton play vastly similar types of basketball.

The good news for Cyclone fans? This team does phenomenally well against it.