*** Official #23 Tennessee vs #6 IOWA STATE Game(Day) Thread ***

[demoncore1031]

TJ hopefully finds a way someday

I think he will. I wish we had more NIL money because there are some teams that it's obvious they have more talent, but TJ can win with less. Can we got beyond the Sweet 16 with lesser talent? I don't know. We haven't had a difference maker at center since McKay. We need a guard who can get to the rim and draw fouls. Maybe Batemon or Toure can be that guy next year.

 

[GoSTATE71]

Iowa ran him off for "not taking the next step" & never recovered to a level equal to what Dr Tom had established. Having a run now, but remains to be seen in today's landscape if it will be an anomaly or not.

TJ is NOT an anomaly. He's a proven commodity, one who hasn't reached his ceiling. I'd much prefer he reach that ceiling (and make it the highest possible) right there from Ames. He'll continue to learn and improve every season. Wins & Losses may fluctuate as player movements will dictate that heavily, but I believe TJ will get ISU to multiple Final 4s.

Enjoy never advancing in the tourney then. TJ has us respectable but if he lets Nate stay on we’re doomed for nothing beyond round of 32 and sweet 16s

 

[loyalsons4evertrue]

All I want is to experience an Elite 8 and actually remember it....I wasn't even a year old when the 99-2000 team made it but obviously I have no memory of that.

 

[demoncore1031]

Feel horrible but it was so obviously he was never playing again for Iowa state with that injury

I was thinking that but I didn't say anything because there was a lot of arguing when people would post their opinion on the subject. Coaching staff wanted to keep Tennessee guessing but they knew Jefferson wouldn't play.

 

[GoSTATE71]

I thought he applied his killer instinct against Purdue, TTU, and ASU twice.

Who cares we’re home with another exit before elite 8, meanwhile Iowa is there and might make a final 4.

 

[im4cyclones]

As a guy who grew up watching ISU basketball, I feel like we are living in the world of Johnny Orr and and can’t get over the hump.

I grew up watching Orr too. Johnny’s teams couldn’t win away from Hilton so it was always a long shot.

We’ll get there. But you have to keep putting yourself in that position. Make the Sweet 16 enough and you’ll break through. Eventually.

 

[HoustonClone]

I thought he applied his killer instinct against Purdue, TTU, and ASU twice.

And even in our loss in the Big 12 Tournament against Arizona, which demonstrated how good this team was when healthy. It's quite remarkable that our "fans" are commenting that TJ, of all people, doesn't have a killer instinct. Heck, he looks like he could kill someone on the sidelines as intense as he is.

 

[xr4ticlone]

Tonight came down to the fact that they were just bigger and longer than us. That’s it. We went from a 6’8 3 to Heise at 6’3 or whatever he is. We had to play small ball against a really long team.

One thing that’s been a repeating issue for us has been the lack of length and athleticism we’ve had.

It showed up tonight, against IL, as well as other teams in the B12.

Seems like we get a lot of dogs who can ball, but they’re always smaller / less athletic guys.

 

[Klubber]

Maybe this gives us an idea.

And a few on here are questioning JJeff's heart. Unbelievable. I love the guy and what he gave to the program. An absolute all-timer.

 

[loyalsons4evertrue]

And we have a 6'8" who doesn't fit our system who looks like a fish out of water if he's not shooting lights out

How about a 6'10" guy who constantly gets blocked, rim stuffed, and couldn't get rebounds tonight? Blake had 3 rebounds tonight.....3!!!!!!!

 

[12191987]

My childhood was filled with memories of 8 or 9 seed type of ISU teams and it was a blast.

Yeah, Christ.

This current streak of 5 tournament appearances is only the 3rd streak of more than 2.

Three Sweet Sixteens over 5 years (with a round of 32 game thrown in for good measure) is easily the most successful run in program history. My guess is very few teams match ISU’s success over this period.

Hell, Johnny Orr had only 1 Sweet Sixteen and 1 Round of 32 over his entire 14 year ISU career, and that is what we base ISU’s identity as a basketball school on.

 

[HoustonClone]

Who cares we’re home with another exit before elite 8, meanwhile Iowa is there and might make a final 4.

I care. Cyclone fans care. Frustrating as it might be that we lost in a Sweet 16 game down our best player, the final 8/4 or "we suck" mentality you are throwing at our program is remarkable.

 

[Clones2023]

You implied Momcilovic needs more help than Jefferson and Lipsey. I disagree

Well Bateman and toure are kinda a drop off

 

[fcclone]

Who cares we’re home with another exit before elite 8, meanwhile Iowa is there and might make a final 4.

You are the one that said TJ had zero killer instinct. I was just pointing out that you were wrong.

 

[not-the-manager]

One thing that’s been a repeating issue for us has been the lack of length and athleticism we’ve had.

It showed up tonight, against IL, as well as other teams in the B12.

Seems like we get a lot of dogs who can ball, but they’re always smaller / less athletic guys.

I’m just not buying this. I’ll bet no one outside of Michigan gives Arizona a run for their money like Iowa State. At full strength, they had put it all together at the perfect time and had what it takes to make a deep run. Does it bug me when they struggle against TCU? Sure, but is that program in a better spot because they have more length?

 

[Cyclonepride]

TJ hopefully finds a way someday

No question in my mind that he will. Most teams don't get that far when they lose an All American 3 minutes into the first round. He is 5/5 in putting a team in the tournament and 3/5 in putting a team in the tournament that advanced two rounds, and that with some bad injury luck going in.

Add the fact that he's a fantastic recruiter and it's a great recipe for having a team that can compete for big things most years.

 

[cyatheart]

Enjoy never advancing in the tourney then. TJ has us respectable but if he lets Nate stay on we’re doomed for nothing beyond round of 32 and sweet 16s

I'm not sure if Nate has to go, we do need to evolve in the half court to some degree. I doubt tj would even disagree with that.

 

[GoSTATE71]

You are the one that said TJ had zero killer instinct. I was just pointing out that you were wrong.

TJ doesn’t have a killer instinct otherwise we’d at least advance once. Tell me I’m wrong

 

[xr4ticlone]

Maybe this gives us an idea.

I know people were trying to be positive…but you don’t come back from an ankle you can’t put weight on that fast.

Michigan would have torched us on Sunday given how they played tonight without Jefferson. They’re gonna torch TN imho

 

[fcclone]

Yeah, I agree, but we have 33 more games where he's Mid at best and a defensive liability. I don't think 4 or 5 ballistic games makes up for 30+ games of unreliable play

What? You do realize these were comments about TJ.