Why? Just why?

[demoncore1031]

Why does anything happen the way it does to our fanbase?

I don’t know how much I can keep caring. It’s just one nut punch after another. Choking again and watching Iowa go to the elite 8 is just the finishing touch. It’s clear we’re meant to be unhappy as a fanbase. Accept it I guess

I'm not unhappy with a 29 win season. Yeah, it sucks losing Jefferson and not advancing past the Sweet 16 yet again, but we have a hell of a coach and things are looking good for the future of the program. Maybe in a couple years when Toure and Batemon (assuming they are still around) are upperclassmen, we can make a deeper run.

 

[cayin]

Why does this happen every single time? First Niang, now Jefferson, and we are stuck not being able to advance to the elite 8 again. This one stings and it feels like we’re just trapped. I love Otz, but man, he needs to get us further than this because I don’t think us fans are satisfied with the same outcome every time. Sorry for the rant. I’m just bummed.

Edit: I’m well aware Otz wasn’t the coach when Niang got hurt in the tourney. Some people seem to think I think that.

You forgot about Gilbert and Lipsey injuries last year, that team was capable of a final 4 run too

 

[CyCrazy]

Tennessee is a bad matchup for us even with J Jeff. Single elimination tourney is all about matchups. I was really hoping we could get by TN as I loved our matchup against Michigan, with or without J Jeff.

O rly? Michigan would have beat us by 40 tonight.

 

[cayin]

They make all their throws they lose by 4.
Getting killed on the boards cost them especially offensive boards

They only put up 51 shots as a result. Throughout the season 60 shots was a benchmark for wins vs losses for the most part

not exactly, it changes the trajectory of the game. If we shot 80% from the line there is more pressure on Tennessee. They were able to get comfortable and relax a little, shots tend to fall in the case. With made free throws we can grab more momentum down the stretch and the crowd, etc... it just becomes a different game if we make free throws at a higher rate.

 

[1UNI2ISU]

I completely and totally understand wanting to be spontaneous and free flowing offensively and that can absolutely be the base of what you do and you can do it 90% of the time but there have been times in a couple games this year where they needed a go-to action to get what they wanted in the half court.

The first 3 possessions of the 2nd half needed to be something to get Milan a look and get two actions headed to the rim. Game is so much different if it isn't 8 at the U16.

 

[tripod]

I have deadeyecedric on ignore. Makes this thread better

 

[Cloneman89]

If Jefferson played and Momcilovic did not disappear then we had a shot. 6 points on 9 shots? Really? Thank god for Heise to score 18.

 

[Freebird]

Plenty of teams lost key players this season. I’m happily surprised we got as far as we did under the circumstances.
This has to be one of the most frustrating years to ever be a cyclone.
The fact that all of our programs this season went from top-ten expectations to late season implosions is just conditioning us to expect the absolute worst. Football went from top ten to losing our coach, the entire team defecting to Penn St and declining a bowl invitation.
Women’s basketball went from top-ten and media darling to first round exits of both the conference and NCAA tournaments along with the entire team leaving to get away from a legacy coach we can’t seem to move away from.
Our wrestlers were handed a bunch of injuries and we ended up being borderline irrelevant at NCAAs.
Our gymnastics team suspended season and then dissolved completely as a program.
Our men’s NCAA dreams essentially disappeared three minutes into a game against a team we could have trounced with anyone on the floor.
So it’s kind of a tough year. The silver lining is that all of our major sports have shown they are national competitors. That’s no small feat in today’s NIL world. I’d rather have this with chances of greatness than to be a perennial bottom feeder in the SEC or Big 10. Time for my sports hibernation until August.

 

[Raiders70]

You can't even make this up. In one of the most predictable tournaments ever the only two outlier results were Iowa's unexpected run to the elite8 and Iowa State getting ran out of the gym by the much lower seeded Tennessee team. Everything else has been chalk. What a ****** up result for Cyclone fans.

 

[ClonerJams]

You can't even make this up. In one of the most predictable tournaments ever the only two outlier results were Iowa's unexpected run to the elite8 and Iowa State getting ran out of the gym by the much lower seeded Tennessee team. Everything else has been chalk. What a ****** up result for Cyclone fans.

I'm sure Wisconsin or Texas Tech would gladly trade results with us.

 

[RezClone]

If Jefferson played and Momcilovic did not disappear then we had a shot. 6 points on 9 shots? Really? Thank god for Heise to score 18.

Similar to Dustin Hogue single handedly keeping ISU somewhat in the UConn Sweet 16 game. But to a lesser scoring but no less impressive degree. Heise was AMAZING.

Gonna really miss that guy.

 

[clone1990]

This is 5 times since 2014 if you count the pros. Niang 2014, Gilbert 2025, JJeff 2026, Purdy NFC championship game, Halliburton game 7 NBA finals. It does seem like we are cursed.

Yep

 

[ABECyguy]

Earlier I posted that last year’s team was better prior to all the injuries and I still feel the same way. We only have 1 plus athlete on this team (Toure) and it shows when we play teams with length. We need a forward with some bounce and ability to play above the rim, Buchanan did ok but his lack of strength is a huge problem, gets blocked all the time on dunk attempts.


Also, from watching other teams like St Louis, it’s frustrating to think of how fluid their offenses looked passing and cutting compared to ours. Milan needs to figure out a way to add something on offense when he’s face guarded.

I think this year’s team was a better fitting team (where the whole is better than the sum of the parts) than last year, but I agree that the high end talent of Gilbert and jones were not matched on this year’s team. I continue to be so impressed by Otz’s team building and how he really seems to get the most out of guys and gets them to fill roles really well.

Also, I would love to see more cutting action like St. Louis runs. They were a really fun team to watch.

 

[RezClone]

I'm sure Wisconsin or Texas Tech would gladly trade results with us.

Well yeah. It's true the only way to get over the hump is the get right back there and see if the law of averages applies the good guys at some point.

 

[RezClone]

I think this year’s team was a better fitting team (where the whole is better than the sum of the parts) than last year, but I agree that the high end talent of Gilbert and jones were not matched on this year’s team. I continue to be so impressed by Otz’s team building and how he really seems to get the most out of guys and gets them to fill roles really well.

Also, I would love to see more cutting action like St. Louis runs. They were a really fun team to watch.

Ironically, I do think we already do cut a lot better than most.

Just got manhandled in all facets at the rim. Not much you can do about that directly.

 

[ClonerJams]

Well yeah. It's true the only way to get over the hump is the get right back there and see if the law of averages applies the good guys at some point.

We'll get over the hump someday. You need some good luck to go far in this tournament, and for some reason injuries always seem to get us when we have a chance to make that run.

 

[madguy30]

Plenty of teams lost key players this season. I’m happily surprised we got as far as we did under the circumstances.
This has to be one of the most frustrating years to ever be a cyclone.
The fact that all of our programs this season went from top-ten expectations to late season implosions is just conditioning us to expect the absolute worst. Football went from top ten to losing our coach, the entire team defecting to Penn St and declining a bowl invitation.
Women’s basketball went from top-ten and media darling to first round exits of both the conference and NCAA tournaments along with the entire team leaving to get away from a legacy coach we can’t seem to move away from.
Our wrestlers were handed a bunch of injuries and we ended up being borderline irrelevant at NCAAs.
Our gymnastics team suspended season and then dissolved completely as a program.
Our men’s NCAA dreams essentially disappeared three minutes into a game against a team we could have trounced with anyone on the floor.
So it’s kind of a tough year. The silver lining is that all of our major sports have shown they are national competitors. That’s no small feat in today’s NIL world. I’d rather have this with chances of greatness than to be a perennial bottom feeder in the SEC or Big 10. Time for my sports hibernation until August.

Teams like Duke, Michigan etc still hsve guys like the Boozers and the B1G POY playing at a high level so comparing that to JJ doesn't hold up.

Did people really think ISU football was legit Top 10? They were decent but certainly limited.

 

[riceville98]

Their height caused us to miss all those free throws?

You're a troll man. Our tired legs (caused by playing so hard and giving such great effort all night trying to overcome a massive height disadvantage without one of our best players) caused us to miss those free throws. If you notice, most of them were front rimmed and short, That says tired legs (again from the effort that you say wasn't there.)

We are cyclones here and we know and applaud great effort when we see it and last night was that.

Go find a different board to be a troll on. Bye Felicia

 

[GoSTATE71]

O rly? Michigan would have beat us by 40 tonight.

Every team remaining in the tourney would have wiped us last night. We were absolutely horrid and that isn’t that good of a TN team

 

[Freebird]

Teams like Duke, Michigan etc still hsve guys like the Boozers and the B1G POY playing at a high level so comparing that to JJ doesn't hold up.

Did people really think ISU football was legit Top 10? They were decent but certainly limited.

That’s not my point. My point is that many teams went through similar injuries so we aren’t cursed or snake bit. It happens all over basketball every year so yeah my point stands
And enough people did vote the football team into the top ten and before injuries they were a legit B12 title contender. Your hindsight doesn’t make you smarter than them.