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

I’m glad you aren’t advocating for a coaching change coming off a 29 win season. Holy **** is this thread pathetic. We are averaging 24.8 wins a season under T.J. This is literally the golden age of Cyclone basketball. Our NIL from fans is below average and yet we continue to succeed.
I had to preface that because people love to just assume I and others are indeed asking for that
 
He's not pushing 900 wins by pure luck...
Right, yet over 39 seasons as a head coach he's had 1 Final 4 appearance and 5 Elite 8's. His teams have made the NCAA's 35 times.

So my point is we need to remain patient. Don't think TJ & ISU will reach Michigan State/Tom Izzo levels of early success (Izzo reached F4 in 4th season, Natty in 5th followed by another F4 season after), but he's at 27 straight NCAAs with 1 Natty & 8 Final 4s & 3 Elite 8s. Therefore, I feel patience is key. TJ is a hungry SOB & constantly pursues excellence, so long as he's driven I think ISU will have long term success & get over this hump multiple times.
 
TTU with Toppen was easily final four caliber team. Even though they won, what 3 in a row after he went down eventually it catches up.

It is what it is. Those bi***** about this along with Iowa..........how far do they go if their best player goes down 2 minutes into the Clemson game?

Being good is one thing, but you also need some luck to go far in this tourney.
TT lost in the tournament the exact same way ISU did. We showed against Kentucky you can get by and win a game when you are shooting the ball at a high rate and turning them over for easy scores. Last night, much like TT, we shot poorly, our margin of error was much smaller without Jefferson, just like it was for TT without Toppen. Can you win without them, only when you play at a high level, which neither team did when they lost.
 
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I kind of keep wondering about that too. The way we looked…I’m just not sure Jefferson would have made a difference. I guess we’ll never know though…
I love people saying this.

The data over like 35 games says the team was way better when Jefferson played. And it wasn’t close. And based on those advanced metrics he was a top 5 player in the country. We got outrebounded by 1000 and were missing our leading rebounder.

But sure, the best player on the team and top 5 player in the country wouldn’t have made that big of a difference.
 
I love people saying this.

The data over like 35 games says the team was way better when Jefferson played. And it wasn’t close. And based on those advanced metrics he was a top 5 player in the country. We got outrebounded by 1000 and were missing our leading rebounder.

But sure, the best player on the team and top 5 player in the country wouldn’t have made that big of a difference.
Sure Jefferson would have made a difference, now enough to win, no one knows, just helping on the boards would have made a difference. We still would have had to shoot the ball better, without that, even with Jefferson, we are not winning that game last night. But Jeffersons presence on the floor would have mattered.
 
We could use some bigger, stronger wings. But so does everyone else. $$$
Actually wings that can shoot are the most plentiful valuable players. I’d make sure there are some good shooting wings that have adequate athleticism and are willing to get after it.

Really athletic wings that can’t shoot aren’t very helpful and if they can shoot and they are super athletic we can’t afford them.
 
Jefferson played through a HIGH ankle sprain in high school. He is a dog/demon/grinder. If it was at all possible to be out there yesterday and be effective, I'm sure he would have been.

****ing sucks but what can you do?
:mccaffery:
Yeah, I believe he had never missed a game in his career until Kentucky. And it’s a guarantee he’s had injuries along the way. I think if there was any question that he might be able to go he would’ve tried.
 
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Yeah, I believe he had never missed a game in his career until Kentucky. And it’s a guarantee he’s had injuries along the way. I think if there was any question that he might be able to go he would’ve tried.
He hadn't missed a game in his 2 years at Iowa State, but didn't he miss the 2nd half of his 2nd season at St. Mary's with a knee injury?

Regardless, he's demonstrated he's a warrior. He would have played last night if he could.

And it would have made a difference.
 
Great season that had a terrible anticlimactic ending. Say what you want about JJ being out and that was certainly a killer but Momcilovic can't go freaking 2-9 from the floor in the biggest game of the year. A complete no show from him

In any event, we got Georges Nianged again. Once JJ went down the Final 4 hopes were pretty much dust.
 
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No you won't. You'll then complain about not making it further. Keep moving those goalposts.
Not at all, I said from beginning elite 8 would have been a very very successful year and also you spend the entire season in the top 10 at some point you need to prove you belonged. Elite 8 would of meant we took the next step as a program but regardless of that every fan should want to win you shouldn’t cheer for mediocrity unless you have a low standard I suppose
 
ISU already clinched the Cy-Hawk series, making it 4 of the last 5.

ISU won head-to-head in every major sport.

However good you think Iowa is ISU is currently better.
Yet they won a bowl game and have a very good chance at making a final 4 and we can’t make it past a sweet 16. The post season results matter the most, id rather lose to Iowa in the Cy Hawk the next 5 years if it meant we made a CFP or Final 4
 
With JJ we win.

Maybe. Even with JJ on the floor, ISU lost five conference games to "lesser" teams (by tournament seed standards) largely for the same reasons they lost last night...they just couldn't score enough points. If MM wasn't making a bunch of 3's, ISU struggled to find points at times even with JJ on the floor.

Counting on turnovers for scores has diminishing returns as opponents get better, which is what happens in a tournament.The over-trapping/doubling defense does make ISU susceptible to giving up offensive rebounds, and Tennessee did a great job of exploiting that last night. It seems that Tenn was content to run shot clock and take a tough shot, knowing ISU would be out of position to rebound. The trapping defense didn't generate enough TOs to compensate for the offensive rebounds it allowed.