Twister Sister observations

[acoustimac]

Interesting game to watch from a number of viewpoints. The ladies came out on fire and lit TTU up racing out to a quick 9-0 lead and before you could blink and eye the lead was 20 points in the second....not just 20 points, but the defense and cold shooting had limited TTU to 12 points total midway through the second,

a few observations:

1. as widely reported, the team set a new single game record for threes with 19. I optimistically felt they could have reached or closely approached the national record of 25 if not for a slight lull in scoring in the 3rd.
2. it was fun to see Maddie Wise and Rae Johnson getting serious minutes and making the most of it. Both looked the best they have all season.
3. free throw shooting continues to excel. I wondered if the team would tease Kane when she missed the free throw that would allowed the team to hit the century maor.
4. Watching the freshmen has been a love/grit your teeth affair as we all would expect. Today it was a love affair as these ladies ran at full speed for 40 minutes. They were like a pack of wolves going, going, going...never really giving TTU a breath to catch up.
5. the bad quarter didn’t happen. It started to look like the 3rd was going to be it, but after an offensive and defensive lull the ladies stepped back on the gas pedal and put things away.
6. definitely a team win. Lots of ladies played and all contributed in such a way as that you couldn’t see a drop off no matter who was in.
7. Scott went down hard in the third and didn’t return. She was seen on the bench smiling so I think it was just a precaution.
8. I’ve never seen team speed and hustle on a sisters team like this...at least not in quite a while. These ladies can move up and down the court.

there are some challenges ahead especially with the schedule compressing due to COVID. The depth and youth bodes well for this team staying fresh down the stretch. Good times and a bright future lie ahead.

 

[dirtyninety]

CBF had a good haircut. I mean, I have a hard time gettting one now in COVID and his was tight and out of sight.

 

[bozclone]

Man this team is really fun to watch. Lots of skilled players. Lots of very determined players. The freshman don't play like freshman. Playing Wise as a sub at the 4 and the 5 has really helped us defensively.

 

[barometriclow]

there are some challenges ahead especially with the schedule compressing due to COVID. The depth and youth bodes well for this team staying fresh down the stretch. Good times and a bright future lie ahead.

Great write as usual, but I got a chuckle when you equated youth with more stamina as if 18 year olds had more stamina than the 22 year olds.

 

[barometriclow]

Wise`s defense at post is a delight to watch.

 

[CYdTracked]

Really cool they broke the school 3 point record, one of the games with 18 was back in 2000 that I likely attended while a student. Lot to be excited with a team that is full of freshmen and sophomores. Only concern is this team lacks size outside of Scott and Kane so teams with some physical post players are going to be a challenge to defend the nights the 3s are not falling. We signed two 6-4 post players for 2021-22 so help could be on the way for next season to add to the talented group of underclassmen.

 

[Buster28]

1. as widely reported, the team set a new single game record for threes with 19. I optimistically felt they could have reached or closely approached the national record of 25 if not for a slight lull in scoring in the 3rd.

The national record is 28, set in 2018 by Western Illinois. The Big 12 record is 20, set by Texas Tech last year. Had a very good chance to catch the league record, but the national one is likely secure for a while. I believe when ISU hit 18 against Missouri in 2000, it tied the national record at the time.

 

[EIClone]

One observation I made over the past several games. This team no longer needs to rely on Ashley Jones to score 30+ points a game to win. With so many others now contributing it will be difficult for teams to guard us.

 

[knowlesjam]

One observation I made over the past several games. This team no longer needs to rely on Ashley Jones to score 30+ points a game to win. With so many others now contributing it will be difficult for teams to guard us.

A joy to watch this team pass the ball around...so many versions in the past would basically dribble around, sometimes pass, and then chuck up a shot. Basically everyone on this team will not hesitate to shoot the open three or quickly pass the ball to someone with a more open shot. Then throw in the freshmen who are fearless at dribble penetration...fun to watch.

 

[BenEClone]

Remember Sarah Robson 5'6" guard? A fan fav, the crowd would chant her name when the game was well in hand. Watching the team vs TT, do we have a Sarah Robson? A player who could not contribute to a game in question? This is the deepest team I can remember. Disappointing Frederick is the only player on the roster who doesn't seem to be able to contribute.

 

[IsUaClone2]

One observation I made over the past several games. This team no longer needs to rely on Ashley Jones to score 30+ points a game to win. With so many others now contributing it will be difficult for teams to guard us.

I completely agree that it is going to be difficult for teams to defend us; it is going to be pick your poison and your poison better be stronger than ours if you want to win.

I may be completely wrong but it occured to me that Tech wanted to double on Ashley and have the other three disrupt the passing lanes into Ashley which meant that defense on the perimeter shooters was very loose to nonexistent. Three shooting, in this game, was nearly the same as practice, catch and shoot. I also noticed we seemed to get many more rebounds which I attribute not only to the aggressiveness of our team but also Tech's focus on Ashley rather than the ball.

What I really liked was that when we got a comfortable lead, we didn't take the air out of the ball; we got a rhythm and rolled.

 

[CloneSt8]

Something that I like about this year's team. Coach has said some years he has had players who hesitate to step up and take the shot at the big moment. I don't think this will be an issue with this team. Whole early on the shooting percentages may not have been great, everyone felt free to shoot. And the shooting is getting better.

 

[CloneSt8]

In my opinion, the TV announcers were horrible. They seemed to just chatter without paying attention to what was going on on the court much of the time. For example, many times there would be a turnover with no explanation of why. On the play where Scott was hurt, why was that a turn over and not a foul on TT? I have watched the replay and still have no idea.

 

[HuskerClone]

In my opinion, the TV announcers were horrible. They seemed to just chatter without paying attention to what was going on on the court much of the time. For example, many times there would be a turnover with no explanation of why. On the play where Scott was hurt, why was that a turn over and not a foul on TT? I have watched the replay and still have no idea.

Agree on the announcers and not just our game. Too often the announcers are more like two people sitting at the bar over a beer and talking about the game rather than announcing the game. We most often go to the cyclone announcers on the radio and sync the game with them. It is obvious that ESPN is having financial problems with the quality of the announcers that they have.

 

[CycloneBob]

I was pleased to see Rae get some good minutes and contribute. It appears she's been beat out by the freshman but is keeping her head high. We never know when a player may be called on.

 

[theshadow]

In my opinion, the TV announcers were horrible. They seemed to just chatter without paying attention to what was going on on the court much of the time. For example, many times there would be a turnover with no explanation of why. On the play where Scott was hurt, why was that a turn over and not a foul on TT? I have watched the replay and still have no idea.

I don't know if it was the case with this game, but a lot of games this year are being called remotely. Announcers sitting in a studio somewhere (or at home), calling the game from monitors. When that happens, they can't see things that are off-camera, nor do they get the advantage of an official coming over to explain a certain call.

It's how many schools/conferences are handling their own radio broadcasts for road games, too.

 

[Cytasticlone]

They were there. They put them on camera a couple times. It did look like they were on what I would call the "concourse level" at ISU.

 

[mred]

It is obvious that ESPN is having financial problems with the quality of the announcers that they have.

For ESPN+ stuff (at least for WBB) they seem to be at the mercy of the hosting school. I get the impression that the contract basically calls for the host school to handle 95% of the production, so we can't expect it to be much better than cyclones.tv was (not that I'm putting down cyclones.tv production, which was very good in the past few years).

 

[Three4Cy]

For ESPN+ stuff (at least for WBB) they seem to be at the mercy of the hosting school. I get the impression that the contract basically calls for the host school to handle 95% of the production, so we can't expect it to be much better than cyclones.tv was (not that I'm putting down cyclones.tv production, which was very good in the past few years).

This game was on ESPNU, not ESPN+, so these were not locals. Tyler Denning is based out of Austin, TX and Andrea Lloyd calls games for the Mountain West.

 

[mred]

This game was on ESPNU, not ESPN+, so these were not locals. Tyler Denning is based out of Austin, TX and Andrea Lloyd calls games for the Mountain West.

Oh, you're right. I watched a replay, so the specific ESPN channel it was on wasn't as obvious.