*** Official Eastern Illinois vs IOWA STATE Game(Day) Thread ***

[Allikat]

View attachment 121019 vs View attachment 121017





Eastern Illinois (6-6, 0-0 OHIO VALLEY)
IOWA STATE (9-2, 0-0 BIG 12)
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 21ST 7:00 P.M. CST
HILTON COLISEUM / AMES, IA


TV: ESPN+
Talent: Larry Morgan, pxp Derrin Hansen, analyst Makala Kafer, sideline

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

I don't want to reply to any individual on the Omaha vs. blowout debate, so replying to the general thread.

Yes - we blew out FAMU and EIU, however, midway through the second half of both games we got sloppy. I was at the FAMU game and TJ was noticeably ticked off. Against EIU he did a few substitutions and the ship seemed to right itself quicker.

This is why I support keeping the prime rotations guys in until the last five minutes. If Omaha (or Watson or . . . ) are not the best guys in practice, they won't play until the end. I would rather our best 8-9 guys be ready for Big 12 play than force a few extra minutes in a game when TJ has tons more time to work with the bench at practice. In my opinion we are better served by having our starters work through late game funk than letting the bench get a few extra minutes because there MIGHT be an injury sometime.

We all remember how the Texas A&M game went in the second half. I don't want a repeat of that when Okie State or K-State are in town - those losses would hurt.

 

[NWICY]

That dude did look allot like him......walked like him too

Lol reminded me of Huggins

 

[NWICY]

Other teams seem to get a scare every now and then by these teams and we continue to piss-pound them.

That said, it's boring as hell to watch and the Hilton atmosphere is...not great.

I thought last night's game was pretty entertaining. We won easily but the other team played hard until the end.

 

[StLouisClone]

If Lipsey, Gilbert, Momcilovich, King, Rob Jones and Curtis Jones stay healthy, I like our chances of finishing in upper half of Big 12. The YOY improvement by Lipsey and Rob Jones is amazing. Heck, the in-season improvement by Curtis Jones is pretty amazing as well.

Has ISU ever had 2 guys as talented as Watson and Billiew come in as the 8th and 9th player (and soon to be 9th and 10th player)? I actually expect them to get more meaningful playing time in B12 games. They can provide a spark if we get behind or help out if Momcilovich or King get in foul trouble.

 

[madguy30]

You're the same guy that just said the starters need to be playing 25-30 minutes in blowouts to keep their conditioning up.

Now you turn right back around and say barely playing and running wind sprints before the Iowa game are sufficient for getting them up to "game speed"?

Lol, you make no sense sometimes .

When did I say those things were part of it? What does that have to do with engagement or development?

How do you know more game time is going to help? Haven't they gotten in during earlier parts of games? How did that go? If Omaha get 4 fouls in 13 minutes should he just keep playing until he fouls out? How does that help?

 

[FOREVERTRUE]

Recipe to beat us:

Don't turn the ball over.

Make your 3's

Make your jump shots

Defend the pick and roll.

Defend dribble penetration.

Force us into a half court offense.

Short of saying score more points than the other team this seems to be the formula for any team to beat any other team.

 

[madguy30]

I don't want to reply to any individual on the Omaha vs. blowout debate, so replying to the general thread.

Yes - we blew out FAMU and EIU, however, midway through the second half of both games we got sloppy. I was at the FAMU game and TJ was noticeably ticked off. Against EIU he did a few substitutions and the ship seemed to right itself quicker.

This is why I support keeping the prime rotations guys in until the last five minutes. If Omaha (or Watson or . . . ) are not the best guys in practice, they won't play until the end. I would rather our best 8-9 guys be ready for Big 12 play than force a few extra minutes in a game when TJ has tons more time to work with the bench at practice. In my opinion we are better served by having our starters work through late game funk than letting the bench get a few extra minutes because there MIGHT be an injury sometime.

We all remember how the Texas A&M game went in the second half. I don't want a repeat of that when Okie State or K-State are in town - those losses would hurt.

Could you please email this to the staff? I'm sure they haven't considered any of this.

 

[NENick]

I was at the Seton Hall - UConn game. The Hall put the clamps on UConn. And they can get to the rim.

I also saw Baylor play live and they looked Top 15 to my eye at that point.

The Big12 will remain a gauntlet.

I'm jealous!
Did I read that the UCONN sophomore big man got hurt in that game?

 

[cydnote]

Short of saying score more points than the other team this seems to be the formula for any team to beat any other team.

I think bosco was indicating that we have the bases pretty well protected in the areas he has listed, so you would need to limit us in one or more of them to give yourself a chance at beating us

 

[CyPunch]

Murray and Connor McCaffrey were both out last year against them so not surprising they lost.

You must be very rich if you weren't surprised by the biggest upset in college basketball history!

 

[I-stateTheTruth]

I'm jealous!
Did I read that the UCONN sophomore big man got hurt in that game?

Yeah, he picked up his 3rd foul, went out, and their offense died. I couldn't see that he was treated for an injury. I kept wondering why Hurley wasn't putting him back in b/c he was their leading scorer up unitl that point. Then we figured it had to be an injury. Karabans was disappointing for UConn.

If you get a chance to watch them, Seton Hall has a guard named Richmond who apparently can't shoot the 3 but was incredible going to the hole. Old school guard; reminded me of Gary Tompkins.

The Big East is a gauntlet, too.

 

[isucy86]

I'm in the camp that wishes our sched was more difficult but the league play will make up for it and this season is sandwiched between last year's Nike tourney and next season's Maui.
Tough to complain too much.
We are 100% doing what we should be to this lower level teams.

Based on our returning players, this was about the type of non-con schedule TJ would want to schedule: A holiday tournament, Big12 v Big East Challenge plus Iowa.

And some people need to realize that it takes two teams to schedule a game. There aren't a lot of P5 vs. P5 games that get scheduled in Nov/Dec that aren't made for TV. Whether it be the holiday tournament games or single day events at neutral sites.

Sure TJ could call up Michigan State, Duke, Gonzaga, etc and try to schedule a one-off game in Nov/Dec, but the game isn't going to be played at Hilton.

Now if ISU can finish the 2023/24 season strong and make the NCAA Tournament, based on who ISU has returning next year (Lipsey, Momcilovic, Gilbert, Paveletzke, Biliew, etc.), then ISU should be attractive to play some single day neutral site national TV games.

 

[JP4CY]

Based on our returning players, this was about the type of non-con schedule TJ would want to schedule: A holiday tournament, Big12 v Big East Challenge plus Iowa.

And some people need to realize that it takes two teams to schedule a game. There aren't a lot of P5 vs. P5 games that get scheduled in Nov/Dec that aren't made for TV. Whether it be the holiday tournament games or single day events at neutral sites.

Sure TJ could call up Michigan State, Duke, Gonzaga, etc and try to schedule a one-off game in Nov/Dec, but the game isn't going to be played at Hilton.

Now if ISU can finish the 2023/24 season strong and make the NCAA Tournament, based on who ISU has returning next year (Lipsey, Momcilovic, Gilbert, Paveletzke, Biliew, etc.), then ISU should be attractive to play some single day neutral site national TV games.

Still grinds me that we played Ohio State at Wells in DSM but played on their campus for return.

 

[isucy86]

I see in the box score only 10 minutes went to players outside the top 7 in a 32 point win. Seems like this team is setting itself up to die in March. Getting back Ward should help but still I don't know why TJ doesn't get more players on the bench minutes in games like this.

Why should playing your 7 or 8 best players, set this team to "die in March".

First, probably 80 percent of teams go with a 7 or 8 man rotation once conference season kicks in. So what TJ is doing is developing cohesiveness among the guys who are going to play game important Big12 minutes. Guys like Biliew, Watson, Fish, etc will not be relied to play in tight games during the Big12 season.

Second, if your concern is our top 7 are playing too many minutes in Nov/Dec and will be worn out come March. Look at our recent box scores, no player has played over 30 minutes in all of our last 3 games. And season-to-date, Lipsey is the only player averaging over 30mpg at 31.3.

 

[Cychl82]

Lipsey is so good

His improvement has been incredible

 

[rosshm16]

Call me a pessimist if you want but the ship has sailed on Omaha playing meaningful minutes in Big 12 games this season. He's a very long ways from that. We're a team with a lot of new players and I'd rather see the minutes in these games going to the players who will be on the floor together during the meaningful minutes in conference play and deciding the outcomes of those games for the rest of the season.

 

[Cyclonepride]

Perimeter ball movement is much better than a month ago and is contributing to the second stat. ISU has been awesome at feeding the post against lesser talent which probably is the main reason behind the first one.

Despite all the new faces this year, this is an above average offensive team and above average defensive team I think. I want to get to the part of the schedule where we find out how well both hold up against stiffer competition. I think we are going to finish somewhere around 4-6 place in the league, just have to see how the ball bounces.

I think a lot of the improvement has come from getting those threes from continuously testing the defense, rather from just settling for the first open three that comes our way.

 

[Die4Cy]

Lol reminded me of Huggins

Are you kidding? Huggins would just be a moon orbiting that guy.

 

[rosshm16]

Sure TJ could call up Michigan State, Duke, Gonzaga, etc and try to schedule a one-off game in Nov/Dec, but the game isn't going to be played at Hilton.

I'd personally be fine with us playing @Gonzaga or whatever in November/December and losing. It's a good growing/learning opportunity for the team, probably better prep for conference play, and has about the same effect on the tourney resume as beating Longwood at home.

Same reason I'm disappointed we don't play @KU this year. Resume-wise that game only helps a team like ISU, if you lose it doesn't matter, everyone loses there, if you win it's your best win of the year.

 

[NENick]

I'm on the side of top rotation players should play, along with TJ knows what he's doing, so I'm certainly not going to question it.

I was a little surprised to see Lipsey play 34 last night.