As I've thought about the game I wondered how the death of Bill's dad impacted the team psyche. You know how it impacted Bill and Billy. They were on emotional rollercoasters and I commend them for being there in the first place. The team is a family. You can imagine how hearing of Bill's loss impacted their thoughts...it was no longer "this is what we do to beat Iowa" it might have become "oh my gosh I feel for coach" and "we have to get this one for coach." In either case those changes would have a negative impact on performance.
When I watch the replay, I see a couple of glaring things. First, Rae and Kristen were not their normal selves. Rae was pushing to hard (evidenced by the bad passes and shots) and Kristen never seemed to be "there." Second, the team reminded me of what we saw Carlton's junior year. You have a "stud" and the team stands back and watches them do their thing. Complete loss of the concept of team and that will lead to a lost nearly every single time. No one was moving. I watched Iowa's offense and they were constantly on the move. Ours...hey...let's stand in the corners and watch.
All of this is easily fixable. It's just unfortunate it happened on a night when any team can win regardless of how good they are. And yes, Iowa is not a very good team...they were just better than ISU last night.