Are we even a tournament team?

[Statefan10]

They count, but the team hasn’t given us any reason to believe they’d win more than two road games if they were in another conference.

To be fair, only the great teams are winning on the road. We’re not a great team, we’re a good one who’s down a starter and best shooter.

Fact of the matter is if we go 2-1 to end the year (which we likely will) we’re going to get 4th in the best conference (maybe ever). So the wins we should’ve had on the road (OSU & TTU) are being looked at as some colossal failure when if we’d gotten them we’d be 2nd in the best conference ever with an opportunity to tie for first and get a 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

 

[madguy30]

To be fair, only the great teams are winning on the road. We’re not a great team, we’re a good one who’s down a starter and best shooter.

Fact of the matter is if we go 2-1 to end the year (which we likely will) we’re going to get 4th in the best conference (maybe ever). So the wins we should’ve had on the road (OSU & TTU) are being looked at as some colossal failure when if we’d gotten them we’d be 2nd in the best conference ever with an opportunity to tie for first and get a 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

If ISU were winning by like 2 in these losses I'd like to see how many people would be all aboard the Final Four/natty train because of how tough and gritty and talented this team is/was.

Instead it's 'that 99-00 team knew how to close out games!' while ignoring WHY they were able to, haha.

 

[Gunnerclone]

The two road wins that were 40+ days ago. Yes I’m aware of those. Do those two wins truthfully give you any confidence that we can on the road?

The tournament is played on neutral floors so I don’t really care.

 

[madguy30]

The tournament is played on neutral floors so I don’t really care.

And the tournament doesn't care if you've been playing with your hair on fire for 3 weeks or 4 days prior or if you've limped in. It doesn't have its reputation because good things just keep happening for good teams.

 

[ClonesFTW]

I'm mentally prepared for the 4-5 seed line in March, which I certainly would have signed up for in November.

 

[cytor]

ISU is doing as well as they can do, given the talent level. ISU is not a good shooting team. They are terrible lately from 3 point range... until they can figure it out, they need to severely limit launching 3's.

Next year will be wildly different with the players coming in. Right now TJ is doing the best he can with the bare cupboard he walked into.

 

[Cyhig]

I'm mentally prepared for the 4-5 seed line in March, which I certainly would have signed up for in November.

I would had signed up for a 11 or 12 seed in November!

 

[clonedude]

ISU is doing as well as they can do, given the talent level. ISU is not a good shooting team. They are terrible lately from 3 point range... until they can figure it out, they need to severely limit launching 3's.

Next year will be wildly different with the players coming in. Right now TJ is doing the best he can with the bare cupboard he walked into.

Agree, lots of talent coming in, but we’ll need someone to replace Shoon, and we only have one decent shooter coming in.

 

[ClonesFTW]

They are terrible lately from 3 point range... until they can figure it out, they need to severely limit launching 3's.

We're shooting 28% from 3 in 6 February games, not ideal.

 

[ClonesFTW]

Agree, lots of talent coming in, but we’ll need someone to replace Shoon, and we only have one decent shooter coming in.

If Grill comes back to be a senior/culture leader and we get a transfer big man, I'll be very happy heading into next season.

 

[Statefan10]

If Grill comes back to be a senior/culture leader and we get a transfer big man, I'll be very happy heading into next season.

We will be going after a pure scorer as well

 

[Cyrealist]

Ok, if you need to tell yourself this to sleep better at night. Just in the last 4 weeks we've lost to Missouri, Oklahoma State, West Virginia, and Texas Tech.

All four of those teams are on the exact same level as Northwestern, Rutgers, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan State,Illinois, and Maryland.

This team is playing so poorly right now it would be a similar 4-6 type stretch against that schedule also.

Three of the four losses you list were on the road. And the B1G teams you list are in the top half of their conference. We wouldn't win the Big1G but we would be in the top three or four teams. Everyone in the Big 12 has trouble winning on the road.

 

[Statefan10]

Three of the four losses you list were on the road. And the B1G teams you list are in the top half of their conference. We wouldn't win the Big1G but we would be in the top three or four teams. Everyone in the Big 12 has trouble winning on the road.

If we win out we get 3rd lol it’s crazy to say but it’s still possible. We gotta remember that we’ve had to play 5 ranked teams 2x and in no other conference we’d have that. So even though we lost to OSU twice or at Tech, in another conference we may get a Minnesota or Georgia for 3-4 games instead of 4 against KU and TX.

 

[Stormin]

Nope. The team is what they are. Iowa State isn’t bad, but they aren’t good either. They’ve greatly exceeded my expectations this year though so I’m happy.

JFC. They won zero Conference games just two years ago. And you are ******** because you think the turnaround should be even better. Iowa State is a collection of players whose talents TJ has molded into a successful team. His great success at making a silk purse out of a pig’s ear has you being unsatisfied. Appreciate that we are having success with the modest talent we now have. Future talent coming in under TJ should do even better. We will see. But never forget how bad things were previously. Never Forget.

 

[Jkclone15]

TJ is playing 4D chess. The goal is Des Moines for the NCAA tournament. To get there ISU needs to be either the top seeded B12 team, or the 5th. The writing is on the wall that we won't catch KU, so TJ is angling the boys for the 5th spot. Just need to make sure KSU finishes ahead of us and TCU/OSU don't catch up.

Mostly joking, but this is becoming a real possibility.

 

[madguy30]

If we win out we get 3rd lol it’s crazy to say but it’s still possible. We gotta remember that we’ve had to play 5 ranked teams 2x and in no other conference we’d have that. So even though we lost to OSU twice or at Tech, in another conference we may get a Minnesota or Georgia for 3-4 games instead of 4 against KU and TX.

I think a few see any conference loss as a bad loss because of that opponents' trends when it's proven that they're all very capable. It's a straight roller coaster for everyone.

What's weird is I can absolutely see KU winning the B12 tournament fluidly like last year.

 

[madguy30]

TJ is playing 4D chess. The goal is Des Moines for the NCAA tournament. To get there ISU needs to be either the top seeded B12 team, or the 5th. The writing is on the wall that we won't catch KU, so TJ is angling the boys for the 5th spot. Just need to make sure KSU finishes ahead of us and TCU/OSU don't catch up.

Mostly joking, but this is becoming a real possibility.

I think he's definitely resting Grill to try to get him as good as he can by NCAA time.

 

[clonesorelse]

I heard a kid failed organic chem last semester. Are we even a university at this point?

 

[OPCyclone]

I seem to remember towards the end of last season we had one of the ugliest games in Hilton against OSU I ever remember watching and we got blown out by TT in the B12 Tournament.....we ended up being a Sweet 16 team. Patience, we are in no way a perfect team and it shows. But we do have the ability to jump up and snag a few in the tournament.

 

[cytor]

Just making the NCAA tournament is a huge success compared to where we were 2 years ago. AND we have a bright future... so no complaints from me.