Been watching non Big 12 basketball lately...

[clonehome]

I admittedly haven't watched a lot of non Iowa Big 10 games, but objectively speaking if you were a fan of an opposing team, would you rather your team have to defend Iowa or Iowa State? It's Iowa State and not even close. Now you throw defense into the occasion and the answer definitely changes. I guess I just look around at other teams that have clear alphas on offense and I wonder why in year 3 of TJ we still don't have one. Even 15-13 NIT bound UCF had a couple players I'd trust more with the game on the line to get a bucket over any of our guys.

This is giving too much credit to Iowa’s offense. If you pressure Sandfort and Dix on the perimeter and play physical with Krikke and Freeman inside then you more or less neuter their offense. You just don’t see physical and athletic pressure defenses in the B1G like you do in the Big 12.

Btw, Gilbert and Milan are bucket-getters for us, Curt Jones has become one, and lately we’ve seen Tre King step up (see the Houston and UCF road games). Iowa State does it more by committee rather than rely on one volume shooter like Sandfort. I would rather defend Iowa because they are not athletic on the perimeter and are soft inside.

 

[VeloClone]

I guess my thought it is how do we actually know if the league is overrated. Any league for that matter. You put TCU or BYU or TT in the Big Ten and they probably are top four seeds and people would be saying how great they are. But they’re in the tougher big 12 against a lot of good teams.

It will all shake out in the tourney.

From the big 12 weekly release:

The Big 12 leads the nation with a .812 (147-34) non-conference win percentage. The Big 12’s .556 (30-24) win percentage vs. the other five major leagues is the best among the group, topped by a 10-2 mark against the SEC.

 

[madguy30]

that team had chemistry issues? they won the Big 12 tournament, they were together enough to come back from 17 down against KU. That UAB game was just weird. They went from playing in a full venue that was a great atmosphere to an empty gym at 11 am on a Thursday. We went up 12-2, our guys probably figured this was to easy and fell asleep at the wheel. UAB was making hay on the offensive glass, if Hoiberg would have brought Odozie in that would solved the issue, but Hoiberg was stubborn with just keeping a 7 man rotation. Not sure why Dejean-Jones freaked out at halftime, truly weird. 6 NBA guys on that team, bounced in the first round. Brutal.

The 14-15 team was known for having some dysfunction including a meltdown of halftime of that game.

Niang hinted at it his senior year in some interview but didn't go into details.

 

[simply1]

You’re definitely not a pessimist.

 

[madguy30]

If there is a Hawkeye that would play in this team it would be him for his shooting. That said, at 37% and high volume it’s difficult to say whether that success would be replicated against Big 12 defenses. And he’s not really known for defense. Which - the way we play it - having one poor defender breaks the whole thing down.

We have 6 players averaging more than 8 points and 4 in double figures. I don’t know that his 16 points a game - which you have to take into account shot volume, pace, and quality of defenses being faced - would really do much for us.

37% that wide open, that often, isn't all that good last I knew.

 

[ISUTex]

I don't know how many times I have to come back and say I didn't create this thread to make it a pissing match between Iowa and Iowa State, but nevertheless you and a few other posters keep dragging it that direction.

My whole point in creating this thread was to express concern that not having an all American or even all conference type of player on our roster gives me reason for pause and concern heading into the most pivotal moments of our season where we are going to start facing exclusively teams that have players like that. And yes, even Iowa is closer to having those type of players albeit in their crappy conference than we are. Still not claiming that I believe Iowa is a better team than us, just stating that I'd feel more comfortable heading into the stretch run if we had a go to all conference type of player to pick up the offense when they bog down, and that sentiment is becoming more and more prevalent with each passing game where it appears our offense is still just as susceptible to bogging down like it has been the last couple years.

Dude. You are literally claiming that Iowa has better players than Iowa State when say they are "more dangerous" or "on another level" or "I'd rather defend Iowa State than Iowa". It's just nonsense.

 

[AttakOfDaClones]

Solid troll job. Gotta hand it to you.

 

[AuH2O]

Our team 2 years ago had Brockington. Last years team did not. The difference was advancing two rounds further in the NCAA Tournament. I know Brockington didn't stand out in either the LSU or Wisconsin game, but having the threat of him on the floor freed up guys like Hunter against LSU and Kalscheur against Wisconsin to pop off.

This years team, while amazing, still does not have a Brockington IMO. Maybe Gilbert transcends over the next couple weeks and into next season, but he isn't there currently.

Two years ago ISUs offense got carried by Hunter vs LSU, who wasn’t/isn’t a good offensive player, and Kalscheur vs UW, who that season was mostly not very good offensively. The greatest NCAA tournament game by a Cyclone is probably Dustin Hogue.

This year ISU has probably had 7 or 8 guys be the game MVP on different occasions.

This team is not great offensively, but it is so much better than the previous two seasons. I don’t think having one go to guy is necessarily better than having multiple guys that are capable of big games.

 

[SayMyName]

Still high on that vaunted offensive juggernaut full of all-star Hawks, @Cyinthenorth ???

 

[IASTATE07]

I haven't watched Iowa play much, but they showed Illinois was outside the top 100 in adjusted defense? Lowest point total of the season.

 

[simply1]

You think I'm normally pessimistic?

 

[Cyinthenorth]

Still high on that vaunted offensive juggernaut full of all-star Hawks, @Cyinthenorth ???

Only things I learned this weekend are that Iowa State does in fact have 1st team all conference type of player, congrats to Tamin for that, and that that might not matter because our teams offensive struggles might be a little more serious than I thought when I initially created this thread.

 

[Tailg8er]

I will shout this from the rooftops of every campus and on every website:

DATE/TIME MATTERS

Avoiding the first set of games on Thursday is worth 1 seed line for me. Maybe 2. Anything on Friday is better than anything on Thursday. These are my truths lol.

Eh, disagree. Omaha is on Thursday & that's the best destination for this team. Location trumps day, IMO.

 

[BWRhasnoAC]

I do happen to think the big 12 is the best conference, but the gap between the big 12 and the other conferences is much much closer than many people around here make it out to be.

I haven't checked the metrics in a while but the Big 12 was way ahead of the rest of the conferences at one point. At least that's a fairly objective criteria to make the assumption on.

 

[Gunnerclone]

Eh, disagree. Omaha is on Thursday & that's the best destination for this team. Location trumps day, IMO.

It’s even more critical to not play at 11:00 on Thursday with the way we’re playing offensively imo. We’re about to find out.

 

[bozclone]

Big 12 has been in the Championship game three of the last four years and has won it twice. Plus, it was a different team from the league each year. I think the league is just as strong as previous years. We have seen that the league's toughness shows up in the tourney. Teams are used to playing quality teams every night and are used to tight games. That is not the case with the other leagues..

 

[NoCreativity]

I haven't watched Iowa play much, but they showed Illinois was outside the top 100 in adjusted defense? Lowest point total of the season.

Bardo said as long as they keep playing D like last night they'll be in the Final 4. Lol.

 

[NorthCyd]

@simply1 you do realize I and the op are not the same account, right?

 

[Gunnerclone]

Big 12 has been in the Championship game three of the last four years and has won it twice. Plus, it was a different team from the league each year. I think the league is just as strong as previous years. We have seen that the league's toughness shows up in the tourney. Teams are used to playing quality teams every night and are used to tight games. That is not the case with the other leagues..

There is no more stressful situation in CBB than the last 4:00 of a Big 12 game.

 

[1UNI2ISU]

Eh, disagree. Omaha is on Thursday & that's the best destination for this team. Location trumps day, IMO.

Agree. The teams that struggle Thursday morning are typically teams that lose a full day to travel. Iowa State will have a mostly normal day on Tuesday with the bus ride.