Bottom Line

[jdoggivjc]

I look at it like we stole one away in Lubbock and last night was stolen back.

losses will happen, especially on the road. This team still balled out and showed how tough they are.

you're right, 1 game where we picked up our 3rd loss on a beyond half court prayer is not going to ruin anything. Or shouldn't.

I don't know when people assumed we were going to run through our Big 12 schedule, but that was never going to happen - especially when I'm convinced our Big 12 road schedule is probably the most brutal in the conference:

WV (no return game)
TT (no return game)
ASU (no return game)
AZ
KU
UCF
UH (no return game)
OSU (no return game)
K-State

What's worse is we don't get a chance to redeem ourselves at home against WV, and we only get one crack at UH. Like I said, I doubt anyone has a road schedule this difficult.

 

[Letterkenny]

If I look back on a season, how we are seeded for the Tournament is down on the list of what I remember:

1. How we finish in March Madness. Final 4, Elite 8, Sweet 16, etc.
2. Regular Big12 Season Finish
3. Big12 Tournament Championship
4. Memorable season wins over quality opponents.

Agree with what you said. Little difference between a 1 & 2 seed. Last year the top 4 seeds won their conference regular seasons. The other 2 seeds besides ISU- the SEC champ Tennessee, the Pac 12 Champ Arizona and Big East Tourney Champ Marquette.

But I would go even a step further, from a seeding (which is NCAA Tournament) perspective, is there much of a difference between a 2 & 3 seed? They end up playing each other in the dance if top seeds win their games.

This year it'd be nice to avoid Auburn and Houston before the final 4. Maybe Duke too. Beyond that, I don't think a 2-4 seed matters that much. To win it all, you'll have to go through 1-2 of those guys not matter what your seed is.

 

[NoCreativity]

Which could happen due to Auburn's schedule compared to Duke's. I wouldn't be surprised to see Auburn slip up a couple of times and Duke win out. Their schedule is straight dog water.

I was looking at Duke, Louisville, and Clemsons schedule today. It's very possible Louisville could win out and finish 19-1. They have the easiest remaining schedule I've ever seen. I think they have 8 games left against sub-100 teams.

 

[NebrClone]

Of course I am totally bummed out we lost that game, just like I was after West Virginia. However, we just haven't played up to our potential for many games. I would be interested in people's opinions as to WHY.
IMO it's not losing Milan, I hadn't been impressed with him, at all. Preseason TJ said Milan would be a first-class shot hunter......I didn't see that.
Obviously we aren't taking care of the ball, maybe we need to have the ball in Tamin's hands the majority of the time? I realize he has had turnovers also, but he is much calmer and makes good decisions, most of the time.
This is not a bitchfest, or a negative, I believe our fantastic coaches and these hard-nosed players can work it out, just curious on people's thoughts.

I think the legs were gone from previous game. Joned just did not look right.

 

[acoustimac]

There have been so many bottom lines posted I’m not sure which one is legit!

watching this game I saw what we’ve seen several times. The team starting out slowly and finding themselves in a deficit at the half. This one was different as it was a nice AZ run that provided that lead instead of taking off from the start, but playing from behind is always tough.

 

[VeloClone]

I thought 15-5 in the Big 12 was reasonably achievable, and with that, @ Arizona would probably be a loss. So it wasn't so much that they lost that bothers me, it's that they came one freak play away from winning it. That's mentally tough as a fan, and it has to be tough for the players and coaches. If there's any team and staff that can overcome that quickly, it's this group.

Absolutely. Otz prepares them for things not going their way every single day. They expect they are going to succeed and they expect that some days aren't going to go their way. It is a heartbreaker but they are prepared to deal with it like no other.

 

[VeloClone]

Let’s let the games play out. Lot of great games all around the conference yet.

This; a million times this. People forget that it is a 20 game Big 12 season and teams have only played 9. We aren't even at the half way point of the season. Think about all of the upsets we have seen thus far. Who would have predicted KU would have been beaten by two teams at the Phog already?

 

[CascadeClone]

I don't know when people assumed we were going to run through our Big 12 schedule, but that was never going to happen - especially when I'm convinced our Big 12 road schedule is probably the most brutal in the conference:

I originally had us going 13-7 (hey, I was in 'show me' mode on the bigs pre-season). Even now, knowing what we have in those 3 new bigs, I still have them at 15-5.

Two very tough games at KU and UH, plus 3 non-gimmies with AZ, at UCF and at KSU (yeah yeah, I know but they do have a couple dudes). Easy to imagine losing 3 of those.

Almost no one wins all their conference road games, even if you are very very good and your opponents are very bad.


Did losing hurt because about 5 different things went wrong in the last 10 seconds? Yes.
Did a huge resume win slip from their grasp in the last 2 seconds? Again, the answer is yes.

But these things happen in life and basketball.

 

[NYCYFan]

I think, just my opinion, that people need to enjoy the ride more.
I mean, this was a 2-22 team just 4 short years ago.

Iowa State is a historically solid, good program with a few seasons sprinkled in over decades that were a little more than good but this isn't a blue blood program so when we have teams like this that are National Title contender good, which is basically unprecedented for this program (1999 was the only other year that I ever thought this), we should enjoy the hell out of it because who knows when we'll see a team this good again.

I have faith that T.J. will keep this team competitive once this core graduates but the reality is that this might be the best Iowa State team we ever see so lets enjoy it and not pick it apart so much. Again, just my take on this.

 

[VeloClone]

Yep. And I'd also say it would've been easy for these guys to mail it in on this one after a long trip, a tough come from behind win vs ASU where CuJo logged heavy minutes (all 40), and our 2nd tough game in 3 days. But this team is freaking nails and almost pulled off a 2-0 'Zona road trip.

This kind of loss would carry over to the next game for lots of teams. I'm confident we'll put a beat down on KState in response.

They better since this will be the first game Mrs. Velo and I will be at since last year's White Out game.

 

[Statefan10]

Its not easy to imagine losing all 3 of those. Its pretty damn hard actually. If you really think that might happen you could make a lot of money winning that bet in Vegas. I bet the odds of that happening are well south of 5% going off one of the predictive models like Kenpom or Torvik.

I would bet it'd be KU -150, HOU -200, and UCF +450. Parlay that and it'd be +1183, $100 for $1183.37

 

[CyCrazy]

Of course I am totally bummed out we lost that game, just like I was after West Virginia. However, we just haven't played up to our potential for many games. I would be interested in people's opinions as to WHY.
IMO it's not losing Milan, I hadn't been impressed with him, at all. Preseason TJ said Milan would be a first-class shot hunter......I didn't see that.
Obviously we aren't taking care of the ball, maybe we need to have the ball in Tamin's hands the majority of the time? I realize he has had turnovers also, but he is much calmer and makes good decisions, most of the time.
This is not a bitchfest, or a negative, I believe our fantastic coaches and these hard-nosed players can work it out, just curious on people's thoughts.

What a hot and bad take.

 

[NorthCyd]

I would bet it'd be KU -150, HOU -200, and UCF +450. Parlay that and it'd be +1183, $100 for $1183.37

I misread what he said though, so I deleted my post. I thought they were saying we could lose all 3 of @KSU, @UCF, and UA at home, which would be incredibly long odds. Losing 3 of any combination of those 5 games could definitely happen, although I don't think it will.

 

[Statefan10]

I misread what he said though, so I deleted my post. I thought they were saying we could lose all 3 of @KSU, @UCF, and UA at home, which would be incredibly long odds. Losing 3 of any combination of those 5 games could definitely happen, although I don't think it will.

Yeah I think that'd be +500, +450 and +250. That parlay would be +11450, $100 for $11,450. Far worse odds.

 

[1SEIACLONE]

Houston is going to be hard to catch looking at the remaining schedules of ISU, UA, KU and Houston. They get most of the better team left to play at home, while we still have to go to Houston and KU, plus Arizona again at home.

 

[Statefan10]

Houston is going to be hard to catch looking at the remaining schedules of ISU, UA, KU and Houston. They get most of the better team left to play at home, while we still have to go to Houston and KU, plus Arizona again at home.

Houston's remaining schedule is tougher playing @ WVU, TTU 2x, Baylor 2x, @ both Arizona Schools and then home vs. ISU and KU. There are a lot of losable games there. I think they'll lose three of them.

 

[NoCreativity]

Houston is going to be hard to catch looking at the remaining schedules of ISU, UA, KU and Houston. They get most of the better team left to play at home, while we still have to go to Houston and KU, plus Arizona again at home.

Houston and Arizona both have the toughest remaining schedules left and Iowa State has the 15th easiest out of 16 teams.

 

[isuno1fan]

17-3 Houston finish. I agree with the above poster we end 15-5.
Question is where does Zona land?

 

[1SEIACLONE]

Houston's remaining schedule is tougher playing @ WVU, TTU 2x, Baylor 2x, @ both Arizona Schools and then home vs. ISU and KU. There are a lot of losable games there. I think they'll lose three of them.

Hope you are right, but they are like us very difficult to beat at home, and they already went to KU and won and get both them and us at Houston.

 

[jcyclonee]

This; a million times this. People forget that it is a 20 game Big 12 season and teams have only played 9. We aren't even at the half way point of the season. Think about all of the upsets we have seen thus far. Who would have predicted KU would have been beaten by two teams at the Phog already?

It will be three losses in the Phog early next week.