bubble team article on ESPN

[erikbj]

Why is everyone trying to compare ISU to Iowa?

We need to set our bar a little higher. I think ISU should be competing for Big12 titles.......ISU was VERY close this year, a few shots at the end of games didn't go our way - but we are CLOSE!

We need to compare our teams to KU, not the Hawks - KU level is where i want ISU to be and with CFH, it might be possible.

 

[CRcyclone6]

Why is everyone trying to compare ISU to Iowa?

We need to set our bar a little higher. I think ISU should be competing for Big12 titles.......ISU was VERY close this year, a few shots at the end of games didn't go our way - but we are CLOSE!

We need to compare our teams to KU, not the Hawks - KU level is where i want ISU to be and with CFH, it might be possible.

Very close to 16-2 or 15-3 in league and a championship if some shots don't fall. Agree with everything you said here.

 

[Cydkar]

Just like we lost a lot of talent last year? Redshirting a top 125 player, bringing in two top 100 players...for people to say Iowa will be better on paper next year are looking at a black and gold colored sheet

You will find that nearly 100% of the pundits will have Iowa "ranked" ahead of us prior to the season. Until they play it's on paper and Iowa will have much more retutning talent to evaluate. It really can't be argued.

ISU has a lot of question marks for next year that have absolutely nothing to do with Iowa. That doesn't mean we will be bad, it just means there are question marks and some may not be answered the way we like.

 

[CyJack13]

You will find that nearly 100% of the pundits will have Iowa "ranked" ahead of us prior to the season. Until they play it's on paper and Iowa will have much more retutning talent to evaluate. It really can't be argued.

Agreed. There are several ranking systems which have Iowa ahead of us now. We lose five seniors and they lose one, there's no question they will have higher preseason expectations than us.

 

[CYUL8R]

Agreed. There are several ranking systems which have Iowa ahead of us now. We lose five seniors and they lose one, there's no question they will have higher preseason expectations than us.

...and so that much more butthurt when they fail to deliver.

I'm done with Iowa - we have bigger fish to fry. If we keep playing down to the level of competition instead of challenging to be the next Kentucky, Indiana or Kansas we'll just hate ourselves in the morning. Never gonna nail the 10 if you keep hitting on the 2's.

 

[CyCloned]

Don't even want to get into the IA vs ISU thing, but Fred will have a lot of work to do next year. There is a ton of talent and scoring leaving and he will have to reinvent the Cyclones again next year. One thing is for sure, the other coaches are going to have a hard time locking in on what Fred's teams will be doing from year to year.

 

[CYUL8R]

Don't even want to get into the IA vs ISU thing, but Fred will have a lot of work to do next year. There is a ton of talent and scoring leaving and he will have to reinvent the Cyclones again next year. One thing is for sure, the other coaches are going to have a hard time locking in on what Fred's teams will be doing from year to year.

Good point - Fred's teams are (at least to this point) never the same which makes it hard to plan for. I love the fact that he seems to switch up the game plan and personnel so much in the non-conference to figure out what works best in certain situations...that really plays dividends in the conf season, even if it gives everyone meltdown-itis while it's happening.

One good thing about Fred is he designs his teams around the players' strengths - he doesn't try to force players into a set scheme. Recruit guys who can run and shoot like mad, and then let 'em play.

Fun to watch - and not just for us fans - the national media is quickly becoming enamored with our team and our style.

 

[binsfeldcyhawk2]

The big thing I see between Fred and Fran is player improvement. Look at what CFH did with Diante Garrett in one year, Ejim's gotten better, look at Babb's and Tyrus' shooting compared to last year. You can honestly say every player on this team has improved a ton. Can't exactly say the same with Fran as Marble and White and others aren't having as good of years as they did last year.

This is why I'm not concerned about next year, not to mention we will be playing in Hilton.

Not true.

Olaseni is simply light years ahead of where he was last year or even a couple months ago...6 blocks against the Illini.

Marble's scoring average has gone up all 3 years.....this season 14.1/so 11.5/fr 5.7

Whites average went up as well....this year 13.6/last year 11.1

Just sayin

 

[CyTwins]

You will find that nearly 100% of the pundits will have Iowa "ranked" ahead of us prior to the season. Until they play it's on paper and Iowa will have much more retutning talent to evaluate. It really can't be argued.

ISU has a lot of question marks for next year that have absolutely nothing to do with Iowa. That doesn't mean we will be bad, it just means there are question marks and some may not be answered the way we like.

Can't argue that, I just personally think the talent we have coming in will be better than what Iowa will have. Is it proven? No. But has Fred proven to us the last two seasons that his unproven talent has lived up to or exceeded expectations? Yes. We lost our 3 top scorers from last season and we really didn't take a step forward or back...

 

[Cycl1]

Not true.

Olaseni is simply light years ahead of where he was last year or even a couple months ago...6 blocks against the Illini.

Marble's scoring average has gone up all 3 years.....this season 14.1/so 11.5/fr 5.7

Whites average went up as well....this year 13.6/last year 11.1

Just sayin

White's scoring per 40 minutes:

Last year: 18.65

This year: 19.02

WHOA BABY!

 

[isu81]

Iowa can also blame their "No Courage" policy when it comes to their non-conference scheduling. They have been toting the fact that they are in the toughest conference before the season ever took off, I see it as Iowa thought because of their tough conference they could just limp along and play sisters of the poor schools (minus their MANDATORY in state games) and try to get into the tournament that way.....it backfired on them, and now they want to gripe about it....

I think anyone with eyeballs can see that ISU would wipe the floor with Iowa at this point in the season, yes we were late bloomers, but the selection commitee has eyeballs and can see that Iowa is more inconsistant than the weather forcasters on TV.

Easy there, GoClones. First, I'm not sure our non-conference was that formidable, either. Is there really that much of a difference between RPI #150 or RPI #300 in etrms of whether you should beat them? Yes, the #300 is an automatic win, but the 150 should be as well. Hawks have about the same overall and conference record, and much like us, lost some big games they were in great position to win.

Wipe the floor with the Hawks? Not sure about that. I think home floor would carry the day and we would probably split on neutral floor.

 

[Cycl1]

Easy there, GoClones. First, I'm not sure our non-conference was that formidable, either. Is there really that much of a difference between RPI #150 or RPI #300 in etrms of whether you should beat them? Yes, the #300 is an automatic win, but the 150 should be as well. Hawks have about the same overall and conference record, and much like us, lost some big games they were in great position to win.

Wipe the floor with the Hawks? Not sure about that. I think home floor would carry the day and we would probably split on neutral floor.

hok fan. We played an average Non con, they played one of the easiest in the nation.

 

[CyTwins]

Easy there, GoClones. First, I'm not sure our non-conference was that formidable, either. Is there really that much of a difference between RPI #150 or RPI #300 in etrms of whether you should beat them? Yes, the #300 is an automatic win, but the 150 should be as well. Hawks have about the same overall and conference record, and much like us, lost some big games they were in great position to win.

Wipe the floor with the Hawks? Not sure about that. I think home floor would carry the day and we would probably split on neutral floor.

11-7 and 9-9 are about the same conference record? Hmmmm

 

[State43]

Back to the bubble talk, G's up (ISU) and Hoes down (Iowa)
Boom

 

[hexodat64]

Iowa will not win in Hilton. End of discussion. Anyways, I feel good about our spot, but I would feel much better about at least a win over Oklahoma. While we're at it, lets just win the whole dang thing and get an auto bid right?

 

[CyTwins]

Iowa will not win in Hilton. End of discussion. Anyways, I feel good about our spot, but I would feel much better about at least a win over Oklahoma. While we're at it, lets just win the whole dang thing and get an auto bid right?

Well said

 

[CYUL8R]

Iowa will not win in Hilton. End of discussion. Anyways, I feel good about our spot, but I would feel much better about at least a win over Oklahoma. While we're at it, lets just win the whole dang thing and get an auto bid right?

Auto bid and a 5/6 seed would be heaven.

 

[mikeiastat]

Not true.

Olaseni is simply light years ahead of where he was last year or even a couple months ago...6 blocks against the Illini.

Marble's scoring average has gone up all 3 years.....this season 14.1/so 11.5/fr 5.7

Whites average went up as well....this year 13.6/last year 11.1

Just sayin

And how much of that do you think might have to do with the level of competition. Iowa's schedule has also consistantly gotten weaker and weaker. More than that, I'm not a huge Iowa fan, but as I recall didn't Marable really stink it up when he started playing the big boys again this season. Honest question, cause I don't care quite enough to do the reasearch, but How are his conference numbers and how bad were the stats padded playing the extra 250+ ranked teams?

 

[DurangoCy]

Solid work out of Fox SportsTeams that need big conference tournaments

 

[Cydkar]

Can't argue that, I just personally think the talent we have coming in will be better than what Iowa will have. Is it proven? No. But has Fred proven to us the last two seasons that his unproven talent has lived up to or exceeded expectations? Yes. We lost our 3 top scorers from last season and we really didn't take a step forward or back...

We've also lost or played poorly in a lot of non-conference games that we know we would have won later in the year. Next year will probably be similar with a young team.