It's on Fred
- Thread starter cyclonesherm
- Start date
I don't see much wrong with the OP's post. Especially the comments about Thomas/Naz and Edozie.
As I addressed in another thread, it's a mystery to me as to why Edozie disappeared once the conference season started. Granted he is not an offensive threat, but he is a banger and his defensive skills are not terrible........something that could have been used in some of those games. In fact, had the second-best rebounds per minute played average of anyone on the team, trailing only McKay.
Also, Naz had a 37 percent increase in minutes per game played. His overall shooting percentage increased slightly (more layups I think) but his 3 point percentage decreased slightly. It probably would have increased if not for the last 10 games or so. I just think he got tired legs, which can be awful for an outside shooter. Thomas had a 25 percent decrease in game minutes this year. His shooting percentages were about the same as last year, and he shot a little over 25 percent fewer 3 point shots. Both are streaky shooters. In the last game, it probably would have been wise to play Matt more in the 2nd half, and sit Naz who was having a terrible day.
There was not floor leadership on this team. Maybe that was because the chemistry had to adjust when McKay was added. Maybe BDJ caused a lot of attitude/locker room problems.....who knows? It's the job of Fred and the assistants to figure that out and do something about it. Last year the team had Kane and Ejim to get in people's faces. This year.....there was no one. Naz, McKay, Niang and Morris are all good players and lead by example, but none of them get in your face like Ejim or Kane did.
Defense has been a problem for CFH teams, and was again this year. To deny that is just being naive. You don't have to have a team that is going to limit the opponent to 50 points per game, but you do need a team that can ALWAYS get a stop when needed. With a rim protector now, I think the guards can be a lot more active in trying to make steals. Naz, Monte, and BDJ were all capable of that, it just wasn't done enough. I also think it would be good to work hard on a full court press that can be used when needed. ISU did not do that often.
Fred is a good young coach, and we are lucky to have him at ISU. Hopefully, he will be here for a long time to come. He is not a god though....he can make mistakes, and he is still learning. I think the one thing that disappointed me the most about the team this year is that they did not seem to learn from their mistakes......neither the coaches or the players seemed to learn. IMHO, losses to UAB, Texas Tech, South Carolina, at K-State, Baylor at home should not have happened, but they did. Yet, the team would still come out starting games looking like they were not prepared to play, or addressing the problems that caused the losses. Maybe they believed their press clippings too much afer a win, and they thought they just had to show up to beat the other team. That is what it looked like too often this season.
Hopefully, the defense will improve next year. The offense no doubt will be great once again, but this team needs to learn to make stops whenever they are needed. Also, if none of the current coaches are capable of doing it, Fred needs to find someone (even a grad assistant) who can teach the guys how to box out and team rebound. Rebounding is not just a matter having tall players, there is a lot of technique involved. Sometimes ISU showed that....more often than not they didn't.
I think next year could be fantastic, but some of these problems need to be addressed, or it could just be a repeat of this year, and leave us feeling like it was just incomplete or something.
As I addressed in another thread, it's a mystery to me as to why Edozie disappeared once the conference season started. Granted he is not an offensive threat, but he is a banger and his defensive skills are not terrible........something that could have been used in some of those games. In fact, had the second-best rebounds per minute played average of anyone on the team, trailing only McKay.
Also, Naz had a 37 percent increase in minutes per game played. His overall shooting percentage increased slightly (more layups I think) but his 3 point percentage decreased slightly. It probably would have increased if not for the last 10 games or so. I just think he got tired legs, which can be awful for an outside shooter. Thomas had a 25 percent decrease in game minutes this year. His shooting percentages were about the same as last year, and he shot a little over 25 percent fewer 3 point shots. Both are streaky shooters. In the last game, it probably would have been wise to play Matt more in the 2nd half, and sit Naz who was having a terrible day.
There was not floor leadership on this team. Maybe that was because the chemistry had to adjust when McKay was added. Maybe BDJ caused a lot of attitude/locker room problems.....who knows? It's the job of Fred and the assistants to figure that out and do something about it. Last year the team had Kane and Ejim to get in people's faces. This year.....there was no one. Naz, McKay, Niang and Morris are all good players and lead by example, but none of them get in your face like Ejim or Kane did.
Defense has been a problem for CFH teams, and was again this year. To deny that is just being naive. You don't have to have a team that is going to limit the opponent to 50 points per game, but you do need a team that can ALWAYS get a stop when needed. With a rim protector now, I think the guards can be a lot more active in trying to make steals. Naz, Monte, and BDJ were all capable of that, it just wasn't done enough. I also think it would be good to work hard on a full court press that can be used when needed. ISU did not do that often.
Fred is a good young coach, and we are lucky to have him at ISU. Hopefully, he will be here for a long time to come. He is not a god though....he can make mistakes, and he is still learning. I think the one thing that disappointed me the most about the team this year is that they did not seem to learn from their mistakes......neither the coaches or the players seemed to learn. IMHO, losses to UAB, Texas Tech, South Carolina, at K-State, Baylor at home should not have happened, but they did. Yet, the team would still come out starting games looking like they were not prepared to play, or addressing the problems that caused the losses. Maybe they believed their press clippings too much afer a win, and they thought they just had to show up to beat the other team. That is what it looked like too often this season.
Hopefully, the defense will improve next year. The offense no doubt will be great once again, but this team needs to learn to make stops whenever they are needed. Also, if none of the current coaches are capable of doing it, Fred needs to find someone (even a grad assistant) who can teach the guys how to box out and team rebound. Rebounding is not just a matter having tall players, there is a lot of technique involved. Sometimes ISU showed that....more often than not they didn't.
I think next year could be fantastic, but some of these problems need to be addressed, or it could just be a repeat of this year, and leave us feeling like it was just incomplete or something.
Getting more rebounds gives you more opportunities to score the ball which gives you more opportunities to put points on the boards and takes away those opportunities from the opponents. Therefore, if the Cyclones would have grabbed more rebounds they would have taken more shots and likely made more shots. UAB wouldn't have taken as many shots therefore they wouldn't have made as many shots. It's pretty basic.
No one is saying that the poor offensive performance didn't have an impact on the outcome of the game. I'm certainly not saying that. The poor rebounding effort did have an impact on the game as well and that is an area that Edozie may have been able to help in. The players who were on the court were getting outworked for the boards. Some of them can be chalked up as simply bad bounces, but when you get outrebounded like they did it's not all bad luck.
Hey take your numbers and get outta here.
I don't care what your fancy numbers say if Edozie would have been in there pushing guys around we would have won. Also I agree with those that said Fred should have told Naz to make those wide open corner 3's.
I find it ironic that some "experts" on here bash the OP for claiming to be an "expert" and say his post failed....the OP made some valid points...and nowhere did he say that Hoiberg should be gone or that he would prefer another coach.
Some people on here act like Hoiberg is infallible...he's not, he would readily admit that. He's been a coach for 5 seasons...5 seasons...he still has much to learn and makes plenty of mistakes, which is to be expected. I guarantee there are some things he would do different if he could replay the UAB game.
To do what he's done in 5 seasons is incredible...just wait until he gets some more "in-game" coaching experience and learns some more tough lessons. I think some people are blind to the fact that Hoiberg is still a work in progress when it comes to coaching because of the success he's had so quickly...so just think about that...finishing no worse than 4th in the conference the last 4 years (with two 3rds and a 2nd) and back-to-back Big 12 tourney championships from a coach that has 5 years of coaching experience and room to improve...imagine what he can do with a little more experience. And he's doing it against coaches that have 20-30+ years of head coaching experience.
Heck, even Haase had 12 years as assistant under Roy Williams before he got the UAB job three seasons ago...
All I'm saying is don't be so quick to bash people that critique the program or Hoiberg...it’s OK to do as long as it’s respectful and not full of hate. It doesn’t make someone less of a fan or a troll…maybe it was the OPs way of venting after a tough loss…and he did it in a much nicer way than many people did when they hated on BDJ.
Some people on here act like Hoiberg is infallible...he's not, he would readily admit that. He's been a coach for 5 seasons...5 seasons...he still has much to learn and makes plenty of mistakes, which is to be expected. I guarantee there are some things he would do different if he could replay the UAB game.
To do what he's done in 5 seasons is incredible...just wait until he gets some more "in-game" coaching experience and learns some more tough lessons. I think some people are blind to the fact that Hoiberg is still a work in progress when it comes to coaching because of the success he's had so quickly...so just think about that...finishing no worse than 4th in the conference the last 4 years (with two 3rds and a 2nd) and back-to-back Big 12 tourney championships from a coach that has 5 years of coaching experience and room to improve...imagine what he can do with a little more experience. And he's doing it against coaches that have 20-30+ years of head coaching experience.
Heck, even Haase had 12 years as assistant under Roy Williams before he got the UAB job three seasons ago...
All I'm saying is don't be so quick to bash people that critique the program or Hoiberg...it’s OK to do as long as it’s respectful and not full of hate. It doesn’t make someone less of a fan or a troll…maybe it was the OPs way of venting after a tough loss…and he did it in a much nicer way than many people did when they hated on BDJ.
I love Edozie, he's a great cyclone and seems like a great teammate. But he was never the answer, just the bench guy fans love to insert into every conversation after a loss. Similar to the backup QB.
Remember how Booker was benched for awhile, and everyone was saying Booker not playing is why we were losing? I feel like it's the same with Edozie. And Booker was much, much better than Edozie.
Sorry but when your critiques are "Play Edozie," "More Fire and Passion," and the ever popular "Fred coddles these guys" (Which is ********... Sorry that TV doesn't show Fred getting on guys enough for him) well... I can't really take that seriously.
I've just never seen it that way. This was his most talented team and deepest team. Kane and Ejim were good, but they were replaceable. Some of Kane's production was replaced via Morris, and some needed to be replaced by BDJ, but often wasn't. McKay and Hogue were supposed to replace Ejim, but Hogue didn't improve on offense to make that happen.
And I know people don't want to hear about BDJ, but he was a guy with all-american talent who ended up being a non-factor multiple games late in the year.
Where was the team's swagger and toughness against UAB? The team showed no energy... no fire the entire game. Where was the team that was taunting the opposing teams fans in Iowa City? Where was the team that was talking trash against Kansas? Where was the team doing chest bumps at media timeouts and throwing down their ridiculous handshakes by the team huddle? They weren't in Louisville.
Where was the toughness on the boards? Outside of McKay there wasn't a single guy that wanted to get out there and physically dominate those UAB kids on the boards.
I watched parts of nearly every game this past weekend and heard the announcers telling stories about the teams and how they did things in the offseason to bond and build that toughness. Utah had a Navy Seal team leader put their kids through a version of hell week to build toughness. That guy kicked their *****. Carrying logs, ridiculous marches, sleep deprivation, etc... the whole nine yards. You don't see Utah being physically dominated on the boards. During an OU game they spoke about how during their entire preseason training all they worked on was defense. They were determined to improve their defense because offense was not an issue for them. Guess what team is still playing in the NCAA Tournament? Oklahoma. I'll be the first person to admit that I think Spangler from OU is a total d-bag. Why? He plays rough, he plays borderline dirty, he plays with an edge, and he doesn't care anyone likes it or not. In hindsight.... I sure would love to see some ISU players play with that toughness and physicality next season. These guys need to get tough!
Where was the toughness on the boards? Outside of McKay there wasn't a single guy that wanted to get out there and physically dominate those UAB kids on the boards.
I watched parts of nearly every game this past weekend and heard the announcers telling stories about the teams and how they did things in the offseason to bond and build that toughness. Utah had a Navy Seal team leader put their kids through a version of hell week to build toughness. That guy kicked their *****. Carrying logs, ridiculous marches, sleep deprivation, etc... the whole nine yards. You don't see Utah being physically dominated on the boards. During an OU game they spoke about how during their entire preseason training all they worked on was defense. They were determined to improve their defense because offense was not an issue for them. Guess what team is still playing in the NCAA Tournament? Oklahoma. I'll be the first person to admit that I think Spangler from OU is a total d-bag. Why? He plays rough, he plays borderline dirty, he plays with an edge, and he doesn't care anyone likes it or not. In hindsight.... I sure would love to see some ISU players play with that toughness and physicality next season. These guys need to get tough!
ISU lost the game because McKay and Morris dyed their hair. They thought they were too cool for school but got blazed by thee University of Alabama (at Birmingham).
At least we have football though...oh wait.
At least we have football though...oh wait.
BDK couldn't write this well or long. I'm thinking it is more likely to be BVD!
Seriously, what leads someone who claims to be a long-time fan to start with a post like that? Wouldn't a long-time fan say something positive about this being one of the best eras in Iowa State BB history?
Maybe this is just a classic old man "get off my lawn" post.
Agree with one of the earlier posters regarding FH's job this year. We seem to have forgotten how good our two players were that we lost from last year.kane esp was a pretty incredible talent and my opinion is a real competitor.
I think this year it was difficult to fit all the pieces together. We certainly had in comming talent, esp McKay but a coach has to fit everything together. Remember, McKay came in late and we seemed to take a step back as he settled in. Also we had BDJ kind of doing a slow exit all year long and possibly affecting team focus all the while. Additionally, again IMO, I think GN was affected negatively by McKay. Even though we did not run much offense through him, I feel his presence in the middle hurt the spacing GN needs for his game.
Now that we are looking back at the season, I think most can see that we never were consistent, good sometimes, awful sometimes and incredible at others. We probably did as well as could be expected. We walked a tight rope between winning and losing most of the last half of the season (not falling many times).
Next year I am looking for better things and more consistancy. Hoping that our additions find their niche. Also hoping that we can keep the floors spaced better for both GN and MM. I think if we leave things to FH, we'll be fine. In summation, it may be that this was a pretty good job by our coach. It certainly appears that coaching this team was a strain. Next year should be better and more fun for all of us.
I think this year it was difficult to fit all the pieces together. We certainly had in comming talent, esp McKay but a coach has to fit everything together. Remember, McKay came in late and we seemed to take a step back as he settled in. Also we had BDJ kind of doing a slow exit all year long and possibly affecting team focus all the while. Additionally, again IMO, I think GN was affected negatively by McKay. Even though we did not run much offense through him, I feel his presence in the middle hurt the spacing GN needs for his game.
Now that we are looking back at the season, I think most can see that we never were consistent, good sometimes, awful sometimes and incredible at others. We probably did as well as could be expected. We walked a tight rope between winning and losing most of the last half of the season (not falling many times).
Next year I am looking for better things and more consistancy. Hoping that our additions find their niche. Also hoping that we can keep the floors spaced better for both GN and MM. I think if we leave things to FH, we'll be fine. In summation, it may be that this was a pretty good job by our coach. It certainly appears that coaching this team was a strain. Next year should be better and more fun for all of us.
I have to admit that I was pretty disappointed, as well, but after a cooling off period, I've mellowed and it's changed my perspective dramatically.
First, CFH doesn't "get on" players hardly ever, if at all. It's just not his style.
Second, if you experience success like we have had since the Mayor arrived, there are going to be upsets, it goes with the territory, just ask the Jaysquawks. I'll gladly take playing in "the show" every year and losing occasionally to the alternative, just ask the Squawkeyes...
Third, our defense toward the end of the regular season was vastly improved, IMO. That shows me the team knew how to defend, they just didn't do a very good job of it. Is Fred a defensive guru? Probably not, but he provided them with a defensive gameplan that was usually good enough to win a game. I believe the problem was our lack of offensive execution in the second half, something we're not used to experiencing. A lot of that was UAB's defense of Georges, and his determination to score, no matter what, usually that works in the end, not this time.
Fourth, on the grand scale of coaching, Fred probably did not do his best job, but remember, this is only his fifth year, he's still going to learn as he goes. I am confident this game will make him a better coach, and his teams will be better prepared going forward because of it. It's much tougher to prepare for an opponent you never play and doesn't have much coverage or national exposure.
With Fred at the helm, we will have many more ups than downs, we just need to put the losses in perspective, and move on.
That said, I can't wait until next year, and the year after, and...
First, CFH doesn't "get on" players hardly ever, if at all. It's just not his style.
Second, if you experience success like we have had since the Mayor arrived, there are going to be upsets, it goes with the territory, just ask the Jaysquawks. I'll gladly take playing in "the show" every year and losing occasionally to the alternative, just ask the Squawkeyes...
Third, our defense toward the end of the regular season was vastly improved, IMO. That shows me the team knew how to defend, they just didn't do a very good job of it. Is Fred a defensive guru? Probably not, but he provided them with a defensive gameplan that was usually good enough to win a game. I believe the problem was our lack of offensive execution in the second half, something we're not used to experiencing. A lot of that was UAB's defense of Georges, and his determination to score, no matter what, usually that works in the end, not this time.
Fourth, on the grand scale of coaching, Fred probably did not do his best job, but remember, this is only his fifth year, he's still going to learn as he goes. I am confident this game will make him a better coach, and his teams will be better prepared going forward because of it. It's much tougher to prepare for an opponent you never play and doesn't have much coverage or national exposure.
With Fred at the helm, we will have many more ups than downs, we just need to put the losses in perspective, and move on.
That said, I can't wait until next year, and the year after, and...
Oh for ****'s sake. I thought the stupid was going to be finished by Monday. But it is not.
The team was not tough last Thursday. That sucks and I bet the coaches and team realize it.
The team was tough multiple times throughout the season. A guy like Georges and Naz and Monte are tough.
Too many of you are trying to take the results from one game and apply it to 30 games.
Maybe next year will be more fun.
But this year was plenty fun. And if people didn't enjoy this year, they should re-evaluate their judgement. A few bad losses does not turn a season into something that is not fun.
