Extremely disappointed but 24 hours will take care of that. There is a reason it’s called the Elite Eight and the unavoidable weakness of this team was exposed which was the non-existent offensive threat of a post. I always thought the media/fan prediction of a Milan short college career as he transitioned to the NBA was not what my eyes were seeing and he has a lot to work on, obviously. I expect the trio of guards to return. But who knows about the rest of the roster, I expect two or three to look for PT elsewhere. I also expect TJ will build an improved roster. It was a great year btw.
Never felt better after a tournament loss
- Thread starter cyatheart
- Start date
I wonder if Omaha switches to a 4? He seems very athletic
My bad. Early morning calculation. Yeah I guess that's not too bad.
He just doesn’t seem to understand the game at this level and has hands of stone. Not sure if it’s nerves or he’s just a bust, but if we bring in another two 4/5’s in the transfer market then you’d have to think Omaha knows he’s got to go.
He’s a freshman. Give him a year in the system before he’s branded a bust. There’s been plenty of big men that have looked like garbage their freshmen year and turned out well.
Agree, last night I kept thinking how different it would have been if Robert Jones, Ward, or King could consistently hit a shot from the elbow. Once the ball got there is was 5 defenders playing against our other 4.
CycloneErik
Well-Known Member
I still believe we're only of the only two teams that could beat UConn in this thing. It's all up to Houston now.
Same!
I really need to stay off the boards for a few days. Really disappointing game.
I always expect in these threads for Cyclone fans to remind us about "preseason expectations". Nothing more worthless and meaningless in the world of sports than preseason expectations. The team won 29 games and proved it belonged in the Top 10. That actually happened. They were THAT good, and it was pretty clear even early and up to halfway through the conference season (when we actually had enough facts/data to start to form meaningful "expectations") that this team was good enough to go on a deep run.
We fell short. Really a bummer to fall short. Especially to THAT Illinois team.
On the whole, amazing season - 29 wins is freaking awesome. It's simply awesome, and they earned all of them.
OK, let's travel back in time to Nov 1,2023 when we were picked to finish 7th in the league.
You were made the offer guaranteeing that we would finish 2nd in the Big XII, win the tournament, and make it to the Sweet 16 but not the Elite Eight. How many would have taken that offer. I know I would have in a heartbeat.
You were made the offer guaranteeing that we would finish 2nd in the Big XII, win the tournament, and make it to the Sweet 16 but not the Elite Eight. How many would have taken that offer. I know I would have in a heartbeat.
IMO it's just processing speed. The game moves too fast for him at this level. You saw against some of the weaker noncon teams he was able to get his bearings. He'll get better, but idk if he should stay or move down a level to have an easier time adjusting to college basketball.
Most teams have a bad record in the Sweet Sixteen. They mentioned last night (not sure which team it was) that the team was 1-8 all time. It's a worthy banner to hang, and another accomplishment for the program. The key is in getting there a lot, and I'm confident that TJ is building a program that will get there quite often with teams with the ability to go further.
Not sure why you all are care about preseason expectations. Those mean nothing to me. This team was the best shot at an elite 8 (or final 4) since Niang broke his foot. I’ll say it again, they came up short. Doesn’t mean it wasn’t an incredibly fun season.
Haven't had as much fun watching hoops as the Niang broken foot yr. With TJ at the helm we are in good shape.
The college basketball season ends with heartbreak for everyone but one team. We had a heck of a season and are on the right path. We'll be back!
Here’s my thing and why I didn’t feel nearly as bad as I normally would have.
Literally about everything that could have gone wrong last night did. We couldn’t hit anything and Illinois was hitting most everything. We got a crew that called it really tight. Even with all of that going against us we probably should have won the game.
It really sucks because it is the last time we will see some really great guys in Cyclone uniforms but as others have said I’m really excited about the future. Hopefully we are able to keep everyone around or at least all of the main contributors. If we can do that and maybe add one more big guy we should match this year if not exceed it.
Literally about everything that could have gone wrong last night did. We couldn’t hit anything and Illinois was hitting most everything. We got a crew that called it really tight. Even with all of that going against us we probably should have won the game.
It really sucks because it is the last time we will see some really great guys in Cyclone uniforms but as others have said I’m really excited about the future. Hopefully we are able to keep everyone around or at least all of the main contributors. If we can do that and maybe add one more big guy we should match this year if not exceed it.
Season was great other than this last game. Just look at the roster we have and we could be even better next season. There's no reason to think we're not capable of winning the Big 12 next year.
Illinois had the size advantage, good passing and spacing, and quite honestly got lucky on some shots / rebounds that seemed to fall their way last night.
ISU was lazy on their passing, had no consistent inside scoring option, had a freshman star struggle...and yet were only a couple of baskets short of the elite eight.
So..should we feel sad for the missed opportunities, or pleased with the wonderful year this group gave us.
I'll take the wonderful year! Go State!
ISU was lazy on their passing, had no consistent inside scoring option, had a freshman star struggle...and yet were only a couple of baskets short of the elite eight.
So..should we feel sad for the missed opportunities, or pleased with the wonderful year this group gave us.
I'll take the wonderful year! Go State!
We have a lot of talent returning next year and TJ has crushed the offseason/recruiting/portal every year he's been here. I'm excited to see who he brings in!
Doesn’t have to be the shot there, if they could attack off the dribble or had any kind of back down game would work as well. Tre can back it in but not against bigger defenders.
