*** Official #10 Illinois vs #4 IOWA STATE Game(Day) Thread ***

[Jk32]

Maybe someone else knows for sure, but as I think about the season, we seemed to struggle out of the gate against teams that had lengthier guards at least the first time we played them. Hope that gets better next year.

 

[AuH2O]

Curtis Jones needs to be a starter next season. Momcilovich can come off the bench.

Hard to say how it works. Curt comes in at like the 17 mark and almost never comes out. It depends on how different guys are comfortable. He needs to be playing huge minutes, which he has been. I think the last 12 games or so Curt might be leading in minutes. If not he’s right there.

 

[trevn]

Tj has consistently built a sweet 16 quality roster which is incredible for what he took over. That is the max of what we have had though, so excited to see if/when he can take the next step. I feel good moving forward.

See that’s the key. We have made the Sweet 16 two of his first three years. Keep up this momentum, keep building on it, and we will break through. TJ has built a hell of a foundation these first three years.

 

[Iastfan112]

Iowa State could have survived missing some of the gimme buckets in the second half or the atrocious start but not both. Good season, hard fought game, hopefully we can breakthrough next year.

 

[ClubCy]

I know everyone is going to be wanting to lay the loss on Milan, but that just isn't 100% true. He had two really bad turnovers. But how many shots did we miss from 2 feet tonight? We had at least 3 chances to tie and couldn't make a bunny to get a tie.

I don’t think anyone will say this.

 

[DurangoCy]

What I appreciated most is we didn’t see a Cyclone player complain about a single call.

33 crying to the ref about Trey flexing was my favorite.

 

[Die4Cy]

Iowa State was 17/21 at the free throw line. That's outstanding. But they only made 6 three pointers.

Gave up 17 offensive rebounds. That needs to be addressed.

 

[CycloneVet]

Need to get more length and skill on the wing and in the post..

@brentblum do your thing

It looks like we are recruiting just that

 

[cyclonestunners]

What I appreciated most is we didn’t see a Cyclone player complain about a single call.

I actually saw a couple hands thrown up in the second half. One of the things that made me think we'd probably lose. Our heads weren't as good as usual

 

[Stumbles]

For those losing sleep over the missed bunnies, Illinois shot way below their average on FTs. If they are average and we make our bunnies then we still lose.

We had the talent to win tonight. Bad first half and Illinois was able to respond in the second half when we made our runs.

We missed a lot of bunnies. At 2 points a pop, even if they make their throws, we still would be on top

 

[quasistellar]

Need to get more length and skill on the wing and in the post..

@brentblum do your thing

We have some big time recruits just waiting in the wings and a true freshman that was just baptised in fire. Hopefully the bench guys (Rock and Omaha) are developing and not misses that transfer out. If they develop up to their potential, watch out! This team could be legit final 4 material. We are only for sure losing our current 5s, I think.

 

[HFCS]

Tough game for Mon but I didn’t see a single set play to try to get the guy an open look at a 3. I put that on TJ

We did make a run when we had the three guards...but you worry about going that small.

I feel like C Jones played well enough to win all game, and a lot of players played well enough to win in the second half, just not the whole game.

 

[cyclonestunners]

I know it’s not that simple, but take away the fluke should have been steal tip in, and we make just half of the missed layups and we win even if they make a few more free throws. We lost that game. Illinois didn’t win it

I usually buy into this logic... but in this game, Illinois shot terribly from ft and missed several open 3s... so we both can easily play that game.

 

[rochclone]

29-8. Second most wins in school history. People act like we are in Year 10 with T.J. In three years we have three NCAA tournament appearances, 4 wins in the tournament, two Sweet 16’s and a Big 12 conference tournament title. He took over 2-22. This is the healthiest this program has ever been as he is only entering Year 4.

 

[Old87]

I love the grit and determination of this team. Never say die. Gave us plenty of great moments this season. Can’t wait for next year. Cyclone Power

 

[Gunnerclone]

Also just want to shout out that imo Tamin has been playing through an injury for quite a while now.

 

[cyfanbr]

We missed a lot of bunnies. At 2 points a pop, even if they make their throws, we still would be on top

Being honest I can only think of two plays that were sure things that we missed. Keshon’s layup after the steal and King’s missed layup when he had time to catch, land, and go back up and the end of the game.

 

[CloniesForLife]

IDK if our rebounds were *that* bad. They had a TON of extremely lucky misses that bounced way back outside right to their guys.

Yeah just seemed like (especially in the first half) we couldn't quite grab the damn ball!

 

[ClonesTwenty1]

Iowa State was 17/21 at the free throw line. That's outstanding. But they only made 6 three pointers.

Gave up 17 offensive rebounds. That needs to be addressed.

and about 20 missed layups

 

[cdface]

We gave up too many not-great ORBs, but overall I thought our bigs did OK on the boards (at least on TV it looked like it). I'm gonna miss Ward a lot, he's just such a dude. He's like Hogue with a jet pack! Hopefully Omaha can step into that role.