*** Official #3 IOWA STATE vs Texas Tech Game(Day) Thread ***

[fsanford]

I have noticed this with Heise as well. Oftentimes he will come in the game and start guarding the best player on the court and said player will start demanding the ball and attempting to go 1-on-1. Usually leads to a turnover or missed shot. Seen it several times this year.

Also some need to realize guarding the other teams top player takes a ton of effort and that can affect legs. Which impact shooting

 

[NoCreativity]

As dodgy as it seems like we are on free throws sometimes this year so far, we are a good bit better this year (75.0% on 24.5 attempts per game) vs. last (69.7% on 21.1 attempts per game). That's almost +4 points per game from the line.

I wonder if most of it is Jackson/Jefferson being alot better ft shooters than Ward/BRE last year? I had to look away anytime they got to the free throw line, this year I'm pretty confident our forwards will make them.

 

[bawbie]

I wonder if most of it is Jackson/Jefferson being alot better ft shooters than Ward/BRE last year? I had to look away anytime they got to the free throw line, this year I'm pretty confident our forwards will make them.

In short, yes, but the guards have improved some too

This year, the "3 bigs" are 107 / 141 - 76% on just over 7 makes per game
Last year, the "3 bigs were 137 / 219 - 63% on just under 4 makes per game

The 3 main guards (Lipsey, Gilbert & Jones):
This year : 140 / 184 - 76% on just over 9 makes per game
Last year : 295 / 402 - 73% on ~8 makes per game

Note that Keshon Gilbert led the Big XII on FT Attempts last year and is leading the conference again this year.

 

[Pope]

Maybe this is just me, but it seemed like a lot of the misses Saturday were missed short. Not sure if this means anything other than some tired legs, but i found it interesting

I thought tired legs may have had something to do with why Tech's two 90% free throw shooters each missed a free throw near the end of the game. We just wear the other teams down.

Thank goodness that wasn't an issue for Jefferson at end of overtime. Down 1 with 4 seconds to go and 2 free throws. Nothing but net. Talk about poise...

 

[fsanford]

I wonder if most of it is Jackson/Jefferson being alot better ft shooters than Ward/BRE last year? I had to look away anytime they got to the free throw line, this year I'm pretty confident our forwards will make them.

BRE was always an adventure at FreeThrow line no doubt

 

[clone52]

Eh. He had big games in the Valley tournament at Enterprise Center and UNI played in several other NBA and large arenas when he was there and he didn't have a problem. Plus there are a couple Valley buildings with deep backgrounds (Bradley, Evansville, Indiana State) and he was just fine there.

It's adjusting to the new league and a new role. He'll be fine and if he keeps defending and rebounding at the level he is now, any offense is a bonus.

I'm sure you're right about the defense/rebounding. Expending more energy is going to affect his shot, but I am curious about those larger arenas.

Last year he was 35.6% from 3.
In the Valley tournament he was 2-7
@Bradley: 0-3
@Evansville: 3-4
@indiana State: did not play there
@South Florida: 1-5
@North Texas: 2-7

That's 6 games in arenas with a lot of space behind the basket and he was 8-26 or 30.7%. I don't think we can completely discount that.

 

[bawbie]

BRE was always an adventure at FreeThrow line no doubt

I had forgotten that Tre King shot 81+% last year - he just edged out Curtis and Milan for best on the team

 

[CycloneErik]

Forgot to comment until now but that was arguably the most impressive win I've ever seen from a Cyclones team.

First of all, that Texas Tech team is really good and that environment in that arena (whatever it's called now, used to be Spirit Arena or something like that so I'll stick with that) is intimidating yet Iowa State would not let Texas Tech get too far ahead despite them seemingly sinking every freaking 3 pointer lathering up that raucous crowd and just not allowing the Clones to get the lead or even when they did it was brief. They kept their composure despite all that ratcheted up the defense then made every single clutch play when it mattered.

This team has all the ingredients needed to be a Champion, a far more balanced team than last year with Jefferson, a guy they can go to down low, being the main difference.
They're going to lose some games in conference because it's a long season and it's a really tough league to win games in on the road but there's not one team in the country I'd go to war with in a tourney format over this team. I think we should cherish this season because this is a once in a lifetime team for a program like this so lets enjoy this ride.

Agree on the "should enjoy it," but disagree on "once in a lifetime" as long as TJ is here, which seems likely to be a long, long time.

 

[JP4CY]

Bumping this thread because I think this win in our bag is MASSIVE.