Scoring Droughts
- Thread starter cayin
- Start date
the tournament hasn't even started lol chill out.....hell the teams haven't even been selected
We all would.....but also, it's still the regular season. Don't just start jumping to conclusions about what will happen in the postseason until it has actually happened or at least wait until we see what our path looks like on Selection Sunday.
Very few competitive games don't have scoring droughts by each team. This is not an ISU-only issue. I've watched every top team this year. We can beat any of them. There are teams that would give us fits in a 7 game series, but we're good enough to beat anyone this year. And not in a shooting-lights-out-while-they-miss-everything kinda game either. Our best is right up there with anyone else's best.
At BYU, our leading scorer had an off night and scored 12 under his average. Meanwhile, their leading scorer was forced to have the ball in his hands due to injury and was a highlight reel. Despite all that went wrong, we were down 3 with 6 minutes left and within reach.
It's ok to tip your cap to Dybantsa and move on. We've got a lot of good basketball in front of us.
At BYU, our leading scorer had an off night and scored 12 under his average. Meanwhile, their leading scorer was forced to have the ball in his hands due to injury and was a highlight reel. Despite all that went wrong, we were down 3 with 6 minutes left and within reach.
It's ok to tip your cap to Dybantsa and move on. We've got a lot of good basketball in front of us.
This isn't directed at only you, so maybe it's unfair to reply to your post. But I get tired of everyone looking at the success and failure of an entire season based on the NCAA tournament. Regardless of how the NCAA tournament goes, I think this season has been a huge success. Did anyone expect them to be 23-4 at this point in the season? Let's just enjoy these last few games with Lispey, Jefferson, and Milan and appreciate everything they've given to ISU basketball. I'm sure all three could have transferred last summer for more money, but stuck with the Cyclones. Sure I will be disappointed if they lose in the first two rounds of the tournament, but anything past the Sweet 16 is icing as far as I'm concerned. There are so many variables in March. A team gets hot from 3, a reffing crew decides to cal every Cyclone steal a foul, or ISU just has one of those nights where every shot goes in and out like against Illinois. Who knows, maybe this will be the year ISU gets some lucky breaks for a change where ever other top seed gets upset before they play ISU.
The scoring droughts happen mainly when our guys are just not ready to play. WE can beat anyone if we're playing with energy and moving the ball on offense. We played poorly on offense and defense in the first half against BYU. In the second half, our defense picked up and we were a little better on offense - enough that we closed the gap. When our guys are lethargic and have dribble-itis, I think we have to sit some people for a bit. Put 'em back in when they're ready to play at 100% physically and mentally. It's disappointing we played poorly, but BYU is a good team and we were on the road.
The biggest issue I see for ISU on offense is an inability to score in the half-court. We start two point guards who are elite defenders, but neither is a real threat from three in the half-court (29% and 32%). Then Buchanan isn't going to create shots for himself. His points are off put backs or back door cuts. Jefferson and Momcilovic are the only consistent scorers in the half-court among the starters. Teams will do everything they can to shut them down and force the other three starters to score. Every team has weaknesses. ISU has an elite defense and can score in bunches off turn-overs or missed shots. But there will be stretches where they don't score if they aren't getting steals. Batemon and Heise are key off the bench offensively. Because of their defense I think ISU will hang with anyone, but sometimes you run into a team that makes the tough shots. There's not much you can do about that.
On a side note: That's why I thought the Houston game was so much fun to watch. There were two elite defenses contesting every pass and shot, but neither team turned the ball over and both teams made tough shots at the end of the shot clock.
On a side note: That's why I thought the Houston game was so much fun to watch. There were two elite defenses contesting every pass and shot, but neither team turned the ball over and both teams made tough shots at the end of the shot clock.
I'm going to ask this question because honestly, I don't know. Is there any team in the NCAA that is immune to scoring droughts or FG droughts of 4 minutes? I have a hard time believing that there are many if any.
The problem with 'sit them if they're not playing great' is ISU really isn't that deep and things will likely get worse.
And if 2-3 players aren't playing great at the same time do you just sit all of them?
There's TV time outs often snd it's not like the message isn't going to get communicated.
So it isn't late season until the season is over?
The season started in November. November, December, and January are over. February is 3/4 over. The season is practically over with just the post season left to go.
I don't care how you frame it, that is late season and two wins against top 10 teams back to back is success.
Last edited:
CycloneErik
Well-Known Member
I did expect a record like this after beating Purdue. I'm also satisfied with it and looking forward to a team that can legitimately win it all.
I wish I were surprised about people whining over scoring droughts, but too many don't know that's been part of the game for decades.
Every team is susceptible to scoring droughts. I'd say among 1-2 seeds ISU is probably on the more poor end as far as half-court offense bogging down. ISU is 17th in KP Adjusted O, so a pretty good offense as a whole. Considering ISU is really good at scoring of TOs, I'd say that it's easy to draw the conclusion that half-court offense is OK, but not great.
But every team in the 1-2 seed range does some things at an elite level and some not-so-elite. For ISU half-court O is the weakness, but it still is not terrible by any means.
I know I'm a glass half-full guy, but I am also realistic. IMO, we need Milan to be a 12+ pt scorer to make a big run in the tourney. We've proven that we can make up for his scoring on the occassional off-day, but his ability to stretch the floor is unique, opens up the floor, and is something the rest of the team feeds off. He's our best half-court offensive threat, and, as AuH20 said above, that is an area where we're not elite.
I'm looking forward to a bounce-back game tomorrow. I think we roll.
I'm looking forward to a bounce-back game tomorrow. I think we roll.
Hit your shots, really? Any team that "hits their shots" is most likely going to win.
Curt's keys to winning basketball:
1. Make your shots
2. Don't miss your shots
3. If you do miss, rebound and don't miss again
The video version will be for sale on March 1, 2026, get your copy pre-ordered now.
don't want to jinx it, but you really shouldn't play a top 10 defense nor an NBA lottery pick till at least the third round
IMHO - I think we need him to be the 18ppg scorer that he's proven he can be, for us to do major damage in March. Ya need studs in March, like Milan having an 8-11 3pt barrage in the Sweet 16 or something. He is absolutely capable.
I get TCU and Cincy but not sure there's a 3rd team with less talent than us. Kansas with Peterson? BYU with Dybantsa?
We’ve had several great point guards in the past decades from Hornacek to Haliburton and Lipsey enters the elite group. He doesn’t get the national media love because he doesn’t base his game on being a scorer but instead is excellent in every facet of the game. I don’t think we realize what he’s done in his four years and I expect him to be the first problem that Otz will be faced with to replace in his tenure.
Latest posts
-
Chicago Bears bought Arlington Heights track only to build in Indiana?- Latest: FinalFourCy
-
-
-
-
