Not sure why some of the posters on here keep watching/following the team. Are there things that need to change YES. But some on here who have never been to a practice or had conversations with players post as if they know every detail about players. They talk about the style of play as if we are the only team in the NCAA that plays it. I have watched a number of other teams this year and the only difference is the uniform. Many teams have one player who is the go to player and gets the ball more than anyone else on the team. Did Ashley have the ball to much, at times yes but that was because other players decided they wanted her to have the ball. I look forward to next year and will still be in my seat cheering on the team.
Twister Sister Summary - End of season arrives in jarring style
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I do not think Vick is a player.
Too early to have an opinion on Dawkins, but looks questionable to me.
I think it will be interesting what teams in conference do in the transfer portal market.
It’s fine for one player to dominate but it would be better if it comes from set plays that include screens, and player movement versus just a simple iso. It gets very stagnant that way and much easier to defend. Plus it can be easy to lose interest in the game if all you do is stand in place and watch your go to player with another iso.
^Truth. It's the 2nd last chance recruiting season now for 2023. You never know. LSU was looking to be sort of young and inexperienced but Mulkey scored some big hits in the portal and that totally changed their outlook. Of course the portal is different if you are either an elite program or an elite coach, they are sort of magnets for star transfers. The rest of us look and hope to add a component player.
The lack of consistent post play should probably be a part of any discussion regarding the BF tenure. They simply haven’t been very good at identifying it or developing it, which is made glaringly obvious by the success Jan Jensen has had at Drake and EIU. If we can’t develop it, maybe the transfer portal (Bea, Stef) can save us. CBF has another chance with Audi - hope it pays dividends!
A few weeks ago I ran across this nearly 10-year-old Ames Tribune article talking about freedom of movement in basketball that seems pertinent to this conversation.
Hopefully with the freshmen we have coming in we can go back to that.
With our current recruiting strategy we will never be significantly above average.
It kind of has an Iowa Men's Basketball feel to it at this point. A style of play that when it's clicking can look really good, but a roster makeup that is only capable of winning one way and that realistically puts a ceiling on how far you can go.
Bill is quite honestly one of the more overrated coaches in the game. Bridget Carleton and Ashley Joens covered up a lot of his inefficiencies as far as scheme and recruiting goes. He had MAJOR player retention issues prior to those two.
I couldn't disagree more. We watch a lot of men's and women's hoops in our house and Bill has done a horrible job managing his teams for the last 8 years. Look no further than Iowa. Thy have the national player of the year and she plays incredibly unselfish. They move the ball around so well and they spread teams out and actually make them defend. None of the other Iowa guards are anything special but they move the ball and find open shooters or isolate their bigs in the paint. Clark gets her shots/points but she absolutely makes everyone around her better.
Fennelly is not immune from criticism, but there's a lot in this thread that just seems ridiculous to me. It feels a bit like Nebraska football fans getting tired of having teams that were simply above average under Pelini. Look how that turned out for their program.
By my count, the Iowa State women's basketball team has made 21 of 27 NCAA tournaments under Bill Fennelly (this excludes the COVID-cancelled year). I don't know about you all, but that seems pretty good to me, especially considering the fact that, in that time, the other three D1 women's programs in Iowa have also consistently been above .500, meaning that recruiting is that much more difficult.
It's reasonable to criticize him for roster construction around Carleton and Joens. I agree that some of the isolation-ball around Joens limited the team's ceiling. But regardless, I don't see how a fan can look at the Carleton/Joens era and think of it as a failure, which it seems like the view of at least a few posters in this thread. And if you look at the incoming recruiting class, as well as bringing in Soares, as well as Fennelly's many attempts at bringing in posts, it's not like he isn't trying to adapt. Those attempts haven't fully worked out for a variety of reasons, some because of lack of development, some because of injuries or other issues, but certain posters here make it sound like Fennelly is just a stodgy coach set in his ways, which seems really inaccurate to me.
By my count, the Iowa State women's basketball team has made 21 of 27 NCAA tournaments under Bill Fennelly (this excludes the COVID-cancelled year). I don't know about you all, but that seems pretty good to me, especially considering the fact that, in that time, the other three D1 women's programs in Iowa have also consistently been above .500, meaning that recruiting is that much more difficult.
It's reasonable to criticize him for roster construction around Carleton and Joens. I agree that some of the isolation-ball around Joens limited the team's ceiling. But regardless, I don't see how a fan can look at the Carleton/Joens era and think of it as a failure, which it seems like the view of at least a few posters in this thread. And if you look at the incoming recruiting class, as well as bringing in Soares, as well as Fennelly's many attempts at bringing in posts, it's not like he isn't trying to adapt. Those attempts haven't fully worked out for a variety of reasons, some because of lack of development, some because of injuries or other issues, but certain posters here make it sound like Fennelly is just a stodgy coach set in his ways, which seems really inaccurate to me.
I'll just go back to my Iowa Men's Basketball comparison because you could switch out names and we'd be discussing Fran McCaffery. Made tournaments are great, and sure it could be always be worse. But with the glut of talent we've seen in the last 6 years or so, he's underachieved. And where many fan's frustration lie is having that talent but having a few glaring holes that they refuse to address through recruiting/transfer portal. And while you seem to mention posts exclusively, that's only part of the issue. For me, it's adding athleticism, which we've continued to not prioritize.
For both Iowa Men and our women, you feel like you are afforded a certain window. We aren't UCONN or South Carolina that just retools with elite talent. But we had a window with some transformational players that our staff really didn't fully utilize.
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Ummm that's what he is though. Even when Soares was healthy we were forcing way too many possessions through her instead of relying on ball movement and reversals to open things up. She's a very good post player but I just don't agree with Bill's "run everything through one player" approach.
Comparing this to Nebraska football is a real stretch. It comes down to the simple truth that if you are satisfied with the program as it stands, then you’re probably fine with Old Bill. But not everyone is, and the program isn’t going to move to the next level until he’s gone.
I don't actually completely disagree with the Fran McCaffery comparison. But I actually think that McCaffery gets too much criticism from Iowa fans, too. That being said, are we ignoring the fact that Fennelly literally made a Sweet 16 just last year? Which, of course, McCaffery has famously failed to do in his years at Iowa.
Even for adding athleticism, the last two years included the Diew and Soares transfers, which were attempts to do that. And the high school recruiting of Bristow and smaller, quicker guards like Dawkins and Jackson is also an attempt to do that. I'd love to get a 6'0" point guard who is also the quickest player on the court against every team we face and can also make threes and can also pass with the best of them, but the nature of Iowa State recruiting is that you probably have to choose. I do think sometimes it feels like Fennelly is a step behind, addressing one concern but failing to address or foresee another. But like I said, sometimes you can't cover all your bases unless you're an elite program.
I think for play style, you can make a certain argument that he's been stuck in his ways too much. But I think it's also wrong to act like all they did with Soares was post her up and let her score on her own. She had the second-highest assist rate on the team! Maybe those didn't come off of that much overall team movement, but she wasn't just forcing up shots. Players did move and cut off her, and she was able to find them. Joens just isn't as skilled in that area.
What makes Nebraska football that bad of a comparison? Pelini's success was more consistent than Fennelly's last 8 years, but he was also in a program with more financial support compared to other schools, less nearby competition, and a history of success outside of his own.
And what is the "next level" that Iowa State women's basketball should be at? The only reason we think there could be a next level is because of Fennelly's own success making it a possibility. Could another coach get to that next level? Maybe, but I think it's less likely than Fennelly being able to make changes to get there. I think the baseline success of Iowa State women's basketball with a typical replacement hire is probably lower than what Fennelly is able to do.
Oh I agree we were much better offensively when she was in the lineup but we were still forcing possessions through her at times instead of letting the game flow. Go back and watch the North Carolina and Iowa games. That's what frustrates me with Bill's offense, we force too many looks and try to set up isolation plays instead of running a motion offense.
We have a great record of making the NCAA (pretty much 80%) and that's probably good enough if you throw in a Sweet Sixteen every decade or so. There's no real pressure to win the conference and we've done that only once in the history of our program and none this century. There's no "If you don't win the conference than the season is a failure", it's just not in our history like it would be if we had a bunch of titles.
With an Elite Eight and two Sweet Sixteens in Fennelly's first five years I thought ISU might be building something crazy special but that house a fire start was never sustained. What we have is a good program, not elite or great but pretty good, maybe just outside the rankings as a Top 30-35 if you rated some sort of scale for the last 20 years. Attendance is good and we win "enough" (see record of making the NCAA's) and that's going to continue to be good enough.
Whether it's good enough for me doesn't really matter, it's just the way things are and will continue to be for at least the next five years unless the wheels just fall off (which I don't see happening). We don't even have to be better to have better league records after Texas and Oklahoma leave. With them gone and Baylor dying on the vine the league is going to be not so great and we will easily finish in the top half, probably the top third, we might even have a hot season and win a piece of the title but to me it will a little less satisfying than winning in the old Big 12.
Summary: It's steady, pretty good but not great, and isn't poised to be much better or much worse.
With an Elite Eight and two Sweet Sixteens in Fennelly's first five years I thought ISU might be building something crazy special but that house a fire start was never sustained. What we have is a good program, not elite or great but pretty good, maybe just outside the rankings as a Top 30-35 if you rated some sort of scale for the last 20 years. Attendance is good and we win "enough" (see record of making the NCAA's) and that's going to continue to be good enough.
Whether it's good enough for me doesn't really matter, it's just the way things are and will continue to be for at least the next five years unless the wheels just fall off (which I don't see happening). We don't even have to be better to have better league records after Texas and Oklahoma leave. With them gone and Baylor dying on the vine the league is going to be not so great and we will easily finish in the top half, probably the top third, we might even have a hot season and win a piece of the title but to me it will a little less satisfying than winning in the old Big 12.
Summary: It's steady, pretty good but not great, and isn't poised to be much better or much worse.
Bill’s teams always have high quality student athletes that represent ISU very well.
