Twister Sister Summary - Two on Five Doesn't Win Ballgames

[acoustimac]

They are absolutely coached to force the ball inside.

There are always qualifiers. Are they coached to feed Crooks? Sure! When you have a dominant post that should be a primary option. BUT are they told to bypass any open looks just to force it in? Big no. The staff has said time and again, and history supports, players always have the green light. If they didn't do you think they would have worked so much with Crooks to feed the ball outside? Would Brown have gone off for 31 yesterday? You ride the horses that are running hard every game.

 

[Clonefan32]

There are always qualifiers. Are they coached to feed Crooks? Sure! When you have a dominant post that should be a primary option. BUT are they told to bypass any open looks just to force it in? Big no. The staff has said time and again, and history supports, players always have the green light. If they didn't do you think they would have worked so much with Crooks to feed the ball outside? Would Brown have gone off for 31 yesterday? You ride the horses that are running hard every game.

Let's use our context clues a little bit here to figure out what's going on. Does Bill maybe tell them they have a green light? That's entirely possible. But what do we see from Bill:

A) Scowling, pacing, angry look constantly on the sideline.
B) Immediate hook for a mistake for anyone not named Addi or Audi.
C) A horrendous retention rate with girls leaving to find more of a role.
D) A propensity for publicly throwing his players under the bus with the media.

Nothing about that screams "let it fly". They look like girls with no confidence, and that starts with the coaches. You saw TJ talking to Heise during the game Saturday-- and I can guarantee you that wasn't chewing him out about missing shots. That was him telling him he has to shoot it if he's open. In the media-- TJ is always talking about how much faith they have in Heise. Nothing but building him up, and that's how you coach. Basketball is an impossible game to play without confidence and without an ability to play without overthinking. Bill has not facilitated that type of environment for years.

 

[kcdc4isu]

No comment as the coach haters have spoken, the player critics have trashed the ones they don't feel are as good as they are and the people who seem to dislike the team in general have posted. I have always wondered how many of those on here who are so critical played or more important coached a team. If they did I would want to know what was their record was as some love to throw out advise when they have little personal knowledge of the players. You can be the smartest person in the room AFTER watching a game and point out all the faults. But it is a different animal in the heat of the game. Have our coaches made strange/bad decisions, yes. Have players not played up to expectations yes. With that said I will still support/cheer for this team as I feel there is still a team that has the skill and desire to do more. Go Cyclones!

 

[GoodyISU1]

I hate to say it but it's going to be really hard to keep her in Ames and not just because of money. As long as she shares the floor with Audi, Brown's game is going to be held back.

I think sharing the floor with Audi opens her game up more TBH. The attention Audi commands allows Addy more freedom

 

[Lafaester54]

Here’s kind of an “out there” question…do you think Audi travels on that step back move?…is there a chance that will be called in the future?

 

[ZorkClone]

No comment as the coach haters have spoken, the player critics have trashed the ones they don't feel are as good as they are and the people who seem to dislike the team in general have posted. I have always wondered how many of those on here who are so critical played or more important coached a team. If they did I would want to know what was their record was as some love to throw out advise when they have little personal knowledge of the players. You can be the smartest person in the room AFTER watching a game and point out all the faults. But it is a different animal in the heat of the game. Have our coaches made strange/bad decisions, yes. Have players not played up to expectations yes. With that said I will still support/cheer for this team as I feel there is still a team that has the skill and desire to do more. Go Cyclones!

This is a message board specifically about the WBB team, what else are we supposed to talk about?

 

[BillBrasky4Cy]

I think sharing the floor with Audi opens her game up more TBH. The attention Audi commands allows Addy more freedom

Meh not really. It would be one thing if we used Audi to open up shooters and slashers but we don't. Think of what Brown would look like a free flowing offense like Iowa's.

 

[ZorkClone]

Meh not really. It would be one thing if we used Audi to open up shooters and slashers but we don't. Think of what Brown would look like a free flowing offense like Iowa's.

Even though Prince was shut down, TCU did the inside out game beautifully. We should copy that for next year if we have the horses.

 

[NWICY]

Here’s kind of an “out there” question…do you think Audi travels on that step back move?…is there a chance that will be called in the future?

Part of the time IMO.

 

[acoustimac]

Meh not really. It would be one thing if we used Audi to open up shooters and slashers but we don't. Think of what Brown would look like a free flowing offense like Iowa's.

Some people choose to see what they want to see. Throughout this season we have seen Audi’s game evolve greatly to pop the ball back out to open shooters. To say it doesn’t happen is a disservice to the players.

 

[BillBrasky4Cy]

Some people choose to see what they want to see. Throughout this season we have seen Audi’s game evolve greatly to pop the ball back out to open shooters. To say it doesn’t happen is a disservice to the players.

I would wager 80% of the time Audi touches the ball down low it results in a shot. That's the exact opposite of an inside out game. Forcing it inside has been our strategy all season.

 

[swclone11]

Going to type up a few of my thoughts as we lost another game that we probably needed to remain on the better side of the bubble. Iowa picked up theirs, we didn't. That's going to create a dangerous question about us on Selection Sunday that we would rather have answered.

Anyway, I have been semi-dismissive of widescale coaching conversations - mostly because they popped up last year too for little reason and it seemed like certain people have bones to pick. But it's clear that there is something off. I think the game has moved beyond where Bill is right now. I keep hoping that he'll prove me wrong, and maybe he will. I think that his attitude towards players who aren't the main trio isn't ideal, but I don't know if it is as big of a thing as some are saying.

I don't believe he is telling players to pass up shots. They are. Is that because they're not willing to take chances for fear of being sat, or is it because they are just passing them up? My biggest question on this is what has happened to Sydney Harris? She played brilliantly at Arizona, and we don't run plays for her. She shoots 3s at a near 50% clip. We aren't creating looks for her at the rate I think we should.

Another thought I have had is that we are missing Kenzie Hare. Not so much her production, but her poise. Emily is basically the only one I trust consistently to not play flustered/sped up. And she can do it too, at times. We're missing Hare's leadership, in my opinion.

I'm really excited for how Addy has grown her game in the past few weeks, and Audi put in a hard day's work yesterday. I know 46% isn't great percentage wise, but she was being forced to try at the end of the shot clock more than anyone else was. That lowers your percentage. I will always cheer for the team and watch each game. I hope we can get some more things going.

 

[WartburgClone]

BUT are they told to bypass any open looks just to force it in? Big no.

“The players are told not to shoot and pass to Crooks” is the manta. First of all, I think that is the farthest thing from the truth. The coaching staff very specifically mentions players needing to hunt their shots more and everyone has the green light. Would they just lie to the public? Doubtful. So what is happening? Without intimate access to the coaches and players (which will never happen) we simply don’t know.

 

[kcdc4isu]

Going to type up a few of my thoughts as we lost another game that we probably needed to remain on the better side of the bubble. Iowa picked up theirs, we didn't. That's going to create a dangerous question about us on Selection Sunday that we would rather have answered.

Anyway, I have been semi-dismissive of widescale coaching conversations - mostly because they popped up last year too for little reason and it seemed like certain people have bones to pick. But it's clear that there is something off. I think the game has moved beyond where Bill is right now. I keep hoping that he'll prove me wrong, and maybe he will. I think that his attitude towards players who aren't the main trio isn't ideal, but I don't know if it is as big of a thing as some are saying.

I don't believe he is telling players to pass up shots. They are. Is that because they're not willing to take chances for fear of being sat, or is it because they are just passing them up? My biggest question on this is what has happened to Sydney Harris? She played brilliantly at Arizona, and we don't run plays for her. She shoots 3s at a near 50% clip. We aren't creating looks for her at the rate I think we should.

Another thought I have had is that we are missing Kenzie Hare. Not so much her production, but her poise. Emily is basically the only one I trust consistently to not play flustered/sped up. And she can do it too, at times. We're missing Hare's leadership, in my opinion.

I'm really excited for how Addy has grown her game in the past few weeks, and Audi put in a hard day's work yesterday. I know 46% isn't great percentage wise, but she was being forced to try at the end of the shot clock more than anyone else was. That lowers your percentage. I will always cheer for the team and watch each game. I hope we can get some more things going.

IMO I think this is an issue. We should try to feed the post when we have the miss match but it seems too may times we pass up open players to make that pass when it is not there. I noticed a few times yesterday we had a wing open but first went to the post.