More Perspective for the Sky is Falling Crowd

H

HawkIPA

Well-Known Member
Iowa has lost 5 of 9 going back to the game in Ann Arbor.

Iowa State lost 4 of 5 earlier in the year.

Michigan lost 3 of 5 two separate times this year.

Wisconsin lost 5 of 6 at one point this season.

Ohio State lost 5 of 6 this year.

Michigan State has lost 5 of their last 9 games.

Kansas lost 3 of 4 earlier in the year.

Good teams go through tough stretches. None of these teams is in danger of missing the NCAA tourney. Its rare for a team to go through the entire year and not have stretches like the above.
 
I'm certainly in agreement w/that...gotta right the ship and tonight's the night we start....All those above us have things somewhat corrected and are now doing what they need to do, so it's Iowa's turn heading into the end of the regular season....
 
(to the tune of "Twelve Days of Christmas") ...

... a-and Michiga-an made the title game!

(in 2013 after losing to lowly penn state and going 5-5 down the stretch of the regular season much like Iowa is doing in 2014 which means Iowa is going to make the NCAA title game and probably win it all thank God for transitive lawwww-gic!)
 
HawkIPA said:
Iowa has lost 5 of 9 going back to the game in Ann Arbor.

Iowa State lost 4 of 5 earlier in the year.

Michigan lost 3 of 5 two separate times this year.

Wisconsin lost 5 of 6 at one point this season.

Ohio State lost 5 of 6 this year.

Michigan State has lost 5 of their last 9 games.

Kansas lost 3 of 4 earlier in the year.

Good teams go through tough stretches. None of these teams is in danger of missing the NCAA tourney. Its rare for a team to go through the entire year and not have stretches like the above.
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You're absolutely correct here. Season is a grind. The only problem is those team ended their tough stretches. What if Iowa is just beginning their's?
 
Xerxes said:
You're absolutely correct here. Season is a grind. The only problem is those team ended their tough stretches. What if Iowa is just beginning their's?
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Agree. I don't recall Iowa st. losing 4 of 5. I know they lost 3 in a row to Top 25 teams, two of which on the road. Difference is you don't want to start a losing streak with the tourney weeks away. Good news is that Iowa has two terrible teams to finish the year in Purdue and Illinois. Although I think MSU is in between. Iowa is one of those teams that if they are playing well I think they can play with most anyone.
 
Cyhigh said:
Agree. I don't recall Iowa st. losing 4 of 5. I know they lost 3 in a row to Top 25 teams, two of which on the road. Difference is you don't want to start a losing streak with the tourney weeks away. Good news is that Iowa has two terrible teams to finish the year in Purdue and Illinois. Although I think MSU is in between. Iowa is one of those teams that if they are playing well I think they can play with most anyone.
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ISU lost @OU, KU, and @Texas before beating K-State and then losing @KU.

Iowa State Men's College Basketball - Cyclones News, Scores, Videos - College Basketball - ESPN

The difference here, though, is that many of the teams IPA listed had their rough patch early in the season, while Iowa seems to be struggling down the stretch. Tournament time isn't a good time to lose your mojo.. But if Iowa wins tonight and beats Purdue (as they should) over the weekend, then I will just consider these last two games a blip on the radar and not give it any more thought.
 
1977Hawkeye said:
ISU lost @OU, KU, and @Texas before beating K-State and then losing @KU.

Iowa State Men's College Basketball - Cyclones News, Scores, Videos - College Basketball - ESPN

The difference here, though, is that many of the teams IPA listed had their rough patch early in the season, while Iowa seems to be struggling down the stretch. Tournament time isn't a good time to lose your mojo.
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Tournament time is still 3 weeks away. Selection Sunday is 2 weeks from this Sunday.

A lot of time to right the ship.
 
My hope is they dont succumb to the pressure now. Coaches and players need to step back, take a deep breath and get back to playing like they know theyre capable.
 
1977Hawkeye said:
ISU lost @OU, KU, and @Texas before beating K-State and then losing @KU.

Iowa State Men's College Basketball - Cyclones News, Scores, Videos - College Basketball - ESPN

The difference here, though, is that many of the teams IPA listed had their rough patch early in the season, while Iowa seems to be struggling down the stretch. Tournament time isn't a good time to lose your mojo.. But if Iowa wins tonight and beats Purdue (as they should) over the weekend, then I will just consider these last two games a blip on the radar and not give it any more thought.
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The biggest difference I see is that those teams aren't terrible. MN and Indy are terrible.
 
Xerxes said:
You're absolutely correct here. Season is a grind. The only problem is those team ended their tough stretches. What if Iowa is just beginning their's?
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This is my concern. I think we're still going to make the Dance, but the difference between what Michigan/OSU/etc. went through and what we might be facing right now, is that they had their brutal stretches in January. March starts tomorrow and ours may not be over yet.
 
clicheusername3 said:
The biggest difference I see is that those teams aren't terrible. MN and Indy are terrible.
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Those teams arent terrible. Between the 2 they have knocked off Iowa, Michigan, Wisconsin and Ohio State on their home floors. Also Minnesota will probably make the tournament, thats hardly terrible.
 
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Minn is not great, but are teams that are in the tourney terrible? Yeah I guess from a B12 ISU fans perspective.
 
tm3308 said:
This is my concern. I think we're still going to make the Dance, but the difference between what Michigan/OSU/etc. went through and what we might be facing right now, is that they had their brutal stretches in January. March starts tomorrow and ours may not be over yet.
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I'm hopeful that Purdue will provide some relief but the way Iowa is playing defense right now is ugly. Poor offense can be excused on occasion for lack of talent or shooters.

Defense is about physical toughness, effort, and mental aptitude. Iowa has all 3 traits. No excuse for scholarship BB players to give up 90+ to Minnesota & Indiana.

If Iowa plays D like they have this past week (including the uneven effort against Wisconsin) it doesn't matter who they play or where they play, they'll get beat.

The silver lining is that it only takes one win to turn momentum. Hope it starts soon.
 
clicheusername3 said:
Sorry let me correct myself.

"the biggest difference that I see is that MN sucks and we beat them by 20+ once and they have a hard time scoring over 50 points in a decent portion of their games and Indy is terrible."
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Indiana has beaten three top 20 teams in the Big Ten this year. They are not a consistently good team, but they are far from terrible.
 
doclee said:
Indiana has beaten three top 20 teams in the Big Ten this year. They are not a consistently good team, but they are far from terrible.
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So, they've beaten more top 20 teams than Iowa has.

The criticism of the Iowa team is valid. They are 3-9 in games decided by under 10 points, 1-7 in conference play. That's a strong case that they can't handle the pressure of tight games in crunch time. Not sure how that suddenly gets corrected.

From an realistic point of view, maybe the sky isn't falling, it's just that it was twice as high as it should have been in the first place.
 
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