This is one year where a home and away game with ISU would do wonders.

Which would be extra annoying because that means we had a top-5 team beat on the road and blew it.
 
I wouldn't be shocked if Iowa State only loses 2-3 games in the Big 12.

I would be. While they are a good team, I don't think they are a 2-3 loss good. That would put them as a #1 seed and top 5 team for sure, and winning the Big12
 
I would be. While they are a good team, I don't think they are a 2-3 loss good. That would put them as a #1 seed and top 5 team for sure, and winning the Big12

Just a scan of their schedule the only team that is that much better than them, I think, is Oklahoma State (they are my national champion pick right now) Other than that Iowa State is good enough to beat everyone else (though I expect Kansas to improve)
 
I expect ISU to be right around 12-6 in the B12, there going to drop a few on the road and when any of their big four guys get into foul trouble. They have no one on the bench who is good enough to step up on the road in a tough conference game. Both of their big freshman recruits have been very underwhelming.
 
I would be. While they are a good team, I don't think they are a 2-3 loss good. That would put them as a #1 seed and top 5 team for sure, and winning the Big12


Agree, I see more than that. Unless they shore up their play from behind bs. Other teams will eat that up in the b12.
 
I think ISU is more of a 5-6 loss B12 team, but... If they can manage to split with KU, lose @OKST and drop another along the way. That will put them at 3 losses heading into a showdown with OKST in Ames, which would likely be for a portion of the B12 reg season champion.

So given how difficult it is to win in Ames, I don't think 2-3 losses and a B12 ship is unrealistic.
 
I would be stunned if they don't lose at least 5.

They might be ranked pretty high, but they have been lucky this year so far. They are over ranked, but at least they got there by playing and winning their games. There are some teams that are ranked no matter what unless they totally fall apart.
 
I would be stunned if they don't lose at least 5.

Me too.

There are at least 4 losses on the schedule without any "bad losses"...

@OSU, @KU, @Baylor, and @Texas (or OU). That doesn't even account for playing all of those teams at home again.
 
I expect ISU to be right around 12-6 in the B12, there going to drop a few on the road and when any of their big four guys get into foul trouble. They have no one on the bench who is good enough to step up on the road in a tough conference game. Both of their big freshman recruits have been very underwhelming.

Disagree. Thomas is struggling but I couldn't be happier with Morris.
 
LOL 5.2 ppg on 34% shooting. 1.8 ppg in your last five games. LOL most have some real low expectations there.

He's shooting 22% against top 150 teams.

"Couldn't be happier" might be a bit of a stretch, as it would be nice if he could score more. But he wasn't recruited because he's a scorer, and he's not expected to for this team. But for a backup true freshman PG, I'm happy with averaging nearly 3 assists, less than 1 TO, and 20 minutes per game.
 
"Couldn't be happier" might be a bit of a stretch, as it would be nice if he could score more. But he wasn't recruited because he's a scorer, and he's not expected to for this team. But for a backup true freshman PG, I'm happy with averaging nearly 3 assists, less than 1 TO, and 20 minutes per game.

So basically what Anthony Clemmons did last year for the Hawks??
 
"Couldn't be happier" might be a bit of a stretch, as it would be nice if he could score more. But he wasn't recruited because he's a scorer, and he's not expected to for this team. But for a backup true freshman PG, I'm happy with averaging nearly 3 assists, less than 1 TO, and 20 minutes per game.

LOL again, he stat packed against a couple terrible teams. In the 7 games against decent competition he has 9 assists and 6 turnovers. But hey he was damn good against UMKC!

So here's his overall stats against top 190 KenPom teams:

2.0 ppg, 5/23 FG's 21.7%, 1.3 apg, 6 TO's

Couldn't be happier! LOL
 
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I agree that Iowa State could get a very nice seed in the big dance. If I were a fan of that team, my only concern would be the lack of depth. Jump shots get more difficult in the middle of the season during the grind. The good news for them, is they don't rely on 3 point shots as much as they have in the past. If Ejim and Niang stay healthy, and Kane keeps his head straight, they will have their best season in some time. With that said, I would still need love to see them in the tourney. My biased opinion is that we can and would lay the smack down.
 
I agree that Iowa State could get a very nice seed in the big dance. If I were a fan of that team, my only concern would be the lack of depth. Jump shots get more difficult in the middle of the season during the grind. The good news for them, is they don't rely on 3 point shots as much as they have in the past. If Ejim and Niang stay healthy, and Kane keeps his head straight, they will have their best season in some time. With that said, I would still need love to see them in the tourney. My biased opinion is that we can and would lay the smack down.

They have "escaped" in several games thus far. All of the close ones have gone their way. This could be a combination of coaching and talent. This could also be a case of fortunate timing...momentum, key basket, etc. which won't happen every game over the course of the year. My guess is it's a combination of the 2. Time will tell.
 
LOL again, he stat packed against a couple terrible teams. In the 7 games against decent competition he has 9 assists and 6 turnovers. But hey he was damn good against UMKC!

So here's his overall stats against top 190 KenPom teams:

2.0 ppg, 5/23 FG's 21.7%, 1.3 apg, 6 TO's

Couldn't be happier! LOL

I admit I hadn't looked into it that closely. He had a decent game against you guys, but it is true that other than that game almost all his stats have come against the bottom 4 teams we've played. And deanvogs is right that his numbers are actually pretty similar to what Clemmons did last year against similar competition.

The main positive is that he hasn't made a lot of mistakes (again, like Clemmons last year), but he hasn't really done much positive either. I still wouldn't call him a disappointment to this point, but his stats certainly do not impress either.
 
I expect ISU to be right around 12-6 in the B12, there going to drop a few on the road and when any of their big four guys get into foul trouble. They have no one on the bench who is good enough to step up on the road in a tough conference game. Both of their big freshman recruits have been very underwhelming.

I think ISU fan would be more concerned if they were overwhelming with the Top 4 that they have.
 
They have "escaped" in several games thus far. All of the close ones have gone their way. This could be a combination of coaching and talent. This could also be a case of fortunate timing...momentum, key basket, etc. which won't happen every game over the course of the year. My guess is it's a combination of the 2. Time will tell.

Fred Hoiberg is a very, very good offensive coach. He does a great job of having the floor spaced offensively which can be hard to do in college basketball due to lane and ball side of the floor clogging which happens quite often in college basketball. You can play zone in the NBA but you are not allowed to sag/load as much as you can in college basketball.

I saw if first with the way Fred used Royce White as a point forward who faciliated the offense. I thought they would struggle when White left but Niang stepped in and ran a lot of the action as a poor mans White. This year Fred is posting up Kane a lot and clearing out players so teams can not double team him too often.

Close games can go either way and a lot of factors can go into it. But with Niang, Ejim, and Kane ISU can run sets in close games to get those guys shots or fouled. Ejim and Niang have a lot of game and NCAA tournament experience. Kane is a 5th year senior who has seen a lot of game action as well. I guess you can say ISU will start to lose close games but they do have a lot going for them if they stay healthy.
 
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