CU/ISU

[cycofan]

FOURTEEN turnovers in the first half....down sixteen......YIKES!!!

[ISUbballfan]

This sounds like the A & M game again.

[cycofan]

Coach Bill just got a "T". Even the CU commentator said that Welle got hacked. Sounds like Bill's been working on the officials all night.

[#1Big12Fan]

how many chances has ISU gotten and blown with CU's missed FT's?!?!?!?!?!? yikes!

[unkiemark]

Okay - I was at the game. I didn't think the story was the technical or ISU's "missed" opportunities at the end of the game. It was that CU was getting and making open shots in the first half while shutting down Welle. This allowed them to open a 40-26 lead at the break. ISU was just in too deep of a hole even with all of their offensive weapons.

Although I haven't seen ISU this season prior to tonight my reaction to their play was that they weren't very assertive. At times they seemed to be giong through the motions.

CU seemed to have a wonderful anticipation of what ISU wanted to do on offense and really forced the Cyclones to use much of the shot clock to get a decent shot much of the game. And the fact that CU's Britt Hartshorn was able to neutralize Welle really made a difference. Interestingly Hartshorn didn't get a lot of help as CU had to pay so much attention to ISU's three point shooting. Yet she did the job and got Welle in foul trouble. Hartshorn scored 22 points as well,



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MarkW

[CyRox98]

Once again, it sounded like terrible officiating. Only had Fellingham on the radio to go by, but there seemed to be an awful lot of travelling calls both ways (more than the usual), at least twice where he said the ball clearly was pushed out of bounds by CU only to go back to the Buffs, plus the impression that Angie couldn't have been hacked any harder during most of the game even if her match-up had an axe.

But I don't blame the officials for this one (as sucky as they are/were). Turnovers killed us once again and the defense was extremely suspect as it has been on and off all year. I'm sorry, but CU (or anyone else for that matter) should not be scoring that easily nearly every time down the court - especially in the first half. I hate the way we've sagged off too many players outside the 3 point line. I don't know if Fennelly is telling the kids to stay on them and they aren't listening or if he isn't telling them at all to guard the perimeter more closely. Several teams have burned us this year with the 3 and it's taken most of the game or not at all for us to wise up and stick a hand in someone's face.

I think a part of the problem may lie in that there are SO MANY new faces this year, it has really affected team chemistry. It can't be blamed on the loss of Junod anymore. Yes, that was part of it, but only a small portion, IMO. Fully six of the twelve active players were not on the floor for us last year. And of the six who were, only three (Wilson, Gahan and Welle) had much more than token minutes. Cizek has been under-used. I don't know what Bordewyk has done to p* off Fennelly, but she's barely played at all this season - and generally looked good when she's been on the floor. Anyway, back to my original point of this paragraph... I think that there are just so many new players that the veterans still are not used to having others on the floor who don't instinctively know where to be and what to do like we've had the last four years.

Plus, I hate to say it, but the level of play for the new kids is lower than it has been for the last few years (with the exception of when we got Bauman, who was our only recruit two years ago - as you know, she didn't exactly pan out). While Paustian and Fox have shown promise and will grow into their roles by next season, they have been very inconsistent so far this year. Bremer has shown she can play with the "big boys," but also has shown she easily gets frustrated when things don't go her way. She's a capable scorer, but has yet to have that one great breakout game.

Get a load of Bremer's stats from her sophomore year at Northeast CC in Nebraska... FG/FGA: 283-533, FT/FTA: 245-324, 300 rebounds, 84 blocks and a total of 816 points. For comparison, last season Welle was FG/FGA: 228-348, FT/FTA: 146-198, 330 rebounds, 36 blocks with 605 total points. Yes, this was at a junior college where the level of play is hardly comparable to D1 ball, but the numbers impressed me. Also, keep in mind, she's "only" 6'1". I hope she can strive to live up to those figures before her two years at ISU are up. She could be phenomenal for us next year if she works at it. The additions of O'Neil, Smith (if she keeps up with school), McCracken, Goring (if we can sign her), and having Junod back along with Wilson leading the show, should allow Melanie to find her place in the offense.

Personally, I'm disappointed that New Mexico was not able to host the NCAA Midwest Regional this year like they were originally supposed to. ISU was going to have it in 2003, but it was switched due to conflicts - I believe something to do with the renovations they have planned at the Pit. Not totally sure about that, tho. I have a feeling that having the regionals in Ames will be a wasted opportunity this season. With the loss tonight, we basically eliminated ourselves from hosting a subregional. Barring a total collapse of all teams in the top 4 of the conference, five losses ships us out somewhere else - and THAT's if we win out. I'm still thinking 7 wins in the Big 12 allows us in the NCAA's (grim to slim chance) as a very low seed, 8 wins should be good for a 7 to 10 seed, and anything more than that would just be gravy. But, if the team doesn't pull it together soon, it may be the WNIT for us with no guarantee of hosting that either since Hilton is sorta booked in March. There is still time to salvage the year, but only time will tell.

[This message has been edited by CyRox98 (edited 01-24-2002).]

[CyRox98]

Wow, I really rambled on that one. My apologies to anyone who fell asleep while trying to get thru it!! http://hoopscoop.net/ubb/smile.gif

[schooner2]

CyRox98, I got through it. I don't think it is quite as bleak as you make it out to be. Obviously agree that hosting is in serious, serious jeopardy, but not totally out the window. Four of the 5 conference losses have come to ranked teams. You beat Oklahoma (one great win) and you've lost to A&M (one bad loss). ISU will still not be out of the Top 20 come next week.

It is ashame that you won't get to host - probably. But, there's still the chance that ISU could play to come home for the regionals if you can get past the sub-regionals.

[kate dawg]

Wow CyRox. Long one! I was also at the game, and the refs did suck. Welle got called for some bad offensive fouls that i thought were just regular battling in the low post. I wouldn't worry too much about ISU having to play in the WNIT...they are a good ballclub in a bad stretch. They will find a way to win. In the meantime, I'm glad CU has bounced back, but at Mizzou this weekend is no picnic.

[BenEClone]

Not so bleak. In the past two seasons, the Twister Sisters hosted the first two rounds with 5 losses. There are five losses now. It is possible, though optimistic, to go through the season with no more than 1 or 2 more losses. If so, especially with the high SOS, a home court advantage is still possible. The one glimmer of hope is that new young people have the capacity to progress more as the season goes on and we need just one of them to become a consistent double digit threat. http://hoopscoop.net/ubb/smile.gif

[mred]

ISU's Big XII schedule:

first 7 games = 5 ranked teams
last 9 games = 3 ranked teams

There is a lot of potential for ISU to win most of their remaining Big XII games. ISU has Kansas twice, Missouri twice, @ Nebraska, and @ OSU. Missouri and OSU each have a big home conference victory and ISU will have to play well to win, but it's certainly better than having to play Texas, Texas Tech, and Oklahoma again. ISU also has Baylor and Colorado at home, with the only road game against a top-of-the-pack opponent being @ KSU. ISU should be able to win at least six of these games, which would leave the team at 8-8 in the conference and 20-8 overall, probably good enough for a 6 or 7 seed. If ISU wins 8 of 9 (not impossible), that's a 10-6 conference record (22-6 overall) and a potential host seed.

[schooner2]

Originally posted by mred:
Missouri and OSU each have a big home conference victory and ISU will have to play well to win, but it's certainly better than having to play Texas, Texas Tech, and Oklahoma again.

What do you mean? If ISU could just schedule OU 16 times in conference, then the Cyclones would go 16-0 http://hoopscoop.net/ubb/smile.gif

[cycofan]

I agree. Didn't ISU have the highest first and second round attendance last year? If there is any way the NCAA can stretch and get ISU a 4 seed, I think they will.

I am also eying 10-6 in the conference. I think that Coach Fennelly will get them on track. I'm sure Welle and Gahan won't go down without a fight!

[BenEClone]

One more thought on post-season play before getting back to more immediate tasks - last year Vanderbilt 21-9; North Carolina 20-10; Purdue 20-6; and Rutgers 22-7 hosted first and second round games. A lot depends on how other contenders do in the last games of the season. 2-3 more losses for ISU with its high SOS would not be fatal especially if they get hot in KC. http://hoopscoop.net/ubb/isu.gif

[ISU3PointLand]

Remember though, Vanderbilt, Purdue, Rutgers, etc, all finished in the Top 3 of their conference. It is very doubtful that ISU will finish top 4 in the Big XII. I doubt the NCAA would give the Big XII more than 3 home sub-regionals. Also remember that last year Colorado finished fourth in conference, yet received a #5 seed.

[kate dawg]

yeah but Colorado finished the regular season 3-2 and lost at home to Texas Tech (blowing a 12 point lead) and on the road to Mizzou. those cost them the seed almost for sure. iowa state will finish very strong. i still think it's too early to start declaring who the top four will be...

[CyRox98]

Actually, Colorado was a 6 seed last year after finishing 4th in the conference (with an 11-5 record). I guess my point somewhere in that mess I wrote was that unless ISU is going to end up in the top 3 (and most likely needing four or fewer league losses to do so), we will not be regarded highly enough to get a subregional. With 5 losses in the league already, no matter how well ISU did in the non-conference schedule, I think we've played ourselves out of hosting any early round games. The past attendance figures shouldn't make a difference to the selection committee. Even if we finish 8-8 in the conference, we don't deserve to host. We were talking at work today about the only way ISU gets to be a 4 seed: win out the rest of the season and win the Big 12 tournament. That scenario might be possible with another loss, but much less likely.

The team needs to figure out what to do to start winning - NOW. There isn't a lot of time and NO room for error. I'm glad so many people are still optimistic (if not overly so) about our chances. I have always had a problem of being too much of a realist and preparing myself for the worst in most cases. But then if the worst doesn't happen, it seems like a relief and not so bad after all. Still, much needs to occur before Selection Sunday. I honestly don't expect to see "Hilton Coliseum, Ames, Iowa" appear on the screen for 1st and 2nd round games.

[This message has been edited by CyRox98 (edited 01-24-2002).]

[This message has been edited by CyRox98 (edited 01-24-2002).]