Sunday, March 17, 2024
The view from the bottom of the hill
Thursday, March 07, 2024
Closers
A team that pulls a game out of the fire late might have gotten lucky.
The team that finds a way, night after night, might be good.
For the record, the CSJ staff loves the style of basketball that BYU plays. It is the perfect antidote to what Iowa State wants to do on defense. As long as they don’t give the ball away early in the possession, they should find an open 3 or a back cut into the lane. It’s beautiful basketball, and will be a challenge for the Cyclones every night out.
The last 15 minutes were a clinic of defensive adjustments and effort, and wrapped the first perfect home slate since Tinsley was at point. Been a while- but only because of what this team does on defense.
Here’s hoping they continue closing.
Tuesday, February 20, 2024
Levels
While it was often ugly to watch, our Cyclones played high level basketball in Houston Monday night.
The difficult start could have frazzled the team and resulted in a blowout. Instead, they scored 1.13 points per possession against the best defense in basket across the final 30 minutes.
Unlike last season, the Cyclones will be able to score on just about every team in the tournament. While the trip to Houston didn’t deliver a win, the Cyclones came home with the confidence that they are ready for any stage.
Game On.
Wednesday, February 14, 2024
Data
The stats nerds are telling us that teams that make deep runs in March do things that are similar to the things that Iowa State does on the court.
It’s not that they are winning games- it’s that they are winning games by 10, and keeping the opponent at arms length for long stretches. Our Cyclone eyes aren’t used to seeing that.
Lots of doors are still open for this team. Enjoy the ride- it’s been a long wait.
Saturday, February 10, 2024
Difficulty
The average college basketball fan doesn’t realize the difficulty of maintaining a first half lead. A lot can happen in the final 50 or 60 possessions.
Iowa State answered each of TCU’s runs today, and actually built the lead when Lipsey sat for 10 minutes in the first half. That’s a real luxury.
A solid home win over a solid Big 12 team. Take care of business when you can.
Wednesday, February 07, 2024
Capacity
It appears that when the Cyclones are playing well they can play very, very well, and on the road to boot.
The first 30ish minutes of the game in Austin speaks to upside Iowa State basketball hasn’t had in a while. It’s fun to witness again.
I love a team that can run a simple pick and roll in crunch time for a dunk. That’s a good tool for the toolbox.
Doors are still open for this team. Here’s hoping we can walk through several of them.
Sunday, February 04, 2024
Freebies
Saturday’s loss in Waco was a wild one- big offensive runs, a coach gets ejected, an angry crowd, both teams making plays and terrible mistakes, and a buzzer beater that doesn’t. But the game swung on the freebies.
With a final result that was wafer-thin, any little play could have been the difference. 11 missed free thrown are the obvious target, but so are a half-dozen missed inside shots that were rushed and errant passes that came from trying to do too much.
Now on to Austin, where a similar challenge awaits. One can never have too many tiebreakers in their pocket.