My previous post was full of positives.
Here with the Half Empty View (and a switch in roles, as I am usually the pessamist) may I present CrossCyed.
"...one of the worst 16 point Cyclone wins I've seen in years."
Good line.
Sorry CC, given the how the season has gone, I'm gonna celebrate every dang win, cost be damned.
Peterclone
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Stat Geekiness
Big12Sports.com only needed an hour to update the MBB stats page of their website. Based on the numbers, you have to like ISU's chances Saturday in Lincoln.
Even though the numbers are skewed with ISU having two more conference games than NU, ISU is better than NU in virtually every stat when looking at the averages per game.
Now to be fair, the Huskers have so far have a 2 point home loss to Baylor, a four point loss in Boulder and two blowout losses to Kansas. Those two blowouts will skew anyone's numbers. Their trip to Columbia Wednesday will tell us alot.
Plus, we can't discount the loss of Wesley to the offensive flow. ISU was in a funk for about 15 minutes of clock time after he got hurt, and only halftime got their offensive head screwed back on.
Now that I've conviced myself that ISU can win, NU will put together their perfect inside-outside game and win going away. Its a total jinx, and it's all my fault. Sorry about that, folks.
Peterclone
Even though the numbers are skewed with ISU having two more conference games than NU, ISU is better than NU in virtually every stat when looking at the averages per game.
Now to be fair, the Huskers have so far have a 2 point home loss to Baylor, a four point loss in Boulder and two blowout losses to Kansas. Those two blowouts will skew anyone's numbers. Their trip to Columbia Wednesday will tell us alot.
Plus, we can't discount the loss of Wesley to the offensive flow. ISU was in a funk for about 15 minutes of clock time after he got hurt, and only halftime got their offensive head screwed back on.
Now that I've conviced myself that ISU can win, NU will put together their perfect inside-outside game and win going away. Its a total jinx, and it's all my fault. Sorry about that, folks.
Peterclone
Major Adjustments
The number of reasons ISU should have lost tonight is longer than the reasons they did win:
-Hangover from a really bad roadie in the state of Kansas;
-finding themselves down 8 in the first half
-scoring only 15 points int he first 20 minutes
-losing your best player to an ankle sprain early in the first
-giving up good looks and loose balls to a scrappy team that knows how to shoot
Yet ISU adjusted all of their problems away at the half, and turned in one of their better halves of basketball in the second:
-Wesley? Who needs Wesley? 2 points in 8 minutes? So what!
-Ten different players scored
-CU was held to 34% percent for the game, after shooting 44% in the first
-CU was only 3-14 from 3
-ISU finished +5 in rebounds, +3 in TO, and +7 in assists
-ISU scored 42 points in the second, and it could have been 50+ with free throws
With
or without Wesley, I expect Mac and crew to have a winnable scheme for
the sliding Huskers. As long as the offense doesn't fall into the same
discombobulated funk it was in the first half tonight,ISU can win on the road.
Peterclone
-Hangover from a really bad roadie in the state of Kansas;
-finding themselves down 8 in the first half
-scoring only 15 points int he first 20 minutes
-losing your best player to an ankle sprain early in the first
-giving up good looks and loose balls to a scrappy team that knows how to shoot
Yet ISU adjusted all of their problems away at the half, and turned in one of their better halves of basketball in the second:
-Wesley? Who needs Wesley? 2 points in 8 minutes? So what!
-Ten different players scored
-CU was held to 34% percent for the game, after shooting 44% in the first
-CU was only 3-14 from 3
-ISU finished +5 in rebounds, +3 in TO, and +7 in assists
-ISU scored 42 points in the second, and it could have been 50+ with free throws
With
or without Wesley, I expect Mac and crew to have a winnable scheme for
the sliding Huskers. As long as the offense doesn't fall into the same
discombobulated funk it was in the first half tonight,ISU can win on the road.
Peterclone
Monday, January 28, 2008
Hoop Love, Sorta
Just when I'm all down in the mouth after two blowouts, RockChalk actual picks me up a bit.
We're #7 in their power rankings behind a$m but ahead of Mizzou.
The bring up two important points:
1- KU and KSU might be the cream of the league this year, and
2- ISU has two winnable games this week.
We'll know a lot more Sunday.
Peterclone
We're #7 in their power rankings behind a$m but ahead of Mizzou.
The bring up two important points:
1- KU and KSU might be the cream of the league this year, and
2- ISU has two winnable games this week.
We'll know a lot more Sunday.
Peterclone
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Simple Game
It's not that hard, boys- you score more points than the other team.
Yes, I know, KU has 17 future NBA players. I know, KSU has all those guys Huggy imported.
But losing by 25? Ouch.
At this point, when those teams make their return to Hilton, solid games will make us all feel better.
CU and NU could help the collective healing process this week.
Peterclone
Yes, I know, KU has 17 future NBA players. I know, KSU has all those guys Huggy imported.
But losing by 25? Ouch.
At this point, when those teams make their return to Hilton, solid games will make us all feel better.
CU and NU could help the collective healing process this week.
Peterclone
Sunday, January 20, 2008
First 10 Improvement
McDermott's team emphasises
first 10possessions of each half to set the tone for that half. If i am reading
the
correctly,ISU won both halves, especially in the 2nd.
My tally had ISU with 6 scores in 10 possessions in the 1st and 5 of 10 in the second. OSU only had 4 in the first, but it's 10th possession was the beginning of their 10 point run. Where they lost the game was in the 2nd: only 1 score in their first 10 possessions, while ISU had 5. Tie ballgame, ISU has momentum, and they were soon cooked.
An interesting philosophy, and judging by Saturday, it works.
Now a roadie to Lawrence. Ugh. Too bad KU isn't playing well or anything.
If there was any sports justice, KU hoops would be bad this year to make up for their football success. By bad I don't mean bad by KU
standards (10-6 in league), I mean
4-12 bad, losing both games to Mizzou, KSU and ISU bad. Having to play
on Thursday in the B12 tourney bad. Being turned down by the NIT bad.
Bad. But when all
12 players are McD AA's, the chances are slim.
As usual, the question shouldn't be "Why can't ISU beat KU?"; it should be "Why won't KU win the NCAA title this year?" They really have no excuse.
PT
first 10possessions of each half to set the tone for that half. If i am reading
the
correctly,ISU won both halves, especially in the 2nd.
My tally had ISU with 6 scores in 10 possessions in the 1st and 5 of 10 in the second. OSU only had 4 in the first, but it's 10th possession was the beginning of their 10 point run. Where they lost the game was in the 2nd: only 1 score in their first 10 possessions, while ISU had 5. Tie ballgame, ISU has momentum, and they were soon cooked.
An interesting philosophy, and judging by Saturday, it works.
Now a roadie to Lawrence. Ugh. Too bad KU isn't playing well or anything.
If there was any sports justice, KU hoops would be bad this year to make up for their football success. By bad I don't mean bad by KU
standards (10-6 in league), I mean
4-12 bad, losing both games to Mizzou, KSU and ISU bad. Having to play
on Thursday in the B12 tourney bad. Being turned down by the NIT bad.
Bad. But when all
12 players are McD AA's, the chances are slim.
As usual, the question shouldn't be "Why can't ISU beat KU?"; it should be "Why won't KU win the NCAA title this year?" They really have no excuse.
PT
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Finishing
While Wes is showing he can finish near the basket, and his bum wheel is back to full stregnth, our Clonies are making things harder than they should be.
Mac's T in the first half ignited an OSU run. It's suposed to work the other way, guys. Then a tasty 10 point lead with the Cowboys on the ropes evaporated in the last few minutes, resulting in nail chewing time. While ISU wasn't good enough to put the game away when it could, OSU wasn't good enough to make it really interesting when they got it down to three. Thanks for coming, drive carefully.
The game palns for each game appear sound, and adjustments work. It appears the emphasis now needs to be on "tired free-throws" and end of game situations.
Start putting teams away and this bunch could be interesting.
Peterclone
Mac's T in the first half ignited an OSU run. It's suposed to work the other way, guys. Then a tasty 10 point lead with the Cowboys on the ropes evaporated in the last few minutes, resulting in nail chewing time. While ISU wasn't good enough to put the game away when it could, OSU wasn't good enough to make it really interesting when they got it down to three. Thanks for coming, drive carefully.
The game palns for each game appear sound, and adjustments work. It appears the emphasis now needs to be on "tired free-throws" and end of game situations.
Start putting teams away and this bunch could be interesting.
Peterclone
Friday, January 18, 2008
15 going on 16?
Reading the ISU-OSU preview in the OSU student paper, I find that the Cowboys have lost 15 straight B12 road games.
Ouch.
I'm all for extending that streak.
We've been on the receiving end of runs like that, so we might as well help extend someone else's misery.
Peterclone
Ouch.
I'm all for extending that streak.
We've been on the receiving end of runs like that, so we might as well help extend someone else's misery.
Peterclone
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Composure
For a long stretch of the second half, I thought ISU was going complete a slow-speed blowout of Mizzou.
While the Tigers were taking the first crappy shot they could find, when they found a shot at all, ISU was methodically getting everyone a touch or two, sending the ball into the bigs, and generally getting decent looks.
Mizzou must not roll after their picks, because each time they did pick at the top of the key ISU would almost double the ball, causing all kinds of chaos to the Mizzou offense. What a wacky thing to try, and it worked for much of the game.
But then Mizzou really cranked up the pressure and ISU went into "Play Not To Lose" mode and tried very, very hard to blow it. Releaxed defense, missed free throws and horrendous shot selection almost did them in.
For our benefit, Mizzou came out of its funk too late.
That win will certainly perk up ISU's Sagarin ranking. Now, another possible win comes into Ames in the form of the OSU Cowboys, who have little of their normal swagger.
Another effort like tonight and the Cyclones might make a few people nervous, moving from "sure win" to "tossup" on prognosticator's schedules.
Peterclone
While the Tigers were taking the first crappy shot they could find, when they found a shot at all, ISU was methodically getting everyone a touch or two, sending the ball into the bigs, and generally getting decent looks.
Mizzou must not roll after their picks, because each time they did pick at the top of the key ISU would almost double the ball, causing all kinds of chaos to the Mizzou offense. What a wacky thing to try, and it worked for much of the game.
But then Mizzou really cranked up the pressure and ISU went into "Play Not To Lose" mode and tried very, very hard to blow it. Releaxed defense, missed free throws and horrendous shot selection almost did them in.
For our benefit, Mizzou came out of its funk too late.
That win will certainly perk up ISU's Sagarin ranking. Now, another possible win comes into Ames in the form of the OSU Cowboys, who have little of their normal swagger.
Another effort like tonight and the Cyclones might make a few people nervous, moving from "sure win" to "tossup" on prognosticator's schedules.
Peterclone
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Makeup
Since the Cyclone Women couldn't dump the Sooners, the chose to spend 2OTs beating a ranked CU squad in Boulder instead.
Allison Lacey won the game with 11 points in the second OT. Damn. So much for the altitude taking out the legs of the visiting team.
ISU shot 14-27 from 3, which had to be fun to watch.
Next up: a roadie to Austin to play the ranked Longhorns, who also lost at home today in OT. Funny.
The Buffs are this season's surprise so far, and highlight how quickly a WBB program can turn. The Buffs have been awful of late, with only 5 B12 wins during the '04-05 and '05-06 seasons combined. They improved to 6 wins last year. Bring in a new coach and a few new faces and things turn around; look at KSU's run a few years back.
WHich makes BF's consitency even more remarkable. While his teams haven't had the peaks of '00 and '01, they've had only one losing record in the last 12.
One or two great players, and a title is plausible. We the fans just never know.
Peterclone
Allison Lacey won the game with 11 points in the second OT. Damn. So much for the altitude taking out the legs of the visiting team.
ISU shot 14-27 from 3, which had to be fun to watch.
Next up: a roadie to Austin to play the ranked Longhorns, who also lost at home today in OT. Funny.
The Buffs are this season's surprise so far, and highlight how quickly a WBB program can turn. The Buffs have been awful of late, with only 5 B12 wins during the '04-05 and '05-06 seasons combined. They improved to 6 wins last year. Bring in a new coach and a few new faces and things turn around; look at KSU's run a few years back.
WHich makes BF's consitency even more remarkable. While his teams haven't had the peaks of '00 and '01, they've had only one losing record in the last 12.
One or two great players, and a title is plausible. We the fans just never know.
Peterclone
Saturday, January 12, 2008
One Man Team
While it was nice to see Craig bust out, it's going to take a little more out of everyone else to win games, home or road.
Giving up a 22-2 run doesn't help much, either.
Learning curves suck.
I suspect we are in for more games like today- one player is lights out, the rest of the team can't do anything right. If Wes had 25 instead of 11, ISU might have won.
Two guys can win a game by themselves. One can't, at least none of the ones we have now.
Too bad Mizzou is playing well. Puhaps they will read too many of their press clipping between now and Wednesday.
Peterclone
Giving up a 22-2 run doesn't help much, either.
Learning curves suck.
I suspect we are in for more games like today- one player is lights out, the rest of the team can't do anything right. If Wes had 25 instead of 11, ISU might have won.
Two guys can win a game by themselves. One can't, at least none of the ones we have now.
Too bad Mizzou is playing well. Puhaps they will read too many of their press clipping between now and Wednesday.
Peterclone
Friday, January 11, 2008
Just Go Away, Again
Stupid choices from two parties:
1. Jason Berryman for not moving away.
2. The Iowa Barnstormers for placing Berryman on their roster.
How the Barnstormers think this is a good idea mystifies me. JB has a proven record as a "bad actor", and will surely embarrass the Stormers just as he embarrassed ISU multiple times. Now he will be an undercurrent of every article on the runup to the restarting of the franchise, and will be mentioned by many of the out-of-town papers when Iowa travels.
Would the Energy sign Pierre Pierce? Doubtful.
Finally, if Jason wants to make $100 a week playing roller derby on turf, good for him. There are 29 other teams in AF2, not to mention several other competing leagues.
Take your ball and go somewhere else.
Peterclone
1. Jason Berryman for not moving away.
2. The Iowa Barnstormers for placing Berryman on their roster.
How the Barnstormers think this is a good idea mystifies me. JB has a proven record as a "bad actor", and will surely embarrass the Stormers just as he embarrassed ISU multiple times. Now he will be an undercurrent of every article on the runup to the restarting of the franchise, and will be mentioned by many of the out-of-town papers when Iowa travels.
Would the Energy sign Pierre Pierce? Doubtful.
Finally, if Jason wants to make $100 a week playing roller derby on turf, good for him. There are 29 other teams in AF2, not to mention several other competing leagues.
Take your ball and go somewhere else.
Peterclone
Monday, January 07, 2008
Attention
CrossCyed noticed.
The NFL knows that Sage had a decent half season. his rating of 84 puts him 16th in the league, ahead of Eli Manning, Vince Young and Marc Bulger, all starters. He won 4 of his 5 starts, and the one loss was to the Colts. He didn't stink.
Houston has a bunch of options: make Sage the starter and trade Schaub, who make 8 times what Sage does; use Sage as trade bait to fill some needs and cross your fingers Schaub doesn't get hurt; or keep Sage the backup and wait for Schaub to get hurt.
Any way you slice it, Sage will get a raise whether he stays in Houston or not. He has shown he can play QB in the NFL behind a decent line. Lots of teams have decent lines but lousy QB's.
Has the Register noticed any of this? Nope. But I'm sure if Brad Banks or Drew Tatemakes an NFL practice squad or gets a start in a CFL game we'll get 6 inches and a photo.
Until Sage appears in a wire story, the Rag won't notice. Typical.
Peterclone
The NFL knows that Sage had a decent half season. his rating of 84 puts him 16th in the league, ahead of Eli Manning, Vince Young and Marc Bulger, all starters. He won 4 of his 5 starts, and the one loss was to the Colts. He didn't stink.
Houston has a bunch of options: make Sage the starter and trade Schaub, who make 8 times what Sage does; use Sage as trade bait to fill some needs and cross your fingers Schaub doesn't get hurt; or keep Sage the backup and wait for Schaub to get hurt.
Any way you slice it, Sage will get a raise whether he stays in Houston or not. He has shown he can play QB in the NFL behind a decent line. Lots of teams have decent lines but lousy QB's.
Has the Register noticed any of this? Nope. But I'm sure if Brad Banks or Drew Tatemakes an NFL practice squad or gets a start in a CFL game we'll get 6 inches and a photo.
Until Sage appears in a wire story, the Rag won't notice. Typical.
Peterclone
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