2018-19 Big 12 Basketball Thread

[El Diablo 4232]

13 minutes ago, Al_4_ISU said:

This is going about as I expected.  Games like this are why we can’t unseat KU

History. Cyclones have won twice in Waco. It repeats itself. Some teams have a hard time with Hilton Magic.

[Al_4_ISU 12464]

4 minutes ago, El Diablo said:

History. Cyclones have won twice in Waco. It repeats itself. Some teams have a hard time with Hilton Magic.

Definitely a big part of it.

Struggling with Hilton makes sense though.  The crowd is usually large and engaged, and in the last 20 years, we rarely beat good teams there in years we didn’t qualify for postseason play.  Bad Baylor squads have beaten good ISU squads in front of friends and family.

Of course an empty arena can be challenging in a different way.

And at the end of the day, Self almost never loses to bad teams.

[Al_4_ISU 12464]

Lard in a foot brace.

Youre welcome Kansas.

[Al_4_ISU 12464]

Congrats to KU on 15 straight.  Someone bookmark this post for March.

[El Diablo 4232]

Baylor is interesting to me this year because they don't have any 5th year players. Coach Drew has had good luck in getting guys to redshirt and stay to play for 4. This is almost a rebuilding year with McClure, Vital and Clark being the only 3 returning guys who saw much time last year and none of them were starters then. Kegler and Mason are both experienced just not seen much and Butler and Bandu are both capable young guys. I think Baylor was picked to do poorly in the league simply due to the fact that nobody is really familiar with the pieces that make up this years team. 

[Al_4_ISU 12464]

In ‘15 we lost in Waco to a ranked Baylor team at the buzzer.  This game feels similar, sans ranked Baylor team.

Another game that would have broken KU’s streak had we won.

[Al_4_ISU 12464]

Fuck Baylor, fuck Kansas for always catching this break, and most importantly, fuck us for losing this game.  Every.  Fucking.  Time.

[Braff Zacklin 13587]

Easy, Al. Tomorrow's another day.

But, yeah, fuck Baylor.

[Al_4_ISU 12464]

Just now, Braff Zacklin said:

Easy, Al. Tomorrow's another day.

But, yeah, fuck Baylor.

We’re fine compared to our preseason expectations, but we aren’t going to win the league.  Which was still in play an hour ago.

[spystud13 2371]

Interesting no-call there. 

[Al_4_ISU 12464]

1 minute ago, spystud13 said:

Interesting no-call there. 

Babb would have missed one.

Even if he ties it, we would have shit the bed in OT

[Chet Steadman 940]

26 minutes ago, El Diablo said:

I think Baylor was picked to do poorly in the league simply due to the fact that nobody is really familiar with the pieces that make up this years team. 

They were picked poorly but rightfully so.  

They are not a good team.  

[Jhawk 1075]

8 minutes ago, Al_4_ISU said:

Fuck Baylor, fuck Kansas for always catching this break, and most importantly, fuck us for losing this game.  Every.  Fucking.  Time.

You called this man.  Jesus.  UT also in trouble.  I'm going to maintain that everyone is sliding down and not getting better.  I can't believe ISU hasn't built a culture of winning on the road even with all of their success over the last 5-7 years.

[El Diablo 4232]

1 minute ago, Chet Steadman said:

They were picked poorly but rightfully so.  

They are not a good team.  

They're .500 in league play.  

[Jhawk 1075]

Just now, El Diablo said:

They're .500 in league play.  

Tied with KU for second to last.

[Al_4_ISU 12464]

9 minutes ago, Jhawk said:

You called this man.  Jesus.  UT also in trouble.  I'm going to maintain that everyone is sliding down and not getting better.  I can't believe ISU hasn't built a culture of winning on the road even with all of their success over the last 5-7 years.

Its always been the Achilles Heel of our program.  Eustachy was the only guy that could win them with any consistency.

My freshman year (03-04), we went undefeated at Hilton and winless on the road.  Including a loss in Waco to an immediate post murder Baylor team.

 

Im not on the ledge, I’m just pissed we let a big opportunity slip away via shit play against a bad team.

Edited January 9, 2019 by Al_4_ISU

[spystud13 2371]

OU at Tech on ESPNews now. 

[TexOx 110]

1 hour ago, Al_4_ISU said:

This is going about as I expected.  Games like this are why we can’t unseat KU

Well, games like this, plus consistent mediocrity.

[ChiTownDoc 21154]

Lonny Kruger doing work. 

[Jhawk 1075]

If tech goes down then I'm throwing my hands up and not making another prediction on the conference outcome the rest of the season.

[Jhawk 1075]

KU pulls Ochai's redshirt.  Saying he is in the lineup and will play tomorrow against TCU.  6'5" SG.  Supposedly the best athlete on the team.  Committing to 4 out 1 in for the rest of the year.  I imagine that he was told he would play 15 minutes a game if he pulled it.

KU is desperate.

[Brian Fantana 6689]

10 minutes ago, Jhawk said:

If tech goes down then I'm throwing my hands up and not making another prediction on the conference outcome the rest of the season.

Lol our lack of ability to shoot will always be a problem when the other team is able to get shots and outrebound us.

Edited January 9, 2019 by Brian Fantana

[Brian Fantana 6689]

Also our inexplicable inability to run the fastbreak is really frustrating

[Jhawk 1075]

Honest assessment.... The whole conference looks like garbage right now.

[Brian Fantana 6689]

1 minute ago, Jhawk said:

Honest assessment.... The whole conference looks like garbage right now.

Been leaning that way myself.

[Jhawk 1075]

Just now, Brian Fantana said:

Been leaning that way myself.

Because of how strong we were last year and because of how bad the PAC, AAC, and Big East are we will get the SEC football treatment and be praised as a good conference who beats up on each other.  Then we'll get 6 in and lay an egg in March.

[ChiTownDoc 21154]

3 minutes ago, Jhawk said:

Honest assessment.... The whole conference looks like garbage right now.

Nah, it's good defensive teams playing eachother.  It will look like this.  Tech absolutely did work on Duke with their D.  And I'm pretty sure Tech leads the country in most defensive efficiency metrics. 

[VolenteHawk 495]

Just now, ChiTownDoc said:

Nah, it's good defensive teams playing eachother.  It will look like this.  Tech absolutely did work on Duke with their D.  And I'm pretty sure Tech leads the country in most defensive efficiency metrics. 

Yeah, half the league is in KenPom’s top 10 in defensive efficiency. This is what that looks like.

That shit travels in the tournament, though.

[ChiTownDoc 21154]

Just now, VolenteHawk said:

Yeah, half the league is in KenPom’s top 10 in defensive efficiency. This is what that looks like.

That shit travels in the tournament, though.

100% what I'm talking about.  People need to chill...except KU after losing their big man.  That one fucking stings.  

[Brian Fantana 6689]

4 minutes ago, ChiTownDoc said:

Nah, it's good defensive teams playing eachother.  It will look like this.  Tech absolutely did work on Duke with their D.  And I'm pretty sure Tech leads the country in most defensive efficiency metrics. 

 

3 minutes ago, VolenteHawk said:

Yeah, half the league is in KenPom’s top 10 in defensive efficiency. This is what that looks like.

That shit travels in the tournament, though.

Yeah this is a big part of it too. Honestly if Tech had a PG we might be undefeated right now.

[Uncle Nate 2097]

Tech is schizo.  Culver had three straight turnovers. This and Tech football will be the death of my liver. 

And fuck all these Reeces commercials. I will never buy another Reece's again. 

[VolenteHawk 495]

1 minute ago, ChiTownDoc said:

100% what I'm talking about.  People need to chill...except KU after losing their big man.  That one fucking stings.  

Meh, there is an argument to be made that Self is better when his hand is forced. Last year’s team was everything he hates and was the closest he’s gotten a team to its ceiling since 2012...when KU went about 6 deep and his hand was forced.

I’m as down on KU as anybody, but the league is gonna have to be taken from them. They’re not gonna go 11-7 and just give it away.

 

[Jhawk 1075]

12 minutes ago, Uncle Nate said:

Tech is schizo.  Culver had three straight turnovers. This and Tech football will be the death of my liver. 

And fuck all these Reeces commercials. I will never buy another Reece's again. 

I bought a fresh bag at the grocery store tonight.  Can't stand the commercials.

[Brian Fantana 6689]

I'll take that any day of the week. OU is a good team.

We really need to get our shit together offensively.

[Uncle Nate 2097]

Whew. Could not afford to lose serve at home. 

[ChiTownDoc 21154]

Good game.  Two top 4 seeds there imo.  Obviously Tech is but I think OU could end up there as well.  

 

Edited January 9, 2019 by ChiTownDoc
Good...not great

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Brian Fantana said:

Also our inexplicable inability to run the fastbreak is really frustrating

it's absolutely explicable.

 

No fucking PGs worth a fuck on the team, offensively.

[El Diablo 4232]

8 hours ago, Jhawk said:

KU pulls Ochai's redshirt.  Saying he is in the lineup and will play tomorrow against TCU.  6'5" SG.  Supposedly the best athlete on the team.  Committing to 4 out 1 in for the rest of the year.  I imagine that he was told he would play 15 minutes a game if he pulled it.

KU is desperate.

Whenever I see that I have to wonder about actual basketball ability. It usually means they can jump out of the gym but that's about it. Guess we'll see.

[Al_4_ISU 12464]

I don't think it's a stretch for the Big 12 to end up with 4 Top 20 teams by the end of the year.

[VolenteHawk 495]

1 hour ago, El Diablo said:

Whenever I see that I have to wonder about actual basketball ability. It usually means they can jump out of the gym but that's about it. Guess we'll see.

Could be true or he could be a late bloomer. We’ll find out. He hit all 5 of his shots in the exhibition games, 3 from deep, so he’s probably not completely unskilled. On the other hand, Self thought he had a contender in this group, and he was redshirting, anyway...so how good can he really be?

 

[Al_4_ISU 12464]

12 hours ago, TexOx said:

Well, games like this, plus consistent mediocrity.

With the exception of last season, we've exceeded mediocrity since Hoiberg's 2011-12 squad.  That's why it's frustrating.  We're always better than mediocre, but never quite elite, although we look it in spurts.

Texas has been a far better example of mediocrity over that stretch.

[Jhawk 1075]

2 hours ago, El Diablo said:

Whenever I see that I have to wonder about actual basketball ability. It usually means they can jump out of the gym but that's about it. Guess we'll see.

I tend to agree but this team needs outside shooting, outside defending, and rebounding. Being a good athlete produces two of those things. If he hits better than 30% from 3 he will be a net contributor in all 3 areas for this team. 

Self did say that if he was as good in September as he is now he wouldn’t have redshirted. I think that’s coach speak to build confidence but self doesn’t normally do that. I’m conflicted. I just know he better get good minutes or this is a bad move. 

[TexOx 110]

2 hours ago, Al_4_ISU said:

With the exception of last season, we've exceeded mediocrity since Hoiberg's 2011-12 squad.  That's why it's frustrating.  We're always better than mediocre, but never quite elite, although we look it in spurts.

Texas has been a far better example of mediocrity over that stretch.

Oops, I thought we were talking about Texas, not ISU. My apologies!

[76Jayhawk 44]

17 hours ago, Al_4_ISU said:

In ‘15 we lost in Waco to a ranked Baylor team at the buzzer.  This game feels similar, sans ranked Baylor team.

Another game that would have broken KU’s streak had we won.

Big 12 fans are so melodramatic.

1 loss does not make a conference season. Just like you beating KU AT home as you usually do, does not end our season.

ISU has as good a chance as anyone IMO. 

[Al_4_ISU 12464]

27 minutes ago, 76Jayhawk said:

Big 12 fans are so melodramatic.

1 loss does not make a conference season. Just like you beating KU AT home as you usually do, does not end our season.

ISU has as good a chance as anyone IMO. 

Here's the thing.  When we have a good team, we beat pretty much everyone at home.  KU's loss to us in Hilton is something they share with the league.  But it's rare for KU to have a road loss against a bad team.  And if they do, it's only one on the year.  KU, besides having the league's best coach and most talent, just doesn't drop the road games to the bottom half of the league the way the teams nipping at their heels tend to.

If history is any indicator, we might win another road game.  Maybe UT or KSU.  Enough to give us a nice bid in the dance, but not enough to knock you off your perch.

We don't need to win the league to have a good season after last year, but with you guys losing Doke, it seemed like we had a big opportunity teed up and choked on some applesauce.  I realize it's a long season and not even close to having anything mathematically wrapped up, but I have a hard time seeing us get to 13 wins without that win in Waco.

[Jhawk 1075]

Agree, even though Tech won last night I don't think they got any closer to a championship because it was a home game.  ISU would have taken a step closer to a championship because of winning a road game.  That being said, if TCU takes down KU tonight @KU then Tech is wayyyyy out in front with ISU a little behind.

[Al_4_ISU 12464]

Kansas losing at home to anyone other than us or Tech would definitely throw a wrench in all of this.

All things aside, I don't see you guys losing at home in conference play this year.  I could see tonight's game being close, and I think we'll play you tough as will Tech, but we're all too flawed to go into Phog and win.  

[Brian Fantana 6689]

40 minutes ago, Al_4_ISU said:

Kansas losing at home to anyone other than us or Tech would definitely throw a wrench in all of this.

All things aside, I don't see you guys losing at home in conference play this year.  I could see tonight's game being close, and I think we'll play you tough as will Tech, but we're all too flawed to go into Phog and win.  

Maybe, but KU came pretty close to losing to a couple dumpster fire teams @ AFH already, and that was with Azubuike in the lineup.

[angelos's frog 83]

Jaylen Fisher is doubtful for the game tonight.  Not sure if he even made the trip but I guess we'll see.  He's had swelling in his knee since the Hawaii trip and didn't play against Baylor.  It's a huge loss if he can't play.  Poor kid just can't seem to get a break. 

[Uncle Nate 2097]

Road wins in the Big XII have always been tough to get.

This year I think they will be even harder than normal.  WVU is bottom of the barrel this year and Tech still barely won there.  Okie St. is really bad (relatively speaking to their own history and the rest of the conference) and just dominated UT for the most part last night.  BU is a hot and cold team, admittedly, but them beating ISU is still remarkable.

If you want any chance to win this conference this year, you simply can't afford to lose a single home game IMHO.  The road games are going to be just too tough to try and steal.  The team that holds court at home and is able to grab 2-3 road victories will win the conference by at least 2 games.

Edited January 9, 2019 by Uncle Nate