Thursday, March 03, 2005
Cyclones pound Mizzou
Not really much of a stretch given Quin Snyder's struggles in the Coliseum but the Cyclones really needed to come out playing well heading into their last game of the regular season. They certainly started off with a bang jumping out to an 8 point lead, including senior Dave Braet's layup and a nifty steal and pass from Blalock to Stinson for another layup. Things seemed to be going well until an old problem reared its ugly head as the Cyclones went 7+ minutes without scoring, missing 9 shots in the process. Blalock finally got a layup down and the Cyclones ended the half up 10. It was all ISU from then on.
Blalock was absolutely skying last night. He had one baseline drive where he gave Linas Kleiza the opportunity for some poster royalties in the future. He swung all the way under the basket and then out again to add some extra emphasis. His next dunk was a breakaway reverse jam that drew a slightly ridiculous "hanging on the rim" T. He gave it a little bit of a tug but it seemed like more of a cumulative effect from his earlier dunk and a nice one from Rahshon Clark. The team was definitely back in their fancy passing, powerful dunking mode.
The defense was really there last night as well. Mizzou was forced into 22 turnovers leading to 24 ISU points. The Tigers looked absolutely terrible. They couldn't hit anything from outside the arc until the end of the game when it was already decided. It looked like they pretty much quit for a lot of the game after they got smacked in the mouth which is never a good sign for a coach. Quin has certainly been embattled but he's had his good moments along with the bad. What I've noticed about Mizzou this year is that it doesn't seem like they have that much talent. Certainly not like in the Gilbert-Rush days when the teams had potential but underachieved in the conference season. Kleiza is a pretty solid post player and I like his game. Conley was supposed to be the monster scorer from VMI but he seems to be pretty hit and miss from game to game. Their offense has been brutal all season long and those are the only two players averaging in double figures. It will be interesting to see if Quin is still around next year with all of his troubles on and off the court.
Things are still looking like ISU needs to win three more games to get into the dance but it's pretty murky out there. Everyone seems at a loss what to do because of the new RPI. They were trying to give mid-majors a fairer shot which is admirable by weighting road wins more than home wins. Essentially a win on the road has a multiplier of 1.4 and a home game is at 0.6. So, winning a road game is worth twice as much as winning one at home. I like the idea, in principle, but the numbers are all out of whack. Kansas lost three games in a row and was still at #1. Plus there are some strange teams floating around. Will the committee view the RPI as they have in the past (slavishy, at the expense of other, more important factors, IMO) or will they push it aside a little bit to get a decent number of major conference bubble teams? My guess is that they will tend to ignore it to a certain degree considering how much money is spent on broadcasting these games. The tournament will have astronomical ratings either way but a significant number of fans still turn in to see teams they know from states with large populations.
That would stand to benefit ISU's chances. There are a lot of stats about how a team with an RPI inside of 34 has never missed the tournament and no one outside of sixty-something has never made it but my gut tells me that those will go out the window in favor of the usual criteria such as conference finish, quality wins, etc. ISU ranks third nationally with 5 wins over ranked teams which should offset some of the bad losses (Wake and Illinois each have 6 wins). Basically, I just think that ISU needs to win three more games and they will be in with relatively little sweating on Selection Sunday. Win two more and they have a shot but I wouldn't put much money on it.
Finally, a little tribute to the seniors.
Dave Braet, I didn't really know you but you did play well last night. Got a basket, had a steal, an assist, forced a tie up. Well done. Calamus, Iowa should be proud.
Damion Staple. You've really made great strides with your game. You came in an unpolished player but you'll leave as a valuble contributor to this team. We're going to need you to own the glass a little bit and play some defense down the stretch but I've seen you can do it.
Jared Homan. You want to talk about someone that really elevated his game, this is the guy. You came here and half the fans were wondering why we wasted a scholarship on a guy from Remsen. Each year you've added a little bit to your game and you were always tough as nails. No one was coming into the lane without expecting that you would be there with the body or to collect one of your many blocks. You certainly never backed down from anybody whether it was David Harrison going towards your coach or Aaron Miles punching you in the back of the head. Your intensity, nose for rebounds and blocks, and even your scoring ability from anywhere inside 17 feet are certainly going to be missed next year.
"I wanted to put on a little show for the crowd, just so they would remember me as a hard working guy. I don't have all the talent in the world, but I busted my butt and did what I could with what I had."
Jared Homan
That's exactly what I'll remember you for.
Blalock was absolutely skying last night. He had one baseline drive where he gave Linas Kleiza the opportunity for some poster royalties in the future. He swung all the way under the basket and then out again to add some extra emphasis. His next dunk was a breakaway reverse jam that drew a slightly ridiculous "hanging on the rim" T. He gave it a little bit of a tug but it seemed like more of a cumulative effect from his earlier dunk and a nice one from Rahshon Clark. The team was definitely back in their fancy passing, powerful dunking mode.
The defense was really there last night as well. Mizzou was forced into 22 turnovers leading to 24 ISU points. The Tigers looked absolutely terrible. They couldn't hit anything from outside the arc until the end of the game when it was already decided. It looked like they pretty much quit for a lot of the game after they got smacked in the mouth which is never a good sign for a coach. Quin has certainly been embattled but he's had his good moments along with the bad. What I've noticed about Mizzou this year is that it doesn't seem like they have that much talent. Certainly not like in the Gilbert-Rush days when the teams had potential but underachieved in the conference season. Kleiza is a pretty solid post player and I like his game. Conley was supposed to be the monster scorer from VMI but he seems to be pretty hit and miss from game to game. Their offense has been brutal all season long and those are the only two players averaging in double figures. It will be interesting to see if Quin is still around next year with all of his troubles on and off the court.
Things are still looking like ISU needs to win three more games to get into the dance but it's pretty murky out there. Everyone seems at a loss what to do because of the new RPI. They were trying to give mid-majors a fairer shot which is admirable by weighting road wins more than home wins. Essentially a win on the road has a multiplier of 1.4 and a home game is at 0.6. So, winning a road game is worth twice as much as winning one at home. I like the idea, in principle, but the numbers are all out of whack. Kansas lost three games in a row and was still at #1. Plus there are some strange teams floating around. Will the committee view the RPI as they have in the past (slavishy, at the expense of other, more important factors, IMO) or will they push it aside a little bit to get a decent number of major conference bubble teams? My guess is that they will tend to ignore it to a certain degree considering how much money is spent on broadcasting these games. The tournament will have astronomical ratings either way but a significant number of fans still turn in to see teams they know from states with large populations.
That would stand to benefit ISU's chances. There are a lot of stats about how a team with an RPI inside of 34 has never missed the tournament and no one outside of sixty-something has never made it but my gut tells me that those will go out the window in favor of the usual criteria such as conference finish, quality wins, etc. ISU ranks third nationally with 5 wins over ranked teams which should offset some of the bad losses (Wake and Illinois each have 6 wins). Basically, I just think that ISU needs to win three more games and they will be in with relatively little sweating on Selection Sunday. Win two more and they have a shot but I wouldn't put much money on it.
Finally, a little tribute to the seniors.
Dave Braet, I didn't really know you but you did play well last night. Got a basket, had a steal, an assist, forced a tie up. Well done. Calamus, Iowa should be proud.
Damion Staple. You've really made great strides with your game. You came in an unpolished player but you'll leave as a valuble contributor to this team. We're going to need you to own the glass a little bit and play some defense down the stretch but I've seen you can do it.
Jared Homan. You want to talk about someone that really elevated his game, this is the guy. You came here and half the fans were wondering why we wasted a scholarship on a guy from Remsen. Each year you've added a little bit to your game and you were always tough as nails. No one was coming into the lane without expecting that you would be there with the body or to collect one of your many blocks. You certainly never backed down from anybody whether it was David Harrison going towards your coach or Aaron Miles punching you in the back of the head. Your intensity, nose for rebounds and blocks, and even your scoring ability from anywhere inside 17 feet are certainly going to be missed next year.
"I wanted to put on a little show for the crowd, just so they would remember me as a hard working guy. I don't have all the talent in the world, but I busted my butt and did what I could with what I had."
Jared Homan
That's exactly what I'll remember you for.
# posted by Ben @ 4:39 PM 
