Who's gonna guard DeAndre Daniels

[caw]

And UConn is not KU with Embiid. No disrespect meant But KU with Embiid is a National Championship team. IMO, Embiid is better on both ends of the floor than Brimah and yet ISU was within two possessions and had chances to win both of those games. But like you said that was with Niang. I don't think you see much different from ISU with Niang out. They will still try to create mismatches but they won't have a consistent scoring threat down low on the post

I disagree about KU being a definite NC team with Embiid. He's good but they would still be behind at least three other teams IMO: UF, UL and MSU maybe more on the contender list.

Yes NBA talent wise they are better than UConn. Of course the only same opponents they have are Villanova, Florida, and Stanford. Stanford was absent Embiid. The other two weren't. UConn beat both Nova and Florida. KU lost. Maybe you can put some I the UF game on venue but still would have been a loss (+3) for KU. Stanford beat both by a bucket. Of course Stanford played at UConn.

I know you can't really play the transitive game in college basketball but aside from your opinion there really is no way to judge the two teams and make the declarative statement that KU is better.

Secondly, Brimah is certainly not Embiid on offense. We will disagree about the defensive part and if he plays (no clue if Ollie will play him a lot with Niang out) you can judge after.

 

[caw]

Technically speaking, Iowa State's last 5 games have been "on the road" (Big12 tournament and NCAA tournament). Results are as follows:
Kansas State / Win 91-85
Kansas / Win 94-83
Baylor / Win 74-65
NCC / Win 93-75
UNC / Win 85-83

No, just no.

KSU I will give you. KU is a maybe. The other three? No way. Neutral, yes. Away, only if you are a meth head.

 

[caw]

FWIW-Kansas is the only team that beat ISU more than once. Kansas is the only team to beat ISU not on their home court or a neutral court. Of course, that was with Niang. But yeah, ISU started 14-0 and their only losses other than KU were on the road in conference in the toughest league against teams and coaches that are familiar with the players and their game. And every game but two, were close games. So yeah.

The way teams beat us.....
KU- Flat out more talented up and down the roster. They have two lottery pics and Tharpe played out of his mind in Ames. @KU is just damn hard place to win
OU- on the road- Outrebounded us. Spangler was a stud with 7 offensive rebounds and 15 boards. 2nd chance points killed us Heild had 22 on 6-12 from 3
Texas-on the road-Holmes and Ridley combined for 39 points down low. Felix Amari DeBerry another 17
West Virgina-ugh- just pounded us physically and took out out of the game from tip off
Kansas St- undefeated at home in conference play and again pounded us physically
Baylor- their zone really killed us. It was the first time we faced it and it eliminated all mismatches ISU likes to create

ISU lost to teams that could pound the ball low on the road. With teams that could force us to double team the post we lost on the road but won at home(except KU). It is as simple as that.
Of course we also beat those types of teams at home and on neutral court.

Again, I think this will be a great game and it is a toss up. I am meerly one fan that is responding when someone says...Daniels will do this, Brimah will do that, Shabazz will do this. I am just trying to relay what ISU does to respond. That doesn't mean I think it will work.

You won four away games during the regular season. Two were against teams that you should beat handily in TCU and TT.

The other two (BYU and OKSt) were by a combined 3 points and included one 3OT game. Basically ISU was 2 buckets from having zero quality road wins. But seriously it's impressive to win close games on the road.

 

[SauceMonkey]

You won four away games during the regular season. Two were against teams that you should beat handily in TCU and TT.

The other two (BYU and OKSt) were by a combined 3 points and included one 3OT game. Basically ISU was 2 buckets from having zero quality road wins. But seriously it's impressive to win close games on the road.

Both teams are very similar in that regard, neither has a very impressive road record. Its not like one win against Memphis on the road is a badge of honor different than one win against Oklahoma State on the road, unless the difference between an eight and nine seed is a big deal.

Tourney Teams played on the road/neutral court since Jan-1:

ISU (Faced 8 TT): 6-5 (Kansas 1-1, KSU, 1-1, Baylor, 1-1, Oklahoma State 1-0, Texas 0-1, Oklahoma 0-1, NCC 1-0, UNC 1-0)
UConn (Faced 5 TT): 5-3 (Memphis 2-0, Louisville 0-2, Cinci 1-1, St Joes 1-0, Villanova 1-0)

I'd call this argument a wash.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Both teams are very similar in that regard, neither has a very impressive road record. Its not like one win against Memphis on the road is a badge of honor different than one win against Oklahoma State on the road, unless the difference between an eight and nine seed is a big deal.

Tourney Teams played on the road/neutral court since Jan-1:

ISU (Faced 8 TT): 6-5 (Kansas 1-1, KSU, 1-1, Baylor, 1-1, Oklahoma State 1-0, Texas 0-1, Oklahoma 0-1, NCC 1-0, UNC 1-0)
UConn (Faced 5 TT): 5-3 (Memphis 2-0, Louisville 0-2, Cinci 1-1, St Joes 1-0, Villanova 1-0)

I'd call this argument a wash.

Would the loss at WVU would have held more weight if WVU was a better team? If WVU was somehow good enough to make the field you would be .500 but since they weren't you have a winning (barely) record in your comparison (that also includes powerhouse NCC). If the WVU team that waxed you was good enough to make the field (instead of being the mediocrity that they were) would ISU suddenly be a lesser team? I'm trying to figure out how this works.

 

[MileHighFish]

You won four away games during the regular season. Two were against teams that you should beat handily in TCU and TT.

The other two (BYU and OKSt) were by a combined 3 points and included one 3OT game. Basically ISU was 2 buckets from having zero quality road wins. But seriously it's impressive to win close games on the road.

Fair enough but imo some posters are putting waaayyy too much stock into the "home court advantage" tonight. Obviously UConn will have the tonight when it comes to the majority of fans but it simply isn't a "home game". They aren't playing on the court they normally play on, there will be Iowa State, Virginia and Michigan State fans as well.

Sure UConn will have more fans there (duh) but it's not like the students are going to be down low, "swarming" the court.

 

[caw]

Both teams are very similar in that regard, neither has a very impressive road record. Its not like one win against Memphis on the road is a badge of honor different than one win against Oklahoma State on the road, unless the difference between an eight and nine seed is a big deal.

Tourney Teams played on the road/neutral court since Jan-1:

ISU (Faced 8 TT): 6-5 (Kansas 1-1, KSU, 1-1, Baylor, 1-1, Oklahoma State 1-0, Texas 0-1, Oklahoma 0-1, NCC 1-0, UNC 1-0)
UConn (Faced 5 TT): 5-3 (Memphis 2-0, Louisville 0-2, Cinci 1-1, St Joes 1-0, Villanova 1-0)

I'd call this argument a wash.

I'd say beating Memphis by ten+ each time is more impressive. Hey if I'm giving you KSU I'm taking the second Memphis game.

But you miss where this apparently has the potential to be closer to a home game for UConn.

 

[caw]

Fair enough but imo some posters are putting waaayyy too much stock into the "home court advantage" tonight. Obviously UConn will have the tonight when it comes to the majority of fans but it simply isn't a "home game". They aren't playing on the court they normally play on, there will be Iowa State, Virginia and Michigan State fans as well.

Sure UConn will have more fans there (duh) but it's not like the students are going to be down low, "swarming" the court.

I take it you've never been to a college game at MSG? Neither has ISU. UConn has played quite a few there. Any clue on if ISU returned any of their allotted tickets?

 

[MileHighFish]

Would the loss at WVU would have held more weight if WVU was a better team? If WVU was somehow good enough to make the field you would be .500 but since they weren't you have a winning (barely) record in your comparison (that also includes powerhouse NCC). If the WVU team that waxed you was good enough to make the field (instead of being the mediocrity that they were) would ISU suddenly be a lesser team? I'm trying to figure out how this works.

Iowa State's worse road loss versus a ranked opponent this season was by 11 to #6 KU. In contrast, UConn's was to #11 Louisville by 33. (Misdirection to steer the conversation away from the ugly WVU loss;-)

 

[caw]

Btw ISU could kill UConn tonight or be killed. I'm just saying you guys seem to be way overstating your credentials an dismissing UConns. It's quite absurd. There is a reason Vegas has this at almost a pick em.

 

[tazclone]

Because they were on the road. ISU SUCKS on the road even with Niang, and unfortunately for them tonight isn't being played at Hilton. Let's break down their last 8 road games:

• 
  [ ]Loss by 5 @ Oklahoma (the Oklahoma that got run by North Dakota State)
  [ ]Loss by 10 @Texas
  [ ]Loss by 11 @ Kansas (which is being counted as "close")
  [ ]Win by 1 @ OSU (in 3OT, in the middle of OSU's 7 game losing streak)
  [ ]Loss by 25 @ WVU (that got bounced in the first round of the NIT)
  [ ]Win by 11 @ TCU (in the middle of TCU's 19 straight losses to end the season - in fact this was the closest game they had played from the end of December against Texas Southern until the last game of the year when they lost by 8 to Baylor)
  [ ]Loss by 7 @ KSU
  [ ]Loss by 13 @ Baylor

So let's recap. The only two road wins ISU had since January were against bad teams during HORRIBLE ruts, with Niang, and this is what they are hanging their hats on?

Sigh

No we hang our hat on tourney play at neutral and semi neutral sites. ISU is undefeated. Including wins against KU and KSU in Kansas City.

 

[caw]

Iowa State's worse road loss versus a ranked opponent this season was by 11 to #6 KU. In contrast, UConn's was to #11 Louisville by 33. (Misdirection to steer the conversation away from the ugly WVU loss;-)

Lol. ISU isn't UL defensively. If ISU were they would be the favorite in the tournament, because ISU has a better offense.

 

[tazclone]

No, just no.

KSU I will give you. KU is a maybe. The other three? No way. Neutral, yes. Away, only if you are a meth head.

KSU and KU were in Kansas City. I know Geography is hard for Easterners but Lawrence is only 40 miles from the Sprint Center and Kansas City is 50% KU fans probably more. Kinda similar to MSG and UConn in the regards that the fans in the stands were probably 70% KU fans.

 

[tazclone]

Only one team beat you twice? I'm amazed that you didn't get a one seed in this tournament.

Well Jay Bilas thought we deserved a one seed and if not for the WV loss, Villanova and ISU probably would have been flipped. We had a similar resume to Michigan with a win over Michigan.

 

[caw]

Sigh

No we hang our hat on tourney play at neutral and semi neutral sites. ISU is undefeated. Including wins against KU and KSU in Kansas City.

KU without Embiid and ISU with Niang. Listen the Niang loss makes almost all of ISUs stats an credentials null and void. There is no telling how that will change things long term. Right now UNC is the only game to judge ISU on. It was a close game which ISU came out the victor. UNC fortunately or unfortunately is nothing like UConn, almost the inverse. God I want the game to start. I hope it's a clean, fun game where both teams play hard and no one gets hurt. And I'm done.

 

[MileHighFish]

I take it you've never been to a college game at MSG? Neither has ISU. UConn has played quite a few there. Any clue on if ISU returned any of their allotted tickets?

No idea regarding ISU's allotted tickets. ISU has actually played in MSG 3 times fwiw. Last time was 2004 in the NIT.

 

[tazclone]

I'd guess they'd play some sort of match up or zone or switch between a diamond and one or a 3-2 zone with Ejim and Hogue in the paint. I can't imagine they'd play man all game. Odds are you'll see them try and deny UConn hanging out in the paint and take their odds on outside shots.

Both offenses, while run at different speeds, are pretty similar pro types and move the ball around through screens and passes to either draw a mismatch or an isolation when a double occurs. I think what will be key in this game is who can generate the most mismatches, not who can guard who better. For instance it won't be that Ejim can stop Daniels or vice versa, it will be if UConn can get Daniels matched up with Kane or Iowa State can get Boat guarding Kane on a switch that will lead to higher percentage shots.

Well said SauceMonkey.

 

[caw]

KSU and KU were in Kansas City. I know Geography is hard for Easterners but Lawrence is only 40 miles from the Sprint Center and Kansas City is 50% KU fans probably more. Kinda similar to MSG and UConn in the regards that the fans in the stands were probably 70% KU fans.

Listen jacka33, it has nothing to do with geography as to why I'm not giving ISU full credit for beating KU in Kansas City. Embiid.

 

[Mots010]

No idea regarding ISU's allotted tickets. ISU has actually played in MSG 3 times fwiw. Last time was 2004 in the NIT.

We have confirmed a few Uconn fans were able to score tickets through ISU, using some creative tactics

 

[tazclone]

Ha, that WVU game was a clinic in bad basketball on ISU's part. They couldn't shoot. They couldn't pass. They played zero defense. Hell I think they tripped coming off the bus. They deserve to be heckled for that game.

Not to defend the "forget about that game" mentality, because it is quite possible that that Cyclone team shows up tonight, but WVU was a schizophrenic club this year too. They'd go from looking like a title contender at home beating down Iowa State, Oklahoma and Kansas, then they'd walk in a gym and score like five baskets in a half on the road.

Key take away is that ISU is a streaky club. I've only seen one game since the conference season started where they played lights out all game and that was against Kansas in the B12 Tourney. Other than that they will go through stretches where they can't play (like WVU or when they shot 6% in the first 15 minutes of the game against Baylor) or when they can do no wrong, like averaging 70-80% shooting in the second half to win games against UNC and Baylor.

I guarantee you that they'll do it tonight too and, more often than not, it will be the negative streak that hits first. Its like they hate being up by a lot, ever, hence the "Cardiac Clone" label. If UConn can go on a positive run when ISU forgets how to shoot the ball and holds their great streak times to just a good streak, then this game will look a lot like the Villanova one.

Nailed it again

 

[Scot-e]

KSU and KU were in Kansas City. I know Geography is hard for Easterners but Lawrence is only 40 miles from the Sprint Center and Kansas City is 50% KU fans probably more. Kinda similar to MSG and UConn in the regards that the fans in the stands were probably 70% KU fans.

Getting snarky huh? The fans do not play the games. I watched UCONN beat Zona in Cali in a sea of red. I watched them in Memphis this year destroy U of M when 95% of the seats were U of M fans. News flash- it's fun to have a home crowd but the better team always wins the game. ISU players care as much about our fans being there in force as we did in Memphis- which is less then zero.

 

[tazclone]

Listen jacka33, it has nothing to do with geography as to why I'm not giving ISU full credit for beating KU in Kansas City. Embiid.

So the question is...is UConn better than an Embiidless KU?

 

[tazclone]

Getting snarky huh? The fans do not play the games. I watched UCONN beat Zona in Cali in a sea of red. I watched them in Memphis this year destroy U of M when 95% of the seats were U of M fans. News flash- it's fun to have a home crowd but the better team always wins the game. ISU players care as much about our fans being there in force as we did in Memphis- which is less then zero.

Did you see UConn lose at SMU and did you see UConn lose at Houston? Are you then saying SMU and Houston are better teams than UConn. I would disagree with that. UConn is much better thena those teams.

Home court is a big deal in college basketball. To be honest, that scares me the most about MSG and UConn

 

[SauceMonkey]

Would the loss at WVU would have held more weight if WVU was a better team? If WVU was somehow good enough to make the field you would be .500 but since they weren't you have a winning (barely) record in your comparison (that also includes powerhouse NCC). If the WVU team that waxed you was good enough to make the field (instead of being the mediocrity that they were) would ISU suddenly be a lesser team? I'm trying to figure out how this works.

You want to look at bad losses too? Because Houston and SMU aren't really games you want to hang your hat on either.

My only point is neither of these teams have a stellar away record. Not that ISU's is better than UConn's or vice versa. These are very similar teams.

 

[tazclone]

KU without Embiid and ISU with Niang. Listen the Niang loss makes almost all of ISUs stats an credentials null and void. There is no telling how that will change things long term. Right now UNC is the only game to judge ISU on. It was a close game which ISU came out the victor. UNC fortunately or unfortunately is nothing like UConn, almost the inverse. God I want the game to start. I hope it's a clean, fun game where both teams play hard and no one gets hurt. And I'm done.

I do too.

I think the difference here is I think ISU can replace Niang's production like they did in the UNC game. you don't. If ISU doesn't....Uconn not only wins but they win by 16+. If ISU does, it will be a damn good game.