Starting another thread since the B12 game is basically over, and I’m tired of reading all the ridiculous comments about coaching and players earning scholarships. Ridiculous!
First and foremost, this game was much harder for Houston, given all of our key injuries. I wish we had another stud coming off the bench, but the fact is, we don’t.
You can tell Roberts is not himself with the way he’s playing. It almost looks like he doesn’t want to make contact anyone to prevent getting further injured. Offensively he didn’t really do anything. Defensively he didn’t bring it at all. That’s rare for Roberts. Without him, we go nowhere in the NCAA tournament.
Francis? He’s been terrific. Expecting Francis to guard all three ISU bigs without aggressive Roberts is not realistic, though. You think that’s why he fouled out?
Just curious… how many people on this board have played sports at a high-level? Get a grip. We’re playing with a short bench, which means the starters have tired legs. This is the third game in three days with that short bench. This isn’t the NCAA tournament where you get a day off between games and only play two games over a weekend.
On the other hand, ISU has a deep bench, no key injuries, and the momentum of playing in front of 17k fans in basically a home game. Not that that fan support was the key difference, but it energized ISU. Yes, we’ve played plenty of road games before, but not without key players.
Listen, if we can get Roberts back to at least 90%, our starters can make a strong run in the tournament. Without him, we’re an #1 team upset in the making.
On the bright side, how many times this year have all three of our guards played poorly? The only game I can think of was against Kansas in Lawrence. That’s it. Something tells me our players will be humbled by this lopsided loss and come out strong in the tournament. Why? Because this team has shown grit all season long. But there are limits with injuries. Getting Roberts healthy is key.