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Crazy how irrelevant Iowa State basketball has become

I don't think I've ever seen the basketball board so quiet the eve of the Iowa State/Iowa game. Their fans are conspicuously absent and there are no threads referencing the Ames or Story County police blotter.

Strange days.

Iowa State 68
Iowa 102
069 Moo U
169 IOWA


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No mystery about why ISU fans aren't talking about the game. It isn't going to be pretty.

Probably not. But there have been games in the last decade where the talk was how ISU would kill Iowa, specifically 2017 when Iowa was 4-5 and beat 6-2 Iowa State by 14. ISU had Morris, Thomas, Long, Burton and Iowa won by 14. ISU was 2nd in the Big 12 that season. So anything can happen, especially if the favored team overlooks the other one.

I have no idea what happened to ISU over the last few years. But wow, what a fall off.
 
Probably not. But there have been games in the last decade where the talk was how ISU would kill Iowa, specifically 2017 when Iowa was 4-5 and beat 6-2 Iowa State by 14. ISU had Morris, Thomas, Long, Burton and Iowa won by 14. ISU was 2nd in the Big 12 that season. So anything can happen, especially if the favored team overlooks the other one.

I have no idea what happened to ISU over the last few years. But wow, what a fall off.

Very true, but I doubt any Iowa player is overlooking Iowa State. Too many Iowa kids on the team and Garza wants to beat the piss out of everyone he plays.
 
Probably not. But there have been games in the last decade where the talk was how ISU would kill Iowa, specifically 2017 when Iowa was 4-5 and beat 6-2 Iowa State by 14. ISU had Morris, Thomas, Long, Burton and Iowa won by 14. ISU was 2nd in the Big 12 that season. So anything can happen, especially if the favored team overlooks the other one.

I have no idea what happened to ISU over the last few years. But wow, what a fall off.

That's kind of the point. All the surprise games have come at the expense of ISU. ISU is not prepared to play this game, as evidenced by the cancellation of the ISU/Depaul game and they desire to try to schedule another one quickly which also fell through. ISU has severe talent and experience issues that won't be resolved this season. Chicago State is having pretty bad COVID issues so one of the gimmie games coming up could be off the schedule. If I had to guess ISU is going to win 6 games total this season assuming they even play them all. Pollard said earlier this week that 20-25% of ALL CBB games have been cancelled so far this season.

I think what we're seeing with ISU actually is pretty easy to explain. Fred had a lot of turnover, but he always had a core group of guys that helped maintain consistency and leadership throughout the program. Ejim, Morris, Niang, Naz, and Thomas were all there 4 or more years and really set the tone for the program. Prohm has had some great guys, for example Haliburton who might have been one of the nicest and most engaging kids to ever come through ISU. Maybe one of the most talented. But he was there 2 years. There is no through line of players which I think you need in a place like Ames.
 
How hot is Prohm's chair do you think?

Considering the financial impact of COVID, the necessity to renegotiate Campbell's contract at the end of the season, and Pollard's reluctance to fire his guys I would say not hot. Fans are getting to be pretty much done with him but I don't think it matters to be honest. For the record I hate this, I genuinely like Prohm, I think he cares a lot about the things you want a college coach to care about, and he does all of the stuff off the court that you want a coach to do.
 
Clone fans still hungover from last sat celebrating there one and only texas 10 champ. Basketball the furthest thing on there mind right now.
 
How hot is Prohm's chair do you think?
It's hot and will be hotter before the season is through, but it would take more than another losing season for him to be fired. Covid overshadows everything, for starters; practice time, availability of players, games being cancelled, and the humongous financial impact.

And look at the situation now. He was facing a tough situation under any circumstances, with 7 newcomers, including 4 freshmen. Most of them have decent credentials, but they couldn't scrimmage until two weeks before the first game. They've only been able to play two games. Iowa is one of the toughest games anybody could play, and the Big XII looks to have several very strong teams this season.

There is some talent on the team. He hasn't just been recruiting chopped liver.

Last year was disappointing, but the team actually wasn't too bad until Halliburton got hurt and was done for the year.
 
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Best case scenario for ISU basketball fans is Prohm pulls a McDermott and leaves on his own. Pollard can't afford to fire him.
 
Because when I look at this ISU team I think "all they are missing is one top 50 player".
If they had Halliburton and had been able to work out as usual this year, we would be pretty excited about the season. A couple of big "ifs," but as a longtime ISU fan, I can attest that it's been a whole lot worse at times in the past.

And it's still early. Yes, Iowa will probably win by a bigger margin than ever before in the series, and that will smart. But after the Louisiana football game his year, a lot of fans wondered if the team would win more than a couple of games. The big difference is that Campbell's record provided reason for optimsm, and Prohm's doesn't.
 
Because when I look at this ISU team I think "all they are missing is one top 50 player".
Remember what people thought of Iowa after the Depaul debacle.
We have no idea how teams will gel in a year or 2.

Also given the ability for kids to freely transfer now, who's to say how long it takes for things to change.

Right now ISU just needs to actually play some games. Iowa will certainly provide them many teaching opportunities.
 
If they had Halliburton and had been able to work out as usual this year, we would be pretty excited about the season. A couple of big "ifs," but as a longtime ISU fan, I can attest that it's been a whole lot worse at times in the past.

And it's still early. Yes, Iowa will probably win by a bigger margin than ever before in the series, and that will smart. But after the Louisiana football game his year, a lot of fans wondered if the team would win more than a couple of games. The big difference is that Campbell's record provided reason for optimsm, and Prohm's doesn't.

If Prohm didn't realize Haliburton would be gone after 2 years when he was about halfway through his freshman season then he sucks even more than I thought was possible.
 
Considering the financial impact of COVID, the necessity to renegotiate Campbell's contract at the end of the season, and Pollard's reluctance to fire his guys I would say not hot. Fans are getting to be pretty much done with him but I don't think it matters to be honest. For the record I hate this, I genuinely like Prohm, I think he cares a lot about the things you want a college coach to care about, and he does all of the stuff off the court that you want a coach to do.
Yeah, seems like a good fella.
 
Remember what people thought of Iowa after the Depaul debacle.
We have no idea how teams will gel in a year or 2.

Also given the ability for kids to freely transfer now, who's to say how long it takes for things to change.

Right now ISU just needs to actually play some games. Iowa will certainly provide them many teaching opportunities.
Having sustained success is one thing, but agree that a significant improvement in a b-ball program is very possible from one year to the next. All it takes is a couple of recruits who are really good/and or exceed expectations and a transfer or two who do the same. 3 or 4 of the right players could literally make an also ran into a contender.
 
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I don't think I've ever seen the basketball board so quiet the eve of the Iowa State/Iowa game. Their fans are conspicuously absent and there are no threads referencing the Ames or Story County police blotter.

Strange days.

Iowa State 68
Iowa 102

To be fair, they have something else to be very excited about right now.
 
We are a bit from dominant next year assuming Garza, J Bo, and Joe W are gone.
 
Want to bet how many last 3 or more years at ISU?
🙂
There's been a lot of turnover, but primarily going pro, so that's a mixed bag. In today's environment -- talking about leaving early, not about Prohm -- it's highly unlikely Niang and Morris would both have stayed the full four years.
 
There's been a lot of turnover, but primarily going pro, so that's a mixed bag. In today's environment -- talking about leaving early, not about Prohm -- it's highly unlikely Niang and Morris would both have stayed the full four years.

ISU has had 3 early entries (Wigginton, THT, Haliburton) in Prohm's tenure at ISU.

He has had 7 transfers the past 4 seasons alone. It has a lot more to do with recruiting misses and transfers than it does early entrants to the NBA draft.
 
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