Randy Peterson
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March 06, 2025
Something struck me during T.J. Otzelberger’s postgame remarks late Tuesday night. He’s not of the ilk to send mixed messages – something he certainly proved after his team slipped from the coveted Big 12 tournament double-bye to a fifth-seed game next Wednesday at the T-Mobile Center in KC.
“We're done with the inconsistent thing,” he told his reporters after Tuesday’s 88-85 double-overtime loss at Hilton Coliseum against BYU. “We're done with the individual agendas offensively -- and it's time for us to start playing to the level of the team that we know we are."
Boom.
He’s coaching a veteran bunch that lost against top-ranked Auburn by just a walk-off tip-in early this season, and he coaches them very well. When his team plays mentally tough and focused – they’re very good. When they’re disjointed – they’re vulnerable, and Tuesday was the most recent example:
The Cyclones were mentally tough and focused enough early to force nine BYU turnovers in the first nine minutes. They weren’t in a good enough space of toughness and focus to overcome adversity that included trailing 54-33 with 16 minutes left in regulation.
That dangerous, sometimes out of control rollercoaster of emotions and results, often has an unkind outcome. And for it happening to a team that was once ranked as high as No. 2 nationally?
Unacceptable for a team that once appeared (and still can be) a cinch for an NCAA Tournament deep run. Here’s more Otz:
“It's really a mindset thing of how much you want to do it? How committed are you to your habits? How much does winning mean more to you, than your shot going in or your turnovers or what might not be going your way?”
#Ouch!
“You’ve got to have more pride,” he also said. “It’s a lesson we should have learned by now.”
How well this message is received, will be a difference between victory and defeat in the regular-season finale Saturday at Kansas State.
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TIIMEOUT MEANDERINGS
Under 16: To say that Emily Ryan will go down in history as one of Iowa State’s best-ever basketball players, is only part of what sets her apart from most others. How about going a few steps farther. How about Emily Ryan’s legacy going something like:
Most well-rounded player, on and off the court, in Cyclones’ women’s basketball history.
We all knew the super senior was good, and among the best in the program’s history. That’s unmistakable. What separates Ryan, though, is that she’s one of three players – nationally – to have more than 1,500 career points, more than 900 career assists, and more than 600 career rebounds.
Points. Rebounds. Assists. Definition of all-around.
That’s an eye-popping statistic, in a world where we too often rank basketball player greatness only by how many points they score. It’s more eye-opening, because the other two are Caitlin Clark and Sabrina Ionescu.
They’re the women’s college basketball gold standards right now, and maybe ever, but it certainly puts Ryan’s accomplishments into perspective, and so’s this:
Toward the end of Sunday’s 22-point victory against 14th-ranked Kansas State at Hilton Coliseum, Ryan had to temporarily change jerseys. She had blood on her game-worn No. 11. She had a bloodied finger and bloody leg.
Blood. Sweat. Tears.
If that’s not an example of gutsy and courageous career – nothing is.
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Under 12: Did you notice the Iowa State-BYU rebounding statistics Tuesday night? Of course you did – 52 for the Cougars, and 24 for the Cyclones. Talk about unacceptable – and yes, I know Iowa State played four guards most of the game.
"Ultimately, if we would have found a way to rebound the basketball or not get down right away to start each overtime because of mental focus, we'd have put ourselves in a great spot,” Otzelberger said. “Unfortunately, we didn't do that."
Unfortunate, indeed.
Under 8: This week is another example how badly the Big 12 Conference basketball tournaments have been messed up since commissioner Bob Bowlsby’s retirement.
The women playing one week, and the men the next -- both at the T-Mobile Center – is as ridiculous.
Remember when both tournaments were played simultaneously – the men at T-Mobile and the women’s a couple blocks away at historic Municipal Auditorium?
The Big 12 has taken them from fan-friendly to fan-impossible to see both during one week-long trip to downtown Kansas City.
Since conference management was smart enough to bloat the league from a manageable 10 teams to 16, you’d think they’d be smart enough to figure a way to play both the women’s and men’s basketball tournaments in the same building, and in the same week.
You’d think.
Under 4:Greg Edwards’ Wednesday retirement from president and CEO of the Catch Des Moines convention and visitors bureau, is an epic loss for Des Moines. The good he did for Central Iowa is immeasurable.
To me and the realm in which I live, I applaud Edwards in what he does in helping downtown Des Moines’ Wells Fargo Arena become a regular NCAA men’s Basketball Tournament site. Already, the NCAA’s crown-jewel event has come to Des Moines in 2016, 2019, 2023 – and it’s coming again in 2028. This involved process has included working with the Polk County Board of Supervisors, on a detailed proposal the NCAA has accepted.
If you’ve followed Lee Rood’s Des Moines Register investigative reporting about the supervisors – getting them to agree on anything that’s not self-serving, ain’t the easiest thing to do these days.
(Award-winning columnist Randy Peterson can be, and has been, reached at randypete4846@gmail.com or at any Okoboji-area beverage/food establishment between the hours of open and close.)