Iowa State basketball seeks to keep focus as non-conference season winds down
AMES – It may never be easy to keep the attention of college students, but Iowa State men’s basketball coach T.J. Otzelberger at least has a few tools at his disposal through the season’s initial weeks.
There’s the excitement of the start of the season. Then comes the anticipation of the Thanksgiving week tournament against good competition in an interesting location. That’s followed by the high-stakes rivalry game against Iowa.
All of that works together to make it easier to keep players focused on basketball.
Now, though, with games against low-majors on the schedule and with final exams underway, the holidays looming and Big 12 Conference play off in the distance, the challenge of keeping basketball front and center becomes a bit more pronounced.
“It’s my responsibility to make sure at all times we have a tremendous sense of urgency,” Otzelberger said Wednesday. “That we have a competitive spirit.
“Yet we understand that young people can be easily distracted. It’s important to us that they do well on their finals and that they focus on that, yet when we have that hour-and-a-half or two hours a day we have for practice, that we’re accomplishing things.”
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Iowa State (7-2) is in the sleepiest portion of its schedule with games against Florida A&M (Sunday; 5 p.m.; ESPN+), Eastern Illinois (Dec. 21) and New Hampshire (Dec. 31) the only games left before Big 12 play.
The Cyclones won’t likely be on upset alert for any of those games, but utilizing this time could ultimately be significant as they look to secure a third-straight NCAA Tournament appearance that will likely be powered by how they navigate an incredibly difficult Big 12.
“That we’re building on our habits. That we’re not just trying to get through the day,” Otzelberger said. “It’s something I take really personal. I have a tremendous sense of pride that on days like these when you’re a few days from a game, when there are other things on your mind, that we keep our focus where it needs to be.
“That we’re continuing to improve because it’s not just today’s practice (that) really matters and getting better, especially for our team, matters, but you carry those habits forward as you move forward through the season.”
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That’s what led to Otzelberger challenging his team this week to keep its focus on the court for the limited time they’re on it during this time.
“For these first couple months, everything has been back to back to back,” senior Tre King said. “We didn’t have much downtime or time to think about it, but T.J. actually talked about it (Wednesday)– coming back to work with great focus, great intent and great energy every day.”
While Iowa State has positioned itself well through the non-conference season, the Cyclones will still likely be defined by where they fall in the Big 12 come March. The work they do now will undoubtedly influence how that unfolds.
“We know what’s coming after this,” King said. “We know we have a big conference schedule and season coming up ahead of us where all games matter.
“Everybody has done a good job of being where their feet are and having great intent.”
Travis Hines covers Iowa State University sports for the Des Moines Register and Ames Tribune. Contact him at thines@amestrib.com or (515) 284-8000. Follow him on X at @TravisHines21.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa State basketball readies for exams, holidays - and games
