Clones/Danes Postgame Blog Entry

tigershoops31 · 12-30-2007, 11:34 PM

My postgame blog entry is up for the game tonight. For having so much time off and this being an easy game to halfway overlook, I thought we looked pretty solid when we had our full team in the lineup (ie: not in foul trouble).

Juice blogs » The Cyclones

I’ve Been a Bad Blogger by Jerry Hales
:: December 30th, 2007 :: 11:26 pm

It seems like it’s been a year since I’ve posted anything (although I’m sure for some it hasn’t been long enough). I’ve been bouncing around all over the place and there hasn’t been a whole lot going on with ISU since the Alabama game until this weekend. It looks like the wrestling team took 2nd at the prestigious Midlands tournament, while the women’s bball team took a couple of wins this weekend in their own tournament to take that. I just got home from the ISU/Albany game so I guess I’ll talk about that a bit.

The first half we looked pretty rough offensively, although we finished strong to take a 32-28 lead into halftime. A big part of that was Wesley Johnson picking up his second foul early which forced him to the bench for the rest of the half. McDermott has always done that when somebody gets 2 fouls in the first half, but tonight gave a test to whether he would be able to stick to that policy. When Rahshon Clark got his 2nd foul fairly early he was pulled out as well, which left us Bryan Petersen, Diante Garrett, and Sean Haluska in the lineup for the duration. Unfortunately, Haluska went down hard on a 3 point play on the break and they had to bring out the trainer and help him off the court. Freshman walk on Cameron Lee filled in admirably for the rest of the half as McDermott stuck to his guns on the 2 foul deal, and Lee finished with 3 steals and a block. Haluska did come out to warm up for the second half, and the word was that it was a lower back bruise. Hopefully he’ll be back in action on Wednesday for our next game.

With Wesley Johnson back in the second half, we made a big run to go up 19 early in scoring 16 points in the first 4:30 of the half. After that we cruised most of the way, fighting off a late run by the Great Danes to win by a dozen. Jiri Hubalek led the way for the Cyclones in finishing with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Wesley Johnson added 20, while Clark chipped in 12 and Garrett had 7. Petersen had a solid game with 5 points, 8 assists, and no turnovers. Over the last 6 games he has been tremendous, registering 29 assists with only 1 turnover.

The leading scorers for Albany were seniors Brian Lillis and Brent Wilson, both of which played their high school basketball in Iowa. They both were big Hawkeye fans in high school and said before the game that it would be fun playing at Hilton since they always disliked ISU, so it was nice to see their friends and family gather up their homeade purple shirts and leave in shameful silence after the game. Actually, having watched them both play in high school I would have never thought that Wilson would stick on a D1 roster, and definitely didn’t envision either of them starting at even a smaller D1 school. In that regard, I was impressed with them; Wilson looks like he ate a small herd of cattle over the last couple of years while Lillis looked like what I would picture Chris Kingsbury in his current condition. Also noteworthy was the fact that former Hawkeye women’s bball player and Brian’s big sis, Jennie Lillis was in attendance (I’m 99% sure that was her I spotted) and was sporting the same haircut as little brother.

-Up next for the Cyclones is USC-Upstate on Wednesday at Hilton. ISU has 2 more games to polish things up before opening the Big 12 season at Baylor on January 12th.

SeattleClone · 12-31-2007, 12:06 AM

I'm glad the Clones shut up the purple-shirt AND shirtless losers. Some of those guys in the lower corners were pretty classless.

mapnerd · 12-31-2007, 12:17 AM

Originally Posted by SeattleClone

I'm glad the Clones shut up the purple-shirt AND shirtless losers. Some of those guys in the lower corners were pretty classless.

Agreed. I think they were just hawk fans with different colors on. No class at all.

cyclonedave25 · 12-31-2007, 01:35 AM

The shirtless boys were annoying. Especially the one with the "W" on his chest. He was always yelling at our bench or the ref. I wish all of the students were there to shut them up. I realize a lot of our students might act like this in some way, but its our homecourt and we can do what we want. I hate it when people come into Hilton and act like that, especially if they are sitting in the front row.
As for the purple shirt people, they just looked/acted like your typical tourists. It was like Lillis was having his family reunion inside of Hilton. I had the pleasure of sitting right behind all of them.

Stormin · 12-31-2007, 07:45 AM

I feel badly that Sean Haluska got hurt. However, he has played very poorly and couldnt hit the ocean with a brick. Lee was the spark that got us going. I think he earned some minutes. Lee has played pretty well. Petersen looked very good. Garrett is getting better but still makes some freshman mistakes. Even if Haluska makes it back from injury, I think his minutes now go to Lee.

l2alphmacchio · 12-31-2007, 08:57 AM

I hate to say it, but I'm glad Haluska got hurt. Good kid, but hasn't been able to produce at all this year, there's always next year...

ISUonthemove · 12-31-2007, 09:20 AM

Originally Posted by l2alphmacchio

I hate to say it, but I'm glad Haluska got hurt. Good kid, but hasn't been able to produce at all this year, there's always next year...

Glad to see him get hurt?!?!?!?!

I hope you're 10 years old and just don't know any better.

timc243 · 12-31-2007, 09:20 AM

How was that not a flagrant or intentional foul on Haluska? The guy didn't even make a play for the ball.

cybsball20 · 12-31-2007, 09:35 AM

Originally Posted by timc243

How was that not a flagrant or intentional foul on Haluska? The guy didn't even make a play for the ball.

The guy got caught in between jumping and just letting him go... He tried to get out of the way at the last second but it was too late.

Cyclonic · 12-31-2007, 09:36 AM

Originally Posted by l2alphmacchio

I hate to say it, but I'm glad Haluska got hurt. Good kid, but hasn't been able to produce at all this year, there's always next year...

If you hate to say it, then don't.

kuney1 · 12-31-2007, 09:51 AM

Originally Posted by l2alphmacchio

I hate to say it, but I'm glad Haluska got hurt. Good kid, but hasn't been able to produce at all this year, there's always next year...

I assume you wrote this to stir some controversy.

bmuff · 12-31-2007, 10:07 AM

Yeah, I was happy to see the team shut up those losers. It's possible to root for Lillis yet not against ISU, but these people were there to root against ISU. I'm sure that they were probably hawk fans. They definitely acted like it.

If I were GMac, I'd have had one or two of those shirtless guys escorted out of there. But it was nice seeing them shut up in the second half.

Cyfan13 · 12-31-2007, 10:20 AM

Originally Posted by l2alphmacchio

I hate to say it, but I'm glad Haluska got hurt. Good kid, but hasn't been able to produce at all this year, there's always next year...

You would be suprised at how many people said that at the game last night too....That's so messed up. He's a great kid and plays hard defense. And nobody should be happy when a member of their team gets hurt. I was sitting next to his parents and they were scared to death. Imagine if that was your friend or family member when you say things like that.

isuno1fan · 12-31-2007, 10:25 AM

I still want to know what the NCAA record is for consecutive missed 3 pointers. SH has got to be close if he doesn't already have that record.

Team didn't play as well as they did in Vegas and the D still leaves a lot to be desired, but I've seen worse. They get a C+ from me on their performance last night.

tigershoops31 · 01-01-2008, 02:57 PM

Originally Posted by timc243

How was that not a flagrant or intentional foul on Haluska? The guy didn't even make a play for the ball.

For the record, I don't think that the foul warranted a flagrant/intentional foul because he wasn't trying to foul him, he was just slow getting into position. If anybody saw the Arizona/Memphis game this past week, Chase Buddinger for Arizona got called for an intentional foul for less trying to slide in to take a charge. The foul on Haluska looked brutal, but it was just because he was up in the air where he was vulnerable, not because the guy tried to clock him. That said, I hope you slip on the ice and bruise your lower back this week after that comment Ralphmachio, ya ******!