A lot of good things yesterday

[BryceC]

McD said in the postgame show that he thought the offense was a lot better today because Rahshon, Jiri, and Wesley all got a chance to practice together this week. I think that really showed. Bethune-Cookman is probably the worst team we've played all year, but we still looked rough offensively earlier in the year against bad teams. Might have seen the last of the press.

A lot of good individual efforts too:

Garrett: I've been saying he needs to start kicking it out when he penetrates for a few weeks now and he did a great job of getting into the lane and kicking it out to the open shooter. Loved Diante's effort yesterday. Good job out of the young'un.

Haluska: I'm probably labeled a Haluska hater but he did play really good defense yesterday. You can tell he's struggling with confidence right now because he passed up some open threes on plays that were run to him. The shot he did make looked really good.

Brackins: Showed some great touch around the rim and had what, 5 blocks?

Rahshon: Just did everything you need to do to win and really showed some great leadership.

Wesley: Still struggling to play D, you can tell his lateral movement just isn't there. But is finding ways to score. Drove to the hoop really well.

Peterson: No turnovers. Pushed the tempo well.

Lee: How did I forget this guy? Big crowd favorite and he really got after it on the defensive end.

I mean I know I'm probably forgetting some stuff here, but I was very happy with the way the team played. Really wish Appleton could have been here for a bigger game, worst crowd of the year yesterday but that was to be expected.

 

[mj4cy]

I liked our ball movement. You can get so many good looks at the hoop when you move the ball around!

 

[nfrine]

Cory Johnson provided a very good lift. Five for Five from the field, 13 points, 4 rebounds and an assist in 19 minutes. The Cyclones seemed to play very well with him in the line-up.

What's everyones thoughts on Juri's play?

 

[erikbj]

I personally liked the 3 quarters court press. I know they gave a few baskets, but it was the first time the really used it this year.

 

[BryceC]

Jiri played a little soft yesterday, but he had 12 points, 8 boards, 2 assists and no turnovers. I'll take that stat line from Jiri any day.

 

[iowast8fan]

Jiri played a little soft yesterday, but he had 12 points, 8 boards, 2 assists and no turnovers. I'll take that stat line from Jiri any day.

Jiri ended with 12 points, but he only had 4 points halfway through the second half. With the shorter lineup from B-C, I expected Jiri to play a lot tougher. He was covered defensively by a guy who seemed a foot shorter than him.

 

[kcclones]

C Johnson looked great...it was awesome to see him make some baskets and get some confidence. He looks better out there than A Thompson

 

[cyclonenum1]

From my perspective, these games should be categorized under the heading of "taking care of business"...we are supposed to win these games and win them big. We were playing Bethune-Cookman for goodness sake!

Personally, I don't think it is wise to judge players on these type of games. The hard-working but less-talented players always appear to be better than they really are when you play inferior competition (Peterson, C. Johnson, etal). Unfortunately, when you get back to playing high majors / Big 12 competition these type of guys struggle and then many of you wonder "why doesn't he play like he did against Bethune-Cookman".

Just for some perspective, Bethune-Cookman has only played one legitimate team prior to playing us...Purdue (a 66-40 loss for B-C). Their wins have come over the likes of Edward Waters (how's that for a school you've never heard of), Florida A&M, and Southeastern College.

Many of you probably think I am being too tough on our players and our coach. Frankly, I expect ISU to have a successful program (consistently in the NCAA Tourney). Furthermore, I truly believe that, while coaching is important, the most critical element of having success in BB is having a team of talented players. Just look at Phil Jackson...he appeared to be a great coach when he had the Bulls with both Michael and Scottie as well as when he had the Lakers with both Shaq and Kobe. He doesn't appear to be quite the same coach now that he just has Kobe on his team. I think you could say the same for Eustachy...look at his record when his teams had Tinsley and Fizer versus when they did not and you see two different sets of results.

My point is that I am going to take it on faith that McDermott can coach and I will agree that his history indicates that he can help "develop" some players. But I think the most critical thing we need is to recruit more talented kids to play at ISU...if these kids are from small town Iowa or Nebraska...great or if they are from some BB prep school...great. I just believe we need to increase the talent we have on our team!

 

[ISUFan22]

Alex had a rough night. Greg said in his postgame...

"He wasn't happy with himself and is out here shooting free throws as we speak."

I like hearing that.

 

[SeattleClone]

I really liked seeing Lee in there near the end, it would be great if he could become a key player off the bench. Nice quickness, and a wingspan not seen since Blalock.

 

[isuno1fan]

I thought Jiri was weak myself. His D was not good for the majority of the game and he seemed to be the only guy that couldn't take advantage of our huge height advantage in the lane. Yes he got a few rebounds, but his offense and movement in the post continues to leave me uninspired. We need offense out of him so hopefully the light comes on at some point.

 

[shildreth]

Personally, I don't think it is wise to judge players on these type of games. The hard-working but less-talented players always appear to be better than they really are when you play inferior competition (Peterson, C. Johnson, etal). Unfortunately, when you get back to playing high majors / Big 12 competition these type of guys struggle and then many of you wonder "why doesn't he play like he did against Bethune-Cookman".

I agree 100%. Peterson and C Johnson looked good but they should have. Everyone should have. This team was clearly not as talented and very undersized. I think I heard the back up center that C Johnson was playing against was lik 6'4"! With Cory being undersized he finally had a matchup he could take advantage of.

 

[Cardinal2001]

They were not a big team, but we were still missing assignments on the defensive end. Lots of layups and short pull up jumpers for BC. Rahshon calmed that down, and got people to start paying attention to what they were doing. He really showed leadership in this game. Basically, he got after everyone like McD did in the first minute in the Iowa game on Jiri. I see that as a definate plus.

Lee showed some moxie out there, and some pretty good speed driving to the basket. Could he be one of the solutions to that current issue?

Nice to see the Cyclone Fanatic tee shirts in the south Cyclone Alley zone. Sweet seats, when they let us come down from the balcony.

 

[MJAnderson]

From my perspective, these games should be categorized under the heading of "taking care of business"...we are supposed to win these games and win them big. We were playing Bethune-Cookman for goodness sake!

Personally, I don't think it is wise to judge players on these type of games. The hard-working but less-talented players always appear to be better than they really are when you play inferior competition (Peterson, C. Johnson, etal). Unfortunately, when you get back to playing high majors / Big 12 competition these type of guys struggle and then many of you wonder "why doesn't he play like he did against Bethune-Cookman".

Just for some perspective, Bethune-Cookman has only played one legitimate team prior to playing us...Purdue (a 66-40 loss for B-C). Their wins have come over the likes of Edward Waters (how's that for a school you've never heard of), Florida A&M, and Southeastern College.

Many of you probably think I am being too tough on our players and our coach. Frankly, I expect ISU to have a successful program (consistently in the NCAA Tourney). Furthermore, I truly believe that, while coaching is important, the most critical element of having success in BB is having a team of talented players. Just look at Phil Jackson...he appeared to be a great coach when he had the Bulls with both Michael and Scottie as well as when he had the Lakers with both Shaq and Kobe. He doesn't appear to be quite the same coach now that he just has Kobe on his team. I think you could say the same for Eustachy...look at his record when his teams had Tinsley and Fizer versus when they did not and you see two different sets of results.

My point is that I am going to take it on faith that McDermott can coach and I will agree that his history indicates that he can help "develop" some players. But I think the most critical thing we need is to recruit more talented kids to play at ISU...if these kids are from small town Iowa or Nebraska...great or if they are from some BB prep school...great. I just believe we need to increase the talent we have on our team!

I agree that this was a "taking care of business game". But you have to give these guy's some credit, thats exactly what they did. They may not have played perfect but they did do a lot of things well. We seemed to be in the right spots at the right time and knew what we were doing. Give them credit for coming into the game focused and executing the game plan.

As far as talent goes, I think McDermott has done a fine job. We have at least two potential NBA players on the team and I think we would be very competitive right now if everybody that signed with us in the last two years would have worked out.

 

[BryceC]

Our RPI dropped 11 spots from beating Bethune Cookman by 20. I know McD probably didn't have a choice because of the tournament setup, but we probably should stay away from these god awful teams in the future when we really are fighting for the NCAA's. They are absolute RPI killers.

 

[Rickybaby]

I was really impressed with Cameron Lee; neve seen him before. Really tenaous on "D" didn't see a lot on offense but with the personel in their at the time would have been hard to run anything crisp. Maybe he can help out the PG situation.

 

[jbhtexas]

Our RPI dropped 11 spots from beating Bethune Cookman by 20. I know McD probably didn't have a choice because of the tournament setup, but we probably should stay away from these god awful teams in the future when we really are fighting for the NCAA's. They are absolute RPI killers.

Either stay away from them, or really take care of business and blow them out by 40+.

 

[jdoggivjc]

Our RPI dropped 11 spots from beating Bethune Cookman by 20. I know McD probably didn't have a choice because of the tournament setup, but we probably should stay away from these god awful teams in the future when we really are fighting for the NCAA's. They are absolute RPI killers.

Just imagine what would have happened if we lost to them :mask:

 

[jbhtexas]

I agree that this was a "taking care of business game". But you have to give these guy's some credit, thats exactly what they did.

ISU won the game, but didn't exactly "take care of business". See BryceC's post on ISU's RPI drop after last night's game. In college MBB, as far as getting an invitation to post season play goes, it's not only wins that matter, RPI does matter too.

 

[cyclonenum1]

I agree that this was a "taking care of business game". But you have to give these guy's some credit, thats exactly what they did. They may not have played perfect but they did do a lot of things well. We seemed to be in the right spots at the right time and knew what we were doing. Give them credit for coming into the game focused and executing the game plan.

As far as talent goes, I think McDermott has done a fine job. We have at least two potential NBA players on the team and I think we would be very competitive right now if everybody that signed with us in the last two years would have worked out.

I'm always reminded of that old saying..."if IFS and BUTS were candy and nuts..."!