Brackins is back!!

[Clones85']

IMO. You wouldn't be able to tell from looking at the line:

6 for 15, 18 pts, 6 Reb, 3 assists

But he did a great job of going towards the hoop last night. Even when he got the ball 20 feet from the hoop, he backed his man down and went towards the basket. He really didn't shoot the ball very well and missed probably 4 shots he usually always makes (not including the obvious goaltend). We are a much better team and he is a much better player when he can get shots up inside of 8 feeet. Hopefully he has a 2nd half of the season like he did last year. With the upgrade in surrounding talent around Craig we can still do some damage this year

 

[ISUonthemove]

Yeah, I thought he played better too. I'd still like to see him take control, and be a more dominant player. The only way to get Staiger and Christopherson more involved in the offense is for Craig to be a force down low.

 

[mj4cy]

These guys played hurt, played with little rest time and gave a huge effort. Mistakes were made but were at 100% effort. I love this team and can't wait to beat the Fuskers.

 

[DaddyMac]

IMO. You wouldn't be able to tell from looking at the line:

6 for 15, 18 pts, 6 Reb, 3 assists

But he did a great job of going towards the hoop last night. Even when he got the ball 20 feet from the hoop, he backed his man down and went towards the basket. He really didn't shoot the ball very well and missed probably 4 shots he usually always makes (not including the obvious goaltend). We are a much better team and he is a much better player when he can get shots up inside of 8 feeet. Hopefully he has a 2nd half of the season like he did last year. With the upgrade in surrounding talent around Craig we can still do some damage this year

Key! I was glad to see it as well. Texas has tons of talent (obviously). Much easier to send doubles towards Brackins and disrupt his game. That's not a horrid stat line by any stretch.

I noticed a few times that Brackins got the ball about 8-10' out, with only one defender .... and we had cutters (DG and Lucca are ones I saw) cutting TOWARDS him and his block? On the DG one, all he did was bring a second defender to Brackins - then stood under the hoop able to do nothing, while Brackins was backing down his guy (now two). Not sure what that was about....

But Brackins keeps up that attitude, takes other teams to the hoop like he did last night - he'll eat a few teams alive.

 

[bawbie]

I hate to agree with the announcers, but the breakaway dunk seemed to flip the switch for Brackins. He was 1-6 from the field at that point, and 5-9 the rest of the way. 5-9 isn't great, but much more like what we need. Now if he took more than 1 shot in the first 15 minutes of the second half... We still need to do a much better job of getting him consistent touches.

 

[chuckd4735]

There were a few times I thought Brackins showed zero hustle for loose balls, but other than that I thought he was great.

 

[CyTom]

There were a few times I thought Brackins showed zero hustle for loose balls, but other than that I thought he was great.

The play before Texas stopped the clock because the officials didn't reset the shot clock. A Texas guy was sitting out of bounds and Craig was there to grab the basketball. The Texas guy got off of his butt and beat Craig to the ball from the same distance. We still had a chance to win at this point, I think we were down 7.

 

[DaddyMac]

The play before Texas stopped the clock because the officials didn't reset the shot clock. A Texas guy was sitting out of bounds and Craig was there to grab the basketball. The Texas guy got off of his butt and beat Craig to the ball from the same distance. We still had a chance to win at this point, I think we were down 7.

You saw that too, huh? :no:

 

[chuckd4735]

The play before Texas stopped the clock because the officials didn't reset the shot clock. A Texas guy was sitting out of bounds and Craig was there to grab the basketball. The Texas guy got off of his butt and beat Craig to the ball from the same distance. We still had a chance to win at this point, I think we were down 7.

There were a few more as well, but that particular one was the worst and set me off.

 

[cyfan964]

He's a step slow on defense, but he showed some tenacity on the offensive side of the ball last night.

 

[mj4cy]

There were a few times I thought Brackins showed zero hustle for loose balls, but other than that I thought he was great.

They had to be a little cautious...no subs to give them breathers

 

[ISUFan22]

There were a few times I thought Brackins showed zero hustle for loose balls, but other than that I thought he was great.

The play before Texas stopped the clock because the officials didn't reset the shot clock. A Texas guy was sitting out of bounds and Craig was there to grab the basketball. The Texas guy got off of his butt and beat Craig to the ball from the same distance. We still had a chance to win at this point, I think we were down 7.

Bull. That has to be the worst excuse I have heard, ever.

I'll give you a good one though, his leg was banged up. The play mentioned, which I was frustrated with as well, came after he had gone out for a bit with that knee injury. He was visibly slower after that.

Give it a few more games before I'll agree "Craig is back"...because I want to see this effort and dedication to take it strong to the hoop against someone not named Texas, Kansas, etc. He was far better last night and I give credit to him for that. Much like my opinion on the team though, I want to see it against unranked teams and lead to wins.

I do think the part I was most pleased about was not Craig's level of play, but his leadership. He was emotionally into this game and often times was either congratulating a teammate on a job well done (he got a bit rough with Dendy once smacking him hard on the head, that was pretty funny), picking them up off the floor or "coaching" them on where they need to be. THIS is what I've expected from Craig Brackins, our leader and face of the program. If he continues to do this, his points will come and the team will be better for it.

 

[fatmoldy]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_Z3D1535Jo]YouTube - Take It to the Next Level[/ame]

YO BACK! MY BRO'S BACK!

 

[Clones85']

The play before Texas stopped the clock because the officials didn't reset the shot clock. A Texas guy was sitting out of bounds and Craig was there to grab the basketball. The Texas guy got off of his butt and beat Craig to the ball from the same distance. We still had a chance to win at this point, I think we were down 7.

Yeah I agree. There were a couple plays that he didn't go after it like he should. I could really go down a list of things the players did wrong last night, but for the first time in a while it seemed like the positive was greater than the negative.

Dendy: Got out of place on defense. Over committs when jumping out on a screen
Gilstrap: Missed wide open layups and free throws
Garrett: Acted like he had never seen a press before
Hamilton: Missed a huge layup off the alley oop from Craig

All in all not to bad. Keep up the intesity, which will be hard on the road w/o the fans, and we will be tough

 

[redrage]

It's because he is bringing back the faux hawk. Did the same thing last year before the Big 12 season started. Its like Sampson's hair.

 

[clone52]

The play before Texas stopped the clock because the officials didn't reset the shot clock. A Texas guy was sitting out of bounds and Craig was there to grab the basketball. The Texas guy got off of his butt and beat Craig to the ball from the same distance. We still had a chance to win at this point, I think we were down 7.

I was livid with that one. I hope he just didn't see the ball, because if he saw it there and acted like he did, that was pathetic.

 

[clone52]

I'll give you a good one though, his leg was banged up. The play mentioned, which I was frustrated with as well, came after he had gone out for a bit with that knee injury. He was visibly slower after that.

Give it a few more games before I'll agree "Craig is back"...because I want to see this effort and dedication to take it strong to the hoop against someone not named Texas, Kansas, etc. He was far better last night and I give credit to him for that. Much like my opinion on the team though, I want to see it against unranked teams and lead to wins.

I do think the part I was most pleased about was not Craig's level of play, but his leadership. He was emotionally into this game and often times was either congratulating a teammate on a job well done (he got a bit rough with Dendy once smacking him hard on the head, that was pretty funny), picking them up off the floor or "coaching" them on where they need to be. THIS is what I've expected from Craig Brackins, our leader and face of the program. If he continues to do this, his points will come and the team will be better for it.

It wasn't slowness on that play. It was no effort at all. Had he tried but just got beat to it, then whatever.

 

[isucy1234]

It's because he brought the old Craig "look" back. Finally got rid of those black tights and is sporting his famous fro-hawk again.

 

[HOTDON]

We need to force Brackins to take over the offense by running the ball through his hands every time we set up on that end of the floor. One on one he can create his own shot, if the double him we should have a slasher or an outside look. We moved a little better without the ball last night, but we're still not good enough given how much attention other teams devote to stopping Craig. Craig should be putting teams in a "pick your poison" situation; getting solid looks one on one or dishing to the open man. Craig is much less dangerous without the ball.