Ran across this last night. Great team!
Larry Eustachy/ISU ESPN feature from 2000
- Thread starter deadeyededric
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Despite his downfalls Larry was a damn good coach. I remember back in college someone I knew had attended a practice around this time probably and said Larry probably cussed out everyone on the team but Paul Shirley that day. I've met Richard Evans several years after graduating and he said Larry was a tough SOB but he loved to play for him as he pushed his players to be at their best and he played his best basketball under Larry. His tactics weren't for everyone as also heard of a story from one of my RA friends that had a freshman on their floor and he came back from practice one day and was crying in his room because Larry had laid into him that day.
Definitely a different world we live in now where guys would probably just transfer out if they didn't like that style of coaching. I think TJ has a bit of the practice hard mentality too but probably is much more tactful about it compared to Larry. We probably had more talent on the team during the Hoiberg and Prohm era compared to some of our best teams before them but we lacked some mental toughness and felt like we read our own press too much that we probably underachieved at times. Some of the teams that have achieved the most came into the season without fanfare and high expectations, last season and that elite 8 team are 2 great examples.
Definitely a different world we live in now where guys would probably just transfer out if they didn't like that style of coaching. I think TJ has a bit of the practice hard mentality too but probably is much more tactful about it compared to Larry. We probably had more talent on the team during the Hoiberg and Prohm era compared to some of our best teams before them but we lacked some mental toughness and felt like we read our own press too much that we probably underachieved at times. Some of the teams that have achieved the most came into the season without fanfare and high expectations, last season and that elite 8 team are 2 great examples.
That was a magical season. To think the only way we lost after November was in overtime on the road, that team was simply a tough out. Shame it ended the way it did, it was the best team in the country that year. Could MSU come to Des Moines and play in front of 20,000 Cyclone fans and win? Nope, no way in hell.
The skill sets and depth of the 99-00 team were really undervalued. Most guys on the perimeter could handle and shoot and be interchangeable and then the post with Shirley etc. was another layer to deal with.
Add in that they were built for that rugged style and it was pretty great.
I've yet to see an ISU team playing as good of basketball in March as that team was.
That was also a team that is a prime example that mostly, a bad non-conference loss or two isn't the end of the world.
A lot of old school coaches think being tough and being abusive are the same thing and they're not. No need for that junk.
If I remember right, Tinsley loved Eustachy and vice versa. I think Jamaal was a tough street kid who liked Larry’s demeanor. My DC in high school football in the 80s was a bastard and I loved it. I enjoyed having my manhood challenged and proving him wrong. But I know it’s not for everyone and today it’s probably not for anyone.
Larry’s act would not play well at all in todays world. Everyone would transfer. I loved Larry when he coached Iowa State. Perfect defense leading to breaks coach. He was way to much of a hard ass to succeed in this environment
I think Izzo is a little lighter and finds more of a balance or limit.
Larry might have just been more obsessive to the point of not finding that balance.
I definitely think Larry was more extreme but Izzo has had a lot of these moments:
They never really ran an actual offense with those Tinsley teams. Just 3 out 2 in and let the guards go to work.
Yeah iirc they didn't do anything real complex with their line ups but they would still be tough to guard.
If you have 3 guards on the floor at one time who can all handle the rock and break people down you'll be a nightmare to gaurd. As long as your guards can defend that's the way to go imo.
Yep and add in a guy like Fizer who could play about anywhere on the floor and then the depth in the post like I said, and it's quite a group.
