Iowa State 71, Northern Iowa 66 (OT)
by CrossCyed
on Dec 3, 2008 10:39 PM CST
in Football
It wasn't a great win, but it was one we needed.
Our offense looked like it was running the best it had all year, but it didn't make a whole lot of difference in the first half, as the opposite was true with the defense. Alex Thompson getting in early foul trouble crippled the post defense, leading to UNI players drawing fouls down low.
But, Craig Brackins came through with one of the best games of his career with 32 points and 16 rebounds. UNI, for some reason, refused to double team Brackins until overtime, leaving him to shoot at will.
The offense wasn't hitting shots at a great rate tonight, but it was providing the looks that it was meant to. The dribble-drive, as well as the two man game, were working virtually at will.
Brackins and Diante Garrett provided 49 of the 71 points tonight, showing once again that these two sophomores will have to be the ones carrying our team this season. No one else could get it in gear on offense. Lucca Staiger just can't seem to get it going, while Sean Haluska seems to have reverted into a fouling, brick laying machine. Ideally, Jamie Vanderbeken will increase his scoring output, or Alex Thompson will just start to score, period.
Greg McDermott's willingness to switch to the zone at time also contributed to the win. Colossal fatass Jordan Eglseder was held to just seven points while UNI chucked up 32 threes....just six of which fell. ISU was 2-14. So maybe the zone isn't totally evil.
If we can run this game plan again in the future...and the three's actually go in, maybe we can dispose of mediocre teams like we're fully capable of. And I think we're one scorer away from being not-so-mediocre...
This game was a needed stepping stone in the season. Next up comes Oregon State on Saturday. A 6-1 start would be a boon for this program.
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Jordan Egelseder
Why is it nessacary to bash a young college athletic working as hard as he can for your entertainment…..? You really need to show some professionalism in your writing, in my opinion if you want to extend past a blog…..sad
by coachdags on Dec 3, 2008 11:34 PM CST 0 recs
That's all it is....
….is a blog. I have no desire to extend my writing past a blog, and I hardly think blogs should be the place to expect professionalism. Part of the fun of writing a blog is that I don’t have to filter my thoughts if I don’t feel like doing so.
Blogs are here for entertainment.
by CrossCyed on
Dec 3, 2008 11:55 PM CST
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Will McDermott live up to the hype this year??
Still missing Wayne Morgan from my perspective. He had some great recruits and probably could have rebuilt this team much quicker. I like Mac but am troubled by the teams progression and personnel. Is Boozer really that bad that he sits the bench? Did he come from the same DNA as his bro?? Lucca seems to be a bust as well. Doesn’t seem like he knows where he is half the time.
by Cy's Counts on Dec 4, 2008 11:30 PM CST 0 recs
Lucca
He wasn’t a highly ranked recruit coming in (3 stars on rivals)…the NCAA suspending him gave a lot of fans, myself included, a chance to say, “just wait until we get staiger out there next year!” We have to remember that he’s only played in 6 games and he’s coming off a minor knee surgery…don’t give up on him yet.
by TroyDavis4Life on
Dec 5, 2008 12:43 AM CST
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Lucca is still hurt
I don’t think we’ve seen the real Lucca yet, but he’s probably not going to be the savior either.
As far as Boozer, I dunno, maybe he’s adopted.
by CrossCyed on
Dec 5, 2008 1:13 AM CST
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A few things
1) Just because your bro is good, doesn’t mean you will be all that good. The look very similar in the face, so they probably have the same DNA lol
2) Lucca is injured
3) This team is better than last year’s (but not spectacular) and we lost our best player, so I think there is progression and Mac is doing OK with the talent he currently has
4) Look at the recruits coming in the pipeline. Relax. We will improve.
by mplscyclone on
Dec 5, 2008 10:58 AM CST
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I'll relax. Just like to see the Clones back on the top!
Understand about Lucca. The Big Twelve is no joke, so you’ve got to bring it to be competitvie.
by Cy's Counts on Dec 5, 2008 6:15 PM CST 0 recs
I agree
If we can finish better than 8th, I’ll consider it a good year. We aren’t there yet, but we can make progress.
I can see us having a winning record this year, NIT in 2009, and NCAA in 2010. Way too early to tell, but that kind of progression isn’t crazy, and we could go NCAA bound in 2009 depending on the development of Lucca, Brackins, DG and Colvin’s contributions.
by mplscyclone on
Dec 5, 2008 9:55 PM CST
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One more thing
Thanks for reading and contributing.
Even though we’re debating on this, don’t take anything personally. I know I love talking about anything Cyclones and I think all of us Cyclones can agree we want us to be competitive and do well. I just think that each of us has a different vision and opinion on what we think will happen.
As long as we’re all rooting for the good guys, then we can agree to disagree!
Keep reading and giving us feedback, and thanks for supporting CloneChronicles!
by mplscyclone on
Dec 5, 2008 9:58 PM CST
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Wayne Morgan
I really don’t get why people miss that guy. Yeah he was a good recruiter but as a coach he was terrible. We had a team full of trash talking underachievers and there wasn’t even a hint of defense being played. While the jury is still out on McD I think he has been bringing in some good recruits.
Look at the improvement so far in Brackins and Garret, and the freshman we’ve got have shown great potential. Not to mention one of the top guards in the nation coming in next year, this team is definetely headed in the right direction. While I don’t see us being a tourney team this year I think a run in the NIT would be great for this teams progress.
by McBlog on Dec 6, 2008 9:13 AM CST 0 recs
Wayne Morgan
I don’t think he was all that bad. People complain about him but we went to the NIT final 4 his first year, won a NCAA tournament game his second year. We went to the post season in 2 of his first 3 years.
Morgan was also a good recruiter, and is highly thought of as an assistant coach. He was mainley fired because Pollard wanted to put his own stamp on the program. Most ADS do things like that, so it’s no big surprise. It’s just that people hate on Morgan, yet we had some good talent and played in the postseason.
I am fine with McDermott; I like him a lot and I think we are going in the right direction as well. NIT will be tough this year though, but it’s not impossible. I am thinking 6 Big 12 teams in the NCAA and 2 Big 12 teams in the NIT (really early, but just my first guess at this point). We need to finish 8th to even try to be in the conversation for some type of postseason. Not impossible, but it will be a challenge.
I do a decent amount of writing here, but if you are looking for some more in depth Big XII basketball/ISU Basketball write ups, continue to check here but also check out my basketball blog section202.blogspot.com. On section202 I try to right about the Xs and Os and the overall conference. On here, since we get a decent amount of basketball writing from CrossCyed and Bryce, I try to focus more on stats and stuff. I think reading both blogs would give a better picture and fuller coverage of basketball if you’re looking for more…
by mplscyclone on
Dec 6, 2008 4:13 PM CST
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