Cyclones Get Blown Out In Berkeley

by Mark Kieffer on Dec 6, 2009 12:18 AM CST in Basketball Comment 10 comments

Dino Vournas - AP

It's time to readjust the expectations for this team. I thought this was a sure-fire Top 6 team in the Big 12. On paper, I thought they were good enough. But this team is just not physical. They can't take it when they're punched in the mouth. There is absolutely no post offense nor is there good post defense. The rebounding was pathetic, and rebounding is all about desire.

Brackins had 21, Gilstrap had 17, but then nothing else from anyone. Lucca had 0 points, Hamilton with 3, and DG had 6. Our bench only scored 16 points.. Not good enough. Guys couldn't score because they couldn't get open for the most part. They couldn't get open, because they don't fucking MOVE without the ball!

ISU got outrebounded 30-49. Cal had 17 offensive rebounds to ISU's 9 (3-4 of which came in the final seconds of the game). It also helped that Cal shot better, but a lot of that is from getting easy 2nd chance opportunities, along with ISU giving away easy layins inside. Cal could go inside so easliy, it was like no one was there to defend it for ISU.

Cal had emotion and showed that they wanted this one. They fought hard and deservingly won it. For ISU, I never felt like they had that mental edge needed to win the game. When you factor the fact that Cal had their 2nd best player sitting out and the team recovering from the flu, it's pretty disappointing to see them beat us up as badly as they did, considering how beat up they themselves are.

This team has not improved at all this season. If they continue to play this way all season, we'll be lucky to have a winning season and an NIT berth... I don't know what all the answers are at this point, but something needs to happen.

As someone who is ultra-competitive, I have no idea how a team can be apathetic, and just allow for teams to out-hustle you all game. If this team had some heart, motivation, and desire, these 3 losses may not have happened.

I just don't get it. I can't relate to it, and I can't respect that. I just know that what's going out on the court is not good enough. When Pollard fired Morgan he said Men's Basketball ought to be the marquee program at ISU. It certainly is not, and I'm so frustrated right now.

Next up is Iowa on Friday. The thing about Iowa is even though they aren't that good, they play hard. Can't say the same about ISU right now.

We might be in for another long year Cyclone Fans, and it's too bad because this team has a lot of potential.

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Comments

Boxing-out!!!

I don’t normally comment on stuff, but the lack of boxing out ticked me off so much I couldn’t help myself. Rebounding is about effort, but players not blocking out (and none of them did, ever) is about coaching. Defense and rebounding is what wins, and we can’t do either.

by qwertyuifd on Dec 6, 2009 12:22 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

+1

Rebounding is more about effort and heart, and less about size… A 6’1 guy can box out a 7’0 guy if he’s in the right position and wants it that badly!

Charles Barkley was a great rebounder, and he wasn’t any taller than 6’3 or 6’4 (even though he was listed as taller), and he was grabbing boards like crazy in the NBA over guys way taller than him? Why was he able to do it so well? Because he was badass as hell!

Clone Chronicles

by Mark Kieffer on Dec 6, 2009 10:31 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

The last time

the team had some mental and physical toughness was 2004-05 when Curtis Stinson, Jared Homan, and Will Blalock were on the team. No one on this current team resembles those players in any way. I watch all the Iowa Energy NBA D-League games and Stinson fights for every possession and is a leader on the court. Someone on this team has got to find some passion for the game or it will be a lost season even if we make a tournament.

by nebraska09 on Dec 6, 2009 12:36 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

WTF

I had high expectations for this year, as many fans did. Weren’t we supposed to have all kinds of support for Brackins this year? Did that guy not give up millions of $$$ to comeback to us for some reason? We have looked horrible (the two measley times I’ve been able to watch the games on TV!!) What a complete disappointment this year has been, so far.
It looks like no one on the team is ready when one of the guys chucks up a shot. There is no one around the offensive boards. I blame that on the leadership . It seems that the other team is allowed to control the game way too easy with this group.
Also, our defense SUCKS. Do they not get physical at all in practice?? Maybe McDermott needs to pop in a Eustachy practice tape for some pointers because this team is SOFT!!
This team is in dire need of a LEADER. If a player on the floor is not going to take that role then Mac needs to fill the void by being more aggressive on the sideline.

by CycMike on Dec 6, 2009 12:39 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

The supporting cast wasn’t good tonight at all. Brackins and Gilstrap put up a lot of points, but no one else did…. Also when I played the game, if my shot wasn’t falling, I was crashing boards like crazy trying to help the team win any way I can…. With this team they do not do that…. Brackins and Gilstrap could’ve done better on the boards as well, but some of those guys like Hamilton who only score a couple of points, really need to step up and help out.

Clone Chronicles

by Mark Kieffer on Dec 6, 2009 10:33 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Bad bad bad

I was never a big GMac guy but decided to give him a fresh start going into this year because I thought he brought in a pretty good class and we actually caught a break with Brackins coming back. Going into the season I thought an NIT bid was probably more realistic than NCAA but got sucked in after they looked so good early. Now we’re seeing the same crap as before.

I don’t know if you can throw in the towel solely due to losses to three possible tourney teams but if there was any hope for an NCAA bid they really needed a win in there somewhere. So incredibly frustrating.

by Pauli on Dec 6, 2009 2:14 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

I think the main point

Isn’t just the fact that we lost to a couple of tourney teams… It’s the fact that we lost to those teams, but still have Houston, Duke, and the entire Big 12 schedule ahead…. Cal was going to be a tough game, but we should not have gotten smoked as badly as we did.

If there’s any team on our schedule that plays hard, as a team, and is fundamental on the boards, we’re likely going to lose. Unless something changes.

Clone Chronicles

by Mark Kieffer on Dec 6, 2009 10:29 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs