The 2009 Iowa State men’s basketball team is 3-0 after last night’s 90-70 trouncing of the Drake Bulldogs. With that victory, Greg McDermott and the boys turned some heads.
Let’s start off at a national level.
There are a few national college basketball writers who have been giving the Cyclones love since before the season began. Those men are Doug Gottlieb and Andy Katz. Well, after last night’s performance, Gottlieb gave the Cyclones some serious props on Katz’s blog.
Locally, Sean Keeler of the Des Moines Register attended last night’s game. In this morning’s column, Keeler referred to the 2009 Cyclones as “heavyweights.” It’s a solid read.
If you aren’t an early riser, you didn’t hear this morning’s installment of Miller and Deace in the Morning on Des Moines Sports Station, 1460 KXNO. Jon Miller called Iowa State a “potential Sweet 16 team.”
Steve Deace agreed that Iowa State could legitimately finish third in the Big 12.
You can hear what the duo had to say by CLICKING HERE.
Have you seen the video of Greg McDermott addressing the team after the game last night?
If not, you need to. CLICK HERE to view it.
Chris’ Take
It is refreshing to see Iowa State get all of this pub. It’s deserved. They aren’t just 3-0. They are an impressive 3-0. That’s not something that we have seen in a while in Ames. I wrote last night that I saw a bit of swagger within last night’s performance. Swagger is a good thing.
This is just the beginning of what could be an awesome ride. I realize that beating that Drake team is a little bit different than matching up with the KU’s and the Texas’ of the world. It’s important that we all keep that in perspective here on Nov. 18.
But three things made the win so impressive to me, after I’ve had about 12 hours to digest it.
1 – The swagger factor that I mentioned above. This team thinks that they can and should win every single game.
2 – Iowa State has a handful of scoring options. What impressed me the most last night was that while the 3-point shot was obviously hitting, the Clones didn’t completely abandon the inside game.
3 – It was on the road in a fairly tough environment.
Don’t be surprised if Iowa State starts getting votes in next week’s AP Top 25. At this point, it’s hard to argue that they shouldn’t.
