Glass Half Full - There was a lot to like today about the teams efforts and determination in this game. They played hard, battled and pretty much gave it their best effort. Brackins was tough in all phases of the game and all the rest of the players put forth as much effort as they could. I like these players and I like the coach.
Glass Half Empty - We have a basketball problem and you can point a lot of fingers over the course of games and seasons but ultimately the fingers will end up pointing at the coach. I was having a difficult time putting my finger on what is the problem with Cyclone basketball but I have concluded that our team lacks identity. If you think back to Orr, Floyd, and Eustachy coached teams they all had an identity. Even Morgan's teams had more identity that McD's teams. I think you have to start pointing the finger at the coach. I am high school friends with a woman who's husband his a head assistant in another BCS conference. She said McD has a reputation in coaching circles of not being a hard worker to the degree that he does the basics of the job but is not a fanatic about coaching like many of the ones who are consistent winners. When she said that I translated that as to why ISU teams have a lack of identity under this coach. Now there are plenty of examples of bad luck to point to for this coach but at some point you have to overcome the bad luck and stop making excuses. This coach 13-10/2-6 right now and realistically will only win 2 or 3 more games tops. That is on top of a 15-17/4-12, 14-18/4-12, 15-14/6-10 records. This was his best team personnel-wise since he has been here and the results will be no better. Even if everyone came back next year (and this simply will not happen) he has yet to prove he can win at this level. Our best win this year is a 2OT game at home against a Houston team with an RPI around 80.
I guess we sit back and wait to see what happens next year but repeating the same behavior and expecting different results is the definition of insanity.
Glass Half Empty - We have a basketball problem and you can point a lot of fingers over the course of games and seasons but ultimately the fingers will end up pointing at the coach. I was having a difficult time putting my finger on what is the problem with Cyclone basketball but I have concluded that our team lacks identity. If you think back to Orr, Floyd, and Eustachy coached teams they all had an identity. Even Morgan's teams had more identity that McD's teams. I think you have to start pointing the finger at the coach. I am high school friends with a woman who's husband his a head assistant in another BCS conference. She said McD has a reputation in coaching circles of not being a hard worker to the degree that he does the basics of the job but is not a fanatic about coaching like many of the ones who are consistent winners. When she said that I translated that as to why ISU teams have a lack of identity under this coach. Now there are plenty of examples of bad luck to point to for this coach but at some point you have to overcome the bad luck and stop making excuses. This coach 13-10/2-6 right now and realistically will only win 2 or 3 more games tops. That is on top of a 15-17/4-12, 14-18/4-12, 15-14/6-10 records. This was his best team personnel-wise since he has been here and the results will be no better. Even if everyone came back next year (and this simply will not happen) he has yet to prove he can win at this level. Our best win this year is a 2OT game at home against a Houston team with an RPI around 80.
I guess we sit back and wait to see what happens next year but repeating the same behavior and expecting different results is the definition of insanity.