Good grief - what do some of you expect.

[DaddyMac]

It's a fan's right to *****. I relish that fact on a regular basis.

But some of you are just out of your freakin' minds.

Who is on this team from last season - of any significance?

1) Rashon Clark 2) Wesley Johnson 3) Jiri Hubalek 4) Corey Johnson.

Holy crap that's 4 whole players. Jiri's been hurt. Wes is seeing his first action since preseason and obviously doesn't have confidence in his ankle yet. Didn't take anybody off the move tonight. Rashon is playing alright, although has never been a scoring threat. Corey plays hard everytime out, but is almost always outmanned down low.

We have 5 new faces in the backcourt alone. Lost one already, another is ineligible, 2 others are freshman.

We only have three real bodies down low. 1 isn't playing well which is annoying, one is a freshman and playing well, and the other - well I don't know what to say about him.

Somebody somewhere said to the effect - if you're not worried about the team, you're naive"

If you thought much of anything else other than what we're seeing was LIKELY - you're just plain DUMB!

Get a grip or a clue - whichever is easier.

 

[ISUKyro]

So we're not going to the Final Four this year :cry:


//sarcasm

 

[cyclo120]

You make some good points but at the same time a lot of his recruits he brought in last year are gone for a wide variety of reasons. College basketball is developing into a game where you almost need to rebuild and be able to compete every year with all the turnover that occurs.

 

[isucyfan]

I think all the negative Nellies need to take a two year break from this team hat frustrates them so, and see if they see some results when we have some stability in the program.

 

[DaddyMac]

You make some good points but at the same time a lot of his recruits he brought in last year are gone for a wide variety of reasons. College basketball is developing into a game where you almost need to rebuild and be able to compete every year with all the turnover that occurs.

I forgot to add that point, but thanks for bringing it up.

Mac was hired in April, right? Or was it May.

He had mass defections from Morgan - Taggart, Blaylock, Stinson, Carr and I don't even know who else.

The recruiting season was over for all intensive purposes. It was the 11th hour. The hell with that, it was 12:30 AM.

We should thank the heavens we have Wesley Johnson. Quite possibly the best player ISU will have seen since Fizer. No joke. I have faith in Brackins as well. But right now Wes is where it's at. He'll smoke Stinson, smoke Blaylock, smoke Homan and everyone else in between.

I can't make excuses for Brister. Don't get it, but it's on GMac's record. We see the defections this upcoming off season - run up the red flag (depending on who it is)

But GMac was in a near impossible situation last season - and I fully believe and agree with those who say he had little option but to field a team to put on the court. He's dealt with most everything in a respectable way. The trouble maker was given a short leash and bit the hand that supported him. Gone. I bet Mac regrets not taking care of said problem-child earlier and perhaps keeping one or two of his other players in place.

 

[Wesley]

Does this mean we will not go to NIT for two more years? Let's just be patient. We are used to it.

 

[Clone_12]

It isn't fun being patient, but it is the reality of the situation...and people that can't grasp that fact are either completely oblivious to the current state of the MBB program, or just flat-out dumb.

 

[bmuff]

I expect to beat a crappy UNI team with their third string PG in Hilton! Not let said PG drop 20 on us and their bigs basically abuse our supposedly strong frontcourt.

 

[Wesley]

Heard Oegon State is not very good. Can we win in Corvalis?

 

[DaddyMac]

It isn't fun being patient, but it is the reality of the situation...and people that can't grasp that fact are either completely oblivious to the current state of the MBB program, or just flat-out dumb.

I think we're seeing plenty of examples of the "dumb" scenario.

"we should win because we're us, and they're them". :skeptical:

 

[Clone9]

I expect to beat a crappy UNI team with their third string PG in Hilton! Not let said PG drop 20 on us and their bigs basically abuse our supposedly strong frontcourt.

This just in....UNI isn't crappy. The entire MVC is not crappy. I hate it as well but these mid-majors are moving up in the world and we should no longer completely freak out when we lose to them, especially during a rebuilding process.

 

[mwitt]

I expect to beat a crappy UNI team with their third string PG in Hilton! Not let said PG drop 20 on us and their bigs basically abuse our supposedly strong frontcourt.

Were you at the game? I'm not trying to be a wise a**. Josten, the PG you're referring to, has been their leading scorer this year with 13 points a game (yes, more than Coleman). We held him down pretty good all game, as he only shot 5/15 (33% compared to the team's 42%). He piled on the points at the end when we had to foul to get back into the game, and he didn't miss a free throw. He was 9/9 on the year.

 

[ISUFan22]

At least some of us are able to maintain our cool after we lose a basketball game and realize this team is lacking scoring, experienced and is still not healthy.

FYI...Greg does not expect Clark or Wesley to practice tomorrow. 2 of our best players (top scorers for tonight mind you) not practicing. Not the first time these two have been missing practice either. Brackins not 100% after the nasty spill last week and I'm still not convinced Jiri is 100% as well.

It's bad enough we're missing experience and scoring. It makes matters much worse that we're not healthy. Oh, we don't have Lucca, a guy many feel would be a significant contributer right now. Lost a guard already to boot.

Wesley talked about how the team is not sticking to the gameplan as the game wears on. Can easily see that. Start the game well, then problems. Start the 2nd half well, problems.

Do we lack talent, yes. However, I think many of the current issues (aside from injuries) boil down to mental things - a direct result of inexperience.

Late in the game when we struggled to score and UNI got some lucky breaks (a couple banked 3s), our team slumped further. Greg and Wesley both noted this. Greg said once they play through it and come out on top, the light will come on.

I agree.

 

[Wesley]

Does this mean we should be scheduling Grand Valley State instead of UNI? So be it. I wonder what Linkliter will say when he loses to UNI.

 

[Clone_12]

Also, Josten isn't their third string pg...he entered the season as their most able pg, but was their 2 guard and defensive stopper instead...Jacobsen didn't want to play him at the point and have him be the defensive stopper, because he thought it would be too much stress...he was forced to though when Culliver was kicked off the team, and Ahelgbe got hurt...but who's to let facts get in the way of a good argument???

 

[mwitt]

Wesley talked about how the team is not sticking to the gameplan as the game wears on. Can easily see that. Start the game well, then problems. Start the 2nd half well, problems.

Late in the game when we struggled to score and UNI got some lucky breaks (a couple banked 3s), our team slumped further. Greg and Wesley both noted this. Greg said once they play through it and come out on top, the light will come on.

I assume this was said in the post game press conference. I wish I would have heard it because I think this is 100% spot on on both points. Those banked in threes came at critical points and deflated our team.

 

[Prone2Clone]

...when we have some stability in the program.

It's the fact that we haven't had stability in the program for too many years in a row that is so frustrating. Eustachy flame out, Morgan, Alexander, Harper, Haluska, Power, Morgan, Schaper, George, Agnew, Faulkner, Carr, Taggart, Lee, Evanovich, Degand, Marsden, Dunson, Taylor, McIntosh, Brister...who am I missing?

This year's team may be the low point of the valley...the end of instability and the beginning of an upward climb. But it's still frustrating. Having to deal with cold weather, snow, AND a sub-par basketball team for the third year in a row sucks.

 

[DaddyMac]

...but who's to let facts get in the way of a good argument???

Or a good dillusion.... :yes:

 

[isucyfan]

And it sounds like they are very lucky to miss out on this practice. Mac said it will be "spirited". And he said it with a rather evil look on his face.

 

[ISUFan22]

Yes, it was in the postgame. Wesley and Greg were very informative. So was Jiri a little. Had similar things to day. Garrett sounded very nervous.

But, I think they are spot-on about dicipline as the game wears on. Also, Greg noted the team is struggling making adjustments to the other team's adjustments during the game (at timeouts). IMO, another direct result of inexperience.

We started pressing later in the 2nd half when UNI was making a run, getting away from our offense and taking quick shots. Again, not sticking to the gameplan. Greg can fix discipline. He just needs healthy bodies on the court to do it.

These young guys could learn a lot from Clark and Wesley - even Jiri. Hard to lead/teach when you're on the sidelines watching practice.