Heres the deal

[cyclo120]

2 leave early to the NBA
1 tranfer to Memphis
1 tranfer to Nc State
1 transfer to St. Joes

That is major turnover in any program, the only teams that can recover from that are people like Duke, NC, and that type of program. If you watched tonight or any night W. Johnsons is going to be a stud and is already really good. D. Dunson looks very promising. Those are both freshman. Mac picked up JC tranfers to try to cover are losses while these and other fresh develop. Look what is coming in in year 2, looks pretty good. I hate to lose as much as anyone but we have to face reality, its going to a a process. I hate to look at it this way, after a loss, but we are heading in the right direction no doubt it my mind.

 

[zdorr40]

I agree, it's just frustrating to watch them fail to defend and be so careless with the basketball. I don't mind losing, but these last two games have looked like Morgan was coaching.

 

[Skyh13]

Coaching can only go so far when, let's face it, our guys really aren't that good.

 

[CyBobby]

This team plays very poor defense most of the time which translates into way too many easy baskets by our opponents.

Get ready for a very long season!

 

[UNIClone]

Let's not go down this road people - this is NOT due to a lack of coaching. It has EVERYTHING to do with inexperienced players learning a new system and how to play with one another.

 

[Michael Lastuvka]

2 leave early to the NBA
1 tranfer to Memphis
1 tranfer to Nc State
1 transfer to St. Joes

That is major turnover in any program, the only teams that can recover from that are people like Duke, NC, and that type of program. If you watched tonight or any night W. Johnsons is going to be a stud and is already really good. D. Dunson looks very promising. Those are both freshman. Mac picked up JC tranfers to try to cover are losses while these and other fresh develop. Look what is coming in in year 2, looks pretty good. I hate to lose as much as anyone but we have to face reality, its going to a a process. I hate to look at it this way, after a loss, but we are heading in the right direction no doubt it my mind.

You're right, turnover is hard on almost any program. But the thing that kills us can be easily remedied: turnovers! Mike Taylor is just HORRIBLE when it comes to that...he pushes the ball up the court when there's no numbers, and never appears to be in control...at least I'm never comfortable when he's got the pill. That can be stopped by swift benching or threatening loss of playing time if the turnovers aren't cut back.

 

[JJ4ISU]

Telling our big men to guard Iowa's big men 25 feet from the hoop creates wide open lanes for lay ups. Not sure if that's coaching or what, but it happened all night. I'm all for pressure D, but we don't need to be pressuring Seth Gorney at the top of the key!

 

[coachdags]

Let's not go down this road people - this is NOT due to a lack of coaching. It has EVERYTHING to do with inexperienced players learning a new system and how to play with one another.

bingo....!

 

[JCloned]

Problem is we have no consistent offense when Taylor is not in the game. So we are stuck as the coaches work with him

 

[m7nick]

I agree it's hard to watch...but better times are ahead!

 

[clonehome]

I'm more disappointed in McIntosh than with Taylor. At least Taylor's had some good games and can make things happen. I'm not sure what McIntosh gives us. He was also out of control with the ball tonight and doesn't seem to have an offensive game. And he was the guy Drake attacked offensively. I was trying to figure out tonight how his Juco team went 37-0 last year.

 

[isuchicago]

Besides defense, what they lack most is leadership.. theres no true leader out on the floor.. We would all love for clark to be that man, but I just don't see him having what it takes to take that role.. it will be exciting to see which young player will step into that spot.. I'm afraid we won't see it develop very early in this season though

 

[bcr4isu]

I didnt get to watch the game, what was the final score??

 

[aeroclone]

Taylor has been hit and miss this year, and I think each game is going to depend on him. If he is hot, we can hang with just about anybody. The problem is, when he isn't hanging 30 points in a night, he is a huge turnover risk. It also seems he gets killed off the dribble on defense. I don't know why, because it seems like he should be quicker then most of the players he is guarding.

We also need more scoring threats. We go through cold spells and dig ourselves a hole we can't get out of. A little more scoring from Clark or Jiri could really help us out here.

Either way, it's gonna be a long year. The soft schedule to start the year may have inflated some expectations, mine included. I just hope to see the team get better throughout the year. The best days are ahead of us.

 

[JVAR]

I agree. They are hard to watch. I am also the most disappointed in McIntosh. Let's face it, we don't have a presence under the basket and our guards cannot stop the penetration and they turn the ball over. I was hoping Hubalek and Marsden would have improved. There are a couple of bright spots. Dodie did some good things tonight and I think Wes Johnson will be a special player in a few years. Let's be patient. We have some good talent coming in (Garrett and Brackins will be stars). Garrett is having a great senior year so far. Let's judge the team and the coach by how much they improve this year (less turnovers, better defensive and shot selection, etc). There is a lot of basketball to be played.

 

[Balls]

I agree with the comments that there are things that can and should have been done to improve upon the problems. To think otherwise and just blame everything on player turnover and learning a new system is just a general excuse.

It may be a legitimate reason for some of the problems like a lack of overall scoring and sometimes having the defense break down for easy scores, but down right sloppy passes, turnovers, and lack of focus to get some players more involved can be corrected with adjustments during the game (and in preparation).

Again, I'm not throwing GMac under the bus or trying to disagree with anyone, but many of the problems we are seeing can be fixed quickly with a change in design, player roles, and individual player expectations and coaching by the staff.

 

[mharder]

2 leave early to the NBA
1 tranfer to Memphis
1 tranfer to Nc State
1 transfer to St. Joes

That is major turnover in any program, the only teams that can recover from that are people like Duke, NC, and that type of program. If you watched tonight or any night W. Johnsons is going to be a stud and is already really good. D. Dunson looks very promising. Those are both freshman. Mac picked up JC tranfers to try to cover are losses while these and other fresh develop. Look what is coming in in year 2, looks pretty good. I hate to lose as much as anyone but we have to face reality, its going to a a process. I hate to look at it this way, after a loss, but we are heading in the right direction no doubt it my mind.

Amend 2 leave early to the NBA. It should actually read 2 leave early to "pro" basketball. Doubt we'll see either actually play in an NBA game.

 

[Cyclonepride]

You're right, turnover is hard on almost any program. But the thing that kills us can be easily remedied: turnovers! Mike Taylor is just HORRIBLE when it comes to that...he pushes the ball up the court when there's no numbers, and never appears to be in control...at least I'm never comfortable when he's got the pill. That can be stopped by swift benching or threatening loss of playing time if the turnovers aren't cut back.

Easily remedied, if you have another guard to go to that can handle and distribute the ball. Taylor is trying to do to much, and playing too fast. Many of the turnovers are caused by players miscommunicating.....especially dumping down low when a player is not ready or throwing it to the wrong hand, etc. Some of that will come with time, as players learn to play together, they start to just know what to expect from each other without having to think about it. McDermott will get them on the right page eventually.

 

[hursts]

Taylor has to play significant minutes. Who are you going to play in his place? Brock Jacobson? I don't think so. We are going to have to live with the fact that this season is going to be very ugly. We just have to hope improvement is made and the players get the system down to prepare for a much better season next year.

 

[jbhtexas]

It may be a legitimate reason for some of the problems like a lack of overall scoring and sometimes having the defense break down for easy scores, but down right sloppy passes, turnovers, and lack of focus to get some players more involved can be corrected with adjustments during the game (and in preparation).

Again, I'm not throwing GMac under the bus or trying to disagree with anyone, but many of the problems we are seeing can be fixed quickly with a change in design, player roles, and individual player expectations and coaching by the staff.

Please elaborate on these changes that will quickly fix many of the problems. For example, what's your plan for convincing Hubalek that he needs to work at being a post player instead of a Euro-guard? Sit him on the bench? And replace him with who? How do you quickly plan to fix Mike Taylor's turnover problems and out-of-control play (things that he's "learned" over the past two years of playing at a JUCO)?