I will say it once

[Sioux_Per_Cy]

Remember that this team, by admission of their own coach, has a lot of work to do. I am beginning to feel that the expectations are rising which is good but to hear comments like "we're back" "5th in the big XII" concerns me. Be patient and enjoy the wins we get because the next time out they may really stink it up. It is just a reality that inexperienced and teams that are unknown to each other expereince. Minny is not a very good team but we showed more than I expected at times. I do believe it will get much better as the season goes on.

 

[trevn]

I don't know what quotes you're taking from, but I can only assume that "we're back" means that we're back to playing a brand of basketball us as fans are proud of. No more token defense and 1-on-5 offensive sets. As far as picking us 5th in the Big 12...that's not a stretch either. There are a lot of inexperienced teams in the Big 12 and a lot of question marks. I could see us as high as 4th or as low as 12th. I just picked us as 5th, and I realize that's being very optimistic, but it's not impossible or even a huge stretch. If they're not 5th in the Big 12 and finish lower, I don't care. As long as I see effort, defense, and competitive games, I'll be happy.

 

[JordanHXC]

I'm just glad we have a group of guys, coaches and players, that truly want to be here and are willing to work hard.

 

[BryceC]

I am excited as anybody about this team, but I would bet any amount of money possible that we will not finish 5th in the Big 12. Good point Sioux.

 

[cmoore_23]

heck i am just happy it is basketball season and football is done

 

[Cyclonepride]

Very good point. I still think that .500 ball would be a great success this year. I think the "we're back" comment mostly meant that we are back to playing a disciplined brand of basketball, with defense and rebounding as priorities.

 

[CTAClone]

My expectations are still pretty low. But it seems like we will be able to compete. With our defense I can see us competing with the big guys in our conference. I also like how we fought through adversity. I do think it's early to be saying we will finish 5th in the Big XII, but you never know. Here's to hopeful thinking.

 

[cygoat]

I agree Sioux_Per_Cy. If MikeTaylor hadn't played out of his mind, we could easily have lost that game, and overall expectations would have been much more tempered and probably very negative. It's amazing how up-and-down people are on these boards sometimes.

Don't get me wrong. I love this team, and I think they'll surprise a few teams along the way, but I'm not expecting anything higher than a lower-third finish in the Big XII this year, last night's game notwithstanding.

 

[Cyclone_Power]

Psh....PESSIMISTS

 

[avery_larry]

Remember that this team, by admission of their own coach, has a lot of work to do. I am beginning to feel that the expectations are rising which is good but to hear comments like "we're back" "5th in the big XII" concerns me. Be patient and enjoy the wins we get because the next time out they may really stink it up. It is just a reality that inexperienced and teams that are unknown to each other expereince. Minny is not a very good team but we showed more than I expected at times. I do believe it will get much better as the season goes on.

For a little perspecive, though, isn't there like--what--5 BB head coaches hired in the Big12 AFTER GMac? Lot's of teams with new stuff going on. We may have the edge on inexperience, but--well--who knows?

I do agree that we need to keep low expectations and love every win we manage to get.

Ted

 

[CYdTracked]

I think I posted something earlier this week how we should know more about this team after some of our road trips. We passed test #1 with Minnesota and we still have Iowa and Ohio State on the road along with a halfway decent Drake team at home and Bradley at Wells Fargo. By the time the Big 12 season starts we'll know a lot more about this team based on what they do in those games.

I don't think we'll finish 11th in the Big 12 but I think somewhere between 5th and 7th is fairly realistic. Our defense impresses me the most and you can assume it will only get better as they play man defense more. That alone should at least keep us in striking distance in most games I think. We still have a lot to work on but the talent is there and McDermott is a perfectionist so I expect this team to really be at their peak going into the Big 12 tourney.

 

[Costanza]

To say .500 basketball is a nice accomplishment is ridiculous. Have you looked at our schedule. Their is a lot of must win games to start the year. I also dont know why we cant compete to be in the top half of the Big XII. Their are a lot of games to be won in conference play.

 

[darts180]

I think that people get excited because it is more closely related to the program that Tim Floyd and Larry Eustachy ran. Those were the most successful years in modern Iowa State Basketball history.
Now that being said, I think that we will lose to UNI, Ohio State, and probably Iowa in the preseason, and who knows in the conference. The league looks pretty down, so it is probably as good a time as any to be rebuilding.

I just want to see a team that competes, and doesn't give up when things don't go their way. If we can do that then I think that we will be in the game most nights. But there are still going to be rough spots where we look like a team with all these new players, and we will be playing a team that can take advantage of it. Those will be the long nights that you have to endure to build something special.

 

[joepublic]

.500 would be outstanding. We're going to get physically pounded in the conference.

 

[dbronco7sc]

Football is great and I'm at every home game no doubt, but basketball is by far my favorite of the two. And I agree that even though we are 5-0, we've got a lot of work to do before we should get all excited. I am personally trying to keep my expectations low and then should we win, I have a reason to get excited, instead of getting upset if we lose.

However, I am having a tough time trying to keep my expectations low. The team is really exciting to watch and I no matter how hard I try to keep my expectations low, I think deep down I will be disappointed if we don't finish strong.

McD seems to have been playing his cards perfect so far. He's had such little time to prepare the players and get them working together. He could have started off focusing on offensive sets trying to get the offense down early to win games. But instead, he gave the defensive schemes all of the attention so far, and little focus to the offense in the early games. And he still won the first 5. So when Big 12 play rolls around, the team should have that down so there's no question what everyone is supposed to be doing. And as McD shifts to teaching more offense... when practicing against themselves they will actually get to face better defense. Also, other teams won't have nearly as much tape of our offensive sets to watch.

 

[Costanza]

What is with this .500 stuff???? We are 5-0 and we play: Lake Superior State, Drake, Savannah State, Southeast Missouri State, and North Dakota State.

That equals 10-0, Your telling me you expect to win less than 5 out of those next 20 games. I would say going 5-15 would be dissappointing but maybe other people expect us to finish last or second to last in our "not so impressive" conference.

 

[Kramer]

Interesting. IF we are 10-0 after this stretch, I would agree with your logic. However, I wouldn't bet the farm that we will win all of these games. I guess time will tell but I have seen some ugly stretches of ball against some less than quality competition. Going 10-0 WOULD show that this team has several weapons and plays good defense and will probably be in the middle of the pack of the Big XII. I don't think there is any way we will be below 9th.