why mcdermott was a bad fit

[davidrcr24]

some thoughts i had as to why mcdermott didnt work out.

when ur at UNI or Creighton you are recruiting kids based on there high school bball skills and what they have done in the high school level.. most kids who play strictly or mostly high school ball will run a more strict offense with more set plays.. thats how high school ball works...

when ur recruiting at Iowa state you have to look to the better more athletic players who are the ones that play mostly AAU ball. when playing AAU ball you run mostly a motion offense....

In a motion offense most of the cuts involve someone cutting an moving away from the ball to create open driving lanes.. in set play offense.. you see more screens that bring someone to the ball...

how many times did we see Gilstrap try to drive the lane and end up running into several players?? a lot from what i can remember... He was used to AAU and motion offense. so now you want these kids to remember a hundred plays and be effecient at them?? when they have never really done it before... thats why i believe that MCD. system didnt and wouldnt work at this level.. it will however work in the MVC where the guards are as willing to penetrate one on one....

would love to hear or read any thoughts on this

 

[Drive4cy]

He was a bad fit because he didn't want to "play the game" on the recruiting trail IMO. It's very difficult to compete at this level without doing that. I don't think it's an accident we had an unusual amount of transfers, guys that weren't Big 12 caliber, etc.

It was a bad fit all the way around. But I'll wait for Perrault to weigh in since his opinion is what really matters..

 

[davidrcr24]

He was a bad fit because he didn't want to "play the game" on the recruiting trail IMO. It's very difficult to compete at this level without doing that. I don't think it's an accident we had an unusual amount of transfers, guys that weren't Big 12 caliber, etc.

It was a bad fit all the way around. But I'll wait for Perrault to weigh in since his opinion is what really matters..

ok first of all... i said on another thread that if we want to start asking for resumes on people then non of us count!!... and my post here is why i think that McDermotts system didnt work here.. i think u have to recruit a kid who is used to playing a motion type system and then u want them to run set plays.. and that is a very difficult adjustment.. thats why i thought it was a bad fit

 

[CyCloned]

He was a bad fit because he didn't want to "play the game" on the recruiting trail IMO. It's very difficult to compete at this level without doing that. I don't think it's an accident we had an unusual amount of transfers, guys that weren't Big 12 caliber, etc.

It was a bad fit all the way around. But I'll wait for Perrault to weigh in since his opinion is what really matters..

I don't think the caliper of player that he got is really the problem. The problem is that no one wanted to stay. Look at the quality of some of the players that have left and what they have done since leaving. you could make a much better team out of the guys that left than the guys that stayed, and that is the problem, period.

 

[CycloneErik]

I don't think the caliper of player that he got is really the problem. The problem is that no one wanted to stay. Look at the quality of some of the players that have left and what they have done since leaving. you could make a much better team out of the guys that left than the guys that stayed, and that is the problem, period.

That was a pretty key point. If no one wants to play for the coach (and our departures and inconsistent efforts point that way), then the problem is just going to keep happening and happening.

 

[ISUAlum2002]

At UNI, McDermott was coaching players who were there because they wanted to get a free education and play the game they love.

At ISU, McDermott was coaching players who all think they can play at the next level and get paid to do it. He couldn't relate to that type of player.

The end.

 

[Clone1450]

I don't think the caliper of player that he got is really the problem. The problem is that no one wanted to stay. Look at the quality of some of the players that have left and what they have done since leaving. you could make a much better team out of the guys that left than the guys that stayed, and that is the problem, period.

I'm uncertain about which type of caliper you are talking about exactly. Please clarify so I can interpret your post.

Do you mean this kind?

or this kind?

Thanks

 

[st8]

I think McD was great, He accomplished so many things during his time in ames... off the court that is

GMac – What Could Have Been… Wide Right & Natty Light

 

[st8]

I'm uncertain about which type of caliper you are talking about exactly. Please clarify so I can interpret your post.

Do you mean this kind?

or this kind?

Thanks

I believe he meant "cowper", like the gland?

 

[swiacy]

McDermott assessed the talent of centers & forwards, the position he played himself, very well. W. Johnson, Brackins, Gilstrap, Dendy & Hamilton would play at any D-1 program. His guard recruitment was his downfall. Diante and the German were his two top guard recruits and nothing special. D-1 is all about recruiting and, obviously, he had the recurring issue of keeping them here once they got here.

 

[Oldgeezer]

At UNI, McDermott was coaching players who were there because they wanted to get a free education and play the game they love.

At ISU, McDermott was coaching players who all think they can play at the next level and get paid to do it. He couldn't relate to that type of player.

The end.

Right! GMac never got his players together as a team at ISU. Jacobsen at UNI, and Stevens at Butler do this very well.

 

[weR138]

I'm uncertain about which type of caliper you are talking about exactly. Please clarify so I can interpret your post.

Do you mean this kind?

or this kind?

Thanks

I believe he meant "cowper", like the gland?

Sure he didn't mean caterpillar, like they might turn into basketball butterflies?

 

[ItsCyence]

I read somewhere in the Register that McDermott told Sean Keeler (ya I know) that and I paraphrase "I'm still the same coach that I was at UNI." Ya so that is a problem. We hired him to win like he did at UNI but you can't run that type of system with players playing AAU ball most of their lives. Good post by the op.

 

[isucy86]

Strict Offense? Set Plays?

That statement might have been true in year 1, but in watching ISU's offense the last couple years our offense was basically the high ball screen with Garrett & Brackins. IMO it didn't fit Garrett's skills because he isn't a PG who breaks down a defense with his dribble.

Sure ISU might have been better if GMAC brought in better recruits, but IMO we had the talent to be an 8-9 win team in Big 12 play the last couple years if Wesley had stayed.

GMAC didn't succeed because he couldn't keep kids in Ames and the kids he did keep, he couldn't motivate. Tom Izzo did an interview after they beat UNI and he commented that Jacobson was successful because his kids played hard for him. Izzo said that's about 50% of coaching.

 

[RustyClone]

At UNI, McDermott was coaching players who were there because they wanted to get a free education and play the game they love.

At ISU, McDermott was coaching players who all think they can play at the next level and get paid to do it. He couldn't relate to that type of player.

The end.

No more phone calls please, I believe we have a winner.

 

[Gnomeborg]

stopped reading when you used "ur" instead of "you're"

 

[CycloneErik]

I think McD was great, He accomplished so many things during his time in ames... off the court that is

GMac – What Could Have Been… Wide Right & Natty Light

Was that stuff serious, because that was almost disturbing.

Also, why do people say it takes talent to play halfcourt but not uptempo? They both take talent, just maybe a different sort.

 

[SeattleClone]

stopped reading when you used "ur" instead of "you're"

Yeah, but it saves SO much time! It's three less letters, plus you don't have to struggle to find that dang apostrophe!

 

[Rods79]

I'm still in shock that Creighton took the dead weight off our hands...suckers!!

 

[cykadelic2]

Re: Strict Offense? Set Plays?

That statement might have been true in year 1, but in watching ISU's offense the last couple years our offense was basically the high ball screen with Garrett & Brackins. IMO it didn't fit Garrett's skills because he isn't a PG who breaks down a defense with his dribble.

That's an interesting comment regarding Garrett's skills given that Coach Hoiberg basically said the opposite at his intro press conference. I would agree with Coach on that one.

There were several things that led to GMac's struggles at ISU, but I don't think a strict offense and too many set plays had much to do with it.

The number one issue was losing Wesley Johnson and the manner in which it affected GMac's coaching and his player relationships, especially last season when he had enough talent on the roster for the first time to compete for a post-season bid. Pollard touched on this after GMac left for Creighton, GMac treated Brackins differently than the rest of the players and the others on the team resented that. Throw in a high mainteance kid like Colvin (also disliked by his teammates) and you had a perfect recipe for real bad team chemistry.

Another big issue was lack of quality guard play. Mike Taylor was the only high quality guard during GMac's tenure and, by default, he had to handle the ball way too much and became a turnover machine in Year 1. Poor guard recruiting by GMac was a killer for the program and that helped result in high roster attrition from the likes of Buckley, Eikmeier, Brister, McIntosh, etc.

Regarding GMac's on-floor strategy and coaching, I thought he did a good job his first 3 seasons with limited talent and injury issues, especially in the guard court when he lacked consistent, quality PG play. This past season, he got away from what worked for him at UNI by playing an extended man defense (which he ditched halfway in the conference season) and by running way too many isolation sets for Brackins which ended up stifling ball movement and player motion (and played a part in bad team chemistry).