From: jbhuber@iastate.edu (Joseph B Huber)
Subject: Re: Big 8 predictions(was Re: Rainbow Classic, De
Organization: Iowa State University, Ames, IA
Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1992 18:22:51 GMT

In article <1992Dec14.083956@mccall.com> scott@mccall.com (Scott D. Davis)
writes:
>In article <michaelv.724114220@ponderous.cc.iastate.edu>,
>michaelv@iastate.edu (Michael L. VanLoon) writes:
>>Even though I intensely dislike the Schmuckeyes and think they're
>>over-rated, it still doesn't take away from the fact that they're a
>>good, hard-playing team, and will be a tough challenge.
>>
>I'm a state of Iowa fan.  But, from the highlights I saw, it looks
>like the Cyclones got beaten badly.  What's your comments on the
>game?

Well, I'll give you my comments on the 'game' and ISU in general. Iowa State
is in serious trouble. ISU has rebounded pathetically and has no inside
offensive game. ISU's defense has been good, but the opposition has been
feasting on the offensive glass. The Cyclones live and die by the outside
shot, and die is the operative word here, since Bayless and Thigpen are
shooting poorly.

As far as starters go, Julius Michalik has been the only bright spot so far.
He is shooting very well from the outside, and has shown aggresiveness when
taking the ball to the hoop; but he is still a power forward being forced into
playing center. Hurl Beechum and Fred Brown have been strong off the bench,
and I expect one of them to be starting in place of Bayless or Thigpen this
Friday against Mercer.

IMO, ISU cannot be competitive in the Big-8 with the current line up.  It's
time for Loren Meyer and Julius Michalik to start together. A big part of
ISU's game is run and gun, which can't be done unless the team gets the
defensive rebound. I also think its time to change offensive schemes. This
extremely high post offensive is failing miserably, On a personal note, ISU's
offense drives me nuts; I've been playing BB for a long time and I've never
seen an offense like ISU uses succeed against quick, physical teams (like ISU
will see in the BIg-8).

As for the ISU-Iowa game, the Cyclones started out shooting and rebounding
very well, and held an early lead. Then, ISU went exclusively to missing
3pt shots (except for Michalik), and gave up rebounding. The Hawks, meanwhile,
put on a good run and grabbed a 12 point halftime lead. The lead bounced
between 15-20 points most of the second half, and ISU gave up at the end. This
was probably the most dissapointing aspect of the game. Iowa won the game on
the boards, with a 42-20 rebounding advantage. The Hawks are a bit over-rated
IMO, but they will be competitive in all their games because they rebound
very well and can score close to the basket. I'm not imressed with Acie Earl,
but Chris Street and James Winters are tough inside players.

There are going to be alot of dissapointed 'Clone fans this year. ISU had one
major problem to take care of over the past summer: shore up the rebounding.
That didn't happen, and it's going to be a long season unless Johnny can pull
a rabbit out of his hat (or a rebounder out of this team).

-- 
Joe Huber 
(jbhuber@iastate.edu)        | Capt. James T. Kirk on the 2nd law of thermo: 
Dept. of Mech. Egr.          |  "It's not a hundred percent efficient,
Iowa State University        |   but nothing ever is."
Newsgroups: rec.sport.basketball.college