Curious to hear what y'all think about our esteemed athletic directors moving the 2009 and 2010 football games to Arrowhead Stadium.  My community has reacted pretty negatively, so I was curious to hear what you think.  I'm not a big fan of schools moving games off campus, but for two athletic departments that really need more money, this may not be a terrible idea.  Plus, I'll be living in KC by this time, so it will be a 10 mile drive to see my Cats.

Was sent to bash Wayne Morgan, and the same group jumped on and spewed their opinions on what a worthless human being Wayne is.

I would never say that Wayne was a great coach, by any stretch of the imagination.  But I find it funny that the biggest Greg McDermott, who hasn't won anything of note, supporters are the ones bashing away.

People seem to forget that NOBODY wanted the Iowa State coaching job when Wayne took over.  We had been turned down by Jeff Lebo (who is struggling at Auburn), AND the guy at Wyoming, who has since been fired.

All Wayne did was get to an NIT Final Four, and the second round of the NCAA's.  His last team had no experience in post, and so Stinson, and Blaylock had to try to do everything by themselves.  Of course the Mac people march out what  talented teams those were, as anyone can tell by all of the lottery picks, oh wait, 

The thing that I find the most humorous is that we have a coach now that has NEVER won an NCAA game (he has won just a couple D 2 tourney games whoo hoo), and lost to the bad Morgan team with his best team.  Add the fact that apparently NOBODY wants to play for him, once a better offer comes along, and you have a program in the condition that this one is in now.  Plus the one win he had against Iowa State involved an unconscious performance from behind the arc.

Noone, let alone me, thinks that Wayne Morgan was the long term answer for the Iowa State program.  But for any of the blindly loyal Dan McCarney type love that McDermott is getting, he has proved NOTHING. 

As someone who remembers Lynne Nance, and that nightmare, as I sit and I watch Iowa State basketball die, it hurts a lot.  Johnny, Tim, and  Larry for two years made this program relevant, now we get ONE ESPN game.  Good job Greg!

I am pretty sure that Jamie Pollard has a list of guys that may be the next one in.  The problem is that the program may never again reach a level that we lead ESPN, like we did when WAYNE'S team went to Lawrence, and beat the number two team in the nation on their floor.  Hell, I would just be happy to see Greg win ONE game that he isn't supposed to.  I won't hold my breath.

Greg McDermott?

So the guy has been head coach at Iowa State for over three years now, and nobody seems to care.

He is currently working on yet another failed recruiting class. None of the top targets want to return his phone calls, and it looks like, YET AGAIN, we will have a staff chasing its collective tails on the recruiting trails this Spring signing another batch of leftovers.

The loyalists are still there, defending Greg with all of their might.  They trot out the standard list of Iowa State excuses, the state of the program when he took over (at least partly his own doing), it takes time to do things the right way, "bad luck," and all of the like, as if they were robots, and this was their task.  It's stated so many times that there are people that actually believe it, which is the scary part.  There are people that think that it is impossible to win immediately by doing things "the right way."  The last time I heard that it was year 12 of the Dan McCarney era, as we were staring at yet another last place finish.

Well here we are, two bad years down, and, still facing a serious talent deficit within the conference, year three doesn't show a lot of promise. Losing your best player, one of the three athletes that you had on the team,  players leaving is yet another recurring theme that the blindly loyal still try to excuse. Jamie Pollard was none too pleased that he had to take over the Wesley Johnson transfer situation because he had to protect his coach from the family telling their side of the story.

So you assume that this year will be yet another of what we have seen the first two years; a fundamentally poor, boring, poor rebounding team  that is completely overcoached to the point that they stand around not knowing what to do, then
what happens after this season?

Obviously Pollard will have a hard time pulling the trigger on this one, because that was his first hire after he ran off a coach that went to the NIT Final Four, and the second round of the NCAA Tournament seemingly due to a personality conflict.  At that time, Jamie stated that ISU was a basketball school, now nobody cares about us (one ESPN game this year speaks LOUDLY to that fact).

But if this team tanks yet again, his hand may be forced.  Season ticket sales are down, because fewer and fewer people want to watch this product.

Then you look at the recruitment of the most important player in Iowa State history, Harrison Barnes.  Does anyone honestly think that he is even thinking about us anymore?  But, Greg's future is directly related to getting him to play for us. 

The national perception of Greg is that, while knowledgeable, he is in over his head in a BCS conference, and it's starting to seep into the Iowa State fanbase as well.  This is a coach that needs a pr boost amongst his own fans, he needs a bone to be able to throw to them, and this would be it. 

If Barnes does go somewhere else, with all of the advantages that we had the whole time he was coming  on, then this staff will never be taken seriously by any top player.

How can Greg fix this?

Simple, win games. Quit getting outcoached by people like Ben Jacobsen.  Quit losing to Drake.  Win a big game. Quit being stubborn, your way may work in at the D2 and mid-major level, but you are in an athletes conference now. Ask Barry Collier, whose resume was much more impressive than Greg's when he left Butler for Nebraska, tried the systemic, coach players up approach, and failed miserably.

Iowa State has basketball tradition.  Since 1985, we have been a known program, on a national scale.  So the time for excuses is over, it has been demonstrated that you can win here.  It's not too late to turn this around, but Greg is going to have to show he is the man for the job.  At this point,  I am not convinced, at all, that he can do it, I hope I am wrong.

As we read more and more about the exploits of Ames Jr. Harrison Barnes on the Summer circuit, it is becoming apparent that it will be difficult for Iowa State to land his services.  The implications of Barnes choosing another school are concerning to say the least. 

First, this staff is already fighting a p.r. battle with the perception that he cannot keep players.  When your star player, the player that you publicly stated was the face of your program, leaves the way Wesley did sets off alarms all over the recruiting front.  And the way that it played out, Wesley's mother threatening to tell their side of the story, and Jamie Pollard taking control of the situation, already is being talked about in potential recruit's living rooms across the country.

However, not being able to sign Harrison, with all of the built in advantages that he had in the process will make it even more difficult to sign top players.

Think about it, if you are a player that has many offers, and you hear that, aside from the losing records and player retention problems, that this coach couldn't seal the deal on the highest rated recruit in the history of the state, who lived in his own town, whose mother worked for the university, and whose father played at the school,  and played with his son, and scrimmaged with his team, and went to every game, and.........well the list goes on.........How is any top player going to take him seriously, ever again???  And what coach won't use that against us.  As we have seen, in the world of the Big 12, you have to have athletes to play, the "coaching up" of players is not a path to true, meaningful success.  Barry Collier, who had a much more impressive resume than Greg McDermott found that out the hard way at Nebraska.

It should be a HUGE concern for Jamie Pollard, and don't think for a second that he has already second guessed himself for the rushed hire of a largely unproven coach that was Greg McDermott.

That being said, the Big 12 will be down this year, with all of the player losses, so it is conceiveable that we can possibly get to .500 in the league.  With a soft non-conference schedule, we have, there is a chance for post season play.  I just hope, that if he can beat a Kansas type team, even though they are down, he, and more importantly his supporters, doesn't pull a McCarney after beating bad Nebraska teams and act like he beat Tommie Frazier.   

We are not in a position to let this mediocrity extend to many extra years, like we did with the football program, and leave the next coach as big of a rebuild as he inherited. 

I hope that I am wrong about this, but I get less and less confident as time goes on.

Hello clone fans, I'm new to the blog, but a current ISU student. I'm down in Australia at the moment, but trying to keep up with the cyclones.

Greg McDermott has been a huge huge disappointment for me. When I say this to other ISU supporters I usually get tongue lashed saying I am not understanding the "building a program process" and the problems that come with it. But in honesty, that is not why I'm upset. I'm not upset because in his first two years we aren't competing with KU for the Big 12 crown. I'm not even upset about our record! Wins and loses have nothing to do with my criticism. I'm upset in our horrible, and I mean horrible, gameplans and offense sets. It is not a good coach without the talent scenario. It is obvious to see when a player is doing the right thing but an opposing player is better and steals the ball, blocks the shot, etc. But when a team is not even assembling to do anything worthwhile that falls on the coach.

I've played a little, and coached at the high school level, but I have never seen an offense as "grade schoolish" as the one used at ISU. 3 wing players and cross screen in the post is used almost exclusively. I've never seen a team consistently look that bad at offense and put up so few points. And it is not the talent level. It is not the players attitudes. It is not the players execution. If anything, they are executing too well by just standing in the spots Greg tells them to.

Mike Taylor was pretty much pegged as a ball hog who jacked up shots during his short tenure at ISU. I admit myself I hated his high turnover ratio and high shot attempts, but then I realized...Mike Taylor was trying to make plays. He often had 4 other players standing around in some BS offensive set and the shot clock was winding down and he had to make a play. That or he had a semi-fast break opportunity and was so giddy to take advantage of it because he didn't want to have to deal with another horrible half court set.

I wish I had the tape of the UNI game this past year. Mac's game plan was "we're taller", "we're better", cross screen and throw it inside. Occasionally swing the ball and shoot a three. Zero penetration. I remember vividly when Peterson put the ball on the floor and got to the lane. The first time he passed the ball for a basket, but the second time he turned it over. Mac stomped his foot and did his finger come here thing and lashed into Peterson...needless to say Peterson did not attempt to split the gaps and penetrate anymore...which by the way is what nearly all college offenses thrive on. (Duke doesn't even run a true offense anymore. They just tell players to drive gaps, rotate to open spots etc.)

Well UNI realized our offensive set after a few inside baskets, bumped the screen hard, fronted the post with a weakside help, and Jiri was severely limited after that. He still got his points, but only because we kept jamming the ball inside, at the expense of running a better game plan.

Greg recruited 5 players in 2006. All 5 are out of the program.  He took the all-time leading scorer in Minnesota history,  a 6-8 power forward who's greatest asset was his shooting touch and bringing a big man out to guard him, and put him in the 3 sometimes 4th string center position. ISU had three true centers last season, gray, hiri, and marsden. Why would you have all three on the bench and put Cory Johnson into center?!?! Mac had Johnson guarding Gred Oden when the team played OSU. That is just insanely poor management of players. Mac continually, and absurdly played Cory Johnson out of position this season, which hurt Johnson's numbers dramatically. Now he's gone. But of course Mac is thinking, who cares he wasn't that good. Well he wasn't good because you horrible mismanaged him coach.

Our best player, gets up and leaves the team. Wes Johnson, the final of the 5 players gets up and leaves. He doesn't even tell the staff. Can you say "Coaching staff obviously was not well connected with their star player". One player leaves no worries, two or three we should look into it, all 5....something is wrong.

Add on Vette, Brister and that is 7 players out of the program from two recruiting classes....something is wrong with this picture.

I can't think of something to say positively about Greg McDermott in the terms of basketball coaching, let alone program management. ISU fans have long long long been the most loyal and forgiving of fans. But this isn't middle school basketball and McDermott isn't a volunteer. If you are making big money, performance should be a criteria, and your performance should be scrutinized. Mac will get way too many chances, he is already getting too many with the "this is his first year" crap.

I don't care if this is your first year ever coaching basketball you should have a more dynamic offensive gameplan.

I hope I'm wrong, but I would be willing to bet when Greg McDermott is fired he will never have enjoyed a winning season as the head man, and the team will continually shuffle players in and out with transfers abound.

Since I'm often times busy during the summer, I'm often looking for readers to contribute however they can, through features such as FanPosts and FanShots. This is a FanPost from the member cyismydog on the '09 men's basketball recruiting efforts. - CC

While Iowa state has offered a multitude of 2009 recruits, the staff seems to be concentrating on a select few players that are seriously considering Iowa State and those that would fit a variety of needs on the 2010 ISU team.

    First, I'm going to examine the needs of the basketball team. There are two positions that need help the most on the ISU team, so the staff is focusing on recruiting players for those positions. Here is a detailed breakdown of ISU's recruiting needs, and who they are targeting to fill these positions.

1. The Guard Court: This is the last year for former walk-ons and key contributors Bryan Petersen and Sean Haluska. When they leave, the backcourt will be short on depth, and a scoring punch will be lacking off the bench, unless one of our current players really improves. The staff is targeting primarily one player to fill this hole. His name is Xavier Thames, a 6'5" combo guard with a great outside shot who can also break down defenders off the dribble. He has his own website at www.xavierthames.net. The main competition for Thames' services are the Cougars of Washington State, who recently put an offer on the table for the talented guard. Wazzu is perceived to have the inside track for Thames because of a family connection; Thames father played a season for the Cougars. Iowa State is still very much in the hunt for Thames services, though.
    In April, Thames made an unofficial visit to Iowa State on his own dime. He toured Iowa State's practice facilities, and met with Coach McDermott, who impressed him with his humor and knowledge of the game.
    Another guard who might get a look from ISU is talented IHCC guard Dwight Buycks. While he currently has offers from schools such as Tennessee and Wisconsin, he does not yet list an Iowa State offer. I think that will change though, with the addition to the Iowa State staff of former Indian Hills player Daniyal Robinson. 
2. Small Forward: Wesley Johnson's departure has also affected the teams' recruiting. As of right now, Lucca Staiger is the only player that has the size and shooting ability to play the three on Iowa State's roster. While guard is the first recruiting option for the staff, there are several players that have been currently offered to play the small forward position
    CJ Wilcox, Pleasant Grove Utah.   "The best shooter I've seen in two years,"  said ISU assistant coach TJ Otzelberger after watching Wilcox play. A tall and gifted wing who can seemingly do it all on the court, he is a dead-eye shooter and a freakish athlete that can jump out of the gym. His only downside is an average, at best, handle. ISU recently offered Wilcox a scholarship, but new competition has jumped into the race for this talented wing in the form of Miami of Florida. Check out this youtube video compiled by his father Craig, a former standout on the hardwood for BYU himself. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGaOrpayFkQ
    Givon Crump: A target of the staff since September, Crump is another tall wing who is a long-range sharpshooter. Recently ranked # 107 in the Rivals 150, Rivals analyst Jerry Meyer recently called him, "One of the top 10 shooters in his class." While Crump is lacking the athleticism and speed of Wilcox, he is still a great player that would fit ISU's needs.
    Rodney Williams Jr. The top leaper in his class with a developing jumpshot, Williams is a real long shot for the ISU staff. One of the top players in his class, he is considered a strong Minnesota lean - if he improves his grades. He may go to prep school and reclassify into the class of '10 if he doesn't improve his academics.
    2010 prospect Harrison Barnes - The 11th rated player and a 5 star talent by Scout, Barnes is as much of a must get as any prospect out there.
    This is the first of what I hope is many more blog entries to come. I will be back with any updates on these recruits that I find out. 

Hey Clone Chronicles,

Today is the big day. We've switched your community over to the new SB Nation sports blog platform. My name is Trei, and I'm here to help you get adjusted to the new home we've built for you. If you have questions or trouble with the new system, post a comment in this thread and myself or one of the team (lovitt, sixfoot6 or odacrem) will try to point you in the right direction.

Before we begin, I want to let you know we still consider this a beta platform, so don't be surprised if you find a few bugs or if everything isn't exactly right yet. We hope you'll take the time to report any problems you encounter at bugreport@sbnation.com. We'll be continuing to make changes and improving things.

Please take a few minutes to read about what's new below. But if you just can't wait to jump in, here are some quick things to check out:

1. Sign up for your SB Nation network account and claim your old blog accounts
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The new system does not work like the old diary editor. For example, in HTML mode the new editor doesn't auto-create a new paragraph from two line breaks. But it does offer a whole array of new features. Look for the blinking help button on the right side of the FanPost editor for quick tips, and take a look at our full guide to writing FanPosts on the new platform.

IMPORTANT - if you write your posts in Microsoft Word or some other off-line editor, you will get the most reliable behavior if you cut & paste your post into the HTML view of the FanPost editor. And if you do that, remember to wrap <p></p> tags around each paragraph so your text doesn't run together.

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This one is probably the most obvious change of all. Like other major websites working to improve readability for their audience, we've adopted a fixed-width layout optimized for the 1024 x 768 resolution used by the majority of Clone Chronicles and SB Nation network users. Use the switcher below the user menu if you prefer the wider layout designed for 1280 monitors. We've introduced a top navigation bar with quick links into old and new sections of the site. We also polished a few edges, made some things larger, others smaller and moved a few boxes here and there. More changes and adjustments to come.

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There are plenty more small changes and additions we've made, so please take a careful look around and explore this new system. We appreciate your patience and hope you'll help us improve the new platform for this and all the other SB Nation blogs.

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In case y'all want to watch Iowa State recruit Wes Eikmeier's state championship game in Nebraska, here is a link for you.

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Hi, over at Royals Review I've profiled Mt. Pleasant, which happens to be, strangely enough, a KC Royals Radio affiliate.

http://www.royalsreview.com/story/20...

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Hey there,

I'm looking for 4 lower level tickets to the KU game on the 27th?

My wife's granfather turns 80 this month and is a long-time supporter of the team and we'd love to take him to the game to celebrate!

Please drop me a line at-

mikvogel "at" gmail dot com

Thanks!

MV

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