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Tempo key for ISU men against Iowa
By Bobby La Gesse
Date Posted: 2009-12-09
If Iowa State is going to push the basketball, it’s going to have to push itself on the defensive end.
Men’s basketball coach Greg McDermott believes a key to defeating Iowa on Friday at Hilton Coliseum (7 p.m., WOI) will be forcing the tempo, and the easiest way for the Cyclones to pick up the pace is when they’re guarding their own basket.
“The defensive pressure is where it starts, and then try to get out and run on every given opportunity,” McDermott said.
ISU (6-3) has played its best when it’s been able to establish an up-and-down pace.
By applying defensive pressure, the Cyclones could force a difficult quick shot, get a turnover or use a defensive rebound to get a transition bucket. And if they can get those results on consecutive possessions, they could get the Hawkeyes (3-6) involved in a track meet before Iowa could do much to stop it.
“Look at Missouri,” forward Craig Brackins said. “They are fast. No one stands in their way. They run the tempo they want to. They always do it. That’s what we’ve got to get to.
“It’s not always going to come just by pushing the ball down the court. Maybe it’s a steal. Maybe it’s a rebound. There are so many different ways to play the way we want to. It comes from moving the ball efficiently.”
And it’s still something ISU is working to perfect.
“We are missing some opportunities to do that,” McDermott said. “It’s a little more difficult to do when you are playing against a team that is controlling tempo, because you don’t have opportunities to run that offense, so there are times when you don’t do it when you should do it.”
Iowa is a slow-the-game-down, grind-out-possessions-in-the-half-court type of team. The Hawkeyes lost to Northern Iowa, 67-50, Tuesday without coach Todd Lickliter, who has missed the last two games after having a stent inserted into his carotid artery on Saturday.
Lickliter isn’t expected to coach against the Cyclones.
Iowa will look to get the ball to guards Anthony Tucker (11.8 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game) and Matt Gatens (11.4 points and 5.1 rebounds per game).
McDermott said Tucker scores in bunches, and he is a big Gatens fan. He also knows the Cyclones will have to do a better job controlling the tempo against Iowa than they did against other methodical teams.
“We have to try to impose our will on them better than we were able to against Northern Iowa, Northwestern or St. Louis,” McDermott said. “So you are going to play teams from time to time that want to play that way, and we have to do a better job of getting the game at a pace that we are more comfortable with.”
And if ISU can establish its style of play, the Cyclones could put their three-game losing streak behind them.
“We need to win,” McDermott said. “Winning cures a lot of things.”
Bobby La Gesse can be reached at (515) 663-6929 or rlagesse@amestrib.com.
By Bobby La Gesse
Date Posted: 2009-12-09
Iowa State's Diante Garrett (right) knocks the ball away from Northern Iowa's Kwadzo Ahelegbe (left) during the first half at Hilton Coliseum Wednesday, Dec. 2. Iowa State lost, 63-60, and will try to break a three-game losing streak Friday against Iowa.
Tribune photo by Nirmalendu Majumdar
Tribune photo by Nirmalendu Majumdar
If Iowa State is going to push the basketball, it’s going to have to push itself on the defensive end.
Men’s basketball coach Greg McDermott believes a key to defeating Iowa on Friday at Hilton Coliseum (7 p.m., WOI) will be forcing the tempo, and the easiest way for the Cyclones to pick up the pace is when they’re guarding their own basket.
“The defensive pressure is where it starts, and then try to get out and run on every given opportunity,” McDermott said.
ISU (6-3) has played its best when it’s been able to establish an up-and-down pace.
By applying defensive pressure, the Cyclones could force a difficult quick shot, get a turnover or use a defensive rebound to get a transition bucket. And if they can get those results on consecutive possessions, they could get the Hawkeyes (3-6) involved in a track meet before Iowa could do much to stop it.
“Look at Missouri,” forward Craig Brackins said. “They are fast. No one stands in their way. They run the tempo they want to. They always do it. That’s what we’ve got to get to.
“It’s not always going to come just by pushing the ball down the court. Maybe it’s a steal. Maybe it’s a rebound. There are so many different ways to play the way we want to. It comes from moving the ball efficiently.”
And it’s still something ISU is working to perfect.
“We are missing some opportunities to do that,” McDermott said. “It’s a little more difficult to do when you are playing against a team that is controlling tempo, because you don’t have opportunities to run that offense, so there are times when you don’t do it when you should do it.”
Iowa is a slow-the-game-down, grind-out-possessions-in-the-half-court type of team. The Hawkeyes lost to Northern Iowa, 67-50, Tuesday without coach Todd Lickliter, who has missed the last two games after having a stent inserted into his carotid artery on Saturday.
Lickliter isn’t expected to coach against the Cyclones.
Iowa will look to get the ball to guards Anthony Tucker (11.8 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game) and Matt Gatens (11.4 points and 5.1 rebounds per game).
McDermott said Tucker scores in bunches, and he is a big Gatens fan. He also knows the Cyclones will have to do a better job controlling the tempo against Iowa than they did against other methodical teams.
“We have to try to impose our will on them better than we were able to against Northern Iowa, Northwestern or St. Louis,” McDermott said. “So you are going to play teams from time to time that want to play that way, and we have to do a better job of getting the game at a pace that we are more comfortable with.”
And if ISU can establish its style of play, the Cyclones could put their three-game losing streak behind them.
“We need to win,” McDermott said. “Winning cures a lot of things.”
Bobby La Gesse can be reached at (515) 663-6929 or rlagesse@amestrib.com.
| Comments |
| John Glad to hear those comments from McDermott and the team! I'm looking forward to a fun game tomorrow night. Ratchet up the D intensity, force some turnovers and run baby!! Go State! 12/10/09 |
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