Coach Cluess on WFAN ay 4pm Today

[tootie223]

NEW ROCHELLE, NY - Iona College men's basketball head coach Tim Cluess will be on the air with Mike Francesa this afternoon on his Mike'd Up show on Sports Radio 66 WFAN, 660 AM. The show is also simulcast on the YES Network. Cluess is scheduled to appear at 4:05 pm ET.

The Gaels are coming off a thrilling 70-68 overtime win at Denver last night where the squad erased a 13-point second half deficit. Senior Randy Dezouvre drained an 18-footer with 1.6 seconds left to lift Iona to the win.

The Maroon & Gold are now 7-1 overall with seven straight wins after a disappointing 91-90 defeat in the season opener vs. Purdue. Since taking over the helm last season Cluess has led the Gaels to a 32-13 mark, tied for the most wins (Long Island University) among the 23 NCAA Division I Schools recognized by the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association.

Iona earned its program record ninth straight road win dating back to last season and are three games in to a program record nine-game trip away from the Hynes Center. After games at Marshall (Dec. 11), Richmond (Dec. 14), Vermont (Dec. 14) and William & Mary (Dec. 21), the Gaels return to the Metropolitan area on Dec. 29 at Hofstra. The squad rings in the new year with a Madison Square Garden tilt on Jan. 3 vs. Siena before returning to New Rochelle on Jan. 6 vs. Niagara.

The Gaels are the nation's highest scoring team, averaging 90.5 points per game, three points better than Texas State through eight games. The team ranks No. 2 with 21.1 assists per game while its 50.5% field goal percentage is 10th in the country.

Senior Scott Machado leads the nation with 10.8 assists per game, ahead of Kendall Marshall from North Carolina and his 9.6 per game average. Senior Mike Glover ranks 18th in field goal percentage (62.5%), 40th in scoring (19.0 ppg) and 56th in rebounding (8.8 rpg) and is one of nine players in the nation averaging more than 19 points and eight rebounds per game. The Gaels have also welcomed the addition of junior Arizona transfer Lamont "Momo" Jones who has averaged 15.1 points per game. Junior Kyle Smyth is Iona's fourth player averaging double digit points with an even 10.0 ppg.

Iona travels to Marshall for a Sunday afternoon tilt at 2:30 pm.

[ionatom]

Pretty uneventful information. Francesa knew hardly anything about their team, other than what he could see on their schedule. He was unaware that Canisius and Niagara are in conference.
He does plan to attend the Hofstra game and encouraged people to do the same.

[GuyF]

Francesa was awful. Kept calling labeling Iona "local", making no note of what Machado has done, Iona leading the nation in scoring, Iona's RPI, assuming Iona has no shot at an at-large. Uninformed tub of lard.

[hawaii bill]

Hey who cares, I'm glad at least someone gave us some recognition.

[ionatom]

The recognition was good. But you can tell he knows nothing about the team. He never mentioned St. Joe's or Maryland until after the interview.
He will get on the bandwagon once he watches Machado

[ionatom]

While we expect Francesa to not be fully informed, more could have been done by Cluess during the interview, or the prep ahead of time. Francesa will get excited by a great local team, but we gave him no indication that this could be a special team. He thinks NCAA tourney is the goal; I'd say it's loftier than that. Single digit seed, sweet 16.

[tau]

I didnt hear the interview, but my brother called to tell me about. When I went out to store, I put Francessa on in the car and he was gushing about Iona and Cluess a magician. He actually kept the Iona caller on the line and had a conversation with him(was that you bill?) He did mention about how hes never seen a schedule like ours

[hawaii bill]

Dec 8, 2011 19:34:37 GMT -5 tau said:

I didnt hear the interview, but my brother called to tell me about. When I went out to store, I put Francessa on in the car and he was gushing about Iona and Cluess a magician. He actually kept the Iona caller on the line and had a conversation with him(was that you bill?) He did mention about how hes never seen a schedule like ours

Wasn't me Tau; glad to see one of my Gael brothers get some airtime ;D

[tau]

Dec 8, 2011 20:13:48 GMT -5 hawaii bill said:

Dec 8, 2011 19:34:37 GMT -5 tau said:

I didnt hear the interview, but my brother called to tell me about. When I went out to store, I put Francessa on in the car and he was gushing about Iona and Cluess a magician. He actually kept the Iona caller on the line and had a conversation with him(was that you bill?) He did mention about how hes never seen a schedule like ours

Wasn't me Tau; glad to see one of my Gael brothers get some airtime ;D

Alot of airtime, considereing the host

[ghostofwillard]

Dec 8, 2011 19:34:37 GMT -5 tau said:

I didnt hear the interview, but my brother called to tell me about. When I went out to store, I put Francessa on in the car and he was gushing about Iona and Cluess a magician. He actually kept the Iona caller on the line and had a conversation with him(was that you bill?) He did mention about how hes never seen a schedule like ours

I was one of the guilty parties Tau. Tried to explain why they had so many road games.

[ghostofwillard]

Dec 8, 2011 20:29:30 GMT -5 tau said:

Dec 8, 2011 20:13:48 GMT -5 hawaii bill said:

Wasn't me Tau; glad to see one of my Gael brothers get some airtime ;D

Alot of airtime, considereing the host

He spoke primarily of Iona from 4:05 pm to about 4:50 not bad at all!

[ionatom]

Dec 9, 2011 9:47:41 GMT -5 ghostofwillard said:

Dec 8, 2011 19:34:37 GMT -5 tau said:

I didnt hear the interview, but my brother called to tell me about. When I went out to store, I put Francessa on in the car and he was gushing about Iona and Cluess a magician. He actually kept the Iona caller on the line and had a conversation with him(was that you bill?) He did mention about how hes never seen a schedule like ours

I was one of the guilty parties Tau. Tried to explain why they had so many road games.

Ghost, that was a good call; explaining the home and homes.

The truth is Mike doesn't follow mid-major hoops so he's never seen a MAAC schedule. Historically, I never remember a lot of home Dec. games, maybe 2-3 in a good year