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Post by tkfwolf on Jan 30, 2012 19:33:31 GMT -5
Iona fans!
Just thought I'd stop by with a friendly salutation and hope to learn more about Iona basketball. We understand you have an NBA caliber point guard, as do we. But not much else.
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Post by hawaii bill on Jan 30, 2012 19:40:11 GMT -5
Welcome, I think we have to do some research on the Wolfpack also. We can be a little East Coast - centric around here. Looking forward to the game.
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Post by nick on Jan 30, 2012 19:42:00 GMT -5
Yes, we do have an excellent point guard in Scott Machado. We also have a PF/C Mike Glover, who is averaging a 19pts and 9 reb this year. Momo jones is a transfer for Arizona, who is averaging 13 pts from the 2 guard spot. We are fairly deep in the guard position featuring Kyle Smythe and Sean Armand. Sean can light it up when he's on. He hit 10 3's vs. Siena earlier this year.
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Post by tkfwolf on Jan 30, 2012 19:42:49 GMT -5
Well, for starters, it's the Wolf Pack, two words unlike the red Wolfpack from NC State. And to be honest, we really don't follow the MAAC all that much back out west.
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Post by hawaii bill on Jan 30, 2012 19:47:51 GMT -5
Well, for starters, it's the Wolf Pack, two words unlike the red Wolfpack from NC State. And to be honest, we really don't follow the MAAC all that much back out west. LOL, nobody follows the MAAC except us. Wolf Pack, duly noted.
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Post by tkfwolf on Jan 30, 2012 19:50:34 GMT -5
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Post by gregcrow on Jan 30, 2012 19:53:36 GMT -5
welcome tkfwolf - I'm out here in Cali so I get to see some of your games. Like your team, should be a good matchup. Hopefully the long trip will exhuast your guys. Also, please tell them there's plenty to do in NYC on a Friday night!
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Post by tkfwolf on Jan 30, 2012 19:56:48 GMT -5
Stuff to do in NYC at night? Never would have guessed On your return trip home, make sure they take advantage of all you can eat sushi, legalized prostitution, and bars that seldom have closing calls before 4AM
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Post by wolfinseattle on Jan 30, 2012 19:57:57 GMT -5
Another Pack fan looking forward to the game. Your point guard has very similar stats to our Sophomore Deonte Burton so that should be a very good battle. Nevada has more size and likes to play at a slower tempo...I'm sure your team is used to that.
But it still provides a fun contrast in styles. The Pack has had some problems with teams that play aggressive defense as we don't have many solid ball handlers outside of Burton so that's something that Iona will try to exploit. The Pack will counter with outstanding 3pt shooting and a lot of trips to the FT line...where they don't shoot well, but make up for it with quantity.
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Post by gregcrow on Jan 30, 2012 20:01:48 GMT -5
Stuff to do in NYC at night? Never would have guessed On your return trip home, make sure they take advantage of all you can eat sushi, legalized prostitution, and bars that seldom have closing calls before 4AM Plenty of Sushi, illegal prostitution and 4am closing calls in NYC.
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Post by tkfwolf on Jan 30, 2012 20:35:08 GMT -5
Our team is on a pretty incredible hot streak right now, 2nd longest winning streak in the nation only behind undefeated Murray State. We have some weird losses, namely our first game of the season against Missouri State (who's actually proven to be a pretty good team) and BYU on a neutral floor. Our only other loss was to UNLV by 4 points on the road.
We had the youngest team in NCAA division I last year and our record showed it. We had the worst record in almost a decade for our team mainly because of a coaching change (loss of commits and transfers) and players skipping to the NBA (Javale Mcgee, Luke Babbitt, Armon Johnson). That being said, our team went through some lumps last year for sure, but grew because of it. I think our first game of the year we can accredit it to being just that, the first game of the year. Our team chemistry and overall confidence is miles beyond then.
We have a terrific future NBA point guard in Deonte Burton, who we hope to keep past this year. He can knock down ridiculous shots from anywhere on the court: NBA three with a defender in his face, athletic shots in the paint, and mid range. He has a really quick step and to this point we really haven't seen any defender able to guard him. He's only 6'1 but can jump out of the building.
To compliment, our 2 guard (Malik Story) is currently one of the best three point shooters in the country (I think 2nd in 3pt% and not behind by much) and can go off at anytime. He also has a tendency of just chucking it up sometimes, but his shot selection has improved drastically over the course of the season and especially from last year.
We also have at small forward a Duke transfer (Olek Czyz) who was an All-American in high school (he went to a Reno high school which explains why he came back). He has great athleticism for a post player and has really great post moves with the ability to knock down the outside shot. He has really been hitting a little left handed jump hook in the last handful of games as well.
Our power forward is a beast underneath and averages over 2 blocks a game despite his relatively small height (6'8"). He will outrebound most guys bigger than him and is really a defensive force. He nearly averages a double double but is terrible from the charity stripe, probably the most awkward shot outside of Shaq.
Our glue guy, a 6'8" wing Jerry Evans Jr., is our best all around player outside of Burton. He defends really well and hits shots at a good percentage, although not in bunches.
We play a 10 man rotation on most nights and have other players step up in clutch situations. One of the areas we struggle with the most is in the turnover category. Outside of Deonte we really don't have a solid backup to handle defensive pressure and it shows. Conversely our defense has given a lot of teams fits. Our team is overall very athletic and will clog up passing lanes and can create turnovers with half-court traps and 3/4 court pressure. Our coach is in his 3rd year as head coach and had been an assistant for over 10 years. He has shown the ability to coach incredibly well this year and has transformed our team into a hard nosed defensive team that also has the athleticism to light it up on the scoreboard.
For our team history, we had a very successful run of four straight NCAA appearances from 2004-2007. We reached the sweet sixteen in one of them, and reached the second round in 07. We didn't make a postseason appearance last year for the first time in 6 years (we played in the NIT and CBI tournaments in the years in between) but are guaranteed a spot somewhere this year. A win against IONA would go a long ways in securing an automatic berth should we not win the conference tournament to which we will be heavily favored.
The team is from RENO, not Vegas. Our rival is of course UNLV who has seemed to have the upper hand in basketball over the last few years. We're in the WAC but are moving to the Mountain West next season, so of course we are hoping to end the WAC run on a high note.
Hopefully that's a little background info for you to chew on. No matter what, we are IONA fans for your games leading up to us!
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Post by ghostofwillard on Jan 30, 2012 20:46:11 GMT -5
Shouldn't that be wolf packchat.com ;D
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Post by GuyF on Jan 30, 2012 20:52:58 GMT -5
I for one welcome the visit from our Wolf Pack overlords.
Should be a fun game.
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Post by GuyF on Jan 30, 2012 20:57:42 GMT -5
By the way, Pack visitors, I see you play in an 11,500-seat facility.
We don't. Our facility is about a fifth the size of yours.
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Post by tkfwolf on Jan 30, 2012 20:57:47 GMT -5
Shouldn't that be wolf packchat.com ;D If website domains allowed spaces in them, then yes it would be. Until then, we are stuck unfortunately.
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