I don't post very often on this board but for what it's worth I thought the Cluess comments at the end of the game are quite telling ..... "Unfortunately we were cold". His strategy of having fast moving, scoring guards that can shoot the daylights out of the opponent is a decent strategy but it is ONLY one strategy. It does not allow for anything else when you are playing a team that can pound the boards, defend well and control tempo. We will do well in a sub par league by recruiting one or two very good scorers but we will never evolve to anything greater. You will never be a decent NCAA tournament team with one strategy. He publicly has professed that he does not want to play the way "others" play the game but I think his way is inherently flawed. If Iona does want to do great things either Cluess needs to radically change or he will need to leave. To be clear, I think he can win all sorts of league championships doing what he does and maybe get a look at an NCAA game every couple of years but the program will have to be willing to be just that. Perhaps being a top level MAAC team that every couple of years makes it to the dance as a weak seed is all anyone wants....... but why not dream? Maybe we just need to be happy with a winning percentage coach that I think is a great representative for Iona. I actually really like the guy I just think we need to understand that we are saddled with both the good and the bad of Tim Cluess.
I think we all realize that there is far more good than bad that comes along with Cluess coaching Iona. It's just with expectations legitimately raised, the "bad" is so frustrating, and more often than not, avoidable.
I'm not looking for a Sweet 16 run. I'd like to a) not get embarrassed and exposed in post season tourney play; and b) win a game in the NCAA, or a game or 2 in the NIT, every once in a while.
correct but sometimes you don't shoot good, we need to not be a one trick pony
Ghost, look at URI's shooting percentage for the Iona game vs their season long averages. There is your answer. Sometimes Iona's shooters will miss. Sometimes the opponent has something to do with that.
Don't you wonder why so many teams have season highs in field goal percentage against Iona?
Cluess needs an alternative when the outside shots don't fall. He doesn't have one. It is very hard to find athletic bigs at our level. Would love it if we did. But adding a few hard nosed 6'5" or 6'6" kids who can defend (and who want to), and teaching the rest of the team how to defend, would go a long way to solving this problem. We don't have to abandon the fast paced approach to improve the D to an acceptable level.
Agree. All we need to do is develop a bench. Cluess didn't do this. He turned to the bench when he had to, not because he wanted to. Stubborn.
The greatest poster in the history of the MAAC as determined by THREE separate polls.
Guy, I agree, we thought we didn't have a bench, then we had a bench, then we didn't have a bench again. When the guys were able to play more than a minute at a time and didn't have to look at the bench everytime they made a mistake we saw that the bench could make plays. Are they the best bench no, but they were capable of combining for 30 minutes of rest for our starters and each guy on the bench brought something different
Back home after a long trip after a very disappointing loss.
Responding to a few things in various threads:
FG%-- Iona 34% URI-39%--they did not have their best shooting night this year
Rebounds--52-54 Blocks 8-9 "Bigs" not the issue here
If you look at the last 5 games we played, our shooting % was significantly lower than all year--IW injury factor totally minimized on these threads. He was just not able to contribute other than his stellar performance against Monmouth.
Said it before, we make 3-4 more shots, we win most of those games.
Depth was our major issue. I strongly encourage you to go back and re-read I86's take on our depth situation, (provided below) The late summer departures of Sledge and Young really hurt.
( The staff knows they need to work on the depth and the need for athletic bigs. Remember we started this season with during the summer. We had Tavon who left us kind of late and we had to run out and recruit Ibn Muhammad to fill his shoes (not a height joke). We had Najeal Young committed for a year and then he bolted when he saw what was expected of him. We had Grant Ellis who left midseason. We had Bashir Ahmed committed but he would have been ineligible so we lost him to JUCO. We had Daniel Robinson get hurt. We had Jan Svandrlik commit and then never arrive.
As for recruiting bigs... the staff had a kid lined up who would have been first team all MAAC and combined with Laury it might have been the greatest frontcourt 1-2 punch in MAAC history. The kid was a JUCO who would have destroyed every big in this league and would have altered every teams shooting. The kid would have had more immediate impact on both sides of the court than even Norvel Pelle could have. This kid was begging to come to Iona but he would not have gotten through admissions due to some issues that took place during his last year in JUCO. Not a bad kid... just made some dumb decisions. Trust me... the staff was doing everything to fill the holes we saw on this team. Looking back now I am amazed we got as far as we have. We could just as easily have had a team of Casimir, AJ, IW, Laury, the Mystery JUCO, with Kelvin, Ahmed, Najeal Young, Hines, Robinson, Dublin and Ellis. With the 13 ship to Bessick. That team would have destroyed in the MAAC. We had some shit things happen and some things that did not go our way."
We lost to the 3rd place A10 team on their home court.
Back home after a long trip after a very disappointing loss.
Responding to a few things in various threads:
FG%-- Iona 34% URI-39%--they did not have their best shooting night this year
Rebounds--52-54 Blocks 8-9 "Bigs" not the issue here
If you look at the last 5 games we played, our shooting % was significantly lower than all year--IW injury factor totally minimized on these threads. He was just not able to contribute other than his stellar performance against Monmouth.
Said it before, we make 3-4 more shots, we win most of those games.
Depth was our major issue. I strongly encourage you to go back and re-read I86's take on our depth situation, (provided below) The late summer departures of Sledge and Young really hurt.
( The staff knows they need to work on the depth and the need for athletic bigs. Remember we started this season with during the summer. We had Tavon who left us kind of late and we had to run out and recruit Ibn Muhammad to fill his shoes (not a height joke). We had Najeal Young committed for a year and then he bolted when he saw what was expected of him. We had Grant Ellis who left midseason. We had Bashir Ahmed committed but he would have been ineligible so we lost him to JUCO. We had Daniel Robinson get hurt. We had Jan Svandrlik commit and then never arrive.
As for recruiting bigs... the staff had a kid lined up who would have been first team all MAAC and combined with Laury it might have been the greatest frontcourt 1-2 punch in MAAC history. The kid was a JUCO who would have destroyed every big in this league and would have altered every teams shooting. The kid would have had more immediate impact on both sides of the court than even Norvel Pelle could have. This kid was begging to come to Iona but he would not have gotten through admissions due to some issues that took place during his last year in JUCO. Not a bad kid... just made some dumb decisions. Trust me... the staff was doing everything to fill the holes we saw on this team. Looking back now I am amazed we got as far as we have. We could just as easily have had a team of Casimir, AJ, IW, Laury, the Mystery JUCO, with Kelvin, Ahmed, Najeal Young, Hines, Robinson, Dublin and Ellis. With the 13 ship to Bessick. That team would have destroyed in the MAAC. We had some shit things happen and some things that did not go our way."
We lost to the 3rd place A10 team on their home court.
Super, the clearer picture of what happened to Iona are URI's half shooting stats, 3 point shooting percentage and what happened before extensive playground garbage time in the last 5 or 6 minutes of the game. Very different picture, as URI shot the lights out against Iona up to the point where the lead was insurmountable and URI started screwing around. I was following the game on real time stats from ESPN. We shot poorly, but the point remains; Cluess has no plan B for a poor shooting night by Iona, and no defense in big games. I'm sure that you watched the game and saw how URI shredded our defense to put us in a hole that we could not climb out of. Final stats for a game can present a misleading picture without context, like how extensive was garbage time. Just like AJ's final stats for the game, which would look pretty good. If you hadn't watched the game.
Losing to URI on the road is understandable. Being exposed and humiliated is not.
In the Manhattan game AJ was operating on fumes because of the flu bug. IW was nowhere near 100% since his return. Then he too got a bug of some kind in time for the NIT. I was amazed that Bebis could take the floor Tuesday because of his back problems. When he came out of the game, he was grabbing his lower back. These were gut performances by the players. These are all issues you can't foresee at the start of the season. Take the 26 victories and be happy.
Super, u mention all the kids leaving, that is on the coaching staff kids werent getting playong time, wd sledge dked to leave because ee needef a scholarship when we were trying to get a big
Back home after a long trip after a very disappointing loss.
Responding to a few things in various threads:
FG%-- Iona 34% URI-39%--they did not have their best shooting night this year
Rebounds--52-54 Blocks 8-9 "Bigs" not the issue here
If you look at the last 5 games we played, our shooting % was significantly lower than all year--IW injury factor totally minimized on these threads. He was just not able to contribute other than his stellar performance against Monmouth.
Said it before, we make 3-4 more shots, we win most of those games.
Depth was our major issue. I strongly encourage you to go back and re-read I86's take on our depth situation, (provided below) The late summer departures of Sledge and Young really hurt.
( The staff knows they need to work on the depth and the need for athletic bigs. Remember we started this season with during the summer. We had Tavon who left us kind of late and we had to run out and recruit Ibn Muhammad to fill his shoes (not a height joke). We had Najeal Young committed for a year and then he bolted when he saw what was expected of him. We had Grant Ellis who left midseason. We had Bashir Ahmed committed but he would have been ineligible so we lost him to JUCO. We had Daniel Robinson get hurt. We had Jan Svandrlik commit and then never arrive.
As for recruiting bigs... the staff had a kid lined up who would have been first team all MAAC and combined with Laury it might have been the greatest frontcourt 1-2 punch in MAAC history. The kid was a JUCO who would have destroyed every big in this league and would have altered every teams shooting. The kid would have had more immediate impact on both sides of the court than even Norvel Pelle could have. This kid was begging to come to Iona but he would not have gotten through admissions due to some issues that took place during his last year in JUCO. Not a bad kid... just made some dumb decisions. Trust me... the staff was doing everything to fill the holes we saw on this team. Looking back now I am amazed we got as far as we have. We could just as easily have had a team of Casimir, AJ, IW, Laury, the Mystery JUCO, with Kelvin, Ahmed, Najeal Young, Hines, Robinson, Dublin and Ellis. With the 13 ship to Bessick. That team would have destroyed in the MAAC. We had some shit things happen and some things that did not go our way."
We lost to the 3rd place A10 team on their home court.
Can not agree here. URI physically beat us up in the first half when they were dominating the boards. We need depth and we need size.
Reminds me a little bit of The St. Louis Blues - great finesse team in the regular season for the past several seasons. Then they get physically dominated in the playoffs by Chicago and LA. Note this year, the Blues traded for two brutes on the back line at the trade deadline - even gave up some talent to get more physical. We'll see how it works out.
Super, u mention all the kids leaving, that is on the coaching staff kids werent getting playong time, wd sledge dked to leave because ee needef a scholarship when we were trying to get a big
Just reinforcing 86's premise. Coaches had a game plan for the bench that did not work out. Sledge was not run off for a scholarship. Young: "playing time"? left before season opened
Super, belated congrats on your travels and support of the Gaels. Coming up from Florida, to Albany and RI, makes you a SUPER fan in my book.
No problem ic59--been going to games for 47+ years--not quite up to you & OT--but closing the gap Have only missed one post-season game: 2nd round NIT loss to Nebraska in 1983 (blizzard) (Admittedly I lived a little closer until 2011.)
Back home after a long trip after a very disappointing loss.
Responding to a few things in various threads:
FG%-- Iona 34% URI-39%--they did not have their best shooting night this year
Rebounds--52-54 Blocks 8-9 "Bigs" not the issue here
If you look at the last 5 games we played, our shooting % was significantly lower than all year--IW injury factor totally minimized on these threads. He was just not able to contribute other than his stellar performance against Monmouth.
Said it before, we make 3-4 more shots, we win most of those games.
Depth was our major issue. I strongly encourage you to go back and re-read I86's take on our depth situation, (provided below) The late summer departures of Sledge and Young really hurt.
( The staff knows they need to work on the depth and the need for athletic bigs. Remember we started this season with during the summer. We had Tavon who left us kind of late and we had to run out and recruit Ibn Muhammad to fill his shoes (not a height joke). We had Najeal Young committed for a year and then he bolted when he saw what was expected of him. We had Grant Ellis who left midseason. We had Bashir Ahmed committed but he would have been ineligible so we lost him to JUCO. We had Daniel Robinson get hurt. We had Jan Svandrlik commit and then never arrive.
As for recruiting bigs... the staff had a kid lined up who would have been first team all MAAC and combined with Laury it might have been the greatest frontcourt 1-2 punch in MAAC history. The kid was a JUCO who would have destroyed every big in this league and would have altered every teams shooting. The kid would have had more immediate impact on both sides of the court than even Norvel Pelle could have. This kid was begging to come to Iona but he would not have gotten through admissions due to some issues that took place during his last year in JUCO. Not a bad kid... just made some dumb decisions. Trust me... the staff was doing everything to fill the holes we saw on this team. Looking back now I am amazed we got as far as we have. We could just as easily have had a team of Casimir, AJ, IW, Laury, the Mystery JUCO, with Kelvin, Ahmed, Najeal Young, Hines, Robinson, Dublin and Ellis. With the 13 ship to Bessick. That team would have destroyed in the MAAC. We had some shit things happen and some things that did not go our way."
We lost to the 3rd place A10 team on their home court.
Can not agree here. URI physically beat us up in the first half when they were dominating the boards. We need depth and we need size.
Reminds me a little bit of The St. Louis Blues - great finesse team in the regular season for the past several seasons. Then they get physically dominated in the playoffs by Chicago and LA. Note this year, the Blues traded for two brutes on the back line at the trade deadline - even gave up some talent to get more physical. We'll see how it works out.
Don't disagree on physicality aspect SLG--up close it was apparent that A10 players are stronger than ours--at nearly every position. Big difference. Still, we were down 9, at the foul line and missed 2 at around the 13 minute mark. Immediately before that, we were beginning to look a little sharper, and I was hoping for a move that never happened. Very hard to overcome a poor shooting night from an exhausted team.