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McDermott satisfied with closed exhibition
By Courtney Linehan
Date Posted: 2008-11-03
Greg McDermott wanted his seven newcomers to get a taste of game day in Iowa State basketball. So he took the team to a hotel Friday night, where they ate, slept and prepared as if Saturday would hold a road game against a Big 12 opponent rather than a workout with no one in the stands.
The Cyclones hosted Creighton for a closed scrimmage Saturday, where neither team was allowed to release statistics or talk in specifics about what happened on the court. But McDermott could say he was happy with what his team accomplished after donning jerseys for an exhibition-practice hybrid that lasted about three hours.
"I was pleased," McDermott said. "We did some things better than I probably anticipated we would at times, then there were other times we had some breakdowns, which can be expected two weeks into practice with a really young team."
McDermott said he sensed some "nervous energy," in the team's first workout against an outside opponent. Every Cyclone except Lucca Staiger and Scott Christopherson saw extensive minutes, which McDermott said will help as his staff tries to establish its regular rotation. Staiger is still recovering from knee surgery Oct. 24, and Christopherson will redshirt this year after transferring from Marquette.
The rest of the squad did well against Creighton's pressure, McDermott said, especially considering the intensive defense the Bluejays apply. He said the team saw some things to work on cleaning up in the next week, especially on defense.
"We had some untimely turnovers, some that were self-inflicted where we just get in too much of a rush," he said. "We have to clean that up before the games start counting for real."
The problem generally came down to passes that could have been less showy and more effective. That, McDermott said, is easy to fix.
McDermott hopes to use the next week to whittle down the lineup and correct some of the errors he saw Saturday. He said it's still too soon to determine whether any of the freshmen will redshirt, and that all will likely see action again when the team hosts Nebraska-Omaha.
"All in all, I thought our guys competed. We got everybody on the floor, and now we'll have an opportunity to really take a hard look at the film and evaluate some personnel."
Courtney Linehan can be reached at (515) 663-6930, or clinehan@amestrib.com.
By Courtney Linehan
Date Posted: 2008-11-03
Greg McDermott wanted his seven newcomers to get a taste of game day in Iowa State basketball. So he took the team to a hotel Friday night, where they ate, slept and prepared as if Saturday would hold a road game against a Big 12 opponent rather than a workout with no one in the stands.
The Cyclones hosted Creighton for a closed scrimmage Saturday, where neither team was allowed to release statistics or talk in specifics about what happened on the court. But McDermott could say he was happy with what his team accomplished after donning jerseys for an exhibition-practice hybrid that lasted about three hours.
"I was pleased," McDermott said. "We did some things better than I probably anticipated we would at times, then there were other times we had some breakdowns, which can be expected two weeks into practice with a really young team."
McDermott said he sensed some "nervous energy," in the team's first workout against an outside opponent. Every Cyclone except Lucca Staiger and Scott Christopherson saw extensive minutes, which McDermott said will help as his staff tries to establish its regular rotation. Staiger is still recovering from knee surgery Oct. 24, and Christopherson will redshirt this year after transferring from Marquette.
The rest of the squad did well against Creighton's pressure, McDermott said, especially considering the intensive defense the Bluejays apply. He said the team saw some things to work on cleaning up in the next week, especially on defense.
"We had some untimely turnovers, some that were self-inflicted where we just get in too much of a rush," he said. "We have to clean that up before the games start counting for real."
The problem generally came down to passes that could have been less showy and more effective. That, McDermott said, is easy to fix.
McDermott hopes to use the next week to whittle down the lineup and correct some of the errors he saw Saturday. He said it's still too soon to determine whether any of the freshmen will redshirt, and that all will likely see action again when the team hosts Nebraska-Omaha.
"All in all, I thought our guys competed. We got everybody on the floor, and now we'll have an opportunity to really take a hard look at the film and evaluate some personnel."
Courtney Linehan can be reached at (515) 663-6930, or clinehan@amestrib.com.
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