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email John Stansberry |
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AROUND THE NATION
Nov. 18, 2009
Isiah asks for mercy
One of the strangest scenes you'll ever see in a
college basketball game unfolded over the weekend in
Tulsa. With just under nine minutes to play, the
Golden Hurricanes found themselves up 38 against a
hapless Florida International squad.
That's when Tulsa coach Doug Wojcik put his leading
scorer, Ben Ozoh, back into the game. This didn't
sit well with FIU coach Isiah Thomas, who glared and
shouted over to Wojcik in an apparent attempt to get
him to pull Tulsa's starters.
Before you go accuse Wojcik of being
unsportsmanlike, here's the inside scoop on Tulsa's
roster: at the opening tip of the FIU game, there
were only eight scholarship players available for
Wojcik. Even if Wojcik had wanted to clear his
bench, two starters would remain on the floor.
Following the 81-49 blowout, Thomas took a couple of
questions in the postgame press conference and then
bolted for the door. Before leaving, he did add that
he'd like to get another crack at Tulsa next year.
Uh, Isiah, I'd work on getting your act together
THIS season before game planning for 2010-11
opposition.
To say that the young season has been a train wreck
for Thomas and FIU would be putting it very mildly.
Through their first three contests, FIU was shooting
an atrocious 19.7% from 3-point range while sporting
a rebounding margin of -13.3. The opposition (which
besides Tulsa included North Carolina and Monmouth
to that point) also shot a healthy 55.7% from the
field against the Panthers in those games.
Thomas notched win number one as FIU coach with an
88-82 win over Florida Memorial on Tuesday night.
Don't feel bad if you can't quite place Florida
Memorial, the school toils in the NAIA DII Sun
Conference. I'm sure Thomas wishes he had the rest
of that league on FIU's schedule, but unfortunately
for him, that's not the case.
The sad state of Iowa basketball
In front of an announced crowd of slightly less than
8,000 fans in Carver-Hawkeye Arena, Iowa dropped a
52-50 decision to Duquesne on Tuesday night. The
half full building was a testament to the fact that
Hawkeye basketball has definitely seen better days.
This is the first time since 1931 than an Iowa team
has dropped two home games to start a season. In the
opener, it was UT-San Antonio of the Southland that
did the deed.
The Roadrunners, who ranked 18th nationally last
season in three-pointers made per game at 8.4,
drained 9-of-20 from long distance en route to a the
62-50 win. Notice my use of the word "win" when
everyone else might be using the word "upset."
Hey, I'll be the first one to admit that normally,
one might be inclined to label a victory by the
Southland over the Big Ten as an upset. But in this
instance, it really isn't, because UT-San Antonio
will clear 20 wins and make the postseason.
Duquesne isn't a bad squad either. They'll make some
noise in the Atlantic 10. Therefore, Iowa simply
lost to better teams, and that says a lot about the
state of the Iowa program.
Over the last seven seasons (the last two being
under the watch of current coach Todd Lickliter),
Iowa only has two 20-win seasons and generated the
following finishes in Big Ten play: 8th, 4th, 7th,
2nd, 4th, 8th and 10th.
Now compare that to the period from 1982 through
1989, when the program produced six 20-win seasons
(including the exceptional 30-5 campaign of 1986-87)
and these Big Ten finishes: 2nd, 7th, 5th, 6th, 3rd,
3rd and 4th.
Yeah, I know, 20+ years is a LONG time ago, but take
the Hawkeye starting five from 1987: Ed Horton and
Roy Marble at the forwards, Brad Lohaus at center
with Kevin Gamble and B.J. Armstrong in the
backcourt. In terms of pure talent, the current
roster is light years from that, with the frontcourt
being especially deficient.
Speaking of Marble, his son Roy Jr. is a solid guard
who'll help increase the program's talent quotient
when he arrives next season. I'll have to check and
see if Lohaus or Armstrong have any offspring of
their own to offer Iowa.
John Stansberry is in his thirteenth season as
a senior writer for collegeinsider.com.
EMAIL JOHN |
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