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College Basketball: Iowa State Cyclones NCAAB Betting Preview (11-06-2007) |
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Written by JeffAlexander
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Tuesday, 06 November 2007 |
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Iowa State over achieved to win 15 games last season. But now, with several key players returning, the Cyclones have high hopes of shaking things up in the Big 12 Conference . Find out where Jeff Alexander sees them finishing in the Big 12 in his 2007 Iowa State Cyclones predictions and season preview. If head coach Greg McDermott was looking to exceed last season’s win total, he wasn’t going to do it by playing weak competition. Iowa State’s difficult schedule tells me that McDermott believes his youngsters can compete with the big boys. Oddsmakers don’t think so. They have the Cyclones, who finished with six Big 12 victories last season, finishing next to last in the conference. Iowa State overachieved last year, and I think they will again this season.
Last season’s top scorer, Mike Taylor, was kicked off the team before the start of the fall semester. I think McDermott’s approach to get the bad blood out of town is the right one to rebuild this program. With Taylor’s departure, senior Jiri Hubalek and sophomore Wesley Johnson will pick up the slack. Hubalek averaged 11.2 points per game for the ‘clones last season and Taylor added 12.3. These guys will have to come up huge for the Cyclones if Iowa State does not want to finish as the league’s worst scoring team again this season. Expect Johnson to be a force in the league. As a freshman, he finished second only to Texas’ Kevin Durant with 11 double doubles. With more weight and strength, he will easily be ISU’s go-to guy.
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The loss of guard Mike Taylor, who couldn’t stay out of trouble with the law, has McDermott turning to youth. Freshmen Diante Garrett and Marcus Brister will get a quick intro to the Big 12. Garret has an NBA pedigree from his father, Dick, and could end up being an ISU all-time great.
Ultimately, lack of experience in the backcourt will hurt, but ISU’s frontcourt is in good shape. McDermott is a proven winner having taken the Northern Iowa Panthers, out of the Missouri Valley Conference, to three straight NCAA Tourneys. I expect he’ll have the freshman performing ahead of schedule and ISU turning a few heads. That still doesn’t mean this young team won’t take a few bad licks along the way. Six wins in the Big 12 is realistic again this year.
Make sure you check out all of Jeff's Big 12 Conference predictions to get an early beat on your bookmaker this season.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 06 November 2007 )
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