Answers to Five Questions For: Iowa St Cyclones Basketball

At the start of the season, B12H.com ran a "Five Questions For..." segment asking the five most pressing questions of each team. In our continuing review of the season, here are the answers to those questions.

Five Questions For... Iowa State basketball

1)       Can Craig Brackins get any help, or will it again be a one man show?

He got help in the way of Marquis Gilstrap. Together Brackins and Gilstrap formed one of the best, and entertaining, twosomes in the conference. Their length and presence inside were the only things stopping the Clones from going 0fer the conference. They had NOBODY on that squad outside those two, but thankfully, both have pro potential (although maybe not in the NBA).

2)       Can the Cyclones crack the top half of the Big 12 North division?

Nein. The Clones finished 5^th in the division and tied for second worst in the conference as a whole. Of their 4 league wins, though, all were to fellow Big 12 North amigos in Colorado, Nebraska twice and Kansas St.

3)       Is there still "Hilton Magic" in Ames?

Nope. First off the Clones won only 4 conference games and of those 2 were at home, meaning their Hilton record was 2-6. Not quite Houdini-esq.

4)       One publication listed Greg McDermott as being on the "hot seat."  What does he need to do to get off it?

Well he needed to win.. and he didn't. McDemott saw the writing on the wall, with the departures of Gilstrap and Brackins and took the easy road and left for Creighton after the season completed. He wasn't going to be fired this year, but with the guys he has coming back it would seem unlikely he would be able to stay in Ames many more years.

5)       After 4 straight conference seasons with a losing record, can the Cyclones better the .500 mark this year?

4-12 .250 winning percentage.