Iowa Hoops: Margin For Error Rapidly Diminishing







Fran owns Tubby and Bo now. We got both.

We certainly seem to own Bo and beat Tubby, that nasty jerk, twice last season.....

I will never forget one of Lick's last games at Minnesota when they were ahead by at least 30 and he had the starters in until the last minute or so.....
 


We certainly seem to own Bo and beat Tubby, that nasty jerk, twice last season.....

I will never forget one of Lick's last games at Minnesota when they were ahead by at least 30 and he had the starters in until the last minute or so.....

That game was kind of the last straw for Lick. Tubby may have done us a favor there.
 


We need Marble to back full strength and scoring more. I know he 's a little gimpy right now but were missing his 15-20 pts per game.

Probably one of the more unrealistic things I have read. Marble can't produce those numbers in conference play, he has yet to prove he can do that against players like Oladipo, Evans, Hardaway and Thompson.

Marble isn't athletic enough to do this, what he needs to do is play within the offense and take better shots, he gets too impatient and forces things. Marble is a good player, but not a guy who will ever control a game against guys who are more athletic than him and understand how to play okay defense.

15-20 points a little much.
 


Probably one of the more unrealistic things I have read. Marble can't produce those numbers in conference play, he has yet to prove he can do that against players like Oladipo, Evans, Hardaway and Thompson.

Marble isn't athletic enough to do this, what he needs to do is play within the offense and take better shots, he gets too impatient and forces things. Marble is a good player, but not a guy who will ever control a game against guys who are more athletic than him and understand how to play okay defense.

15-20 points a little much.


Just because he can't do it against the best of the best doesn't mean he can't do it against the rest of the conference. We are pretty much done playing those teams.
 


Just because he can't do it against the best of the best doesn't mean he can't do it against the rest of the conference. We are pretty much done playing those teams.

He was more successful at the PG spot because of his length, look I am not putting Marble down, just don't seeing him putting up those numbers. Everything comes easier when players and teams play within themselves and stick to what is proven to work. Teams have to figure that out game to game.

Iowa is close, but at key moments they forget what got them in the game to begin with and try and do things that aren't possible, it is not just "youth" issues either. Iowa has to play together 100% of the time.
 


He was more successful at the PG spot because of his length, look I am not putting Marble down, just don't seeing him putting up those numbers. Everything comes easier when players and teams play within themselves and stick to what is proven to work. Teams have to figure that out game to game.

Iowa is close, but at key moments they forget what got them in the game to begin with and try and do things that aren't possible, it is not just "youth" issues either. Iowa has to play together 100% of the time.


Marble is getting the same shots off that he was making earlier in the year. He has just been missing lately.
 


Marble is getting the same shots off that he was making earlier in the year. He has just been missing lately.

Better competition?

He isn't in a slump, he can put up numbers against weaker opponents and Iowa has some of those left, so we will see in the end.
 


Better competition?

He isn't in a slump, he can put up numbers against weaker opponents and Iowa has some of those left, so we will see in the end.

He's definitely not in the same category of the guys you mentioned but he is better then most of the guys you didn't mention. Not a superstar but pretty darn good.
 


He's definitely not in the same category of the guys you mentioned but he is better then most of the guys you didn't mention. Not a superstar but pretty darn good.

I don't disagree, but the idea that he is going to put up numbers like 15-20 pts is not going to happen.

Iowa doesn't have a "best" player, but there is a belief that they do and then unrealistic expectations ensue.

Marble is a good player, but an average at best SF in the Big Ten and that is not a bad thing. He still has a lot of work to put in before he is better than average and that is being a consistent jump shooter. He has some really nice skills, but still has not put everything together. If people stay out of his head, like with pro talk, he will have a great Senior year. Until then, play within the offense and play within himself.
 


I don't disagree, but the idea that he is going to put up numbers like 15-20 pts is not going to happen.

Iowa doesn't have a "best" player, but there is a belief trhat they do and then unrealistic expectations ensue.

Marble is a good player, but an average at best SF in the Big Ten and that is not a bad thing. He still has a lot of work to put in before he is better than average and that is being a consistent jump shooter. He has some really nice skills, but still hasnot put everything together. If people stay out of his head, like with pro talk, he will have a great Senior year. Until then, play within the offense and play within himself.[/QUOTE



I think he is capable of scoring that against our remaining schedule,just not against the schedule we already played.
 


Why do people keep saying this about Indiana? IIRC, they led pretty much the entire game, if not the entire game. At no point did the Hawks have the Hoosiers on the ropes.

MSU is a different story. Iowa definitely had Sparty on the ropes and should have won.

Thank you! You're 100% correct on both accounts.
 


Year 3 of McCaffrey and the "we are better than Lickliter's teams" comments come out. Now I understand why Ferentz has been able to run the football program into the ground with most Iowa fans burying their heads in the sand because "we can't get anyone better". The bar for Iowa basketball is not set at "be better than the awful Lickliter teams". It's like saying Hillary Clinton is hotter than Roseanne Barr. Making the NIT and getting one game further than we did last year is where my bar is set and next year it has to be the NCAA tourney, or Fran's recruiting has to be questioned. IMO, McCaffrey is stockpiling the same type of players; limited athletically and incapable of creating their own offense. Nobody on this team can create their own shot, which is why we consistently go for long stretches without scoring.
 


We certainly seem to own Bo and beat Tubby, that nasty jerk, twice last season.....

I will never forget one of Lick's last games at Minnesota when they were ahead by at least 30 and he had the starters in until the last minute or so.....
I find it amazing that you were actually watching such a game.
 


Year 3 of McCaffrey and the "we are better than Lickliter's teams" comments come out. Now I understand why Ferentz has been able to run the football program into the ground with most Iowa fans burying their heads in the sand because "we can't get anyone better". The bar for Iowa basketball is not set at "be better than the awful Lickliter teams". It's like saying Hillary Clinton is hotter than Roseanne Barr. Making the NIT and getting one game further than we did last year is where my bar is set and next year it has to be the NCAA tourney, or Fran's recruiting has to be questioned. IMO, McCaffrey is stockpiling the same type of players; limited athletically and incapable of creating their own offense. Nobody on this team can create their own shot, which is why we consistently go for long stretches without scoring.
Hillary is hotter than roseanne.... the hind end of a rabid leper mule is hotter than rosie.
 


Year 3 of McCaffrey and the "we are better than Lickliter's teams" comments come out. Now I understand why Ferentz has been able to run the football program into the ground with most Iowa fans burying their heads in the sand because "we can't get anyone better". The bar for Iowa basketball is not set at "be better than the awful Lickliter teams". It's like saying Hillary Clinton is hotter than Roseanne Barr. Making the NIT and getting one game further than we did last year is where my bar is set and next year it has to be the NCAA tourney, or Fran's recruiting has to be questioned. IMO, McCaffrey is stockpiling the same type of players; limited athletically and incapable of creating their own offense. Nobody on this team can create their own shot, which is why we consistently go for long stretches without scoring.

I agree. Fran needs to go.. Good post
 


Year 3 of McCaffrey and the "we are better than Lickliter's teams" comments come out. Now I understand why Ferentz has been able to run the football program into the ground with most Iowa fans burying their heads in the sand because "we can't get anyone better". The bar for Iowa basketball is not set at "be better than the awful Lickliter teams". It's like saying Hillary Clinton is hotter than Roseanne Barr. Making the NIT and getting one game further than we did last year is where my bar is set and next year it has to be the NCAA tourney, or Fran's recruiting has to be questioned. IMO, McCaffrey is stockpiling the same type of players; limited athletically and incapable of creating their own offense. Nobody on this team can create their own shot, which is why we consistently go for long stretches without scoring.

Iowa can't shoot and isn't athletic, but yet five of their losses have come to ranked teams, one lopsided on the road against the team most likely to be No. 1 come Monday. The others by no more than nine with chances to win.

The one thing that you totally overlook in your stunning analysis is this, if Iowa has those deficiencies that you speak of on offense, particularly the limited athletically part, why does it not show on defense?

At this point, Iowa's defense is far ahead of their offense and if the two can become relatively even and the defense isn't dropping off, then Iowa is going to be one of those teams nobody wants to play.

Your comeback will probably be something like they play together more on defense and play more as a team, or that they put a lot more effort in on that end of the court.

On offense, Iowa does a little bit too much standing around, trying to create shots that aren't there and become extremely impatient leading to bad shots.

Teams don't have to be able to create one on one shots to win, when they can't do that on a regular basis, shot selection becomes the single most important thing on that end of the floor.

It isn't youth either because the juniors just as well as the freshman take awful shots, oh yeah, throw in the sophomores as well for that matter, maybe just the whole team, except for May as he rarely forces anything on the offensive end, if he does though, it is once...May understands what type of player he is, I wish the other player did at this point.

When you don't have a "go-to" guy, it comes down to basketball IQ, this team at times shows it, then they go into their slumps by chucking shots in the first 10 seconds of the shot clock...look at how they have finished some halves, bad shots leading to easy transition for opponents, pretty simple really.

Fran's recruiting is the last thing that should be questioned. Shot selection, understanding one's ability as a player, understanding and accepting roles is what will make or break this team, not recruiting. Fran has done an exceptional job recruiting. I like how you are judging players in their freshman years and coming to the conclusion that Iowa doesn't have good players.

Fran took over the worst job situation in the Big Ten when he was hired and in year two they went to the NIT. In year 3 they are about 10 points from being ranked and a virtual lock for the NCAA tournament, Iowa has good talent, a great coaching staff, but yeah still lack a couple things it is impossible to think Fran is going to fill the holes that existed overnight.
 






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