What struck me about this game

[HawkeyeBasket]

VT had 5 players play more than 24 minutes and 3 that played 34 or more, compared to Iowa having 6 guys in the 15-19 minute range. VT was getting out in transition, leading to their advantage in the paint and at the free throw line.

Maybe they are just really good on defense, it was mentioned in the broadcast that this is what their coach wanted to do. But this is also Iowa's plan. This is going to happen to us when our freshman guards are going up against seniors, especially one that is blowing up right now like Erick Green.

Hopefully though, we will be able to get out and run more against some of these better teams in the future. Otherwise, playing such a deep rotation is kind of hurting us I think.

 

[InGoodCo]

Maybe I'm not getting the issue everyone is taking with how deep our rotation is going. 1. It's the OOC, ya gotta see what you have in your new players and different line ups. 2. Fouls and flow of game have dictated who plays more than anything so far in our loses. 3. Players earn their time in practice and in games, the rotation will take care of itself as the season progresses. May has to play, guys need a blow. Olseni's minutes will be dialed back as we learn more about how he handles bigger games, but it's not like we have these 2 cats in the entire game or something. Mccabe was one of our most solid contributors last season, let's not bury this kid 8 games into his junior season. He's a roll player, and I think he plays that roll pretty well.

 

[HawkeyeNTexas]

In my opinion, 6 maybe 7 guys should play. (depending on foul situation). White and Marble need to be in there 30-35 minutes minimum and each of them needs to score in the high teens to 20's every single game. I think they are capable. There are some guys who are getting wasted minutes and hurting this team. You can guess who they are.

 

[tednugentfan]

We have matchup problems on both ends of the spectrum and guys who are foul magnets, which makes a 6-7 man rotation challenging in my opinion. Some opponents will require us to play 3 guards, while others will exploit our lack of size and require more bigs. McCabe and Woodbury are both scrappers, but this will lead to early fouls and exits from games. I don't think we can ride Marble and White major minutes like we did last season and expect them to hold up. I wish Olaseni was at least capable of blocking / affecting shots and grabbing boards, as that would give us a little insurance against Woodbury foul trouble, but I am not holding my breath that we will see much of him this year.

 

[activebadger]

In my opinion, 6 maybe 7 guys should play. (depending on foul situation). White and Marble need to be in there 30-35 minutes minimum and each of them needs to score in the high teens to 20's every single game. I think they are capable. There are some guys who are getting wasted minutes and hurting this team. You can guess who they are.

So let me get this straight, you want not one but TWO players to average 17-20 each night that are on the same team? You do realize that maybe 1-3 players in the entire league average that many points at the end of the season don't you?

Unreal

 

[HawkeyeNTexas]

So let me get this straight, you want not one but TWO players to average 17-20 each night that are on the same team? You do realize that maybe 1-3 players in the entire league average that many points at the end of the season don't you?

Unreal

Yep. It's not unreasonable at all. Craft and Thomas at OSU are averaging 17 between the two of them and 32 minutes a game. Zeller and Hulls at IU averaging 14 ppg and 27 minutes a game. Hardaway and Burke at Michigan are averaging 17 ppg and 33 minutes a game. Shall I keep going??

Marble and White as of now are averaging 14 ppg and 30 minutes per game. They are almost there as is. If this team wants to win games, you have to have your two best players in the game playing as many minutes as possible and scoring the most points. It's not unreasonable.

 

[BigD]

I sat down late tonight and watched the second half of the game. This game was pretty close (six points) with only eight minutes left in the game. I had only listened to the WHO radio broadcast before and expected to see a much worse team by some of the post I had read here on the forum. There is nothing wrong with this team that a little more experience won't solve. We are going to be fine, infact if the game had been played in Iowa City I feel confident we win this game. Can't say anything to positive about the officiating that seemed to call every ticky tack foul on Iowa and let them get away with pushing our players around. That's to be expected though when playing on the road and can be expected to happen on the road in the big ten. I think Iowa will get better and figure out which players are our best combination.

The defense played great the first ten minutes in the second half when we reeled off thirteen straight points and cut their large lead down to three points. Fran then made some changes and it seemed to mess up the chemistry we had going. It was an experience that not only the players will learn from but also the coaches.