While there were some parts of the game today where the team struggled, the basketball they played between the May shot block in the first half and when they had the big lead in the second half was in my opinion some of the best of the year and was "VERY ENTERTAINING". I think today's game showed that there is hope for this group the balance of this year.
Now, I think they will struggle mightly in a very strong Big Ten, especially on the road, but I think they also will surprise some people and get a couple more wins at CHA. I still believe this team will end the year with 4 Big Ten wins and the progress shown by individual players will be enough to make us look forward to what this team can do as players mature.
I know some don't want to hear it, but unless you are one of the top tier programs that gets blue chippers every year you must build your program to rely on the upperclassmen to be your base and then have the younger players fill in the quality minutes needed for the upperclassmen to get a bit of a breather. Right now we do not have this at Iowa and we won't until Gatens, Fuller, Brommer and Tucker have at least another year and a half under their belts. Once they are seniors, May, Cougill and Payne will be juniors, Brust, Marble, McCabe and Larson will be sophomores, then and only then will we really see if it is going to work for Coach Lick.
I think we can all agree that Fuller has shown trememdous improvement now that he is healthy. While Gatens has struggled a bit with his shot this year, his defense is much improved over last year and his shot will come around. Cole is improved and we are even seeing some glimpses of hope in relation to Brommer that many people on this board had written off a month ago and figured he would transfer at the end of the year.
Improvement by individual players is what truly defines good coaching. Certainly x's and o's are important, but if you can't get the players to improve the x's and o's won't matter. Most of the people that wanted our previous regime gone always pointed to the lack of individual player development. I believe we are beginning to see the individual player development occur and I can't wait to see what happens once the new practice facility is available to give these players more time to work on their games.
Now, I think they will struggle mightly in a very strong Big Ten, especially on the road, but I think they also will surprise some people and get a couple more wins at CHA. I still believe this team will end the year with 4 Big Ten wins and the progress shown by individual players will be enough to make us look forward to what this team can do as players mature.
I know some don't want to hear it, but unless you are one of the top tier programs that gets blue chippers every year you must build your program to rely on the upperclassmen to be your base and then have the younger players fill in the quality minutes needed for the upperclassmen to get a bit of a breather. Right now we do not have this at Iowa and we won't until Gatens, Fuller, Brommer and Tucker have at least another year and a half under their belts. Once they are seniors, May, Cougill and Payne will be juniors, Brust, Marble, McCabe and Larson will be sophomores, then and only then will we really see if it is going to work for Coach Lick.
I think we can all agree that Fuller has shown trememdous improvement now that he is healthy. While Gatens has struggled a bit with his shot this year, his defense is much improved over last year and his shot will come around. Cole is improved and we are even seeing some glimpses of hope in relation to Brommer that many people on this board had written off a month ago and figured he would transfer at the end of the year.
Improvement by individual players is what truly defines good coaching. Certainly x's and o's are important, but if you can't get the players to improve the x's and o's won't matter. Most of the people that wanted our previous regime gone always pointed to the lack of individual player development. I believe we are beginning to see the individual player development occur and I can't wait to see what happens once the new practice facility is available to give these players more time to work on their games.
