Better next year???

[NorthKCHawk]

Yeah just looking at it from where I'm sitting Iowa could be better next yr some just by the subtraction of guys like PM and Krikke and replacing them with more mins from an improved Dembele and the younger Sandfort/new guys be it Koch/Tadjo. Not to mention Harding I think his play will improve exponentially with more mins.

PM and Perkins really didn't play well down the stretch to say the least and this team was always going to go as far as TP lead them. He didn't do well and didn't get a ton of help. As good as Freeman has been it's not really fair to hitch the wagons to him. He still had a tough time staying out of foul trouble at times.

Freeman is a talent, but he will never be a Garza level talent because he has zero outside shot and I don't see that developing out of nowhere. That is not to say he is not highly valuable. He and Dembele both need to hit the weight room and then you have two more athletic versions of Woodbury with 10 fouls between them. I will take that at the 5.

We need to find a starting caliber 4 in the portal. Fran has done pretty well doing that the last 3 years. One more please.

If everyone returns, we are loaded at 1-3. Big If.

 

[kicker22]

I disagree with you saying we will continue to score points because we have a roster comprised of scorers. I think we score points because we spend the entire allotted practice time working on offense. That distinction is important because I think people think our offense is a given so we need to spend time to improve our defense. I agree that we need to, but it will come at the cost of our offense.

I agree that our practice time is spent working on the offense and defense will always come in a distant second. However I also feel we struggle because Fran is set in his recruiting and is obsessed with tall lengthy wings that can shoot from the perimeter. Not saying we need to completely go away from that, but as we've seen year in and year out those high on his recruiting charts are often not the defenders needed to make an impact on the defensive side of the ball.

 

[kicker22]

Freeman is a talent, but he will never be a Garza level talent because he has zero outside shot and I don't see that developing out of nowhere. That is not to say he is not highly valuable. He and Dembele both need to hit the weight room and then you have two more athletic versions of Woodbury with 10 fouls between them. I will take that at the 5.

We need to find a starting caliber 4 in the portal. Fran has done pretty well doing that the last 3 years. One more please.

If everyone returns, we are loaded at 1-3. Big If.

We don't need another Garza, who was a generational talent. Purdue's figured things out. You need a big that can alter shots, rebound and score in the paint. Edey had no where the range that Garza did and is equally effective because he doesn't have to be a shooter. IMO Fran needs to quit thinking about outside shooters and go back to filling the lane with a post or two and letting the other guys worry about shooting from outside.

We've learned that our shooters struggle shooting against more athletic teams. I get that the game has changed and to a perimeter game as opposed to an inside game, but I think historically we've given up too much defensively and on the boards to try to put shooters allover the court.

 

[Hawkfnntn]

Freeman is a talent, but he will never be a Garza level talent because he has zero outside shot and I don't see that developing out of nowhere. That is not to say he is not highly valuable. He and Dembele both need to hit the weight room and then you have two more athletic versions of Woodbury with 10 fouls between them. I will take that at the 5.

We need to find a starting caliber 4 in the portal. Fran has done pretty well doing that the last 3 years. One more please.

If everyone returns, we are loaded at 1-3. Big If.

No doubt Freeman needs to put on about 10 lbs of solid muscle and build up his upper body. He got bullied by the bigger older guys in the league. Part of why he got in foul trouble alot. As good as he was he's got a lot of improvement to his game to make. If he can knock down 15 footers even that'd be huge. But he started to get gun shy as yr went on and just never even looked at the rim out there most of the time. If he's going to grow his game that's where he has to start.

 

[thedukeofearl]

My son sent me an email from Tacoma today:

Father,

Sat court-side for the Celtics vs Portland on Monday. It was a very surreal moment. I was like a kid in a candy store. Very special. Seeing and hearing the interaction was so cool. Listening to them talk shit to each other was amazing.

Iowa had a chance to make the dance and just can’t get a stop when it’s needed. I don’t think Fran can even spell the fucking word defense if his life depended on it.

 

[Larry Legend]

My son sent me an email from Tacoma today:

Father,

Sat court-side for the Celtics vs Portland on Monday. It was a very surreal moment. I was like a kid in a candy store. Very special. Seeing and hearing the interaction was so cool. Listening to them talk shit to each other was amazing.

Iowa had a chance to make the dance and just can’t get a stop when it’s needed. I don’t think Fran can even spell the fucking word defense if his life depended on it.

Amen, brother, my support documents are just look at Iowa State record this year, ran Iowa out of the gym this year, because they scored off defensive stops and rebounds. their dancing big time, and the lowly Hawks sucking NIT peter. You're Grand Puba of this Site had a post don't blame the coach, blame UI for it's non-commitment to hoops, bullshit, I say, if you have a good product people will show up in any stadium to watch, e. g. the Old Fieldhouse, The Pitt, in Alburquerque, who gives a flying F about ice cream, if your team is competitive, Christ had a full house for the men's game against Illinois, because it meant something to get to the big dance, NIT, puke, Fran recruits mid-major talent and just tells them to run as fast as you can, and hope someone can make a three fading away. Good news guys and gals for all of you, I am out of here, oh how can you comment on NIT play, snore..... See you in the fall.

 

[PCHawk]

This may be an unpopular take but I find it tough to believe that Fran (or any D1 program) spends drastically different amounts of time on O then D. Iowa isn't like an old school Syracuse where they specialized in just one thing. Iowa mixes it up with man and pressing half court and full court traps and multiple different zone defenses. Now they've never been all that good at them but I don't think that's ever been due to any lack of practice or a deemphasizing of it. But just to learn it all I think they spend plenty of time practicing it on the floor and in class room. But defense is largely on what the individuals are capable of and just giving effort wise.

Fran has had a few guys over the yrs that were defensive guys like Woodbury was. But most of the time we had guys like JBo and Peter Jok play big mins who were just never going to be good defenders regardless of time spent on it. Does anyone think Harding will become an elite defender? Cause I don't I think he'll continue to get bullied in this league and they'll have to hide him in zones. Krikke is a terrible defender at this level. Rebraca played out of position guarding 5s most of the time for his 2 yrs with us and struggled alot. Tyler Cook wasn't a great defender. I can go on and on.

There was a podcast years ago where Mike Gesell mentioned rarely practicing defense in practice. There was obviously a lot of outrage from fans after that comment.

 

[PCHawk]

I agree that our practice time is spent working on the offense and defense will always come in a distant second. However I also feel we struggle because Fran is set in his recruiting and is obsessed with tall lengthy wings that can shoot from the perimeter. Not saying we need to completely go away from that, but as we've seen year in and year out those high on his recruiting charts are often not the defenders needed to make an impact on the defensive side of the ball.

Those tall lanky wings have been some of our better defenders. I think it's a mindset more than a players issue. I think Fran is too ok with trading baskets. I'm sure he doesn't like it and I've heard comments where he talks about it. But I'm sure some coaches preach defense constantly in practice and I think Fran loves a smooth crisp offense.

 

[trj]

If Perk comes back I want him at the 2-guard. I have no interest in him running the point full-time anymore. If that means the point guard duties get handed to Harding or they go get somebody I really don't care. If Perk comes back next year I am only concerned about him getting buckets.

 

[STILLBUSTER]

If Perk comes back I want him at the 2-guard. I have no interest in him running the point full-time anymore. If that means the point guard duties get handed to Harding or they go get somebody I really don't care. If Perk comes back next year I am only concerned about him getting buckets.

Exactly. It shoulda been that way this whole year, with either Dix or Harding rotating between point and 2 per needed rest, hot hand or fouls.

 

[BigD]

Amen, brother, my support documents are just look at Iowa State record this year, ran Iowa out of the gym this year, because they scored off defensive stops and rebounds. their dancing big time, and the lowly Hawks sucking NIT peter. You're Grand Puba of this Site had a post don't blame the coach, blame UI for it's non-commitment to hoops, bullshit, I say, if you have a good product people will show up in any stadium to watch, e. g. the Old Fieldhouse, The Pitt, in Alburquerque, who gives a flying F about ice cream, if your team is competitive, Christ had a full house for the men's game against Illinois, because it meant something to get to the big dance, NIT, puke, Fran recruits mid-major talent and just tells them to run as fast as you can, and hope someone can make a three fading away. Good news guys and gals for all of you, I am out of here, oh how can you comment on NIT play, snore..... See you in the fall.

If you remember the field house then you are close to my age. That place was very intimidating for visiting teams and eardrum breaking. For several years Lute rallied for a new building then left when the got it.

Isn’t ironic that he was as much into defense as his was and it was our last final four appearance since he left. You don’t play defense you sit your ass on the bench. He also had a point system that counted all aspects of the game. He was not a systems guy. Good ole coaching where you set up his approaches based on a players skill set and then incorporated a game plan that maximized your players skills.

He took one superstar guard and surrounded that guard with average basketball players and made a final four team out of them. It Ronnie hadn’t gotten hurt we likely would be referring to Iowa’s last national championship.

 

[kicker22]

Those tall lanky wings have been some of our better defenders. I think it's a mindset more than a players issue. I think Fran is too ok with trading baskets. I'm sure he doesn't like it and I've heard comments where he talks about it. But I'm sure some coaches preach defense constantly in practice and I think Fran loves a smooth crisp offense.

My thought was those tall lengthy guys don't while lengthy often lack quickness or the physicality to really lock things down defensively. And while he's commented on it we've also seen time after time where the player who's a better shooter/scorer may see to court more then someone who's known to be a better defender then scorer. But I totally agree that I think Fran would rather have the offense that can score rather then a defense that doesn't score consistently but makes more stops.

 

[InGoodCo]

I think Iowa will be better next year with or without Perkins. If you don't think that Owen Freeman can be a rim protector I don't know what you were watching. Dix at times, had some of the best D I've seen an Iowa guard play in a long time. Luka didn't have a 3 point game his Freshman year either, I think it's little early to be saying that Freeman will never incorporate that especially for a coaching staff that just knows how to develop outside shooting. Everything depends on who stays and goes, but if everyone goes that's suppose to and everyone returns that's suppose to (i'm counting Bowen gone as well) - I still think Iowa is going to be better next year and that's just based off of what we saw out of mainly, Peyton Sandfort - he could be a 1st team All B1G next season. Owen Freeman, the B1G Freshman of the year. Josh Dix, who played like an upper level B1G guard to end the year. Brock Harding, who looks to have all the skill set we've always wanted for a 1 at Iowa and the fact that I think little Sandfort is going to be better then Peyton. Tons to be excited about. Iowa will be picked to be bad again next year and they will be actually pretty good. I figured top half of the league this year(I was right), I'll say top 5 next year....again if what happens, happens.

This is what I expect
Patrick - gone
Krikke - gone
TP - gone
Bowen - gone

still going to be better next year, imo, assuming everyone else stays, our new recruits come in and maybe snag a post in the portal.

 

[PCHawk]

I think Iowa will be better next year with or without Perkins. If you don't think that Owen Freeman can be a rim protector I don't know what you were watching. Dix at times, had some of the best D I've seen an Iowa guard play in a long time. Luka didn't have a 3 point game his Freshman year either, I think it's little early to be saying that Freeman will never incorporate that especially for a coaching staff that just knows how to develop outside shooting. Everything depends on who stays and goes, but if everyone goes that's suppose to and everyone returns that's suppose to (i'm counting Bowen gone as well) - I still think Iowa is going to be better next year and that's just based off of what we saw out of mainly, Peyton Sandfort - he could be a 1st team All B1G next season. Owen Freeman, the B1G Freshman of the year. Josh Dix, who played like an upper level B1G guard to end the year. Brock Harding, who looks to have all the skill set we've always wanted for a 1 at Iowa and the fact that I think little Sandfort is going to be better then Peyton. Tons to be excited about. Iowa will be picked to be bad again next year and they will be actually pretty good. I figured top half of the league this year(I was right), I'll say top 5 next year....again if what happens, happens.

This is what I expect
Patrick - gone
Krikke - gone
TP - gone
Bowen - gone

still going to be better next year, imo, assuming everyone else stays, our new recruits come in and maybe snag a post in the portal.

I think if we have the roster you're saying, we will be a little better an minimum. If we have that roster and one of the two freshman earn a starting spot, we will be double bye in big 10 tournament and 5ish seed in NCAA.

 

[Teddy]

I think if we have the roster you're saying, we will be a little better an minimum. If we have that roster and one of the two freshman earn a starting spot, we will be double bye in big 10 tournament and 5ish seed in NCAA.

I share your optimism. TP and Ben had some big moments but were inconsistent. PMcC's absence is, well, it is productive. Better players (Pr, Koch) will take up that time.

Dasonte means we have to reverse the priority and really do need to find a good combo guard in the portal.

 

[InGoodCo]

I share your optimism. TP and Ben had some big moments but were inconsistent. PMcC's absence is, well, it is productive. Better players (Pr, Koch) will take up that time.

Dasonte means we have to reverse the priority and really do need to find a good combo guard in the portal.

Yep, we have to have get a guard, Iowa has a lot to sell, hopefully enough money too but have my doubts

 

[Teddy]

I think Iowa will be better next year with or without Perkins. If you don't think that Owen Freeman can be a rim protector I don't know what you were watching. Dix at times, had some of the best D I've seen an Iowa guard play in a long time. Luka didn't have a 3 point game his Freshman year either, I think it's little early to be saying that Freeman will never incorporate that especially for a coaching staff that just knows how to develop outside shooting. Everything depends on who stays and goes, but if everyone goes that's suppose to and everyone returns that's suppose to (i'm counting Bowen gone as well) - I still think Iowa is going to be better next year and that's just based off of what we saw out of mainly, Peyton Sandfort - he could be a 1st team All B1G next season. Owen Freeman, the B1G Freshman of the year. Josh Dix, who played like an upper level B1G guard to end the year. Brock Harding, who looks to have all the skill set we've always wanted for a 1 at Iowa and the fact that I think little Sandfort is going to be better then Peyton. Tons to be excited about. Iowa will be picked to be bad again next year and they will be actually pretty good. I figured top half of the league this year(I was right), I'll say top 5 next year....again if what happens, happens.

This is what I expect
Patrick - gone
Krikke - gone
TP - gone
Bowen - gone

still going to be better next year, imo, assuming everyone else stays, our new recruits come in and maybe snag a post in the portal.

I agree about Perkins. TP was a good player, easy guy to cheer, but very inconsistent down the stretch. Dix is a much better shooter and that will obvious next season.

You have to wonder if Riley sticks around. Riley turning out to have improved significantly and getting real time next year would be a great Horatio Alger story.

 

[BigD]

Well there are some good players coming back (if the portal doesn’t get them).

 

[NorthKCHawk]

I definitely want Perk back. Yes, he was inconsistent down the stretch, and yes he should be a full time off/scoring guard, not the point. But, he had games where he dominated. With the development of Sanford and with the two bigs taking a sophomore leap, and adding Koch into the mix, we don't need Perk to score 16 a game. Just be efficient. Fran can help mold his game to that end next season as the players around him continue to get better,

If anyone thinks that we will find a more talented guard than Perk in the portal, that is willing to come to Iowa for light NIL money, you are dreaming, IMHO.

Retaining Perk would be huge.

 

[InGoodCo]

I definitely want Perk back. Yes, he was inconsistent down the stretch, and yes he should be a full time off/scoring guard, not the point. But, he had games where he dominated. With the development of Sanford and with the two bigs taking a sophomore leap, and adding Koch into the mix, we don't need Perk to score 16 a game. Just be efficient. Fran can help mold his game to that end next season as the players around him continue to get better,

If anyone thinks that we will find a more talented guard than Perk in the portal, that is willing to come to Iowa for light NIL money, you are dreaming, IMHO.

Retaining Perk would be huge.

Correct, retention of a player like him is more valuable then anything we could find. If Perk comes back it immediately puts us in contention for a top 5 finish next seasson. If we get him back, I think Iowa still needs to get another gaurd in the portal, but that player will be more of a supplementary type of player that Iowa can rely on to get 10-15 a game to spell Harding, Dix and Perk.