Can this team be fixed!

83Hawk

83Hawk

Banned
This team has a myriad of problems....
1. No athleticism.
2. Poor guard play.
3. Can't shoot.
4. No team leader.
5. No confidence.
6. No swagger.
7. Physically weak.
8. Mentally weak.
9. No team chemistry.
10. No heart.

What really bothers me the most is how mentally weak these players are.....and that contributes to many of the other problems.

When the going gets tough, these players seem to give up. We don't have a single player who can rally the others, or take the team on his shoulder. We have a collection of individuals. This should be White's team, but he seems more interested in padding his stats. He is not leading.

There is also no "swagger". Winning teams have an attitude. Iowa doesn't.

I'm not sure you can fix being mentally weak. I've been a huge supporter of Fran, but my confidence in him is wavering. Unless things change.....FAST...there will be no NCAA tournament his year. Not good. I am holding out hope that the players coming in next year will have the toughness and attitude this team sorely needs.
 
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Other than shooting, they deminstrated most of the qualities you listed against North Carolina. And how can you say no athleticism when Gabe is about as athletic as they come? Our problem is missing open shots. It's as simple as that. Sure we could stand to improve some other things but our shooting is the difference between being an average team and being a really good team.

Think about it. If Gesell, Jok, Oglesby, and Uthoff all shot over 40% from 3, and every other part of our team was the exact same, we would be talking about winning the conference. I would say the fact that we shoot so bad and still compete like we do proves that we are pretty darn good at everything else.
 
Yep, agreed with PCHawk. The shooting is the one real glaring problem area. Making shots has a funny way of making a team look a heckuva a lot better.

Unfortunately, if this is just the way it is, then recruiting seems to be the only real way to fix it, which of course isn't going to help THIS YEAR.

It's not like it's a problem with guys taking tough shots, because even if they're wide open, they still aren't going in.
 
PCHawk said:
Other than shooting, they deminstrated most of the qualities you listed against North Carolina. And how can you say no athleticism when Gabe is about as athletic as they come? Our problem is missing open shots. It's as simple as that. Sure we could stand to improve some other things but our shooting is the difference between being an average team and being a really good team.

Think about it. If Gesell, Jok, Oglesby, and Uthoff all shot over 40% from 3, and every other part of our team was the exact same, we would be talking about winning the conference. I would say the fact that we shoot so bad and still compete like we do proves that we are pretty darn good at everything else.
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This is it in a nutshell, PCHawk has it right, they are a poor shooting team period, even in close sometimes. They got away with it at NCarolina because the tarheels shot so poor. They get away with it against week Non-conf teams.

They didnt get away with it against a lights out shooting team ISU last nite.

This team will lose a lot of games unless they shoot better. Might need Jok and uthoff to start shooting more.

Athletes, Gesell, Clemmons, Jok, Dickerson, Gabe and white are athletic and athletic enough.

Every opponent knows we cant shoot so they pack it in the lane, then there is no where to drive, vicious cycle.
 
PCHawk said:
Other than shooting, they deminstrated most of the qualities you listed against North Carolina. And how can you say no athleticism when Gabe is about as athletic as they come? Our problem is missing open shots. It's as simple as that. Sure we could stand to improve some other things but our shooting is the difference between being an average team and being a really good team.

Think about it. If Gesell, Jok, Oglesby, and Uthoff all shot over 40% from 3, and every other part of our team was the exact same, we would be talking about winning the conference. I would say the fact that we shoot so bad and still compete like we do proves that we are pretty darn good at everything else.
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PC is exactly right. They are an OK, pretty decent team. They aren't great, but aren't terrible either.

I didn't expect them to win this game when the season started, although I didnt expect them to get trucked either. It happens. (that's basketball:eek:)

They can't shoot. That magnifies every other shortcoming.
 
I have to disagree with pc a little. Yes, shooting is part of it.....but shooting has a mental element to it.

When the Hawks came out for the second half last night, they looked like they were already beaten.

Name me the leader of this team. Tell me who is going to pick the others up when they are down. Who is going to rally the troops....who is going to put this team on their shoulders in a tough game, and will the team to victory?

Sure...if everyone is shooting lights out, wins are easy. But that is not going to happen every game....and is actually an anomaly with this team. There are other ways to win. But with the Hawks, it seems if they aren't hitting their shots, they don't have anything else to fall back on. You can get away with poor shooting against weak teams....but against the big boys, you better have other arrows in your quiver if the shots ain't falling.
 
PCHawk said:
Other than shooting, they deminstrated most of the qualities you listed against North Carolina. And how can you say no athleticism when Gabe is about as athletic as they come? Our problem is missing open shots. It's as simple as that. Sure we could stand to improve some other things but our shooting is the difference between being an average team and being a really good team.

Think about it. If Gesell, Jok, Oglesby, and Uthoff all shot over 40% from 3, and every other part of our team was the exact same, we would be talking about winning the conference. I would say the fact that we shoot so bad and still compete like we do proves that we are pretty darn good at everything else.
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There is a distinction to be made between missing open shots and not being good at making open shots.
 
Shooting is at the top of the list, hard to win win % is under 40 consistently.
the upside is for they get hot at some point this year, haven't seen it yet and the BIG won't give up east looks, could be long year
 
PCHawk said:
Other than shooting, they deminstrated most of the qualities you listed against North Carolina. And how can you say no athleticism when Gabe is about as athletic as they come? Our problem is missing open shots. It's as simple as that. Sure we could stand to improve some other things but our shooting is the difference between being an average team and being a really good team.

Think about it. If Gesell, Jok, Oglesby, and Uthoff all shot over 40% from 3, and every other part of our team was the exact same, we would be talking about winning the conference. I would say the fact that we shoot so bad and still compete like we do proves that we are pretty darn good at everything else.
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This exactly.

There is athleticism on this team. The problem is shooters. But when there's no threat from the outside it's hard for any athlete to go 1-on-5.

The Hawks would be competing for the title if 3 of those 4 would shoot 40%. Upper division/winning record in B1G for sure if 2 of them would.
 
This team has a bunch of good role 2nd 3rd option type players but no A level players.

This team does lack confidence and leadership because they don't have a guy or guys to lean on to produce offense when it gets tough and they know it.

Mike is ideally a nice backup caliber combo guard at this level but when he's your best option in the back court you're in trouble.
 
83Hawk said:
I have to disagree with pc a little. Yes, shooting is part of it.....but shooting has a mental element to it.

When the Hawks came out for the second half last night, they looked like they were already beaten.

Name me the leader of this team. Tell me who is going to pick the others up when they are down. Who is going to rally the troops....who is going to put this team on their shoulders in a tough game, and will the team to victory?

Sure...if everyone is shooting lights out, wins are easy. But that is not going to happen every game....and is actually an anomaly with this team. There are other ways to win. But with the Hawks, it seems if they aren't hitting their shots, they don't have anything else to fall back on. You can get away with poor shooting against weak teams....but against the big boys, you better have other arrows in your quiver if the shots ain't falling.
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I think White, Woody, and Gesell are all pretty good leaders. Woody showed his leadership in North Carolina. It looked like the game was getting away from us in the first half last night and Whitey took over and noticeably was verbally trying to get the team up. Later in the half Gesell got a jump ball tournover by really getting after it on defense even though he could have easily packed it in.

I'm not trying to argue that we would be a great team if we could shoot though. All I'm saying is we would be a pretty darn good team if we could shoot. Most teams that shoot our percentages are a lot worse than we are I would guess.
 
PCHawk said:
I think White, Woody, and Gesell are all pretty good leaders. Woody showed his leadership in North Carolina. It looked like the game was getting away from us in the first half last night and Whitey took over and noticeably was verbally trying to get the team up. Later in the half Gesell got a jump ball tournover by really getting after it on defense even though he could have easily packed it in.

I'm not trying to argue that we would be a great team if we could shoot though. All I'm saying is we would be a pretty darn good team if we could shoot. Most teams that shoot our percentages are a lot worse than we are I would guess.
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I did see those things as well. The guys just looked deflated and defeated coming out for the second half.

I actually thought we played a very clean and decent first half. The guys probably thought dang we are down 5 after playing as well as we can? The issue in the first half is we did not hit our open looks. Not that you hit them all but we continually run up against teams that hit open looks and score the ball when they are open. It has been a long running problem.
 
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