Cayman Trip - The Negatives

[NikeHawk21]

I’ll start with the two most glaring.

1. Rebounding / boxing out. This was the most frustrating one to me. Nobody would box out anyone. Still haven’t seen Cook block out since he’s been here. We gave up over 10 offensive boards in each game. When you’re a bad defensive team, it’s not a good idea to give your opponent 10+ extra possessions. I really thought with Garza & Nunge and an off-season in the system we would really improve in this area. But to be honest rebounding is primarily about wanting it more and getting good position, and those are both things we can control, just not sure our players or coaches have shown they care to at this point. Baer should help some.

2. Defense. Pretty apparent we still have a long way to go in the area. No need to get into an argument whether it’s the guards or posts fault primarily as they both stink. Also not sure the press is effective at all but Fran is too stubborn to adjust. Again Baer should help some, but still a LONG way to go to even be average on D.

Those are the biggies. A couple others.

-Turnovers. There were way too many of those those week and they were primarily the variety that ends in a dunk the other way.

-Bohannon needs to get the ball out of his hands more. That’s not all his fault either (Fran’s system) but he probably pounded the basketball on the dribble 4,000 times the last three games. Throw it ahead. Have others bring it up the court if they get the board or are an easier outlet. We are not effective when he is dribbling the ball at the top of the key being hounded.

-FT shooting. Really hurt us in the second game for sure.

 

[mrolympia]

boxing out has been a real weak point in the fran era.

 

[PCHawk]

I've been noticing a lot of standing around watching with the ball in the air. Not going for the ball or looking for someone to box out. Just standing there.

One thing I saw that was really frustrating is towards the end of the last game. We were down to the point where we needed everything to go perfect and Moss missed a shot. Bohannon just stood there and let a guy get 10 feet behind him for a wide open dunk. It was brutally lazy.

 

[deanvogs]

This is far easier to post in that the Caymen island "positives" thread.

1) Ellingson played his was out of playing time IMO. He can't hold up at the backup PG position for even a few minutes. He isn't a great defender or lights out shooter. I think he lost significant minutes for the rest of the year with his performance in the Caymen Islands
2) Man v Man defense is horrible. Cook and Pemsl simply can't hedge a ball screen for nothing. I know lots of people think our guards can't stay in front of anyone, but I feel the real problem is when the offense sets simple screens on our guards, Cook or Pemsl, don't flash hard enough to the ball handler to give the guards time to get back into position. Garza is already better at this than either Cook or Pemsl. Woody and Olesani were the best at this. I know I used to get mad at Woody for picking up a foul 25' from the basket, but man he was relentless on that hedge, he wasn't gonna let that guard past him, even if he had to mug his ass.
3) Rebound out of the zone. I get this is way harder to do than rebound when in Man v Man. Yet we have to get better.
4) Defense overall. It is a double edged sword. We aren't stopping penetration vs Man and we aren't rebound out of the zone. We look confused out there, and we give up way too many layups and dunks. Kreiner is the only player who seems willing to contest and foul these shots. I know UAB was pissed about the foul differential, but the fact is they contested and fouled us around the rim. We just let them have the layup or dunks without contesting them or fouling them. For god's sake hack them down low and make them earn it at the line, don't give up freebies.

Sorry about the long rant. I think most our issues are fixable, but that doesn't mean they will fix them. I am more down on Iowa basketball for this year than I have been since last years Nebraska-Omaha loss. Hopefully Baer getting back can fix some of these issue, but players have to improve defensively if we are gonna be the team we all thought they could be.

 

[dahlhawk]

I don't think people are realizing just how young this team is. Two freshman starters, two or three sophs starting. This team has tremendous potential! Plus injuries are slowing us down. Hopefully the true freshmen and returning players can mesh quickly, we get Baer, CMac, and Wagner back in Dec.
Don't give up yet, this team has too much talent. The D will get better!

 

[tksirius]

I don't think people are realizing just how young this team is. Two freshman starters, two or three sophs starting. This team has tremendous potential! Plus injuries are slowing us down. Hopefully the true freshmen and returning players can mesh quickly, we get Baer, CMac, and Wagner back in Dec.
Don't give up yet, this team has too much talent. The D will get better!

Enough with the damn excuses already.

 

[earlkoppelman]

Enough with the damn excuses already.

Yes.Better defense,rebounding and ft shooting can improve greatly with DESIRE.Not hard to figure out.Staff and players have to decide.

 

[IndianaHawk]

This is far easier to post in that the Caymen island "positives" thread.

1) Ellingson played his was out of playing time IMO. He can't hold up at the backup PG position for even a few minutes. He isn't a great defender or lights out shooter. I think he lost significant minutes for the rest of the year with his performance in the Caymen Islands
2) Man v Man defense is horrible. Cook and Pemsl simply can't hedge a ball screen for nothing. I know lots of people think our guards can't stay in front of anyone, but I feel the real problem is when the offense sets simple screens on our guards, Cook or Pemsl, don't flash hard enough to the ball handler to give the guards time to get back into position. Garza is already better at this than either Cook or Pemsl. Woody and Olesani were the best at this. I know I used to get mad at Woody for picking up a foul 25' from the basket, but man he was relentless on that hedge, he wasn't gonna let that guard past him, even if he had to mug his ass.
3) Rebound out of the zone. I get this is way harder to do than rebound when in Man v Man. Yet we have to get better.
4) Defense overall. It is a double edged sword. We aren't stopping penetration vs Man and we aren't rebound out of the zone. We look confused out there, and we give up way too many layups and dunks. Kreiner is the only player who seems willing to contest and foul these shots. I know UAB was pissed about the foul differential, but the fact is they contested and fouled us around the rim. We just let them have the layup or dunks without contesting them or fouling them. For god's sake hack them down low and make them earn it at the line, don't give up freebies.

Sorry about the long rant. I think most our issues are fixable, but that doesn't mean they will fix them. I am more down on Iowa basketball for this year than I have been since last years Nebraska-Omaha loss. Hopefully Baer getting back can fix some of these issue, but players have to improve defensively if we are gonna be the team we all thought they could be.

I didn’t watch any of the Caymen games. Did BE really look that bad?

 

[PCHawk]

Enough with the damn excuses already.

Well when your top 10 players have one junior and zero seniors, being young is a true statement. It doesn't justify what Fran accomplished recruiting the last few years to make our roster look like this. But it does point to us being considerably better over the next 2 years.

 

[PCHawk]

I didn’t watch any of the Caymen games. Did BE really look that bad?

He is a really bad point guard that's for sure. But when you're a shooter and you go ofer over an entire trip, it makes you look really bad.

 

[IndianaHawk]

He is a really bad point guard that's for sure. But when you're a shooter and you go ofer over an entire trip, it makes you look really bad.

No way, I didn’t see his stats.

 

[1hawkeye1]

Yes.Better defense,rebounding and ft shooting can improve greatly with DESIRE.Not hard to figure out.Staff and players have to decide.

That's the good news side of the bad news. Those three most glaring areas of weakness can be cleaned up with hard work and effort. None of those take additional talent.

 

[deanvogs]

I didn’t watch any of the Caymen games. Did BE really look that bad?

I felt he looked horrible. Granted he is playing out of position at the PG, and he just looks uncomfortable doing it. BE played 10, then 9, then 6 minutes. I feel like Dailey has passed him up and he played 17, 5 and 20 minutes.

 

[DDThompson]

I didn’t watch any of the Caymen games. Did BE really look that bad?

Bobby Hansen wasn’t impressed.

Let’s just say the scouting book is already out on Iowa: if JBo is out of lineup and Ellingson is at PG the pressure gets turned up 200%

 

[revkev73]

Boxing out - effort

Rebounding - effort

Defense - effort

Protecting the ball - effort

Fran ball so easily drifts into playground ball...running up and down the court, looking for three pointers, a lay up or dunk...the players love it...run and gun..take a rest...more run and gun...

Good teams have players that think, put out effort and take pride in their defense...that is...mentally tough players.

Iowa plays soft and can be rolled...and also is leaderless more often than not...

Fran needs to pick up his game so this isn't another dumpster fire disappointment...

Iowa needs an elite (ish) PG option...

There you have it...