Couple of nagging questions?

[HawkGold]

Uthoff could get his own shot,also. Jok wasn’t the perfect leader, but he wasn’t afraid of the moment either. Uthoff didn’t want the ball late, Jok did.

Obviously, the defense has to get better, but I think you’re looking at it just one way . As I stated before, executing better on offense late in games is just as important as getting stops.

Wasn't the ball in JU's hands at the end of the ISU game?

 

[NikeHawk21]

I understand and I am willing to sacrifice pace for better defense. That's the difference between Fran and coaches that win conference titles. That's the difference between 2nd round blow out losses and deep tourney runs.
I'm tickled to death at the stats from this past season. It drives home the point that you can't win emphasizing one end of the floor! The "offense only" crowd should have gotten their wake up call. Fran McCaffery should have gotten his wake up call! If they/he didn't, they aren't smart enough to discuss or coach basketball.

You realize that very few if any teams allow under 60 PPG and you said a good coach would have that team under 60PPG? I think that was just a poor take.

Btw Tony Bennett hasn’t had much tournament success slowing the pace down.

 

[lightning1]

You realize that very few if any teams allow under 60 PPG and you said a good coach would have that team under 60PPG? I think that was just a poor take.

Btw Tony Bennett hasn’t had much tournament success slowing the pace down.

if "any teams" can do it.....

 

[NikeHawk21]

if "any teams" can do it.....

You said a good coach would have had Iowa allowing only 55-60PPG that year when only one team in the country (who wasn’t even a P6 team) did it. Greg popovich and Tom Thibodeau wouldn’t have been able to do that with that Iowa team. That’s just a laughable and flat out wrong statement by you sorry.

 

[lightning1]

You said a good coach would have had Iowa allowing only 55-60PPG that year when only one team in the country (who wasn’t even a P6 team) did it. Greg popovich and Tom Thibodeau wouldn’t have been able to do that with that Iowa team. That’s just a laughable and flat out wrong statement by you sorry.

probably. But my point still stands 10-27 in close games = garbage coaching.

 

[NikeHawk21]

probably. But my point still stands 10-27 in close games = garbage coaching.

Agree on that. Fran always pees his pants In tight games and the players follow.

 

[DDThompson]

You didn't learn anything from this season either. JFC. I had you on ignore for a good reason. Now I remember why.

You must have had me on ignore if you didn’t see my criticism of Iowa’s lack of defense this season.

But then You do a great job of demanding everyone agree with you 100% or throw a fit. MFP.

Bye.

 

[lightning1]

You must have had me on ignore if you didn’t see my criticism of Iowa’s lack of defense this season.

But then You do a great job of demanding everyone agree with you 100% or throw a fit. MFP.

Bye.

Here you still are, insisting it's an "offense problem". You don't know what you are talking about. That's why I put you on ignore. Back you go.

 

[lightning1]

Agree on that. Fran always pees his pants In tight games and the players follow.

He can't coach defense.

 

[lightning1]

Fran's record in games decided by 6 points or less, here at Iowa is 22-49

 

[BigD]

Fair points, but I think offense and defense have different nature's. Shooting is going to run hot and cold and most teams rarely shoot the same FG% game after game. It averages out.
Like a golfer who can't hit his greens in regulation and has to grind to save par, some nights the offense is going to have to grind to get it's shots/points.

Defense is different. It is based more on intelligence, attitude and effort. Once a defensive team establishes a normal for field goal %, they don't deviate from it as much as offense does from theirs. Playing up tempo and giving the other team eighty possessions per game, rather than sixty, is absolutely no excuse for the defense on those extra twenty possessions to be played with any less effort or intensity. If you can play D you can play D, regardless of tempo. If you can't, you can't.

I think the Michigan game in the BIG tournament was a perfect example. Michigan left their perimeter shooting in their gym bags. But played enough consistent defense to carry the day.

Excellent post!!!

 

[BigD]

I will say this; it’s good to see strong passion on both sides of the argument. Passion is a indicator of strong fans. What’s sad is when people stop caring. I may unfortunately be in that boat if we see a repeat next season of what we saw this past season.

Why would anyone waste time following a team that is stagnant when there are so many other things to be doing with family and friends? I also feel the same way about the football program. Honestly, a 7-5 season doesn’t excite me in any way. It’s mediocrity at best. Do you go around in public chanting out loud “Were number three! Were number three! Then under your breath “In our conference.” This is a defeatist artitude.

Nothing is going to significantly change until the recruiting significantly changes in both it the major sports. If Kirk and Fran can’t get it done then they need to move on. Unfortunately it appears that the powers that be that support Barta have accepted mediocrity and a defeatist attitude.

The truth be told, Barta owes his career to the BTN’s big payout to each of the teams in our conference. If it was still being done the way it was when Fry was hired then Barta would probably be on his third AD job after being fired by Iowa.

 

[BryceC]

That is all I am getting at. I realize Iowa has to get better on the defensive end, but I think NikeHawk21 hit the nail on the head.....it is all about increasing the offensive points per possession numbers. That is how you “outscore “ people.

Those numbers are going to be very hard to improve on, as they are already excellent.

You're basing an argument on something that Fran would say to some Iowa fans if those fans didn't appreciate those players?
Guys like Woody, Uthoff, Clemmons and Gesell were good individual defenders but their team defense still sucked. That's on Fran. That team could have limited opposing teams to 55 - 60 PPG, if they had the right coaching.

Points per possession is really the only stat that makes sense to evaluate whether a team was good on D or not. That Woodbury senior year team had a great defense by any measure.

 

[Northside Hawk]

Fran's record in games decided by 6 points or less, here at Iowa is 22-49

Moral of the story. If you want to finish higher in your conference standings, and perform better in the BTT, and improve your tournament seeding so you're not getting throttled by the eventual champ in the second round, win your close games. Improving that record to 38-33, which is reasonable, would have added an average of two wins per season. I'd like to know what Bo Ryan's record was in those games over the years.

The KenPom category "luck" shows that out of 351 Division 1 teams, Iowa finished 347th in 2014, 327th in 2016, and 341st this past year. They were close to the median the other two years. Figure out the aggregate over the five year period and there's a good chance Iowa has finished dead last in Division 1.

Why is this important? Close games are factored into KenPom's luck component. This dovetails with the 22-49. Officiating has probably factored in some, but not a lot. They just don't execute consistently enough in pressure situations. There is no way all that "bad luck" could be attributed solely to random chance. Nobody is that unlucky.

The game that will always stick out in my mind is the Wisconsin SAFO game in 2014. Ogelsby put Iowa up with about 55 seconds left and needed one stop. Everyone in the building knew it was going inside to Kaminsky and he converted. Fran called TO and drew up a play and Bo may as well been in Fran's huddle. When Marble drove to the rim, three Badgers were waiting. Iowa had open peremeter shooters fanned out but Wisconsin largely ignored them. They knew where the bread was buttered. Marble got stripped, foul committed, Badgers convert at line, McCabe airballs three point attempt, ball game.

BTW my Badger friends over here don't think much more of Fran than many hawk fans. Of course they witnessed first hand how petulant he can act when he boils over.

 

[NikeHawk21]

Moral of the story. If you want to finish higher in your conference standings, and perform better in the BTT, and improve your tournament seeding so you're not getting throttled by the eventual champ in the second round, win your close games. Improving that record to 38-33, which is reasonable, would have added an average of two wins per season. I'd like to know what Bo Ryan's record was in those games over the years.

The KenPom category "luck" shows that out of 351 Division 1 teams, Iowa finished 347th in 2014, 327th in 2016, and 341st this past year. They were close to the median the other two years. Figure out the aggregate over the five year period and there's a good chance Iowa has finished dead last in Division 1.

Why is this important? Close games are factored into KenPom's luck component. This dovetails with the 22-49. Officiating has probably factored in some, but a lot. They just don't execute consistently enough in pressure situations. There is no way all that "bad luck" could be attributed solely to random chance. Nobody is that unlucky.

The game that will always stick out in my mind is the Wisconsin SAFO game in 2014. Ogelsby put Iowa up with about 55 seconds left and needed one stop. Everyone in the building knew it was going inside to Kaminsky and he converted. Fran called TO and drew up a play and Bo may as well been in Fran's huddle. When Marble drove to the rim, three Badgers were waiting. Iowa had open peremeter shooters fanned out but Wisconsin largely ignored them. They knew where the bread was buttered. Marble got stripped, foul committed, Badgers convert at line, McCabe airballs three point attempt, ball game.

BTW my Badger friends over here don't think much more of Fran than many hawk fans. Of course they witnessed first hand how petulant he can act when he boils over.

Great post. Although KenPom calls it “luck” when it continues year after year it’s not due to chance, it’s likely due to an underlying problem.

 

[Northside Hawk]

Great post. Although KenPom calls it “luck” when it continues year after year it’s not due to chance, it’s likely due to an underlying problem.

This is about the fourth time I've brought up KenPom and seems to be gaining traction. Yes officiating directly cost us at Minnesota in 2017. But more often than not it lack of execution when you need it the most.

It may be the single biggest outlier on why Iowa fans are so frustrated. These teams aren't that much better, they just execute better when it matters. This may be the quantifiable evidence that we've been waiting to put our finger on as to why we underachieve so much. And why we have these spirited debates on these boards. Who knows, maybe it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy for the players, which is why Woodbury at the buzzer in the Temple game and JBo at the Kohl last year were almost as much schocking as they were exhilarating. We're used to ohter teams making those shots. Fixing a mental attitude like that would definitely be on the coach.

Just swing a couple of those games the other direction every year and it would make a monumental difference.

 

[NikeHawk21]

This is about the fourth time I've brought up KenPom and seems to be gaining traction. Yes officiating directly cost us at Minnesota in 2017. But more often than not it lack of execution when you need it the most.

From a philosophy standpoint it doesn’t even jive with Fran’s self proclaimed style. His whole thing is he wants players to play, he lets guys play through mistakes, he’s not afraid to play young guys, and he wants guys to shoot when they are open. But then when we get inside two minutes and we have a one or two possessions lead, he clenches up his cheeks and tells his PG to stand at half court and pound the ball until the end of the shot clock and we almost always get a terrible shot. How many times did we see that with MG? We should just keep running our stuff and shooting open shots when we get them.

 

[Northside Hawk]

From a philosophy standpoint it doesn’t even jive with Fran’s self proclaimed style. His whole thing is he wants players to play, he lets guys play through mistakes, he’s not afraid to play young guys, and he wants guys to shoot when they are open. But then when we get inside two minutes and we have a one or two possessions lead, he clenches up his cheeks and tells his PG to stand at half court and pound the ball until the end of the shot clock and we almost always get a terrible shot. How many times did we see that with MG? We should just keep running our stuff and shooting open shots when we get them.

And the defensive and rebounding breakdowns too. And fouls. And costly turnovers.
How many times have you told yourself just one stop, just one rebound, and of course just one solid set.

 

[lightning1]

Those numbers are going to be very hard to improve on, as they are already excellent.



Points per possession is really the only stat that makes sense to evaluate whether a team was good on D or not. That Woodbury senior year team had a great defense by any measure.

It's where I start, when I look at team defense but win/loss record in close games, is right up there. At some point it boils down to A) can you score points. B) can you get stops.
At the end of a close game, you need stops. If you can't get them, you aren't playing good defense.

 

[lightning1]

And the defensive and rebounding breakdowns too. And fouls. And costly turnovers.
How many times have you told yourself just one stop, just one rebound, and of course just one solid set.

Those are hallmarks of a good, detail oriented coach. Fran is not a detail oriented coach.