Didnt the hawks play in Europe preseason - have they hit the wall?

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uihawk82

Well-Known Member
Besides the prime time league didnt this team travel and play in Europe last summer? If so when was this? Were there any other extra travels or pre-preseason travels and tournaments this team or players played in?

Just wondering if they have got stale? Have they hit the wall more mentally as well as physically?

I am still 100 % backing the team and coaches but just wondering what happened.
 
I have been thinking about this myself. I hate to make up excuses for this team but I wonder if this is part of the mental problem they have been facing.
 
There is something very wrong with this team right now — but the trip to Europe isn't it.

Somewhere along the line this squad forgot how to play quality defense against a quality team. The question at hand is why. Are they tired? Maybe. Are thy at a moral low? Likely.

They face NW to open BIG. Let us all collectively hope that the mildcats are just what the doctor ordered and the Hawkeyes get their arms in the air to play d.

Not that anyone truly cares, but I believe when the shot at the regular season title went up in smoke, so did this team's morale. There 's new title to play for. I hope that lights a fire under them.
 
Wow! This is possibly the greatest reach for an excuse I have ever seen. Before the season started, most of us were saying how great the team chemistry was because of the additional time in Europe. During the early part of the season we continued to pump smoke about the greatness of this team and the obvious benefit of the added time together.

Face it, the Hawks and coaching staff have hit the wall together in the Big 10. Much tougher games in conference compared to the preseason. Quit making excuses. We need to add Big 10 caliber players and Big 10 caliber coaches if we want to take the next step.
 
HawkMD2007 said:
Wow! This is possibly the greatest reach for an excuse I have ever seen. Before the season started, most of us were saying how great the team chemistry was because of the additional time in Europe. During the early part of the season we continued to pump smoke about the greatness of this team and the obvious benefit of the added time together.

Face it, the Hawks and coaching staff have hit the wall together in the Big 10. Much tougher games in conference compared to the preseason. Quit making excuses. We need to add Big 10 caliber players and Big 10 caliber coaches if we want to take the next step.
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I disagree and think it is a fair question to ask on a message board. You say they "hit the wall", we are all looking for answers as this game is 1/2 mental and we are all wondering what the heck happened. Could playing competitive basketball for as long as this team has contribute to the mental challenges they are facing? This team is much better than this, but the look on their faces appears that they are afraid to lose and when they get in a close game down the stretch it appears we are all saying (including the team) "here we go again!".
 
HawkMD2007 said:
Wow! This is possibly the greatest reach for an excuse I have ever seen. Before the season started, most of us were saying how great the team chemistry was because of the additional time in Europe. During the early part of the season we continued to pump smoke about the greatness of this team and the obvious benefit of the added time together.

Face it, the Hawks and coaching staff have hit the wall together in the Big 10. Much tougher games in conference compared to the preseason. Quit making excuses. We need to add Big 10 caliber players and Big 10 caliber coaches if we want to take the next step.
Click to expand...

It is not an excuse but I am wondering about it as a reason.

I have never played that much bball with one team, PTL, Europe trip, playing together until official practice starts, they are going on 9 months.

Does anyone else on this forum have this experience or know of people who have.

I am talking about a mental letdown, not necessarily team chemistry. A collective mental letdown.
 
uihawk82 said:
It is not an excuse but I am wondering about it as a reason.

I have never played that much bball with one team, PTL, Europe trip, playing together until official practice starts, they are going on 9 months.

Does anyone else on this forum have this experience or know of people who have.

I am talking about a mental letdown, not necessarily team chemistry. A collective mental letdown.
Click to expand...

What's the first thing to go *basketball* when you get tired?

And when the opponent figures out how to beat you *tough defense* that makes you work the entire time on offense, that would lend to getting *tired* on offense which would also lead to the answer to the question as to why the defense is lacking...
 
uihawk82 said:
Besides the prime time league didnt this team travel and play in Europe last summer? If so when was this? Were there any other extra travels or pre-preseason travels and tournaments this team or players played in?

Just wondering if they have got stale? Have they hit the wall more mentally as well as physically?

I am still 100 % backing the team and coaches but just wondering what happened.
Click to expand...

I don't think it has to do with them mentally or physically hitting the wall. But I do think it has to do with some of the physical limitations of the team that creates problems for them in the Big Ten season. Iowa is just not a very physical team inside. It's not a matter of them hitting the wall, it was always present. Olesani is athletic and much improved, but still gets knocked around by bigger guys. Woodbury is stronger, but he's slower with not a lot of verticality. White is a rebounder on the edges, but doesn't really mix it up very well inside. Basabe does it once it awhile, but he's inconsistent. Uthoff is no threat to the opponent inside, nor is McCabe. It's an Achilles' heel for the Hawks in conference play.
 
I think its the Minnesota loss that really burned out Iowa. Believe it or not Minnesota was the first big ten team to score over 80 points against Iowa this entire season. Since the Minnesota game teams are averaging 83 points against Iowa.

Maybe Pitino/Minnesota found something in Iowa that other teams are now exploiting, but ever since that game Iowa has been getting lit up.
 
HawkMD2007 said:
Wow! This is possibly the greatest reach for an excuse I have ever seen. Before the season started, most of us were saying how great the team chemistry was because of the additional time in Europe. During the early part of the season we continued to pump smoke about the greatness of this team and the obvious benefit of the added time together.

Face it, the Hawks and coaching staff have hit the wall together in the Big 10. Much tougher games in conference compared to the preseason. Quit making excuses. We need to add Big 10 caliber players and Big 10 caliber coaches if we want to take the next step.
Click to expand...


So since we finished alone in 6th the last 2 years, I assume your criteria for having big 10 caliber players and coaches is finishing in the top 5? What happens if one of the teams from the bottom 7 move into the top 5 next year? I know the only way for this to happen is if they get a new coach and new players, but say a team did that. Would the team that got knocked out of the top 5 to make room for them cease to have big 10 caliber coaches and players? I assume your answer is yes because clearly the 6th place team doesn't have them.
 
How do players hit the wall when most play 20 minutes per game, tops?

The players who play more a game... Marble? Has Marble hit the wall? Has Gesell hit the wall? I don't think so.
 
imported_ankle23 said:
What's the first thing to go *basketball* when you get tired?

And when the opponent figures out how to beat you *tough defense* that makes you work the entire time on offense, that would lend to getting *tired* on offense which would also lead to the answer to the question as to why the defense is lacking...
Click to expand...

I can answer that first question in my own experience. Even playing some pick-up basketball over the noon hour, when the hour was getting late and guys were getting tired, we'd get to the point where you could do little more than stare straight ahead. You could try to "push through it" but shots would stop falling, and you just couldn't make your body do anything you asked it to.

If this team has hit this collective wall, it would make sense. Just sayin'.
 
I have a hard time believing that 10 practices and 6 games over a month before official practice started is the reason we are seeing this skid.

People are just looking for an excuse, they just arent playing well right now. It happens to 98% of teams at some point throughout the season. Hawks just need to snap out of it starting Thursday.
 
mopkins said:
I think its the Minnesota loss that really burned out Iowa. Believe it or not Minnesota was the first big ten team to score over 80 points against Iowa this entire season. Since the Minnesota game teams are averaging 83 points against Iowa.

Maybe Pitino/Minnesota found something in Iowa that other teams are now exploiting, but ever since that game Iowa has been getting lit up.
Click to expand...

It's easy, guys. Pitino was the first team to try to run with Iowa instead of trying to slow us down. Turns out that our transition defense needs improvement.
 
ssckelley said:
I disagree and think it is a fair question to ask on a message board. You say they "hit the wall", we are all looking for answers as this game is 1/2 mental and we are all wondering what the heck happened. Could playing competitive basketball for as long as this team has contribute to the mental challenges they are facing? This team is much better than this, but the look on their faces appears that they are afraid to lose and when they get in a close game down the stretch it appears we are all saying (including the team) "here we go again!".
Click to expand...

Citing the overseas trip as a reason the team has "hit the wall" is an excuse. If it really wore teams down, no one would ever go on a foreign pre-season trip. Everyone played about equal minutes on the trip, no one was extended with heavy minutes. It was beneficial with extra practices and getting to see other cultures.

Fran cited the possible fragility of the team after the Illinois loss. For whatever reason, the fight left this team after the Wisconsin game. Hopefully they can realize there is much yet to play for. Just go play hard and give great effort and see what happens from there.
 
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