Do you like the motion offense we run?

[HaydenHawk56]

Personally, I'm not a huge fan of motion offenses in general unless you have great players to run it. Obviously, there are different versions of it to run.

I ask this because in a way (and perhaps this has a lot to do with the opponents and our youth) when we have got into our half-court offense, the last couple of games have really reminded me of Alford Coached teams. A lot of dribbling resulting in a turnover before we even get a shot attempt up. The only thing missing is the weave out front.

Only God knows what Lickliter was thinking with his 1 million ball screens, not rolling his bigs to the basket, and then chucking up a contested 3 at the buzzer.

I remember the Mr. Davis teams running more of a flex offense and were pretty effective getting shots inside. It seemed they struggled shooting the 3 ball though for awhile until getting guys like Kingsbury and Mcausland.

I guess I'm mildly concerned up about our half-court game. We seem to get it going in transition, but aren't that great in the half-court.

We play Northwestern next and although the Princeton offense generally does not score a lot of points, Bill seems to be generally effective with the half-court game with the backdoor cuts and kick-outs for the 3 ball.

Do you sometimes long for more wrinkles in our half-court game?

Discuss.

 

[Hawkstrat]

Most of the turnovers were the results of bad passes or being stripped, nothing to do with the offense. Iowa got plenty of good looks in the game.

 

[tednugentfan]

Interesting observations. We are such a poor shooting team and have one guy (Marble) capable of creating his own offense. With those challenges, any offensive scheme is going to struggle. I do not understand why Gessel and Clemmons picked their dribble up, stared right at the guy on the wing who had a MSU defender overplaying the passing lane big time, yet threw the ball. MSU did that once when White picked it off and dunked it. Izzo called a TO, benched the dude who threw it while screaming at him and they never did it again. Gessel and Clemmons must have done it a dozen times combined.

 

[sportstalent]

Too much dribbling and poor decisions = half-court offense that looks not good.
Iowa started the game with little dribbling and lots of passing.

 

[Herkyalert]

I like the offense but when you have 2 freshman running the point mistakes are going to happen. Court vision has been up and down for Gessell and Clemmons. They force some bad passes and get a little out of control at time.

The offense isn't the problem for Iowa. It's the execution. (Borrowed football term.)

 

[ssckelley]

I like the offense but when you have 2 freshman running the point mistakes are going to happen. Court vision has been up and down for Gessell and Clemmons. They force some bad passes and get a little out of control at time.

The offense isn't the problem for Iowa. It's the execution. (Borrowed football term.)

Can I rant about Greg Davis here?

 

[Cover3]

Indeed. I generally like our flow and the looks we get, but against good competition the last three games, I think the guys have gotten tense and a bit shy about using interior passing lanes in the half court. It'll get better with experience. Each of Fran's teams has bounced back well from ugly losses and taking lumps. Even his 11-20 team that just didn't quite have the horses to get those close home wins over Illinois, OSU, and Wisconsin.

I think the progress in the program is pretty evident when we really made a ton of mistakes and just didn't get blown out of the building. I know, I know. Hayden said no moral victories. I actually found last night's loss more infuriating than any other since Day 0 A.L. (After Lick). But just because this team may go to the NIT again, doesn't mean they aren't progressing. It's hard to take a back-to-back 20-loss team to the dance in two years without one-and-done types. No matter what any of us may have expected out of these freshmen, they are not of that caliber. This team will be what everyone wants it to be soon. If the experience doesn't show through down the stretch this year, then returning the whole roster next year--sans May and plus Jok and Uthoff (who will have been practicing with the team for a full year, btw)--will certainly allow for more consistent (and smarter) play.

 

[ILHawk]

Motion implies some type of motion. MSU didn't allow that.

 

[TheeHawkeye]

I like our offense besides when May, McCabe, and Ingram are all in at the same time. You're just asking for offensive failure.

 

[sodakhawkeye]

Motion offense is always a work in process. You don't "put it in one day" and go with it. A great motion has a lot of reads to it. Typically, you see improvement in motion throughout the year. Our young guys should get better with consistent practice/games reps going through cuts and reads with it. We are not great, but getting better everyday with it. When you play some great defensive teams it is tougher to run any offense.

The only question with the OP is I'm wondering what % of shots in the Davis era came out of the flex or when we ran the clock down to 10 seconds and ran a play out of the box set?

 

[1hawkeye1]

I like motion offenses and always used them back in the day when I coached high school. To me, 1/2 court sets are too easy to scout and defend. But that's just me.

 

[ILHawk]

I hated it when I coached high school for the reasons you say about 1/2 court. It works for awhile, but teams catch on and creativity is reduced. Bruce Weber is the king of motion. He is doing quite well in his first year again. Will be his best.

 

[ssckelley]

Absolutely!!! This offense sure beats what the previous coach used to run, the pass the ball around for 30 seconds and then launch a prayer if you have not turned the ball over offense.

 

[Bigtenchamp]

its not really the offense - its the poor outside shooting and people hesitating too much on offense.

 

[1977Hawkeye]

Absolutely!!! This offense sure beats what the previous coach used to run, the pass the ball around for 30 seconds and then launch a prayer if you have not turned the ball over offense.

Exactly what I was thinking. It looks like Fran's teams actually try to execute something. The problem is the continued inability to make shots (unless it's a layup or a dunk) and careless turnovers.

 

[uihawk82]

Too much dribbling and poor decisions = half-court offense that looks not good.
Iowa started the game with little dribbling and lots of passing.

TRUE. This is what I said to others watching the game. The hawks come out in each game running the offense with passes, penetration, and screens and it works great. they jump out to leads then they start to forget doing that, they go into one on one mode with too much dribbling, then nobody can get a good shot.

Fran needs to set some guys down when they start doing that and find his 8 players who will run the offense and not turn it over so much.

 

[ILHawk]

TRUE. This is what I said to others watching the game. The hawks come out in each game running the offense with passes, penetration, and screens and it works great. they jump out to leads then they start to forget doing that, they go into one on one mode with too much dribbling, then nobody can get a good shot.

Fran needs to set some guys down when they start doing that and find his 8 players who will run the offense and not turn it over so much.

Defenses could have bit to do with this?

 

[HawkeyeHypnosis]

I like our offense besides when May, McCabe, and Ingram are all in at the same time. You're just asking for offensive failure.

How do you get offensive failure? Zach and May both had solid nights. Ingram didn't play much but I thought he played much improved and he scored and got an assist so it may be slower but failure it is not.

 

[HawkeyeMHA]

No! In hs we ram a motion offense and then in college we had a offense with cuts to the basket. First time I really saw what a good offense can get you in terms of shots. In a big believer I. Back cuts and cuts that go towards the basket vs away from it.

 

[kicker22]

Can I rant about Greg Davis here?

No you can't, because our PG's are looking push the ball and speed up the game. If Greg Davis' offense applied to basketball we'd have nothing but a backcourt and would not look to get any cutters the ball inside the arc or anywhere near the basket.