Garza rules

[dahlhawk]

Back in the day the NBA teams elected to follow a plan to foul Shaq on every play to send him to the line. Hack-a-Shaq was better than a dunk. Now Big Ten coaches have decided to body Garza anywhere on the court with multiple defenders. I know how I feel about it and the lack of recognition of this tactic by the officials, but I'm curious of how my fellow Hawk fans feel about this. Am I simple a "homer" seeing conspiracy or do most fans see Garza getting about what he gives. The rough stuff started in earnest during the Maryland game and teams have followed the blueprint since. The Indiana coach alluded to this in a post game saying he challenged his players to basically attack Garza and "be physical". Has the league gone too far with this strategy, and why is the league officials allowing it? Would this be Iowa's tactic if we were facing Garza and I'm just a hypocrite?

 

[homes]

The opponents have ramped up the physical play on Garza. It’s as if they’ve calculated that they know they’re going to give up fouls on Garza but count on the refs not calling fouls every time, so over the course of the game it’s a net benefit to them to pound on him.

 

[99topdawg]

To be honest, I didn't think he had his best game. My wife even commented that he didn't play well and I agreed. Then I laughed when I saw that he had 25 and 17. Not bad for not playing your best game.

 

[revkev73]

Garza hurried quite a few shots today, but you will take that from him, it comes with being a diesel engine, and aggressive.

Garza has more room to operate when CJ is in the game. Pushing and doubling him when the best long range shooter isn't in the game is a good calculation.

As much as Garza has improved and impressed he would be even better if he learned how to pivot the correct way when he runs the pick and roll out top. It is a simple attention to details, but makes the correct pivot even more difficult to defend. It seals off others rather than running into them. Perhaps his dad can work on that with him

 

[Niemo]

He could have had 40. Missed some bunnies.

 

[hawkdrummer1]

We're seeing something special this season.

 

[Hawk1960]

Knock down free throws at a 75% clip or better and that problem goes away. Hacking worked real well against Shaq because he only shot 53% from the line for his career. Luka has proven he can do it ... one area for improvement the rest of the way.

 

[dahlhawk]

My biggest problem is teams being allowed to initiate contact 15 feet away from the basket and walling off his ability to even post by arm bars and basically shoving him out of the lane. Some teams have been better at this than others and teams certainly have the right to double or triple Garza if they choose, but league officials have been consistent in the ignoring of the contact. I’m fine with this if Iowa is allowed to do the same. Let Garza shove people out of the lane and hit people in the back and I’ll shut up.

 

[NikeHawk21]

I think overall the officiating with Garza has been fine. He throws a lot of chicken wings as well and initiates a lot of contact.

In the Penn State game I thought he should have drawn a few shooting fouls for possible and ones but they weren’t calling those either way yesterday.

 

[HawkGold]

Garza makes plenty of contact.

CJ would help as would CM learning how to shoot. Why is it so many are afraid to call that out. His shot is so easy to defend.

This is special. We should be seeing teammates having a hay day. That it isn't happening makes it even more special what he s doing but it does set the Hawks up for a real pummeling at points.

JW s issue is being mismatched which exposes the others more. Pem and the new special K are maxing out offensively. It gets down to CJ being back and CM growing a big boy shot. Do that.... Deep run.

 

[PCHawk]

Garza makes plenty of contact.

CJ would help as would CM learning how to shoot. Why is it so many are afraid to call that out. His shot is so easy to defend.

This is special. We should be seeing teammates having a hay day. That it isn't happening makes it even more special what he s doing but it does set the Hawks up for a real pummeling at points.

JW s issue is being mismatched which exposes the others more. Pem and the new special K are maxing out offensively. It gets down to CJ being back and CM growing a big boy shot. Do that.... Deep run.

Didn't Connor already grow a big boy shot? Like Joe Fredrick said in an interview. You take away all of Connor's end of shot clock throw up he always gets forced into and he's probably shooting 45% from 3. You're right tho, if Connor (and everyone else) was better at scoring, we would be leading the conference in offense by an even wider margin.

 

[HawkGold]

Didn't Connor already grow a big boy shot? Like Joe Fredrick said in an interview. You take away all of Connor's end of shot clock throw up he always gets forced into and he's probably shooting 45% from 3. You're right tho, if Connor (and everyone else) was better at scoring, we would be leading the conference in offense by an even wider margin.

I'\m referring to the low release point.

 

[dahlhawk]

I think overall the officiating with Garza has been fine. He throws a lot of chicken wings as well and initiates a lot of contact.

In the Penn State game I thought he should have drawn a few shooting fouls for possible and ones but they weren’t calling those either way yesterday.

I also think Penn States D wasn’t over the top and Garza by my count had two fouls using his forearm to clear out that I would have called. He’s no saint. I’m talking about players moving into Garza and aggressively preventing him from posting, at some point this has to be addressed. Garza against MSU got knocked down about 5 times late and the refs didn’t give a dam. I know it’s not just Iowa Maryland last night got thugged badly as well, and at home!

 

[Northside Hawk]

I'\m referring to the low release point.

Jamaal Wilkes, Derek Harper, and Jalen Rose all had ugly releases. Lafester Rhodes looked like he was serving a volleyball. But it doesn't matter when they go in.

Val Barnes, by comparison, had as pretty a shot as you will see. But he was an overrated player who's fg and three point fg % were well south of forty.

Connor reminds me of Tommy Herr of the Cardinals in 1985. Jack Clark went down and Herzog hat to move Herr into the cleanup hole in September. He hit 8 or 10 home runs but every one of them was clutch. He also drove in over 100 runs, many of them on situational hitting like grounders and sacrifice flies.

Connor is a great situational player. His baskets, while not frequent enough for your taste, usually come at critical junctures. And league coaches are starting to take notice and sing his praises.

 

[PCHawk]

I'\m referring to the low release point.

That's almost 100% irrelevant. How many times in his career have you thought he looked like he wanted to fire up a shot but he knew he couldn't quite get it off because his release point is a couple inches too low? He's the kind of player who shoots when he's open so his release point doesn't matter at all.

 

[uihawk82]

Garza makes plenty of contact.

CJ would help as would CM learning how to shoot. Why is it so many are afraid to call that out. His shot is so easy to defend.

This is special. We should be seeing teammates having a hay day. That it isn't happening makes it even more special what he s doing but it does set the Hawks up for a real pummeling at points.

JW s issue is being mismatched which exposes the others more. Pem and the new special K are maxing out offensively. It gets down to CJ being back and CM growing a big boy shot. Do that.... Deep run.

So special K goes for what 18 points the other day and he usually contributes 6-10. If pemsl gets some hustle baskets and a few good move baskets down low that is great. That is pretty good.

And if Bakari can hit a few buckets and the same with JT then that is great also. with 20 bench points, Garza hopefully still getting 20+, and maybe JW and CJ getting 25 together, you have about 65-70 pts. Connor and JT getting 6-10 and taking care of the ball and getting assists gets to 75 pt avg.

Still I think Iowa will go as their defense goes.

 

[NikeHawk21]

I also think Penn States D wasn’t over the top and Garza by my count had two fouls using his forearm to clear out that I would have called. He’s no saint. I’m talking about players moving into Garza and aggressively preventing him from posting, at some point this has to be addressed. Garza against MSU got knocked down about 5 times late and the refs didn’t give a dam. I know it’s not just Iowa Maryland last night got thugged badly as well, and at home!

Tillman is very strong and I think he deserves some credit for that. Against MSU I think Garza got tired from playing nearly the entire game. MSU knew he loved spinning to his left shoulder and they overplayed it, and Garza wasn’t able to effectively counter it.

 

[#1DieHardHawk]

Jamaal Wilkes, Derek Harper, and Jalen Rose all had ugly releases. Lafester Rhodes looked like he was serving a volleyball. But it doesn't matter when they go in.

Val Barnes, by comparison, had as pretty a shot as you will see. But he was an overrated player who's fg and three point fg % were well south of forty.

Connor reminds me of Tommy Herr of the Cardinals in 1985. Jack Clark went down and Herzog hat to move Herr into the cleanup hole in September. He hit 8 or 10 home runs but every one of them was clutch. He also drove in over 100 runs, many of them on situational hitting like grounders and sacrifice flies.

Connor is a great situational player. His baskets, while not frequent enough for your taste, usually come at critical junctures. And league coaches are starting to take notice and sing his praises.

Interesting comparison. Tommy Herr was a solid 2nd-baseman who's career did a tail-spin after numerous knee surgeries. I don't recall that about the home runs. I do know that he had one season with 110 RBIs with under 10 home runs. I doubt we'll see that again in this day and age.

Herr never really received the accolades for his defense at that time primarily due to Ryne Sandberg. Herr was the better fielder, but Sandberg was the all-world golden boy at that time. On a side note, Terry Pendleton at 3B also was a better fielder than Mike Schmidt, but Schmidt kept getting the rewards at the end of his career primarily due to name recognition. Such is the nature of sports. Pendleton was a vacuum cleaner at third. The Cardinals had some amazing defensive teams during that era.

 

[Northside Hawk]

Interesting comparison. Tommy Herr was a solid 2nd-baseman who's career did a tail-spin after numerous knee surgeries. I don't recall that about the home runs. I do know that he had one season with 110 RBIs with under 10 home runs. I doubt we'll see that again in this day and age.

Herr never really received the accolades for his defense at that time primarily due to Ryne Sandberg. Herr was the better fielder, but Sandberg was the all-world golden boy at that time. On a side note, Terry Pendleton at 3B also was a better fielder than Mike Schmidt, but Schmidt kept getting the rewards at the end of his career primarily due to name recognition. Such is the nature of sports. Pendleton was a vacuum cleaner at third. The Cardinals had some amazing defensive teams during that era.

Herr's best asset as a defensive second baseman was Sandberg's precise weakest-the ability to turn a double play. That cut into Sandberg's otherwise solid defensive metrics.

But it was a big deal and it kept many innings alive for the opposition. Sandberg was a converted shortstop and hall of fame player, but Herr was better at turning two. That whole Saint Louis team had defensive wizards all over the infield and outfield which took a ton of pressure off the pitchers.

 

[HawkGold]

That's almost 100% irrelevant. How many times in his career have you thought he looked like he wanted to fire up a shot but he knew he couldn't quite get it off because his release point is a couple inches too low? He's the kind of player who shoots when he's open so his release point doesn't matter at all.

Sometimes you just need to do it. Was responding to the pressure on Garza. No doubt Garza s success comes in part from CM s passing.