Has the 1-5 Skid Really Been That Bad?

ChosenChildren

ChosenChildren

Well-Known Member
We are 1-5 the last 6 games. But......

3 of the games were on the road, against Minny, Indy and MSU. 3 good teams in very tough venues. Lots of teams would go 1-2 or 0-3 against those teams on the road.

3 were at home, against a very good Wisconsin team, and 2 average teams: Purdue and Illinois. Probably should have won 2 out of 3.

Add it up, and best case we should have gone 3-3 in that stretch. We went 1-5 (a two game swing). I don't think the sky is falling. We need to play better, no doubt about that. It starts in the Big Ten tournament. Let's beat Northwestern and take it from there.
 
It is that bad, because they are losing games that they should win and they are losing them by playing bad defense. The Minnesota game is the one that gets me. They score 53, 46, and 47 in the 3 games prior then drop 95 on Iowa. The most they have scored since the mid 90s. Yes this skid is as bad as it seems. Not because of the outcome (being blown out) but how Iowa arrives at the outcome.

As Doyle said on B10 network, the Illinois loss, finding ways to lose, is the story of Iowa's season, not just the last few games. Iowa should have won many more games especially if you include the 2 they should have won in the non-con
 
When you look at that schedule... You concede the MSU game on the road. You should beat Illinois and Purdue at home. I'll give Wiscy, Minn, and Indiana as toss up games and at worst we should have won one. Worst case should have been 3-3.

So either we're not as good as a team as we thought or it hasn't been good.... No reason to sugarcoat.
 
Nope. Not that bad. Once the B1G title was out of reach, playing for NCAA seed was it. So they cleverly got themselves to an 8 seed, so they can beat a 9, then play a 1 that will think they're gonna cruise. Surprise! Here come the Hawks!
 
ibahawkeye said:
When you look at that schedule... You concede the MSU game on the road. You should beat Illinois and Purdue at home. I'll give Wiscy, Minn, and Indiana as toss up games and at worst we should have won one. Worst case should have been 3-3.

So either we're not as good as a team as we thought or it hasn't been good.... No reason to sugarcoat.
Click to expand...

Agreed. 1-5 might be acceptable if it was a stretch like Iowa had to start conference play LAST year.. Like if it was a stretch of @MSU, @OSU, Michigan, Illinois, @Wisconsin, MSU.. But Iowa should have won at least 3 of these last 6 games. It has not been THAT difficult of a stretch.
 
Not bad compared to the Lick era. Terribly bad based on the expectations heaped on this team earlier in the year.
 
Who in this wide world would compare this year's team achievements (or lack thereof) to *any* of the Lick teams? Ludicrous.

What *is* relative, as Sioux said, is to compare what this team should have achieved thus far.

So, yes, it's been sub-par thus far.
 
In a word, yes. The home losses have been unacceptable for this team and year 4 under Fran. You have to protect the home-court. The defense has been horrible (the fundamentals of our defense) and our half-court offense looked clueless at times on senior night. The 1-5 is a reflection of the problems we have had throughout this season. I wonder if things might have been different if the ceiling did not fall in at IU, but you have to suck it up and be the man, be the team you want to become/should become.

As I said, they did not necessarily have to be Big Ten Champions this year. They do not have to make a final 4 run. But, they do need to make the Big Dance without people questioning if they belong there or not. Bubble talk and this team should not belong in the same sentence, but yet here we are combining those two concepts. It is that bad and it has happened.

Now, we have to find a way to fix these things so we can perform at our potential in the tournaments. Iowa needs a win in both tournaments this year at minimum I think to keep things fresh and exciting for next year. If you limp into the NCAAs and look horrible in that first game with people questioning if you should have even been there, I think that hurts us PR wise for upcoming years. We need to take this souring lemon and make some lemonade out of it. This is big for Fran and his staff to motivate and teach these guys the fundamentals to keep them around a little while longer this year.
 
Just as easy to start a win streak as it is to start a skid. Start of the BTT is a great time to start a streak...
 
It's been said numerous times but it's not that we are in a tailspin, it's that we finished the season in a tailspin. If we go through this skid in late Dec. early Jan., we have time to work out issues and build back our NCAA seed. Now with each loss we lose more ground with the tournament seeding, and may have played our way down to an 8/9 seed. Plus we have looked like choke artists in most of those losses too. Not good by any stretch of the imagination.
 
ChosenChildren said:
We are 1-5 the last 6 games. But......

3 of the games were on the road, against Minny, Indy and MSU. 3 good teams in very tough venues. Lots of teams would go 1-2 or 0-3 against those teams on the road.

3 were at home, against a very good Wisconsin team, and 2 average teams: Purdue and Illinois. Probably should have won 2 out of 3.

Add it up, and best case we should have gone 3-3 in that stretch. We went 1-5 (a two game swing). I don't think the sky is falling. We need to play better, no doubt about that. It starts in the Big Ten tournament. Let's beat Northwestern and take it from there.
Click to expand...
Tell that to Nebraska, who finished 8-1 with wins over 4 of the 5 teams Iowa lost to in its last 6 games.

You're an apologist.

Good teams beat the teams below them in the standings and defend their home court - which would have been a 5-1 finish. Anything worse than a 4-2 finish is underachieving.

We've seen how well Iowa can play, so maybe they'll turn it around in the conference tourney.

I'm not holding my breath.

I still support Fran, but this season has made me temper my enthusiasm quite a bit.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Share this page

Top