Hawk Players wanted it; now must work to fix offense

[uihawk82]

Any future opposing coaches are going to pay a lot of attention to what purdue did twice to Iowa this year. The PU double teams on Garza slowed him down especially early in the game. PU easily got around the hawks perimeter screens so Iowa players did not find themselves very open. PU left the non scorers alone to clog the lane and do those double teams. And Iowa players couldnt beat anyone off the dribble well enough to finish before PU help defense stopped them.

When Garza was doubled I noticed on TV the other players mainly standing around. There was a lack of movement and crisp fast passing and ball movement by Iowa. That double team should be an immediate reason for hawk players to cut through the lane and toward the basket.

The hawk players wanted this game but for some reason they looked sluggish. blockouts were lazy or bad, they werent getting up for rebounds with two hands. Wow 21 offensive rebounds for PU, 11 more than Iowa and a big overall rebounding edge.

Overall, the stats were really even except for the rebounding which was also big for PU in West Lafayette. The points in the paint were very telling especially in the first 30 minutes.

So this also points somewhat to the coaching staff not having an answer for PU's defense.

And through all of this the hawks made stops on defense the first 10 minutes of the second half and could have got back to a tie in this game.

 

[kicker22]

I came away from the first game thinking Purdue had lightning in a bottle and simply couldn't miss. After last night I came away thinking that Purdue is hands down the better team and neither game was a fluke. We can say what we want, but their style of play is our kryptonite. 80 minutes of game time against them and we've trailed by double digits for probably 70 of them. I really hope that we don't see them again and despite the points that Garza finished with they definitely added to the blue print of how to play Iowa.

 

[uihawk82]

I came away from the first game thinking Purdue had lightning in a bottle and simply couldn't miss. After last night I came away thinking that Purdue is hands down the better team and neither game was a fluke. We can say what we want, but their style of play is our kryptonite. 80 minutes of game time against them and we've trailed by double digits for probably 70 of them. I really hope that we don't see them again and despite the points that Garza finished with they definitely added to the blue print of how to play Iowa.

Good points and I think PU has better athletes, more moxie, and two tall guys to give Garza problems with the double team.

 

[kicker22]

As usual when we started struggling we reverted back to poor ball movement, chucking up threes, and simply lacking the hustle and energy on the defensive end. There were times we played good defense, but the hustle wasn't there in the half court game and I think by giving up the second chance points and offensive boards we did its pretty clear.

I'm not saying that we shouldn't be taking "open shots", but at the same time they're open for a reason because Purdue did their homework and took away the scoring options they needed to control the game. Nothing against Garza, but I think we're going to consistently struggle when we're playing teams that can double him with players his height or slightly taller simply because there's no way for a guy Garza's size to be use to playing guys with the same (or greater) size, and if he's not getting the looks then our offense reverts back to trying to ram a square peg into a round hole and simply falls apart. Despite the individual stats I thought this was one of Garza's least efficient games of the year.

 

[WindsorHawk]

Big 10 teams definitely have the blueprint on how to play Iowa. But watching it on film isn’t the same as playing us. Get the conference season over and start the NCAA. Several conference teams will benefit greatly...maybe none more than us.

 

[PCHawk]

Knowing how to stop us and having the personnel to do it are two different things. Illinois does that the personell unfortunately so we wre going to have to shoot lights out of hope they are ice cold to win. More than anything tho, Wieskamp is shutting down himself. He doesn't need help from the other team. He needs to get going right no . If he does, we have a shot. If he doesn't, we need all the other guys to shoot great, which is unlikely, but possible.

 

[WindsorHawk]

Knowing how to stop us and having the personnel to do it are two different things. Illinois does that the personell unfortunately so we wre going to have to shoot lights out of hope they are ice cold to win. More than anything tho, Wieskamp is shutting down himself. He doesn't need help from the other team. He needs to get going right no . If he does, we have a shot. If he doesn't, we need all the other guys to shoot great, which is unlikely, but possible.

Like the personnel comment. Not many teams in the 1st round or 2 of the NCAA will likely have the personnel. Luka is getting 26 a night against some of the best bigs in the country and double and triple teams. He could get 35 come NCAA. And the opponents’ supporting cast will struggle to stop the rest of our guys if they sell out on Garza. The Big 10 is the best conference...with talent and deep rosters.

 

[dirtwrap]

When I think about us offensively in a half court set, what I would like to see in this order:

1. Garza with single man defender getting the ball on the block
2. Open 3 point shot by CJ
3. Open 3 point shot by Wieskamp
4. Open 3 point shot by Garza
5. Kriener getting the ball on the block with single man defender
6. Joe T taking his man off the dribble
7. CMac open 3 or Kriener open 3
8. Wieskamp dribble drive to the rim
Pretty much everything else is a last resort

So saying that, right now, #1 is not going to happen. #2 and #3 are not happening because they are getting tightly face guarded. But, #4 is an option in every possession, which opens up everything else. I am ok with Garza taking 10 threes a game if he has to, hell, even more, I dont care. Its better than the alternative of having CMac and Evelyn taking 10 a game. Because with that, can we post up Kriener? Can we post up Wieskamp, who almost always has 4-6 inches on every defender he faces? That is not on the list because we dont see it, but you would have to think good things happen there. Will Garza get the big out of the lane and then open it up for either CJ or Wieskamp to cut to the basket?

We look very confused right now, because Garza gets doubled early and he has to dribble out of it to the perimeter, where he has to basically hand it off to someone then the defense resets. We have no counter to that and we will need that big time going forward.

 

[uihawk82]

When I think about us offensively in a half court set, what I would like to see in this order:

1. Garza with single man defender getting the ball on the block
2. Open 3 point shot by CJ
3. Open 3 point shot by Wieskamp
4. Open 3 point shot by Garza
5. Kriener getting the ball on the block with single man defender
6. Joe T taking his man off the dribble
7. CMac open 3 or Kriener open 3
8. Wieskamp dribble drive to the rim
Pretty much everything else is a last resort

So saying that, right now, #1 is not going to happen. #2 and #3 are not happening because they are getting tightly face guarded. But, #4 is an option in every possession, which opens up everything else. I am ok with Garza taking 10 threes a game if he has to, hell, even more, I dont care. Its better than the alternative of having CMac and Evelyn taking 10 a game. Because with that, can we post up Kriener? Can we post up Wieskamp, who almost always has 4-6 inches on every defender he faces? That is not on the list because we dont see it, but you would have to think good things happen there. Will Garza get the big out of the lane and then open it up for either CJ or Wieskamp to cut to the basket?

We look very confused right now, because Garza gets doubled early and he has to dribble out of it to the perimeter, where he has to basically hand it off to someone then the defense resets. We have no counter to that and we will need that big time going forward.

Yes, Garza got the ball a lot on the perimeter yesterday but many times just set a pick on the weave and handed the ball off. I would have loved to see him take 10 treys in the 2nd half alone when they needed to score.

And take them in your stride but earlier in the shot clock before we make a turnover or get forced into a bad shot.

This team maybe needs to fast break a little more, push tempo and take some earlier open shots.

 

[uihawk82]

We need guys cutting to the basket and forcing action and getting And 1s

 

[chucktownhawk]

We need guys cutting to the basket and forcing action and getting And 1s

Absolutely. Every other team does it. Very seldom do I see an Iowa player do that

 

[Ian Pike Hammer]

Its painfully obvious to me, that if JW is a no-show, we have a good chance to lose. Then, if CJ is also having an off nite or out or in foul trouble, we only have 1 scorer on the floor in Garza. Kriener is doing well , but we need all three scorers to have a decent game. What the hell is wrong with JW's shot lately???

 

[InGoodCo]

I'm not saying Iowa will win at IL - cause I don't think they will. I expect a loss. But... a few variables that I am considering that side well with Iowa on Sunday to have a punchers chance.

1. IL plays on the road tonight. Then they have to come back in a little over 2 days and play us. This will be their 4th game in 11 days. While they have won their last 4, 2 of them were against Northwestern and Nebraska. This will be Iowa's 3rd game in the same time frame. That matters imo and something I am always looking at.

2. Just like Matt Painter has Fran's number, Fran has seemed to have Underwood's - Iowa has won 5 straight against IL.

Ya just don't know in this league. Before the other night, Iowa was the only team in the league to not lose at home in the conference. Iowa losses their first and our fan base is in total melt down. I can tell you this, if Iowa makes it to Saturday next weekend (and they could) or the Saturday the next week (and they could) ... all this hand wringing is gonna look silly.

 

[tmess1989]

The lack of confident reliable shooters are the reason that teams are able to easily Double Garza at a low risk to giving up a basket. Purdue did well at quickly bringing the double. That's good execution of the gameplan.

Also if Iowa doesn't give up 21 offensive rebounds which led to 20 second chance points they either win or lose by a much smaller margin. That was the difference in this game.

 

[NikeHawk21]

I'm not saying Iowa will win at IL - cause I don't think they will. I expect a loss. But... a few variables that I am considering that side well with Iowa on Sunday to have a punchers chance.

1. IL plays on the road tonight. Then they have to come back in a little over 2 days and play us. This will be their 4th game in 11 days. While they have won their last 4, 2 of them were against Northwestern and Nebraska. This will be Iowa's 3rd game in the same time frame. That matters imo and something I am always looking at.

2. Just like Matt Painter has Fran's number, Fran has seemed to have Underwood's - Iowa has won 5 straight against IL.

Ya just don't know in this league. Before the other night, Iowa was the only team in the league to not lose at home in the conference. Iowa losses their first and our fan base is in total melt down. I can tell you this, if Iowa makes it to Saturday next weekend (and they could) or the Saturday the next week (and they could) ... all this hand wringing is gonna look silly.

I like those points but I also have to imagine Illinois is going to be very fired up after the way the last game ended.

 

[InGoodCo]

I like those points but I also have to imagine Illinois is going to be very fired up after the way the last game ended.

over rated IMO and harder to gauge whether a team can really fire themselves up or whether that might actually go against them. I mean, Iowa was fired up for revenge on Purdue right?

 

[NikeHawk21]

Number one most important thing for our offense would be getting Wieskamp back somewhere close to what he was. We are incredibly limited right now with the way he’s playing.

 

[NikeHawk21]

over rated IMO and harder to gauge whether a team can really fire themselves up or whether that might actually go against them. I mean, Iowa was fired up for revenge on Purdue right?

Iowa was not which was sad to see. I don’t know what it is with senior nights but we’ve laid eggs the last two years. Different situations a little bit though, Purdue just kicked our teeth in and they shot so well maybe our guys thought it was a fluke. Illinois there was quite a bit of chirping going on at the end of that one.

We can’t control what Illinois does but my guess is they come out with a ton of energy. Hopefully Iowa can withstand that and then the tired legs catch up with them.

 

[InGoodCo]

Number one most important thing for our offense would be getting Wieskamp back somewhere close to what he was. We are incredibly limited right now with the way he’s playing.

yep, if Joe and CJ aren't making shots, Iowa is easy to beat. That would be the case with any team in the country. I hate all the flack that Joe is getting, but he's playing badly so it's probably a little deserved. But think about this - last season he was one of the top 5 incoming players into the league and up until a month ago he was playing like a 1st or 2nd team All B1G player. Now he goes into to a funk and he's everything from terrible, not good enough, mentally weak, not good enough for the NBA.... vicious circles we run with.

 

[HawkGold]

Hawks struggle with guard oriented teams. No surprise. IL has a good one. Any team is going to double Garza and make CM shoot.

As said before JW hasn't changed. He is a 2/3 playing against 3/4 Simple math.

Look for Special K 2 to have a big game if Hawks win. Along w CM.