Hawkeye Defense Absent Again in Loss at Nebraska

PCHawk said:
I think the defense in this game was equal to the defense against Wisconsin. Nebraska was shooting jump shots while we were making layups. Normally the team making the layups will win, but Nebraska made everything the whole game.

It sucks that we suck at defense. But at least we are trying now. Last night's effort is how we will win a few more games. Make the other team shoot jumpers and hope they miss. That's all we can do right now.
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I believe that you are quite correct. Our defense last night was actually much better than what we had been playing.

I have watched the game several times. We only had 8 complete defensive break downs. That is actually acceptable. It is difficult to play defense when you get called for fouls on 80% of the time that the opposing team drives and puts up contested shots at the hoop. We but bodies on drivers and stayed right in their hip. We rotated help side and contested at the rim. We were called for a foul at an excessive rate. Some of the fouls were legitimate and some of them were not. Either way Nebraska is obviously a very good team at home. They are playing with a ton of confidence. They have bigs that can drive from the perimeter and shoot it from there. Even without the lopsided officiating I don't think we are good enough to beat them if they are shooting hot.

I have seen some massive defensive improvement in the last 2 games and I feel bad for the hawks because it must be hard to finally start improving your play and still get rolled up like a sushi roll.
 
Adam said:
I believe that you are quite correct. Our defense last night was actually much better than what we had been playing.

I have watched the game several times. We only had 8 complete defensive break downs. That is actually acceptable. It is difficult to play defense when you get called for fouls on 80% of the time that the opposing team drives and puts up contested shots at the hoop. We but bodies on drivers and stayed right in their hip. We rotated help side and contested at the rim. We were called for a foul at an excessive rate. Some of the fouls were legitimate and some of them were not. Either way Nebraska is obviously a very good team at home. They are playing with a ton of confidence. They have bigs that can drive from the perimeter and shoot it from there. Even without the lopsided officiating I don't think we are good enough to beat them if they are shooting hot.

I have seen some massive defensive improvement in the last 2 games and I feel bad for the hawks because it must be hard to finally start improving your play and still get rolled up like a sushi roll.
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Very good point at the end. I hope the results of their effort doesn't discourage them from giving that effort again. It's crazy to say becasue we lost by double digits, but I think if we play that exact same game 10 times (giving them the exact same shots and taking the exact same shots) we probably win more than 5 of them.
 
Stupid banked in 3 and the guy who lost the ball driving baseline and it goes right to one of their players who passes it for a wide open 3. Those two plays were killers.
 
"Bad Breaks" weren't a factor in this loss...

Officiating wasn't a factor in this loss...

I don't think Iowa's "slowness" and lack of athleticism are the reason Iowa loses so often or by such big margins.

Iowa is not coached well, doesn't have leadership on the team or with the head coach, goes through the motions defensively and seems to know what we all know...this team sucks and this team's season is a disaster...they are quitting like so many fans. They would rather not be there, at least on the defensive end.

Plus...it has no PG... Hello!

The above recipe will result in a flop...no matter what type of frosting you want to pretty it up with.
 
I think last night Nebraska came out red hot shooting from deep so Fran was hesitant to play zone as much as he probably wanted to. In hindsight we probably should have sat in zone and just hope they started missing, which I think they would have, because in man they had speed mismatches at literally every position and just started carving us up, leading to a lot of fouls and layups.

The other thing could be maybe Fran knows his season is in the tank and he wants these guys to focus on improving in man to man defense for the future.

Lastly, that 236 defense efficiency number makes me want to puke. At a certain point a coach needs to take responsibility for that.
 
revkev73 said:
"Bad Breaks" weren't a factor in this loss...

Officiating wasn't a factor in this loss...

I don't think Iowa's "slowness" and lack of athleticism are the reason Iowa loses so often or by such big margins.

Iowa is not coached well, doesn't have leadership on the team or with the head coach, goes through the motions defensively and seems to know what we all know...this team sucks and this team's season is a disaster...they are quitting like so many fans. They would rather not be there, at least on the defensive end.

Plus...it has no PG... Hello!

The above recipe will result in a flop...no matter what type of frosting you want to pretty it up with.
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Wrong. Bad breaks were a factor and officiating was a factor. Just becasue they weren't big factors doesn't mean they were no factors.

And I don't know how anyone can talk about point guard problems after a game where we played great on offense.
 
PCHawk said:
Wrong. Bad breaks were a factor and officiating was a factor. Just becasue they weren't big factors doesn't mean they were no factors.

And I don't know how anyone can talk about point guard problems after a game where we played great on offense.
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And of course their PG Watson didn’t do anything....
 
Bad breaks didn't alter the outcome of the game...

Bad officiating didn't alter the outcome of the game...

Iowa doesn't have a PG on the team...

Anyone can talk about PG problems on Iowa's team...because there is a glaring problem, and because it is a free country...

There you have it...
 
revkev73 said:
Bad breaks didn't alter the outcome of the game...

Bad officiating didn't alter the outcome of the game...

Iowa doesn't have a PG on the team...

Anyone can talk about PG problems on Iowa's team...because there is a glaring problem, and because it is a free country...

There you have it...
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It’s a free country, and anyone can disagree with your take.

Iowa PG:
24 pts / 7 assists / 0 turnovers

Neb PG:
4 points / 4 assists / 2 turnovers

Iowa played man almost the entire game with our PG guarding theirs. So as you can see Iowa’s PG outplayed the opposing teams and we still got crushed.
 
NikeHawk21 said:
It’s a free country, and anyone can disagree with your take.

Iowa PG:
24 pts / 7 assists / 0 turnovers

Neb PG:
4 points / 4 assists / 2 turnovers

Iowa played man almost the entire game with our PG guarding theirs. So as you can see Iowa’s PG outplayed the opposing teams and we still got crushed.
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My god those numbers aren't even close. Now do shooting guard numbers please.
 
revkev73 said:
Bad breaks didn't alter the outcome of the game...

Bad officiating didn't alter the outcome of the game...

Iowa doesn't have a PG on the team...

Anyone can talk about PG problems on Iowa's team...because there is a glaring problem, and because it is a free country...

There you have it...
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More than likely they didn't. But they might have. Especially the banked in 3.
 
It'd be one thing if the poor defense was for an isolated game. You could chalk it up to Nebraska just shooting well.

It wasn't.

Nebraska shot too many uncontested jumpers, which often came from ball movement and dribble penetration. Eventually, as it has shown time and time again this season, the Iowa defense will break down.

Nebraska and Rutgers are two of the lowest scoring teams in the league. We made them look like the Showtime Lakers.

The Hawkeyes are allowing 84.1 points per game in conference play, dead last and four points more than the No. 13 team, Illinois, and an astonishing 20 more than No. 1 Ohio State.

Overall, Iowa is allowing 77.3 PPG, which ranks 299th out of 350 DI teams.
 
RobHowe said:
It'd be one thing if the poor defense was for an isolated game. You could chalk it up to Nebraska just shooting well.

It wasn't.

Nebraska shot too many uncontested jumpers, which often came from ball movement and dribble penetration. Eventually, as it has shown time and time again this season, the Iowa defense will break down.

Nebraska and Rutgers are two of the lowest scoring teams in the league. We made them look like the Showtime Lakers.

The Hawkeyes are allowing 84.1 points per game in conference play, dead last and four points more than the No. 13 team, Illinois, and an astonishing 20 more than No. 1 Ohio State.

Overall, Iowa is allowing 77.3 PPG, which ranks 299th out of 350 DI teams.
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Whoever coaches that team, give him a nice juicy buyout, please.
 
Look at trends...not one game (albeit another embarrassment)

Don't use an anecdotal game to make generalities. (a common illogical mistake...grandma smoked for 99 years...therefore smoking isn't harmful) Iowa's PG really put some numbers up vs Nebraska, it is a strength for the team.

Iowa is glaringly weak at PG...

Officiating has not played a role in this team tanking and embarrassing themselves.

Bad breaks are discussed by losers.

Cook it (no pun intended) however you want...this season is an unmitigated disaster...one for the record books for Iowa BB...and this in the midst of a secretive tweaked contact upgrade. You can't make this stuff up. It is as if a clown is in charge of the Iowa athletic department.
 
RobHowe said:
It'd be one thing if the poor defense was for an isolated game. You could chalk it up to Nebraska just shooting well.

It wasn't.

Nebraska shot too many uncontested jumpers, which often came from ball movement and dribble penetration. Eventually, as it has shown time and time again this season, the Iowa defense will break down.

Nebraska and Rutgers are two of the lowest scoring teams in the league. We made them look like the Showtime Lakers.

The Hawkeyes are allowing 84.1 points per game in conference play, dead last and four points more than the No. 13 team, Illinois, and an astonishing 20 more than No. 1 Ohio State.

Overall, Iowa is allowing 77.3 PPG, which ranks 299th out of 350 DI teams.
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I'm not saying the defense has been great at any time this year but if you are saying last night's defense was just as bad, I respectfully disagree. Nebraska shot and made a ton of free throws. The free throws directly impact the scoring difference from Nebraska's average score. Half of those free throws came from what I believe were solid shot contests with minimal contact. I'm not saying we beat them without them getting so many free throws, but the score would have been more respectable for sure.
 
Adam said:
I'm not saying the defense has been great at any time this year but if you are saying last night's defense was just as bad, I respectfully disagree. Nebraska shot and made a ton of free throws. The free throws directly impact the scoring difference from Nebraska's average score. Half of those free throws came from what I believe were solid shot contests with minimal contact. I'm not saying we beat them without them getting so many free throws, but the score would have been more respectable for sure.
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Was Iowa's defense as bad last night as it was against Purdue? No. But it was bad and Nebraska isn't close to the offensive team that is Purdue. It scored 33 more points than it was averaging in B1G play.

The defense has been bad most of the season. It's why Iowa lost last night. Fouls are a sign of poor defense, particularly poor positioning defensively. McCaffery and the players said after the game it was their poor defense that cost them.

Playing better defense that still stinks is not the objective.
 
revkev73 said:
Look at trends...not one game (albeit another embarrassment)

Don't use an anecdotal game to make generalities. (a common illogical mistake...grandma smoked for 99 years...therefore smoking isn't harmful) Iowa's PG really put some numbers up vs Nebraska, it is a strength for the team.

Iowa is glaringly weak at PG...

Officiating has not played a role in this team tanking and embarrassing themselves.

Bad breaks are discussed by losers.

Cook it (no pun intended) however you want...this season is an unmitigated disaster...one for the record books for Iowa BB...and this in the midst of a secretive tweaked contact upgrade. You can't make this stuff up. It is as if a clown is in charge of the Iowa athletic department.
Click to expand...


You can call it an excuse if that's what you like, but a team getting 28 free throws does immensely impact the outcome of a basketball game.

Me and you agree that this team is not near competitive level and a horrid disappointment, but I don't think it is fair to dismiss when little improvements do happen. Again my point is that Iowa's defense was much closer last night to a competitive level. Albeit the end result was not much different, but there were factors that play into that. I don't see any sense in denying that.
 
You could be right...I didn't watch much of the game...but I have watched enough of the season to put together some opinions of what is going on...I might be totally wrong...but I doubt it.

The season is over, looking for little improvements is one way to stay interested, if that is what you like as a fan that is fine with me, not interested in it, personally.
 
I make a motion that it is stipulated that every post contain these comments**:

1. Iowa has no PG

2. Iowa is unathletic.

3. Iowa’s defense is awful


** in invisible text so we don’t have to constantly read these all the time.
 
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