JonDMiller
Publisher/Founder
Iowa v NW Box Score
Cume Stats Through NW
There are times when I see glimpses of what I think the future of Iowa basketball will be under Todd Lickliter. Or what I saw some of his Butler teams do.
Tonight’s game against Northwestern was one of those times.
Sure, the Hawks shot 46% from three point range in the first half, sticking 6 of 13 from long range. You can’t expect a team to shoot that pace from beyond the arc for a season. 40 to 43 percent is something that is attainable, and Lickliter’s teams are going to need to stroke it like that. Iowa came into the game making just 32.4% of its threes on the year, which is far too low for any team, much less a team that is #2 in the league in three-pointers made per game (eight per contest, Northwestern is #1).
They did that for a half on Wednesday night, and they led Northwestern by 13 points at the break. Devan Bawinkel made four of those shots, and he is not a player that is routinely going to hurt you. In fact, coming into the game he was mired in a shooting slump this year, having made 25 of 68 treys, which is 36 percent. That might not be considered a horrible percentage for some people, but offensively, that is all that’s expected of Bawinkel and his role is to hit at least 40 percent from beyond the arc. His slump hasn’t helped things.
There was one instance in the first half that got me to thinking along these lines…the Hawks were up 12 late and Cully Payne began to drive the left side of the lane and then kicked it back over his head to forward Brennan Cougill at the top of the key. Cougill stuck the shot putting Iowa up 15.
Lickliter’s system requires at least four of the five players on the floor to be able to hit jump shots, even three point shots. That pulls a defense out and makes it easier for the ballhandlers to attack the lane easier than they have been able to this year. If you have more space to drive, even a less quick player can do some damage. Iowa doesn’t have that this year and while teams are not clogging the lane against Iowa, they are playing aggressive man to man defense and Iowa is not reversing the ball enough to take advantage of that and they don’t have the speed and quickness to go around the defender. A few more shooters would be good medicine for this team, and I think some help is on the way in that department.
Iowa’s four leading three point shooters as far as attempts are concerned (Gatens, Tucker, Payne and May) have made just 32 percent combined in 425 attempts. These numbers were before the Northwestern game, and each had at least 94 three point attempts and none was shooting better than 36%. May was under 30% and both Tucker and Payne had made just under 32%. Gatens was at just 36%, and I think all of these players will shoot better next year.
Iowa stayed hot from beyond the arc in the second half, as six of their first seven field goals were triples, including back to back trey’s from Eric May in a :33 second span midway through the half to put Iowa back up by 15 points. For the night, Iowa hit 12 of 24 three-point shots.
Another huge key for the future of the program will be to limit turnovers. Iowa had just two in the first half against Northwestern, another reason they enjoyed a large lead. Much like Wisconsin’s style of play, controlling possessions and avoiding self inflicted wounds will be big as the Lickliter era moves forward. That has not been something this team has done a good job with this season, as Iowa has been -2.7 in turnover margin prior to taking the floor against Northwestern. Iowa wound up with just eight turnovers for the game (Northwestern had six)
But on Wednesday night against Northwestern, most everything went the right way for Iowa. They didn’t miss a free throw until there was less than five minutes in the game (they were 10 of 10 and wound up 20 of 30). They rained three’s early and they rained three’s late. They had just seven turnovers at the under 4:00 TV timeout. Aaron Fuller, who leads the league in offensive rebounds, had five more and hit double figures in scoring for another double-double. In all, four Hawkeyes scored in double figures and they topped the 70 point mark in a league victory for the first time this season.
They also probably put an end to Northwestern’s dreams of making their first ever NCAA tournament, barring a Big Ten tournament championship. It was Iowa’s 3rd league win of the year, tying them with Indiana for 8th place and they host the Hoosiers before the year is out. Iowa is now 9-16 with at least seven games to play, hoping to avoid the school’s first ever 20 loss season.
Yes, it’s baby steps. I felt this team would win between 8 and 11 games, and they are sitting at nine so right about what I thought. It’s nice to see the players rewarded for their hard work and constant effort in a rebuilding year.
Cume Stats Through NW
There are times when I see glimpses of what I think the future of Iowa basketball will be under Todd Lickliter. Or what I saw some of his Butler teams do.
Tonight’s game against Northwestern was one of those times.
Sure, the Hawks shot 46% from three point range in the first half, sticking 6 of 13 from long range. You can’t expect a team to shoot that pace from beyond the arc for a season. 40 to 43 percent is something that is attainable, and Lickliter’s teams are going to need to stroke it like that. Iowa came into the game making just 32.4% of its threes on the year, which is far too low for any team, much less a team that is #2 in the league in three-pointers made per game (eight per contest, Northwestern is #1).
They did that for a half on Wednesday night, and they led Northwestern by 13 points at the break. Devan Bawinkel made four of those shots, and he is not a player that is routinely going to hurt you. In fact, coming into the game he was mired in a shooting slump this year, having made 25 of 68 treys, which is 36 percent. That might not be considered a horrible percentage for some people, but offensively, that is all that’s expected of Bawinkel and his role is to hit at least 40 percent from beyond the arc. His slump hasn’t helped things.
There was one instance in the first half that got me to thinking along these lines…the Hawks were up 12 late and Cully Payne began to drive the left side of the lane and then kicked it back over his head to forward Brennan Cougill at the top of the key. Cougill stuck the shot putting Iowa up 15.
Lickliter’s system requires at least four of the five players on the floor to be able to hit jump shots, even three point shots. That pulls a defense out and makes it easier for the ballhandlers to attack the lane easier than they have been able to this year. If you have more space to drive, even a less quick player can do some damage. Iowa doesn’t have that this year and while teams are not clogging the lane against Iowa, they are playing aggressive man to man defense and Iowa is not reversing the ball enough to take advantage of that and they don’t have the speed and quickness to go around the defender. A few more shooters would be good medicine for this team, and I think some help is on the way in that department.
Iowa’s four leading three point shooters as far as attempts are concerned (Gatens, Tucker, Payne and May) have made just 32 percent combined in 425 attempts. These numbers were before the Northwestern game, and each had at least 94 three point attempts and none was shooting better than 36%. May was under 30% and both Tucker and Payne had made just under 32%. Gatens was at just 36%, and I think all of these players will shoot better next year.
Iowa stayed hot from beyond the arc in the second half, as six of their first seven field goals were triples, including back to back trey’s from Eric May in a :33 second span midway through the half to put Iowa back up by 15 points. For the night, Iowa hit 12 of 24 three-point shots.
Another huge key for the future of the program will be to limit turnovers. Iowa had just two in the first half against Northwestern, another reason they enjoyed a large lead. Much like Wisconsin’s style of play, controlling possessions and avoiding self inflicted wounds will be big as the Lickliter era moves forward. That has not been something this team has done a good job with this season, as Iowa has been -2.7 in turnover margin prior to taking the floor against Northwestern. Iowa wound up with just eight turnovers for the game (Northwestern had six)
But on Wednesday night against Northwestern, most everything went the right way for Iowa. They didn’t miss a free throw until there was less than five minutes in the game (they were 10 of 10 and wound up 20 of 30). They rained three’s early and they rained three’s late. They had just seven turnovers at the under 4:00 TV timeout. Aaron Fuller, who leads the league in offensive rebounds, had five more and hit double figures in scoring for another double-double. In all, four Hawkeyes scored in double figures and they topped the 70 point mark in a league victory for the first time this season.
They also probably put an end to Northwestern’s dreams of making their first ever NCAA tournament, barring a Big Ten tournament championship. It was Iowa’s 3rd league win of the year, tying them with Indiana for 8th place and they host the Hoosiers before the year is out. Iowa is now 9-16 with at least seven games to play, hoping to avoid the school’s first ever 20 loss season.
Yes, it’s baby steps. I felt this team would win between 8 and 11 games, and they are sitting at nine so right about what I thought. It’s nice to see the players rewarded for their hard work and constant effort in a rebuilding year.
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