Holy shit how wrong has this board been?

[1hawkeye1]

Hmmm, didn't ISU just beat Seton Hall the other night??? And Iowa did beat Texas Tech and Syracuse on the road didn't they. That is just terrible.

And JBo was playing wasn't he.

Hmmm, didn't ISU just beat Seton Hall the other night??? And Iowa did beat Texas Tech and Syracuse on the road didn't they. That is just terrible.

Hmmm, and didn't Texas Tech beat Louisville? So that makes us the #1 team in the country, right? That's not how it works.

 

[revkev73]

I wasn't wrong per se, but they've done better than I thought they could be. I thought they had a chance to be good with more bball IQ and new pieces, but wasn't quite expecting this. Their chemistry is terrific and they feed off of Garza's will. They will still have bad shooting nights which will cost them games, but I feel like their defensive communication and effort is much improved without Cook and Moss.

I agree that defense seems to be better, perhaps a coaching focus, that is actually being coached and not talked about. That said, when a team gets run out of the building vs, for example, Michigan and DePaul, that's a sign that the defense isn't consistent. That is to be expected, given it is still early in the season. I think this team is getting the point...defense will win lots of games. Of course, with the ever present three point shooting, sometimes a "hot" team just can't be stopped, on a given night. Defense, rebounding, FT shooting, can always be there. This is a fun team to watch so far, and "team" is the key word. It got tiring watching Iowa burning energy to "get it to Cook" only to see the ball turned over, or flailed up, as the other four players stood there watching. (Yes he made some astounding moves and jams!) Same with Moss, getting the ball to a black hole shooter, with the others passively along for the ride.

 

[revkev73]

I like Fran, but I am not a fan of his temper out bursts. That one last year at OSU was over the line. He's great when he does one on one interviews. He's a very smooth and comes off as calm and collected and knows what he's talking about

Fran is a better coach when his "rage muffler" is engaged.

 

[#1DieHardHawk]

The improvement we have seen since the DePaul game is impressive. What I especially like is the movement off the ball. A lot of that can be attributed to Weiskamp and Frederick both having excellent basketball IQs and a feel for the game.

Obviously, Garza's rise is a big component as well. The team feeds off his toughness and grit.

Keeping it real, though, ISU probably has it's worst team in years. We'll have to wait and see how things go in the meat of the conference schedule. I hope I'm wrong, but I still think we finish in the bottom half. The B1G is loaded this year.

 

[SidFarkas]

I was as pissed at b-ball leaving DePaul game as I can remember.

Forgot that it was a November game with new moving parts.

This Iowa team will now be a tough out the rest of the year.

To those on the fence that live a couple hours from Carver - buy tickets, come and be loud in support of the Iowa Basketball program.

 

[WindsorHawk]

lol, Windsor you do this every year.

In fact you and I debated this exact same thing a year ago. I can't remember the win total you predicted the Hawks would win but when it looked like you were going to win our bet the Hawks proceeded to lose 5 of their last 6 games.

Yeah. You almost sent me some beer. I will always hope for the best. And IIRC we played in the NCAA Tournament last year...can’t win it if we aren’t in it.

As I stated in another thread there are only 3 undefeated teams in Big 10 conference play...in December... and they’re 1-0. It’s going to be a grind.

 

[kameltoez102]

The one thing I don't like is for the past several years now they get in this stretch where they play lazy and lose focus. Lazy passing, lazy defense, lazy rebounding, and not much emotion. That happened last night and Iowa State started to make a run. Even if they aren't making shots if they can just play intelligent without making stupid passes and work the offense they would have won by 30.

At least to me the thing I do like is that the depth seems to be much better and when guys need to get a breather etc we have several guys that can make plays. For the first time in many years I really like our complete PG lineup. My only concern right now is any type of injury to Garza or if he ever gets in foul trouble. Without Nunge there to back him up that leaves a little bit of a hole down low. While Kreiner is gutty he is not quite average for Big 10 play and Pemsl really has no business on the floor after what I have seen so far this year.

 

[WinOneThisCentury]

Haha yeah my expectations weren't too high. I thought we accounted ourselves well up in Michigan for the most part. Took a monster game by Garza to even be in that game but since then we've looked great. I hate to get out ahead of my skis too but hey these guys are playing well. They know their roles and it's been fun to watch. One game at a time and lets see what happens

I look at the Michigan game and, after watching Michigan play Illinois, think Michigan just had a great night shooting from three. In the Louisville game, Michigan was like 3-19 and against Illinois, they were 2-18 from the three point line. Against Iowa, they were 10-24 from three and for the first 30 minutes it was like 9-19 on a graphic I saw. That's a 20 point difference in those games. I will say, both Louisville and Illinois played man and tried to run Michigan off the line...they did a better job of pressuring shooters. That being said...Michigan missed a ton of open threes in those games.

Iowa made runs at Michigan in that game...they just always hit the big three and they had help with officiating being a little skewed. The over and back on the tipped pass was a big moment when Iowa was on a run...there were fouls not called during Iowa runs...we may have just run into a hot team that night.

Regardless...Fran needs to come up with a better defensive game plan against the high pick and roll against Michigan..we got destroyed...time after time...for layups and dunks....and it's two years in a row at Michigan.

 

[HuckFinn]

20 games left to go and we've seen this script before. Get back to me in February.

I get it. But, at least you cannot bitch that we don’t play stiff competition before the BT season And, this may be the most balanced I have seen in the BT in years. Yes, it early.

 

[ssckelley]

I get it. But, at least you cannot bitch that we don’t play stiff competition before the BT season And, this may be the most balanced I have seen in the BT in years. Yes, it early.

I've still got my fingers crossed that DePaul, San Diego State, Syracuse, and even ISU/TTech wind up as good wins/losses. I have my doubts that ISU is a tournament team this year but any win in LAmes is a good win, especially after 16 years.

But, yeah, it's still better than playing CreamPuff U.

 

[SteveGarvey1]

Seriously..... you guys made me turn on Fran when I’m reality he recruited really well and put together an amazing class and team. Might not be elite, but they know how to put the ball in the bucket and he can actually absorb attrition like TC and IM and still field and competent team

We are not a collection of geniuses here.

 

[InGoodCo]

It's early, there's still a long ways to go.... but we don't have to wait any longer to realize the doom and gloom about Iowa basketball and it's coach and him not knowing what he is doing can stop. Period. If we miss the dance this year, so be it, it will be because of too many injuries to over come. That doesn't change the fact that we have a coach who knows the game of basketball who recruits well and has an eye for talent. That narrative is kaput.

 

[InGoodCo]

We are not a collection of geniuses here.

I really do take a lot of your guys word for things....cause I feel like ya'll got your pulse on Iowa hoops as good as anyone. I am not trying to spit in any faces as I was guilty of being peeved at our coach just a month ago. But my opinion was shaped from this board. I don't get how SO MANY of us could have been this off base? I mean, from what I gleaned on this site for the last year was that I should be prepared to be a cellar dweller. One of the worst P5 teams in the country.... and instead, we might be one of the better teams in the country thus far. How is it that we all couldn't see this coming? Do we all just not know a god damn thing? I just enjoy trying to understand that aspect of things. Is it because we are too close to the situation and team that we can't objectively look at it? Do we just like to eat our own? I mean, this is straight up just a question and not trolling? How could some of us be that wrong?

 

[Robowe]

It's early, there's still a long ways to go.... but we don't have to wait any longer to realize the doom and gloom about Iowa basketball and it's coach and him not knowing what he is doing can stop. Period. If we miss the dance this year, so be it, it will be because of too many injuries to over come. That doesn't change the fact that we have a coach who knows the game of basketball who recruits well and has an eye for talent. That narrative is kaput.

 

[HawkeyeTech]

I really do take a lot of your guys word for things....cause I feel like ya'll got your pulse on Iowa hoops as good as anyone. I am not trying to spit in any faces as I was guilty of being peeved at our coach just a month ago. But my opinion was shaped from this board. I don't get how SO MANY of us could have been this off base? I mean, from what I gleaned on this site for the last year was that I should be prepared to be a cellar dweller. One of the worst P5 teams in the country.... and instead, we might be one of the better teams in the country thus far. How is it that we all couldn't see this coming? Do we all just not know a god damn thing? I just enjoy trying to understand that aspect of things. Is it because we are too close to the situation and team that we can't objectively look at it? Do we just like to eat our own? I mean, this is straight up just a question and not trolling? How could some of us be that wrong?

How could "we" be so wrong? LOL! Message boards are mostly for people who want to bitch and moan about the coaches, players, AD, blah, blah, blah. Those of us who are happy with mediocrity don't post much.

 

[InGoodCo]

oh so if we happy Iowa is off to a good start we are happy with mediocrity. We've gotten to that stage in the natural progression of a successful sport season. Sweet.

 

[Knight78]

lol, slow your roll guy shows up after Iowa goes to 4-2 in a 7 game stretch most fans considered 0-7 as a real possibility. I am a fan, I don't need to slow anything. Even if Jordan shuts it down, the talent on this roster is impossible not to see. Fran has taken non stop shit about offering and taking Jordan, he's gotten shit about taking CJ, he's gotten shit about flat footed Garza, he's gotten shit about playing his kid....

here's an idea, maybe we should slow our roll on how bad Fran is?

Well, Seton Hall had beaten them on a neutral court and then turns around and loses to them at Hilton. Seton Hall is still ranked in the top 25. And we put a headlock on ISU on their own floor. (So much for Hilton Magic)

 

[Knight78]

Fran was just recently getting thrown under bus for the most recent recruiting class. Maybe the kid from Oskaloosa should reconsider. With the Murray twins signing, etc.

Connor had taken a lot of heat too, but he has improved. Unbelievable the leap Garza took in being consistent doing it. I imagine he is gone after this season.

I think a lot of Garza's "unbelievable leap" was due to the fact that he didn't have a 9 pound cyst removed a few months ago. Last year for the first couple of months he was still recovering and wasn't in good shape. This year with a full summer of workouts, he's in great physical condition.

 

[SidFarkas]

oh so if we happy Iowa is off to a good start we are happy with mediocrity. We've gotten to that stage in the natural progression of a successful sport season. Sweet.

Measured responses, rationality, basketball knowledge and recruiting acumen are replaced on social media platform with:

I emote therefore I am.
The kid is Caucasian, he HAS to suck.
I played junior varsity b-ball 10-20-30 years ago, MY coach never said Motherf:$&@“ to anyone.

Get with the negative narrative Comrade, no room for positive program dissent in the Socialist Republic of Iowa City.

 

[HawkPrdatr40]

Jury is still out!!!!

we'll just have to wait and see. lol..

1Hawk isn’t wrong! If you take JBO off this team the juror re-enters the room!!