JonDMiller
Publisher/Founder
That was a painful loss...no getting around it.
This team can be exhilarating and frustrating so many times in the same game.
There were times on Saturday when they played poorly..like, much of the first half with the exception of about 4 minutes where they shot well. Then in the second half they were clearly much tougher and took the game to Wisconsin. Then in the end, Iowa fell apart yet again and could not hold a lead and then couldn't even get a shot up when down one point with roughly :30 seconds to go.
The shot attempt when Iowa was down three doesn't need to be hashed over too much more. Fran said that Zach and Josh were the two primary options. One of them had a double screen called for him, the other didn't. The one who did wouldn't have been the one I would have picked in that instance, through no fault of his own. His coach drew that play up and while I respect having confidence in your guys, there was one guy in this game, who was red hot, who I would have rather seen shoot that shot.
Again, that's not the player's fault; the coaches draw up the plays and make the decisions. Without knowing the exact design of what they drew up I don't feel comfortable taking McCaffery to the mat on it, but again, one player had a double screen drawn up for him, the other didn't.
ZACH MCCABE: Is he performing how he wants to perform on the court? No, he's not. He's trying hard, giving it everything he has. Again, the coaches are the ones who decides who goes in and who doesn't. If you have any angst over who plays what minutes, direct that at the coaches and not the players.
To the flat out anonymous cowards ripping the kid on social media or wherever else anonymous cowards are going to do such things; you're flat out delta bravos. Incredibly weak and deranged. To flat out rip a member of the team you root for is weak. I've always found it weak and I can't believe how many grown men do it and have done it on message boards like this and others through the years.
It's been even more comical at how many anonymous grown men have reacted incredulously when I've deleted their posts ripping the players and/or banned them.
Truly, if this causes your feathers to be ruffled, do us all a favor and leave here and never, ever come back. You're not wanted or welcome.
GOING FORWARD: The regular season title is likely out...it's disappointing, but this team is still capable of doing a lot. Whether or not they reach their full potential this year remains to be seen. Well, I will amend that. In my opinion, they won't reach their full potential this year because Aaron White continues to be used as a three and he's not a three. As a three, his primary scoring method is drive and get fouled and go to the free throw line, or score in transition. He's more skilled than that, but he doesn't have three skills (consistently). He's a four right now and I think he would flat dominate there...and I think we'll see him do just that next year.
Iowa's best lineup for next year will be Gesell at the one, Oglesby at the two, Uthoff at the three, White at the four and Woodbury/Olaseni at the five. If things play out that way, I think White has a chance to be 1st team All Big Ten and vie for player of the year honors.
But that's just not going to happen this year. Melsahn Basabe is probably a part of the reason and perhaps Fran feels he's getting his best options on the floor this way. But White is too good of a player to be so inconsistent in the scoring column as he has been this year and I am convinced it's because he's playing out of position.
Iowa really needs to win four of their last five games to be certain of a four seed in the NCAA tournament. They are probably down in the 5-6 range for sure as of right now...which is where I pegged them before they year began. I thought they'd be 11-7 in the B1G...that said, they are a better team than I thought they would be and 11-7 would be a disappointment.
Getting one of the first four seeds and missing the first round of the B1G tournament is now of the utmost importance.
This team can be exhilarating and frustrating so many times in the same game.
There were times on Saturday when they played poorly..like, much of the first half with the exception of about 4 minutes where they shot well. Then in the second half they were clearly much tougher and took the game to Wisconsin. Then in the end, Iowa fell apart yet again and could not hold a lead and then couldn't even get a shot up when down one point with roughly :30 seconds to go.
The shot attempt when Iowa was down three doesn't need to be hashed over too much more. Fran said that Zach and Josh were the two primary options. One of them had a double screen called for him, the other didn't. The one who did wouldn't have been the one I would have picked in that instance, through no fault of his own. His coach drew that play up and while I respect having confidence in your guys, there was one guy in this game, who was red hot, who I would have rather seen shoot that shot.
Again, that's not the player's fault; the coaches draw up the plays and make the decisions. Without knowing the exact design of what they drew up I don't feel comfortable taking McCaffery to the mat on it, but again, one player had a double screen drawn up for him, the other didn't.
ZACH MCCABE: Is he performing how he wants to perform on the court? No, he's not. He's trying hard, giving it everything he has. Again, the coaches are the ones who decides who goes in and who doesn't. If you have any angst over who plays what minutes, direct that at the coaches and not the players.
To the flat out anonymous cowards ripping the kid on social media or wherever else anonymous cowards are going to do such things; you're flat out delta bravos. Incredibly weak and deranged. To flat out rip a member of the team you root for is weak. I've always found it weak and I can't believe how many grown men do it and have done it on message boards like this and others through the years.
It's been even more comical at how many anonymous grown men have reacted incredulously when I've deleted their posts ripping the players and/or banned them.
Truly, if this causes your feathers to be ruffled, do us all a favor and leave here and never, ever come back. You're not wanted or welcome.
GOING FORWARD: The regular season title is likely out...it's disappointing, but this team is still capable of doing a lot. Whether or not they reach their full potential this year remains to be seen. Well, I will amend that. In my opinion, they won't reach their full potential this year because Aaron White continues to be used as a three and he's not a three. As a three, his primary scoring method is drive and get fouled and go to the free throw line, or score in transition. He's more skilled than that, but he doesn't have three skills (consistently). He's a four right now and I think he would flat dominate there...and I think we'll see him do just that next year.
Iowa's best lineup for next year will be Gesell at the one, Oglesby at the two, Uthoff at the three, White at the four and Woodbury/Olaseni at the five. If things play out that way, I think White has a chance to be 1st team All Big Ten and vie for player of the year honors.
But that's just not going to happen this year. Melsahn Basabe is probably a part of the reason and perhaps Fran feels he's getting his best options on the floor this way. But White is too good of a player to be so inconsistent in the scoring column as he has been this year and I am convinced it's because he's playing out of position.
Iowa really needs to win four of their last five games to be certain of a four seed in the NCAA tournament. They are probably down in the 5-6 range for sure as of right now...which is where I pegged them before they year began. I thought they'd be 11-7 in the B1G...that said, they are a better team than I thought they would be and 11-7 would be a disappointment.
Getting one of the first four seeds and missing the first round of the B1G tournament is now of the utmost importance.
