This is why I don't get in the prognostication business when it comes to Iowa hoops. Iowa's quality of depth has always been an issue so one major injury handicaps this team alot. 3 players down with injuries is a major blow. And 2 of them are out for the season. At full strength Iowa can beat anyone. At this juncture Iowa has to play near perfect ball to even sniff the dance. As I said before, if Iowa wins 20 games and makes the dance they will have earned it and more. The Big Ten looks awfully good, even traditional doormats like Rutgers and Penn State.
I TOLD YA...SAME OL HAWKEYES
- Thread starter IowaHawkeyeFB
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I don't think any team can lose their top 4 players and expect to accomplish much. There's only so much a coach can do. That's why recruiting is the lifeblood of any program.
Here comes the excuses for this joke of a head coach!
That's why they're duke and that's why I said they would still make the tournament. Almost every other team in the nation is going to struggle bad in this situation.
"The team ran out of players and had to forfeit the game".
"That's just an excuse".
I wonder if there were Marshall fans that said having no players was a lame excuse after their plane crash.
InGoodCo
Well-Known Member
I get that. I am not a real big excuse guy either, ya either win or ya lose. You're good enough or you aren't. But... I also realize that nothing in life is that black and white either. I am able to construct rational thoughts. Had I not seen what this team was capable of when they had 2 extra guards then I wouldn't be making that excuse.
SteveGarvey1
Well-Known Member
As is the case with most debates these days, everyone is so black and white where it really falls into an area of gray.
I get the argument that we should have won the game anyway and good coaches would find a way to get their teams wins in trying circumstances, etc. Fran hasn't done that the last two games.
But it's absurd to just say he's a joke of a coach with all the injuries and illnesses the team has suffered. We win one or both of the last two games if CJ plays, most likely. It's not an excuse, just a rational thought.
You can go through my history. I'm not a Fran supporter by any means.
But to blame him for a ludicrous amount of injuries and players bricking wide open threes all night is not his fault. It's too bad some people are too stupid to realize not everything is black and white.
#1DieHardHawk
Well-Known Member
I agree that things generally are more gray than black and white, and the OP obviously is trolling, but that doesn't get the coaching staff off the hook either.
Everyone keeps pointing to the 3-point shooting, but, outside of simply throwing up threes, where were the adjustments to make Nebraska pay for packing it in around Garza?
What about back cuts? Playing high-low by moving Luka out near the FT line and posting Kreiner? Back-side alley-oops? Pick and rolls? Weak side mid-range shots? And, on and on...
And, people are complaining about the FT disparity. Well, who's fault is that? What about driving the ball to initiate contact to force the officials to make calls? If a team's game plan is to just swing the ball around to the open man and settle for set-shots, said team doesn't deserve to go to the line. That's not some weird conspiracy with the officials. That's on the coaches.
Good coaches have a plan B for in-game adjustments, or they at least anticipate what an opponent may do, especially with an outside shooter out due to injury, and prepare accordingly. I personally don't think Fran is a terrible coach, but he did absolutely nothing last night to help this team adapt and overcome what was happening on the floor. To argue otherwise is putting lipstick on a pig.
Everyone keeps pointing to the 3-point shooting, but, outside of simply throwing up threes, where were the adjustments to make Nebraska pay for packing it in around Garza?
What about back cuts? Playing high-low by moving Luka out near the FT line and posting Kreiner? Back-side alley-oops? Pick and rolls? Weak side mid-range shots? And, on and on...
And, people are complaining about the FT disparity. Well, who's fault is that? What about driving the ball to initiate contact to force the officials to make calls? If a team's game plan is to just swing the ball around to the open man and settle for set-shots, said team doesn't deserve to go to the line. That's not some weird conspiracy with the officials. That's on the coaches.
Good coaches have a plan B for in-game adjustments, or they at least anticipate what an opponent may do, especially with an outside shooter out due to injury, and prepare accordingly. I personally don't think Fran is a terrible coach, but he did absolutely nothing last night to help this team adapt and overcome what was happening on the floor. To argue otherwise is putting lipstick on a pig.
Stanzi
Well-Known Member
Not sure I agree with the free throw argument you made.
33 of Iowa's 77 attempts were 3's which is roughly 43%.
26 of Nebraska's 53 attempts were 3's which is essentially 50%.
They definitely weren't driving the ball more and we took 24 more shots. We took 24 more shots but somehow shot 21 less free throws. The math just doesn't add up to anything other than piss poor officiating (which is not why we lost).
Did you watch the game? Wieskamp did exactly what you said they needed to do in the 2nd half. Joe T was driving like crazy. There were never foul calls. It wasn't over the top outrageous how many fouls they missed. But there were a decent amount of them.
HawkeyeHypnosis
Well-Known Member
Coming off a emotional game at the Palestra which I heard was super hot and both teams players were exhausted, to a short turnaround to play on the road down key players is a recipe for what happened. Get some rest, get back in the gym and get back on the horse.
SteveGarvey1
Well-Known Member
I think we just missed another 3-pter.
kicker22
Well-Known Member
I'm so torn on where I see things today. On one hand if I were not to have seen the game and saw that we shot 4-33 from long range I'd of been absolutely amazed if we were even in the game regardless of who we were playing. That said, for the life of me I can't figure out at what point a team realizes that they're not shooting their way out of it and give up on the 3 ball when almost all of our points were coming in the paint to begin with. It just blows my mind that we continually threw up bricks and air balls rather than trying to get to the paint and possibly draw contact.
I don't know what to make of the fact we shot that poorly and didn't get to the stripe, yet somehow didn't were in the game (regardless of the fact it was Nebraska) up to the final buzzer. I guess going forward, regardless of the injuries, I see it as a "we're never as good as we look or as bad as we look" program. I was pleasantly surprised by this team at the end of OOC play when I went into the year thinking we'd struggle, but now I have no idea what to think. Guess that's why games are played and wins and losses aren't just handed out. I'm expecting a crazy emotional rollercoaster the rest of the season.
I don't know what to make of the fact we shot that poorly and didn't get to the stripe, yet somehow didn't were in the game (regardless of the fact it was Nebraska) up to the final buzzer. I guess going forward, regardless of the injuries, I see it as a "we're never as good as we look or as bad as we look" program. I was pleasantly surprised by this team at the end of OOC play when I went into the year thinking we'd struggle, but now I have no idea what to think. Guess that's why games are played and wins and losses aren't just handed out. I'm expecting a crazy emotional rollercoaster the rest of the season.
Northside Hawk
Well-Known Member
I predicted we would come out flat against Nebraska.
I'm now predicting we come out and roll Maryland.
If nothing else the schedule at least turns in our favor for a few weeks.
I agree with the hypnotic one who posted above. Long trip back from the Palestra, probably didn't get back until well after dark Saturday, had to get on a bus for that four hour ride forty eight hours later, culmination of a road and neutral heavy schedule since Thanksgiving.
I worked in a field for sixteen years where I was required to get up between three and four AM for my job. The effect was compounding as the week went on. I would be a little more tired at the end of the day as the week went on to the point where I would be exhausted by Friday.
We weathered our tough road stretch well, got some wins that could absolutely save our bacon on Selection Sunday. But last week's travel was the final straw. Tired legs could have a lot to do with our 4-33 performance. And it was probably a compounding effect from the schedule.
We could probably use two days of no activity but it's not in the cards. We're going to have to go hard on Thursday to get ready for the Terps. At least we don't have to get on yet another bus or plane.
I'm now predicting we come out and roll Maryland.
If nothing else the schedule at least turns in our favor for a few weeks.
I agree with the hypnotic one who posted above. Long trip back from the Palestra, probably didn't get back until well after dark Saturday, had to get on a bus for that four hour ride forty eight hours later, culmination of a road and neutral heavy schedule since Thanksgiving.
I worked in a field for sixteen years where I was required to get up between three and four AM for my job. The effect was compounding as the week went on. I would be a little more tired at the end of the day as the week went on to the point where I would be exhausted by Friday.
We weathered our tough road stretch well, got some wins that could absolutely save our bacon on Selection Sunday. But last week's travel was the final straw. Tired legs could have a lot to do with our 4-33 performance. And it was probably a compounding effect from the schedule.
We could probably use two days of no activity but it's not in the cards. We're going to have to go hard on Thursday to get ready for the Terps. At least we don't have to get on yet another bus or plane.
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IowaHawkeyeFB
Well-Known Member
Iowa’s not beating Maryland.
#1DieHardHawk
Well-Known Member
I see what you're saying, but I think the numbers are deceiving as well.
A good portion of it was better defensive discipline by Nebraska. For the most part, their players kept the Iowa players in front of them and rarely reached, whereas Iowa struggled to contain on the perimeter, and did a lot of reaching as a reaction to dribble-drive penetration.
As PC stated, I'm sure there were some missed fouls, but by and large we did a poor job of initiating contact. In fairness, part of that relates to our off-shooting night. It's hard to get a defensive player off-balance if you're not hitting from the outside.
#1DieHardHawk
Well-Known Member
Well, Fran's M.O. is to pull a miracle out of his hat the second fans get down on him, so you never know...
