I would not get very down on this loss

[HaydenHawk56]

Woodbury and Gessel showed their freshman side tonight. They will get better and learn from this. There will probably be more games like this this year from them. AW is going to have to get stronger in the weight room and Gessel will learn from the freshman mistakes.

Iowa does need to work on cutting down on stupid fouls and turnovers. You might as well punt the ball at the backboard if you are going to put the ball on the floor in the first 17 seconds of the shot clock.

Somebody is going to have to step up as a leader on the floor. Marble can't disappear like he did in the 2nd half tonight. Marble needs to be that leader for this team.

McCabe (saw this from White to in the last game) have to stop getting beat on the first dribble. McCabe also needs to keep his composure. We don't need the old McCabe coming back.

May is giving it his all, which is encouraging, but he is only going to be able to do so much.

We are ahead of where we have been and just need to keep working at it. If this team can get to 20 wins this year, that would be great for them.

Fran's got it going in the right direction.

 

[Cover3]

Sing it, brother.

 

[hawkeyescott]

I agree, this team will only get better as the season goes. Nobody and I mean nobody would have thought last year's team would go on to win 18 games after that Campbell loss.

 

[HawkeyeHypnosis]

It's a young team and it's young in the season. We didn't play great tonight and the game wasn't out of reach. Our D has been solid. We need to protect the ball a little bit better and shoot a little better. Free throw shooting was terrific tonight. Good game to build off of.

 

[linus19]

Agreed. This team will only get better as the season progresses as will Woodbury and Gessel. They need to take better care of the ball and knock down those shots in the paint and at the rim, and if they can clean that up, we'll be fine.

 

[STILLBUSTER]

Hawks got manhandled tonight and were out of sync due to the game deteriorating into a foul-fest from the get-go. Nothing unexpected from a youth-led team. Missed a lot of shots that, with these kind of experiences, will fall. Most disappointed in Marble, lately, but impressed with May's leadership, gutsiness and reliability. Unfortunately, while the lunch-pail effort is admirable, it can't carry the team to W's beyond the pre-season or against teams of this caliber, let alone the upper tier of the B1G.

All in all, there is zero shame in this loss and this team is on the upswing with a lot of season to go.

 

[redhawk55]

not dissapointed in the loss as it was coming, just a little disappointed in how and who some of fouls were called against IE Gesell, 3rd foul the kid ran right into him and a charge was called. the 4th foul he never touched the kid again a foul was called, its not how many fouls are called its when and who its called on..
Gesell was taken out of the game very early and never stood a chance

 

[DJL]

I'm concerned with the lack of athleticism.

 

[franstheman]

I'm concerned with the lack of athleticism.

More Clemmons, Ingram and Olaseni needed for sure. And May in the starting 5.

 

[Lionhawk]

W

Woodbury and Gessel showed their freshman side tonight. They will get better and learn from this. There will probably be more games like this this year from them. AW is going to have to get stronger in the weight room and Gessel will learn from the freshman mistakes.

Iowa does need to work on cutting down on stupid fouls and turnovers. You might as well punt the ball at the backboard if you are going to put the ball on the floor in the first 17 seconds of the shot clock.

Somebody is going to have to step up as a leader on the floor. Marble can't disappear like he did in the 2nd half tonight. Marble needs to be that leader for this team.

McCabe (saw this from White to in the last game) have to stop getting beat on the first dribble. McCabe also needs to keep his composure. We don't need the old McCabe coming back.

May is giving it his all, which is encouraging, but he is only going to be able to do so much.

We are ahead of where we have been and just need to keep working at it. If this team can get to 20 wins this year, that would be great for them.

Fran's got it going in the right direction.[/QUOTE


Thank you for being the voice of reason. Compared to where we were, where we are is a much improved program, headed in the right direction.

This team will win as many or more games than last year's team and by the end of the year will have learned from games like last night.

This may end up being a better loss by the end of the year than it looks today. WSU will a top team in the M. Valley and probably a NCAA team.

 

[dmShortSaledude]

It's a young team and it's young in the season. We didn't play great tonight and the game wasn't out of reach. Our D has been solid. We need to protect the ball a little bit better and shoot a little better. Free throw shooting was terrific tonight. Good game to build off of.

We need to shoot a LOT better. And we will. Making 4 shots in one half will never happen again... For the season we are shooting worse than last year. I anticipate that we will be shooting better than last year by the start of the B1G season. At least that is what I expected before the season began. Let's hope that rings true!

 

[Biggusblockus]

wsu is a good team that's full of upperclassmen. Iowa is very young team especially at PG and Center. This loss should surprise no one. Hawks will continue to improve.

Lets be realistic about this years team. There's gonna be losses and there's gonna be some bad losses.

this was not a bad loss.

 

[tednugentfan]

I am not disappointed that we lost to WSU, but how we lost. Guys that had been swatted multiple times kept going weak to the hoop instead of adjusting and taking a jumper. Sloppy passing at key times led to multiple breaks for WSU and we got killed on 50-50 balls. Not many positives to take out of the game, as nobody played well. Physical bigs and in your face defense causes us problems.

 

[jacknicholson]

We need to shoot a LOT better. And we will. Making 4 shots in one half will never happen again... For the season we are shooting worse than last year. I anticipate that we will be shooting better than last year by the start of the B1G season. At least that is what I expected before the season began. Let's hope that rings true!

Did we only make four shots in the second half......

I wasn't aware of that. If so, that is pitiful no matter the competition. Despite that we are still learning and by conference time, I am certain Fran will have his combos/situations worked out. We are on our way......

 

[sportstalent]

The loss to WSU is not a surprise, I think a lot of realistic people predicted Iowa would lose a game in this tournament, the question was to WSU or WKU? Well, it was in the Championship game...remember Championship game...it may not seem a big deal, but it really is.

Iowa could have lost to WKU easily, but didn't, they could have lost to GW, but didn't, they could have lost easily to CMU, but didn't. Yes, this team has a way to go, but in the past given the depth issues and lack of a real PG, Iowa would have a losing record at this point in the season.

This team is nowhere near as good to this point as they were at the end of the season, but they are remarkably better this year than out of the gate last season. How will Iowa end up, that has yet to be determined. What is Iowa missing, a shooter that is reliable. Iowa didn't start playing really well until that Purdue home game last year after Gatens went coast to coast and drilled a three...they didn't win that game, but Gatens was a different player...that was his moment when he hit a shot that really mattered.

The other thing Iowa is missing is a solid rotation, yeah Iowa plays people, but Fran hasn't found his rotation yet, it needs to happen sooner rather than later. I don't think Fran finds it until Iowa has a guard that starts hitting 3's at a consistent level, the only guy that can do that is Oglesby, he hasn't yet, but when he is on, Iowa will be at their best.
Defensively, I don't have any huge concerns at this point, other than White looking like he doesn't belong guarding any wing players at this point and needs to move back to the 4. Iowa is just better for it, he works hard on the boards and is a tough player.

Here are a couple things I would like to see and keep in mind this hasn't changed for me since last season ended and after I saw Clemmons play in his quarterfinal game:

Starters: Gesell, Oglesby, Marble, White, Woodbury
Reserves: Clemmons, Ingram, May, Basabe/McCabe, Olaseni
Players I want to see more of: Clemmons, Oglesby, Ingram, Basabe, Olaseni, Woodbury
Less of: May, McCabe

When Iowa plays physical teams, they need their most physical players on the floor as much as possible, if that means Gesell takes a seat and Clemmons plays more than so be it, if that means Ingram is on the floor so be it, if May is the best match-up at that time, then put him out there.
Marble needs to stay as far away from the PG spot unless he attacks the rim, he cannot be passive whatsoever.
Iowa needs to have one or two guys on the floor that can protect the rim all the time, with their "best" offensive lineups they struggle to score...so what is the difference? Look at the formula FSU has used, they have their best athletes on the floor, play defense and play offense within themselves, the last point being the most important.

The most disappointing thing to me thus far remains the droughts and offensive struggles that remain, now that could be because of people still trying to accept their roles, youth, players not comfortable in their roles, or no real rotation yet.

I still expect this team to do well, Iowa has enough talent to be a good team, it is only a matter of time. Iowa losing to WSU is not the worst thing in the world and they will benefit from it.