Incomplete recruiting at the point guard spot along with not enough beef in the low post. Combine that with poor team defense and defensive fundamentals and this is what you get when they play real competition. Fran throws a number of defensive looks at the opponent, but the team does not do any of them particularly well aside from the cupcakes and other middling teams.
Take a look at Mr. Davis's zone defense back in the day. Yes, it would have its trouble with defending the perimeter from time to time (like Fran's teams, Lick, and Alford), but look at the way his players had their hands up and communicating with each other. They typically had a triangle around the basket for solid rebounding position. Mr. Davis's zone was much more active. His teams were consistently a top team in rebounding.
Then, go back and watch Fran's team again and see the difference.
And, Mr. Davis's press. Yes, Sparty ate it for lunch, but how many times did it save Iowa's ass because they committed to working on it.
Again, I think Fran's teams have lacked an identity. Ok, maybe that is not quite right. They have the reputation for scoring points and giving up a lot of points. But, what is it that his teams do real well?
I think they need to work on specializing in fewer schemes and do it real well. If you want to be good zone team, then commit to it. If you want to be a good pressing team, then commit to it.
Sometimes, it just feels like we are all over the place defensively. And, it has been better this year against the lesser teams, but the same problems from the past have surfaced against the big boys.
