Found this at the Illinois scout site..... It's a good read.
WHAT'S UP: This is a re-preview. The teams already played back on January 5th, and that full preview can be found at the following link. There you will also find a kind of fun "Battle of the Alumni Stars," and a pretty funny episode of "Deep South Park," starring Bobby Knight, Kelvin Sampson, Jay Bilas, as well as Satan and his younger brother, Satan. This re-preview will look at the first Illinois/Iowa game as well as what has happened to the Hawkeye basketball team since that 59-42 thrashing.
THE ILLINOIS GAME: D.J. Richardson came off the bench to score 17 points in Illinois' 59-42 beatdown of the Hawks on January 5th. Doon's numbers included 5-7 from threepointland. Demetri McCamey also came off the bench and played a nearly perfect game, scoring only 9 points, but shooting 4-6, dishing out 7 assists, grabbing 3 board fruit and committing zero turnovers. This may have been the biggest "laugher" in the Big Ten so far this year, as Illinois went up 22-4, and Iowa never challenged after that. The Mike and Mike Show combined for only 13 points and 7 rebounds. In fact, no Illini got more than 5 rebounds. Still, Illinois outrebounded the Hawks 38-29. Bill Cole had a nice Bill Cole-type game shooting 2-4, grabbing 4 rebounds, getting 2 blocks and 2 steals. He also led the team with three offensive rebounds, another battle that the Illini won. Turnovers also came out in our favor, 11-14. Aaron Fuller and Eric May had the only semi-decent games for the Hawks, and it wasn't because they shot well -- they didn't -- but Fuller grabbed 9 boards and May grabbed 8. Only one player on the entire Iowa roster shot better than 33% for the game (Jarryd Cole), and he only took 3 shots! Iowa ended up with a 30% field goal percentage. They were 6-28 from three.
SINCE THE ILLINOIS GAME: At the time of the Illini game, the Hawkeyes were 5-9 and were listed by Ken Pomeroy at #162. Since then, Iowa has gone 3-5 and have a sparkling new #155 ranking from Pomeroy. Besides the loss to Illinois, Iowa has been beaten by Michigan State twice (53-71; at home) and (63-70), Ohio State (57-65) and Michigan (46-60). The Hawks have beaten #273 Tennessee State at home (67-62), Penn State at home (67-64) and Indiana on the road (58-43). According to kenpom.com, Iowa is one of the younger (#337) and smaller (#264) teams in Division One.
Iowa has improved since the first game. They are still in the bottom 60 in the NCAA in every category involving steals and blocks. They don't get them on defense, and they give them up on offense. Where they have improved the most is on defense. In the last month, Iowa has gone from giving up an effective field goal percentage of 53.5 to their new standard of 50.8. That still ranks in the bottom 84 in the country, but it is a huge improvement from where they were at -- the bottom 48. Look for the Hawks to take a lot of three-point bombs, as they score more of their points from three than all but 4 other teams in the country.
THE INDIANA GAME: It was a feeding frenzy under the Iowa basket during this game. The Hawkeyes somehow managed to snag 17 offensive rebounds in the game. Indiana had a total of 21 rebounds -- of all kinds! The front line for Iowa dominated. Jarryd Cole had 11 points and 10 boards (8 of them disrespectful, offensive rebounds), Aaron Fuller had 13 points and 4 boards, and Brennan Cougill added 10 points and 5 rebounds in only 13 minutes. Iowa tried to give the game away by committing 20 turnovers, but Indiana gave it right back with 16. The Hawks only took 14 three-pointers, making 5 of them. Indiana was 0-9 from beyond the arc and shot 35% for the game. This 58-43 loss might have been the absolute low point of Indiana basketball.
THE MICHIGAN GAME: In their last time out, the Hawkeyes were easily beaten on the road by Michigan, 46-60. The Wolverines almost did to Iowa what Illinois accomplished, by jumping out to a 13-0 lead, staying up by 12 at half-time, and scoring the first 5 points in the second half. Iowa let DeShawn Sims go off for 20 points and 12 rebounds. Manny Harris added another 20 and 5. After being so tough on the boards against the Hoosiers, Iowa laid down in Ann Arbor, with the 39-28 edge in rebounding going to Michigan. The Hawks also went away from feeding the ball inside, with Cole and Cougill combining for only 4 shots in 35 minutes. Instead, Iowa went back to launching 24 three's and making only 4 of them. They shot 31% for the game. Aaron Fuller had the only non-dreadful game for Squawks, as he scored 16 points on decent shooting and grabbed 8 rebounds.
THEIR TEAM: Anthony Tucker is, according to the Iowa City Press-Citizen, still suspended, but he was seated on the bench during their last home game in street clothes. He didn't play in the Hawk's last game against Michigan either. Tucker started the first 11 games for Iowa and averaged 11.9 points per game, mostly slinging as many three-balls as he could at the rim. In other news, Matt Gatens is recovering from a sprained ankle. Here's their team:
Matt Gatens (6-5, 215; Soph) 12.1 ppg; 4.4 rpg; 3.4 apg (DON'T FOUL! -- .851 from free lunch)
Eric May (6-5, 225; Fr.) 9.3 ppg; 5.1 rpg (He shoots a lot of threes badly)
Aaron Fuller (6-6, 210; Soph) 8.3 ppg; 5.2 rpg (Shoots a few 3's even worse than May)
Cully Payne (6-1, 190; Fr.) 8.2 ppg; 3.0 rpg; 3.6 apg (Illinois kid)
Jarryd Cole (6-7, 250; Jr.) 8.1 ppg; 5.4 rpg (FOUL HIM! -- .625 from free lunch)
Brennan Cougill (6-9, 260; Fr.) 4.6 ppg; 3.2 rpg (Fancies himself a bit of a three-point shooter)
Devan Bawinkel (6-5, 210; Sr.) 3.4 ppg (Illinois kid; FOUL HIM! -- .500 from free lunch)
John Lickliter (5-11, 175; Fr.) 2.9 ppg (Let him shoot! -- .286 field goal percentage)
Nick Neari (6-2, 185; Fr.) (Illinois kid)
WHAT TO EXPECT: Ken Pomeroy gives Iowa a 26% chance of winning this game with a predicted score of 63-69. Until recently, the Hawks had become enamored with the three-point shot. With their lack of height and relative lack of experience and quickness, they've used that to try to equalize games. Almost half of their shots this year have come from behind the arc. Matt Gatens has taken more three's -- by thirty - than any other Hawkeye. He has also had the most success, hitting them at a .349 clip. (Brennan Cougill has hit .480 of his three-pointers, but he's only taken 25 of them.). Cully Payne and Eric May have taken more three's this year than Demetri McCamey. Unfortunately for Iowa, they have not come close to his .356, and May is actually at .271. Iowa shot more three's than two's in Champaign. Expect that trend to continue.
Aaron Fuller and Jarryd Cole lack the height to be great defensive rebounders. On the other hand, they are both excellent offensive rebounders. In fact, Fuller is 64th in the country at snagging his teammates' miscues. Jarryd Cole has had good games against the Illini in the past, and he has the wide-body frame that can give our bigs trouble. The one thing that he doesn't do, nor anyone on the team except Eric May, is to block shots. The Illini should realize that, unless they are being guarded by May, it is nearly a statistical certainty that they won't get their shot blocked. Don't get me wrong, Eric May is no Patrick Ewing or Michael Tisdale, but he's doing a lot better than Jarryd Cole (7 blocks) Aaron Fuller (5 blocks), Matt Gatens (1 block) or Cully Payne (0 blocks). The Illini play a lot better against teams that are poor at shotblocking.
I'm sure that the Iowa fans would love to have a victory over the Illini, but this might not be their team's Super Bowl. Ken Pomeroy projects that the Hawks will have a greater chance to beat Northwestern and Michigan when they come to town. The Hawks are now a favorite to beat Indiana in the return game at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. I didn't like the idea of Iowa gaining confidence after beating Indiana. In the next game after that, they kept it to an eight-point loss at home against Ohio State. However, in their last game, they were beaten pretty soundly by Michigan on the road. Just as in the game against Indiana, the Illini cannot let the Hawks think they have the slightest chance to win the game; otherwise, weird **** starts to happen. To get off to that good start, the Illini have to crash the boards early and defend the perimeter jumpers. PREDICTION: Illini win, 74-62. INTERESTING TRIVIA: Iowa is exactly one game under .500 in Big Ten Conference men's basketball games.
WHAT'S UP: This is a re-preview. The teams already played back on January 5th, and that full preview can be found at the following link. There you will also find a kind of fun "Battle of the Alumni Stars," and a pretty funny episode of "Deep South Park," starring Bobby Knight, Kelvin Sampson, Jay Bilas, as well as Satan and his younger brother, Satan. This re-preview will look at the first Illinois/Iowa game as well as what has happened to the Hawkeye basketball team since that 59-42 thrashing.
THE ILLINOIS GAME: D.J. Richardson came off the bench to score 17 points in Illinois' 59-42 beatdown of the Hawks on January 5th. Doon's numbers included 5-7 from threepointland. Demetri McCamey also came off the bench and played a nearly perfect game, scoring only 9 points, but shooting 4-6, dishing out 7 assists, grabbing 3 board fruit and committing zero turnovers. This may have been the biggest "laugher" in the Big Ten so far this year, as Illinois went up 22-4, and Iowa never challenged after that. The Mike and Mike Show combined for only 13 points and 7 rebounds. In fact, no Illini got more than 5 rebounds. Still, Illinois outrebounded the Hawks 38-29. Bill Cole had a nice Bill Cole-type game shooting 2-4, grabbing 4 rebounds, getting 2 blocks and 2 steals. He also led the team with three offensive rebounds, another battle that the Illini won. Turnovers also came out in our favor, 11-14. Aaron Fuller and Eric May had the only semi-decent games for the Hawks, and it wasn't because they shot well -- they didn't -- but Fuller grabbed 9 boards and May grabbed 8. Only one player on the entire Iowa roster shot better than 33% for the game (Jarryd Cole), and he only took 3 shots! Iowa ended up with a 30% field goal percentage. They were 6-28 from three.
SINCE THE ILLINOIS GAME: At the time of the Illini game, the Hawkeyes were 5-9 and were listed by Ken Pomeroy at #162. Since then, Iowa has gone 3-5 and have a sparkling new #155 ranking from Pomeroy. Besides the loss to Illinois, Iowa has been beaten by Michigan State twice (53-71; at home) and (63-70), Ohio State (57-65) and Michigan (46-60). The Hawks have beaten #273 Tennessee State at home (67-62), Penn State at home (67-64) and Indiana on the road (58-43). According to kenpom.com, Iowa is one of the younger (#337) and smaller (#264) teams in Division One.
Iowa has improved since the first game. They are still in the bottom 60 in the NCAA in every category involving steals and blocks. They don't get them on defense, and they give them up on offense. Where they have improved the most is on defense. In the last month, Iowa has gone from giving up an effective field goal percentage of 53.5 to their new standard of 50.8. That still ranks in the bottom 84 in the country, but it is a huge improvement from where they were at -- the bottom 48. Look for the Hawks to take a lot of three-point bombs, as they score more of their points from three than all but 4 other teams in the country.
THE INDIANA GAME: It was a feeding frenzy under the Iowa basket during this game. The Hawkeyes somehow managed to snag 17 offensive rebounds in the game. Indiana had a total of 21 rebounds -- of all kinds! The front line for Iowa dominated. Jarryd Cole had 11 points and 10 boards (8 of them disrespectful, offensive rebounds), Aaron Fuller had 13 points and 4 boards, and Brennan Cougill added 10 points and 5 rebounds in only 13 minutes. Iowa tried to give the game away by committing 20 turnovers, but Indiana gave it right back with 16. The Hawks only took 14 three-pointers, making 5 of them. Indiana was 0-9 from beyond the arc and shot 35% for the game. This 58-43 loss might have been the absolute low point of Indiana basketball.
THE MICHIGAN GAME: In their last time out, the Hawkeyes were easily beaten on the road by Michigan, 46-60. The Wolverines almost did to Iowa what Illinois accomplished, by jumping out to a 13-0 lead, staying up by 12 at half-time, and scoring the first 5 points in the second half. Iowa let DeShawn Sims go off for 20 points and 12 rebounds. Manny Harris added another 20 and 5. After being so tough on the boards against the Hoosiers, Iowa laid down in Ann Arbor, with the 39-28 edge in rebounding going to Michigan. The Hawks also went away from feeding the ball inside, with Cole and Cougill combining for only 4 shots in 35 minutes. Instead, Iowa went back to launching 24 three's and making only 4 of them. They shot 31% for the game. Aaron Fuller had the only non-dreadful game for Squawks, as he scored 16 points on decent shooting and grabbed 8 rebounds.
THEIR TEAM: Anthony Tucker is, according to the Iowa City Press-Citizen, still suspended, but he was seated on the bench during their last home game in street clothes. He didn't play in the Hawk's last game against Michigan either. Tucker started the first 11 games for Iowa and averaged 11.9 points per game, mostly slinging as many three-balls as he could at the rim. In other news, Matt Gatens is recovering from a sprained ankle. Here's their team:
Matt Gatens (6-5, 215; Soph) 12.1 ppg; 4.4 rpg; 3.4 apg (DON'T FOUL! -- .851 from free lunch)
Eric May (6-5, 225; Fr.) 9.3 ppg; 5.1 rpg (He shoots a lot of threes badly)
Aaron Fuller (6-6, 210; Soph) 8.3 ppg; 5.2 rpg (Shoots a few 3's even worse than May)
Cully Payne (6-1, 190; Fr.) 8.2 ppg; 3.0 rpg; 3.6 apg (Illinois kid)
Jarryd Cole (6-7, 250; Jr.) 8.1 ppg; 5.4 rpg (FOUL HIM! -- .625 from free lunch)
Brennan Cougill (6-9, 260; Fr.) 4.6 ppg; 3.2 rpg (Fancies himself a bit of a three-point shooter)
Devan Bawinkel (6-5, 210; Sr.) 3.4 ppg (Illinois kid; FOUL HIM! -- .500 from free lunch)
John Lickliter (5-11, 175; Fr.) 2.9 ppg (Let him shoot! -- .286 field goal percentage)
Nick Neari (6-2, 185; Fr.) (Illinois kid)
WHAT TO EXPECT: Ken Pomeroy gives Iowa a 26% chance of winning this game with a predicted score of 63-69. Until recently, the Hawks had become enamored with the three-point shot. With their lack of height and relative lack of experience and quickness, they've used that to try to equalize games. Almost half of their shots this year have come from behind the arc. Matt Gatens has taken more three's -- by thirty - than any other Hawkeye. He has also had the most success, hitting them at a .349 clip. (Brennan Cougill has hit .480 of his three-pointers, but he's only taken 25 of them.). Cully Payne and Eric May have taken more three's this year than Demetri McCamey. Unfortunately for Iowa, they have not come close to his .356, and May is actually at .271. Iowa shot more three's than two's in Champaign. Expect that trend to continue.
Aaron Fuller and Jarryd Cole lack the height to be great defensive rebounders. On the other hand, they are both excellent offensive rebounders. In fact, Fuller is 64th in the country at snagging his teammates' miscues. Jarryd Cole has had good games against the Illini in the past, and he has the wide-body frame that can give our bigs trouble. The one thing that he doesn't do, nor anyone on the team except Eric May, is to block shots. The Illini should realize that, unless they are being guarded by May, it is nearly a statistical certainty that they won't get their shot blocked. Don't get me wrong, Eric May is no Patrick Ewing or Michael Tisdale, but he's doing a lot better than Jarryd Cole (7 blocks) Aaron Fuller (5 blocks), Matt Gatens (1 block) or Cully Payne (0 blocks). The Illini play a lot better against teams that are poor at shotblocking.
I'm sure that the Iowa fans would love to have a victory over the Illini, but this might not be their team's Super Bowl. Ken Pomeroy projects that the Hawks will have a greater chance to beat Northwestern and Michigan when they come to town. The Hawks are now a favorite to beat Indiana in the return game at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. I didn't like the idea of Iowa gaining confidence after beating Indiana. In the next game after that, they kept it to an eight-point loss at home against Ohio State. However, in their last game, they were beaten pretty soundly by Michigan on the road. Just as in the game against Indiana, the Illini cannot let the Hawks think they have the slightest chance to win the game; otherwise, weird **** starts to happen. To get off to that good start, the Illini have to crash the boards early and defend the perimeter jumpers. PREDICTION: Illini win, 74-62. INTERESTING TRIVIA: Iowa is exactly one game under .500 in Big Ten Conference men's basketball games.
