Iowa Rolls in Exhibition
- Thread starter RobHowe
- Start date
I thought I read that Syd was out until at least after Thanksgiving due to a cleanup surgery. I always assumed Guyton would redshirt due to her injury from last year.
It is unusual that there is not a drop off after the bench comes on. I am very impressed that the bench kept the two to one margin intact. Some salty Freshmen on this team. Maybe we can be good enough early to be a force in the league. I did not expect that to happen until mid season. Now I am getting optimistic. There are definitely going to be more top notch Iowa teams. Jan is showing what a strong coaching staff can mean to a program.
Also, recruiting has reached levels never seen for the program before. Makes having a deep bench and being able to reload rosters significantly easier.
#1DieHardHawk
Well-Known Member
Watched the first half.
Definitely some stuff to build with there. Several players contributed, and that competition will only make the players better.
The only concern I would have as the competition heats up is the 5-spot. Nothing personal at all, but I've posted before that I just don't think O'Grady has that competitive spirit/personality that you like to see in athletes. I get the feeling that she's just a naturally passive easy-going person, but I wish on the court she could channel some inner badass and grit. Not much backing her up, though the true frosh seems to have a ton of potential, and no one is better than Jan coaching that position. I wonder if we'll ultimately see Stuelke a lot at the 5 again?
Definitely some stuff to build with there. Several players contributed, and that competition will only make the players better.
The only concern I would have as the competition heats up is the 5-spot. Nothing personal at all, but I've posted before that I just don't think O'Grady has that competitive spirit/personality that you like to see in athletes. I get the feeling that she's just a naturally passive easy-going person, but I wish on the court she could channel some inner badass and grit. Not much backing her up, though the true frosh seems to have a ton of potential, and no one is better than Jan coaching that position. I wonder if we'll ultimately see Stuelke a lot at the 5 again?
edit: I'm commenting after watching the VA Tech game.
Yah.
I mean, that was my impression watching the game. It's deep. Maybe not exactly SC deep with potential superstars. But hot dang, if that's O'Grady off the bench, bench her immediately. But if that's O'Grady anytime, Jan has work to do to figure it out the right combos. Mix in that there's a lot of youth with potential, particularly the 4s and kinda 5s that Jan knows how to coach. It's going to be a very good team, for a good long while. The Caitlin Clark effect. No clue if they can reach the same heights, but I think they have more than enough opportunity in the coming years to rack up more Big 10 hardware for sure.
Again, I don't care if they have the kind of success of the last two seasons. Jensen/Bluder basketball is flat out fun to watch. Transition. Ball movement. Sometimes high risk, but lots of high reward passing. Said it before, my knowledge of basketball is youth rec level. They play the kind of basketball I can understand, just at a very high level of execution and ability. I've never been much of a basketball guy, except for the last 3 seasons. Yah, Clark was the bait. The meal though was watching Bluder/Jensen basketball. It's just way more entertaining than 85% of all basketball. Including both men and women. And far more entertaining than ANY pro basketball.
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edit: I'm commenting after watching the VA Tech game.
Jensen sure has a lot of 4 and 5ish-es. How do you max the leverage of what Stuelke brings in that? That play where Stuelke outran the defense? Peak Steulke. I had to rewind and call my wife into the room to see that one.
It's one of the few times the cameras caught how she's able to be there under the basket with no defender within a couple feet. It's always seemed a bit magic and I assumed it was her track ability. But, usually the camera doesn't catch it. Especially when Clark was on the floor.
There were so many 4s/5ish-es on the floor with some ability in that game I couldn't keep up. The freshman? Looked a bit like a freshman at times, but clearly has some skills. She's going to be fun to watch over the years under Jensen.
Hard to argue O'Grady's performance in that game. 9 of 9 for 18? And some of them were absolute beauts.
#1DieHardHawk
Well-Known Member
I was more impressed with O'Grady's movement without the ball than the shooting percentage. In fairness, they were basically all layups after nice passes, but she showed very good movement and timing to be in a position to receive those passes. She also seemed more focused and deliberate - perhaps she has found that inner badass...
