Is it all bad with Hubbard leaving?

[1hawkeye1]

Can't argue with you regarding the center position. But as Bobby Knight said (paraphrasing), "The best thing about freshmen is that they become sophomores". My wishful thinking is that you'll see significant improvement from last year's new players, particularly on the defensive end. It will be a stretch to make the NIT, but there will be improvement over last year.

Wow, there must be a lot of rainbows and lollipops where you live. "...a stretch to make the NIT, but there will be improvement over last year."

The NIT just went out the window, wave goodbye. How will there be improvement when we have the same four starters plus a 5 who was pretty bad last year?

This is a huge blow to the program and sets us back another season at least. We will now battle to stay out of the cellar of the conference. Cartwright will now need to play 90% of every game minimum. If he gets dinged at all, and chances are he will playing that much, we are screwed.

 

[RADMAN]

Yes it's all bad.
There already was an open scholarship that Fran tried to hand out and couldn't find any takers.
The starting 5 now includes 4 returners from a 20 loss team and a worse center.
This reflects terribly on the program and another bad season does nothing to help recruiting.

Nice positive post!! "There were no takers". Really? We don't need to just fill a bench, we need the right players. Fran could fill the spot in a heartbeat. There were plenty of mediocre players that wanted to come to Iowa and were not given the open slot. Hubbard stings but in every situation there are positives. Other players will step up. I give you credit though, 20 posts and it appears you are a hater already.

 

[SteveGarvey]

I agree with the OP. Good post

Look, he was only going to be here two years. He wasn't the savior of the program that we hoped for. And who knows, he just might have offended again which would have been an embarrassment and a nightmare for Fran. Hey, I didn't think Pierre Pierce would have been stupid enough to offend again and he did. Not saying it's a good thing and Hubbard was going to be a good player but I'm coming down off of the ledge anyway.

 

[Cover3]

Can't argue with you regarding the center position. But as Bobby Knight said (paraphrasing), "The best thing about freshmen is that they become sophomores". My wishful thinking is that you'll see significant improvement from last year's new players, particularly on the defensive end. It will be a stretch to make the NIT, but there will be improvement over last year.

I agree with this sentiment. After the way the team played the last handful of games last year, I think we can expect improvement if nowhere else than just by cleaning up the early losses like South Dakota State and Long Beach. Cole provided a lot of leadership, but I think even just the guys we have returning could exceed '10-'11s 7-5 OOC record. Hopefully the record this year will show some progress even without the impact Hubbard might have had.

 

[ColumbusHawk]

Lets start by blaming bowlsby for taking us to the next level. Rock bottom... Losing Hubbard hurts because it looks bad to future recruits. I hope Fran has a trick up his sleeve because I love him but this could be the start of a roller coaster effect that includes losing Woodbury and Gessell

Don't blame Bowlsby. Davis started the decline of Iowa basketball. He inherited the most talented team in the country. He went 14-4 in conference play his first year & probably would have won the Big Ten title if his best player, Kevin Gamble, had not missed several games in the middle of conference play. However, by his fourth year he went 4-14. He completely ruined the program.

Just imagine the fallout if the coach that replaces Ferentz goes to a BCS bowl game his first year, the record gets progressively worse each year, & by the fourth year only wins two conference games. He will be run out of town on a rail.

Don't blame Bowlsby.

How bad is Iowa basketball? In the first half of my life Iowa won six Big Ten titles & went to the final four three times. In the last half of my life, hopefully it will last much longer, the Hawks have challenged for the Big Ten title only twice.

The problem is that Iowa has been bad for so long that people think the glory days of Iowa basketball were under Davis. There are very few people out there that remember Ralph, Lute, Sam Williams, John Johnson, Ronnie Lester, etc.

One thing I find funny is the reunion that was held recently for the basketball players. Only a few of the articles mentioned Glenn Vidnovic. Vidnovic is one of my favorite Iowa players of all time. Hopefully, Glenn showed the other players his two Big Ten rings.

People in their late to mid-fifties & older do not have a very good opinion of Davis. We knew during his second year Davis would never challenge for a Big Ten title.

Iowa fans of my generation remember Big Ten titles & Final Four appearances. Now, fans think that if Iowa makes the NCAA tournament & is one & done, the Hawks are back to the glory days of Davis.

I feel sorry for the younger Iowa fans. They have no basketball memories. I remember the '68, '70, '79 & '80 seasons. Until you experience the joys & hearbreak of the '70 season, you have not experienced Iowa basketball.

Sorry for my rantings & ravings, but I despise Davis. He ruined Iowa basketball. I do blame Bowlsby for not firing Davis earlier.

God, I long for the days of Ralph & Lute.

 

[Cydkar]

I agree that Davis is becoming a bit overrated in a revisionist manner but I don't agree that he was bad enough to be despised.

 

[SirJamaLot]

There is no way to sugar-coat the obvious, Hubbard was one of the few players on the team that could get to the rim and create shots for himself and teammates, the coaches stuck their necks out for him and he payed them back by bailing after 1 month, welcome to the world of 2011 college basketball, Fran has a ton of depth and hopefully Marble and Josh O can fill his role, People that are ripping Barta and Fran are very frustrated but Fran is not going to turn this around in 2 years the Hawks hit rock bottom under Lick, getting Gessel and Woody would be huge and and much better than rolling the dice with Hubbard.

 

[Hawkstrat]

"Fran has a ton of depth"

False.

Iowa has one good PG and a SF backing him up
Iowa has one good SG with a freshman backing him up
Iowa has all sorts of problems at the three. May isn't good at basketball, and Marble will need to man the point at times.
Iowa has one good PF, and a decent reserve in McCabe. White, although too skinny, will get minutes and the 3/4.
Iowa has three bad center.

That is not a ton of depth, and it is certainly far from having quality depth.

 

[sportstalent]

It is understandable all the negative commentary that is coming out after Hubbard leaving. It is understandable to say Fran failed with Hubbard. It is understandable to think that Iowa is simply going to suck again.
The one thing that cannot be forgotten and this is what I lay my hopes on as an Iowa fan is this.
1. Look at the improvement Iowa made from game one to their final game. In their last two games of the season the beat Purdue when Purdue was playing well and they should have beaten Michigan State for the second time. The question I have is would this team last year been able to compete with Purdue and MSU at the start of the season?
2. When a program is in the state the Iowa is, there are two things that have to happen...a)get better players and b)develop those players into better players. Every player on the roster except for May and McCabe were better players by the end of the season, now May/McCabe had a couple moments, but they stayed the same about all season. Player development is going to be the single biggest factor for the staff until they can get some upper shelf players, hopefully that will be this Summer (people keep saying Fall, but Iowa has to have players verbal by the end of August or it will be doubtful they verbal at all). From day one, I have been focused on the 2013 class, they will see Iowa's progress during the season and before the Spring recruiting season, that is the most important class for the big names.
3. People complain about where Iowa ranks on paper in recruiting, but there are only two classes in the Big Ten that outperformed Iowa's 2010 class; Ohio State and Michigan.
4. Iowa has better depth this season, they had no depth period last season. It will be interesting to see Iowa have a rotation, yes they have issues at the backup PG position, but the writing was on the wall after Spring and no other PG was brought in. Bryce should have been preparing to play 40 minutes a game even if he ends up not. Fran will give him plenty of rest in the non-conference play to conserve him for the BIG, given Iowa takes care of business, even without Hubbard there are only a handful of games Iowa should need Bryce for more than a half. The center position isn't as much of a question mark as people think. Brommer is not all-world by any stretch and Archie is injury prone. Olaseni needs to just play defense, Iowa will have better shooting than they did last year and Bryce will be able to kick out to shooters rather than just rely on Cole/Basabe to make a shot.
5. Don't count out Iowa's three best players: Basabe/Cartwright/Gatens. With more shooters on the floor, Gatens should get better looks. Bryce will be able to not be predictable on who he is going to off the bounch. Basabe will be much more descisive with his ball in his hands, also, instead of all the turnovers trying to force passes that aren't there, with the better shooting he will have more options. Iowa has three players that are pretty decent, much better than average and the additions of White/Oglesby and development of Marble/McCabe into better shooters and understanding their roles will be beneficial to the entire team.

Is is bad that Hubbard is gone, yes, but Iowa is still a better team heading into this season than last. The Big Ten is not as good and Iowa got a break in scheduling. The non-conference schedule is not that good, yeah there are a few good games on it. The most important game for Iowa is the first one, if they can get over the hump of losing season openers and get some good feeling from game one, it will be different. There will be improvement and only time will tell how much of a loss Hubbard will be if and when he decides his next school and how good a player he really is.

 

[Clearhawk]

Smart money says he commits another felony soon. This was a bad idea from word go. Spent four years in prison? Homesick? Shades of Sam Mack. This is a college basketball team for students, this is not the Longest Yard.

 

[SheagleHawk]

It is understandable all the negative commentary that is coming out after Hubbard leaving. It is understandable to say Fran failed with Hubbard. It is understandable to think that Iowa is simply going to suck again.
The one thing that cannot be forgotten and this is what I lay my hopes on as an Iowa fan is this.
1. Look at the improvement Iowa made from game one to their final game. In their last two games of the season the beat Purdue when Purdue was playing well and they should have beaten Michigan State for the second time. The question I have is would this team last year been able to compete with Purdue and MSU at the start of the season?
2. When a program is in the state the Iowa is, there are two things that have to happen...a)get better players and b)develop those players into better players. Every player on the roster except for May and McCabe were better players by the end of the season, now May/McCabe had a couple moments, but they stayed the same about all season. Player development is going to be the single biggest factor for the staff until they can get some upper shelf players, hopefully that will be this Summer (people keep saying Fall, but Iowa has to have players verbal by the end of August or it will be doubtful they verbal at all). From day one, I have been focused on the 2013 class, they will see Iowa's progress during the season and before the Spring recruiting season, that is the most important class for the big names.
3. People complain about where Iowa ranks on paper in recruiting, but there are only two classes in the Big Ten that outperformed Iowa's 2010 class; Ohio State and Michigan.
4. Iowa has better depth this season, they had no depth period last season. It will be interesting to see Iowa have a rotation, yes they have issues at the backup PG position, but the writing was on the wall after Spring and no other PG was brought in. Bryce should have been preparing to play 40 minutes a game even if he ends up not. Fran will give him plenty of rest in the non-conference play to conserve him for the BIG, given Iowa takes care of business, even without Hubbard there are only a handful of games Iowa should need Bryce for more than a half. The center position isn't as much of a question mark as people think. Brommer is not all-world by any stretch and Archie is injury prone. Olaseni needs to just play defense, Iowa will have better shooting than they did last year and Bryce will be able to kick out to shooters rather than just rely on Cole/Basabe to make a shot.
5. Don't count out Iowa's three best players: Basabe/Cartwright/Gatens. With more shooters on the floor, Gatens should get better looks. Bryce will be able to not be predictable on who he is going to off the bounch. Basabe will be much more descisive with his ball in his hands, also, instead of all the turnovers trying to force passes that aren't there, with the better shooting he will have more options. Iowa has three players that are pretty decent, much better than average and the additions of White/Oglesby and development of Marble/McCabe into better shooters and understanding their roles will be beneficial to the entire team.

Is is bad that Hubbard is gone, yes, but Iowa is still a better team heading into this season than last. The Big Ten is not as good and Iowa got a break in scheduling. The non-conference schedule is not that good, yeah there are a few good games on it. The most important game for Iowa is the first one, if they can get over the hump of losing season openers and get some good feeling from game one, it will be different. There will be improvement and only time will tell how much of a loss Hubbard will be if and when he decides his next school and how good a player he really is.

Gatens can't get any better looks than he got last year. Bryce set him up nicely ALL year. It wasn't a matter of him not getting open shots, it was his poor shooting.

 

[sportstalent]

Gatens can't get any better looks than he got last year. Bryce set him up nicely ALL year. It wasn't a matter of him not getting open shots, it was his poor shooting.

You have a valid point, but also Matt did get hurt missed some time and wasn't consistent game in and game out. Barring injury, I am hopeful he regain consistency. If it were an ankle injury he had, the mental impact isn't as high. When Matt came back he played one handed, basically, for a while. Mentally, coming off a hand injury, there is going to be some doubt everytime one catches the ball.
He have some great looks and missed badly, but there were times he had defenders in his face and off balance and made them. Once you get rattled confidence wise, it can be tough to regain. Give Matt a healthy offseason and renewed confidence and lets see what happens.
Also, when a player knows that they are the only viable outside shooter on the team, one can put too much pressure on themselves, couple that with and injury and inconsistency...the player becomes much less than who they really can be. With White and Oglesby on board and Marble/McCabe improving themselves by working hard, it should take pressure off of him to think he has to make every shot he takes.
I am looking for Matt to have his best season of his career, given he stays healthy. Given all that has happened during his career, look for him to play with a huge sense of urgency in his Senior year.

 

[SheagleHawk]

You have a valid point, but also Matt did get hurt missed some time and wasn't consistent game in and game out. Barring injury, I am hopeful he regain consistency. If it were an ankle injury he had, the mental impact isn't as high. When Matt came back he played one handed, basically, for a while. Mentally, coming off a hand injury, there is going to be some doubt everytime one catches the ball.
He have some great looks and missed badly, but there were times he had defenders in his face and off balance and made them. Once you get rattled confidence wise, it can be tough to regain. Give Matt a healthy offseason and renewed confidence and lets see what happens.
Also, when a player knows that they are the only viable outside shooter on the team, one can put too much pressure on themselves, couple that with and injury and inconsistency...the player becomes much less than who they really can be. With White and Oglesby on board and Marble/McCabe improving themselves by working hard, it should take pressure off of him to think he has to make every shot he takes.
I am looking for Matt to have his best season of his career, given he stays healthy. Given all that has happened during his career, look for him to play with a huge sense of urgency in his Senior year.

Hope you're right, Sportstalent! I know his hand bothered him for a while, and maybe he rushed his return, but it was indeed frustrating watching a supposed marksmen miss open look after open look. He made it that much harder for BC to create b/c we had no one that posed a legitimate threat from outside. Excited about Marble's improvment and what some of the new guys bring to the table.

 

[sportstalent]

Hope you're right, Sportstalent! I know his hand bothered him for a while, and maybe he rushed his return, but it was indeed frustrating watching a supposed marksmen miss open look after open look. He made it that much harder for BC to create b/c we had no one that posed a legitimate threat from outside. Excited about Marble's improvment and what some of the new guys bring to the table.

Understood. The most frustrating part of watching Gatens last year was not just the open shots he missed, but the good ones that he either passed right out of, or tried to force something at the rim. A lot of turnovers that Bryce and Mel had last season, especially in Big Ten play becuase it was too predictable where he was going to go with the ball because of the lack of consistent outside shooting.