I've watched a lot of big 10 games this year and I've seen a lot of teams play as bad of defense as we have been. I've also seen a lot of missed wide open shots against teams other than Iowa. If another team leaves someone wide open, there's a pretty good chance its going in. If Iowa leaves a player wide open, its pretty much a guarantee. The end of shot clock shots are crazy. It doesn't matter what they throw up its going in.
Is it poor defense, hot teams, or both ...
- Thread starter khock
- Start date
WinOneThisCentury
Well-Known Member
Guys, I'm going to tell you, we have had our issues with defense, no doubt about that. I won't argue that to start the second halves of games we have come out with absolutely no intensity. Fran needs to address that. Ok, let me also say, we have run into teams that got hot. I watched Illinois play MSU, the whole game, and I'll tell you right now, their defense was no better than ours. MSU had plenty of open shots and they completely sucked. I knew last night was going to happen. They hit everything.
One other thing, i was sitting in a bar last night in San Francisco as I had a business meeting...and I'm watching the game with a bunch of guys from the SE...ACC fans. Toward the end of the first half one guy says to me, "do B10 officials always let Michigan State grab and hold"...and "why is Izzo working the officials all the time, his team is getting the benefit of the doubt on every possession." I didn't know these guys, they were just at the bar watching three games going on, but were interested in the Iowa game for some reason. I always thought I was biased on this stuff, but when it's that obvious to a casual observer...something smells in Denmark.
Fran needs to play the same way...he's 11 deep...use the fouls and beat the crap out of them. I was ok with McCabe's "antics" ...at least he showed some fire and anger. Every team needs and Ed Horton type. If I'm Fran, that's McCabe's role. Go in, hammer some people, own the paint and if someone gets pushy or instigates something. You end it. I used to love Horton. By his senior year, he only needed to give a guy a look...and it intimidated people.
One other thing, i was sitting in a bar last night in San Francisco as I had a business meeting...and I'm watching the game with a bunch of guys from the SE...ACC fans. Toward the end of the first half one guy says to me, "do B10 officials always let Michigan State grab and hold"...and "why is Izzo working the officials all the time, his team is getting the benefit of the doubt on every possession." I didn't know these guys, they were just at the bar watching three games going on, but were interested in the Iowa game for some reason. I always thought I was biased on this stuff, but when it's that obvious to a casual observer...something smells in Denmark.
Fran needs to play the same way...he's 11 deep...use the fouls and beat the crap out of them. I was ok with McCabe's "antics" ...at least he showed some fire and anger. Every team needs and Ed Horton type. If I'm Fran, that's McCabe's role. Go in, hammer some people, own the paint and if someone gets pushy or instigates something. You end it. I used to love Horton. By his senior year, he only needed to give a guy a look...and it intimidated people.
parahawkeyes
Well-Known Member
We're an exceptional rebounding club and we're guaranteed 70, even if we have a bad night offensively. I don't mind the idea of baiting opponents towards perimeter shots. There's simply bad luck and then there's awful luck. Ours has been something beyond both of those. But letting teams rely too much on the three is a sound strategy that will only fail if teams blindly hit everything.
