Jan Jensen

99topdawg

99topdawg

Well-Known Member
Jan deserves some major props for her work with the posts. She had Gustafson and Czinano, but this year what she did with Hannah was amazing.

Before the season started, most people didn't think we had much of a chance to get back to the Final Four because we have no posts that could replace Monika. As the year went along, Hannah's play kept getting better and better to the point where, not only did she not hurt us, she was a huge key to our success. Jan is an amazing coach but what she did with Hannah in such a short period of time may be her best work. Without Hannah's play, it's tough to see us having the success we had.
 
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I totally agree with you. Now to find Jan a real post player. That might take us to the final four next year.
 
The whole staff. They produced a better team than last year. How wiped out do they have to be? How much extra media? Extra meetings with the athletic department? How many extra PR meetings? Meetings to figure out who to invite and when? Extra TV cameras everywhere. More fans to please. Having to deal with questions from people every time they went to Hyvee for bread.

Just madness. And still finding the way to get every ounce of basketball possible out of this team.
 
They were one player short all year long. Bluder and Co. did a great job of masking that. It only caught up with them until the very end.

Amazing job by Bluder and her entire coaching staff.
 
trj said:
They were one player short all year long. Bluder and Co. did a great job of masking that. It only caught up with them until the very end.

Amazing job by Bluder and her entire coaching staff.
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That player very well could have been Ava Jones, if not for the tragic accident. She is a 6'2" power forward with athleticism who averaged 21 pts and 16 reb per game as a senior. She would have been an important piece in the rotation.

It was good to see her as part of the team this year. I hope her recovery continues to progress.
 
I love Ava being part of the team. I hope she is able to play again at some point but if not I know she will excel at whatever she chooses to do.
 
In actuality, I believe that Ava was given a scholarship which is a great move by Iowa. But, I just merely want to point out that Iowa was a scholarship player down all season which is even more impressive.
 
MelroseHawkins said:
In actuality, I believe that Ava was given a scholarship which is a great move by Iowa. But, I just merely want to point out that Iowa was a scholarship player down all season which is even more impressive.
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And a starter down with Molly injured. Those two would probably have been within our top 9.
 
Have you seen Ava's videos on youtube? The car that landed on her really did a number on her. But she's working hard. Her knees appear to be the biggest problem and you have to wonder what she can really do about that. She went through a period where she couldn't lift her right arm but that appears to be fixed. She shoots some baskets in the videos, and she's got a lot of work to do there. She's got a lot of work to do period. But you have to really respect Ava for the work she's putting in.
 
We do really need a taller and more athletic 5, let Hannah play her natural 4.

Easier said than done. The 6'4" 5 coming in next year could help but what can you really expect from a freshman?

Maybe the portal? But we haven't used the portal much, maybe that will change?
 
And, isn't Jan making about $1M/year? Yes, she's a great post coach and she's well compensated for her contributions.
 
I wonder if they don't go back to a 2-post offense next year? I think Bluder's preference for the last 10+ years has been a 4-out offense, she was on the leading edge of valuing stretch-4's. But, she has shown she can effectively incorporate 2-post offenses as well (Morgan Johnson + Bethany Doolittle; Gustafson's junior and senior years).

Next year is going to be all about Stuelke and Affolter. How can you best maximize their talents? I am not sure, but I think playing with O'Grady and Stuelke at the same time might create some mismatches that work in our favor. But they will both have to make progress in their games. In particular, O'Grady needs to develop a consistent elbow jumper (totally within her wheelhouse) and learn how to grab the dang ball when it is right there in front of her. Stuelke is going to have to get more proficient creating and making good decisions with the ball when she is on the move.

So far, I think Gustafson's senior year was Jensen's masterpiece (a national POY at 5, and a really good platoon at 4 that made huge growth from year 3 to 4). If she can make Stuelke a 1st team All-B1G contributor and O'Grady becomes a solid starter, it might become her new masterpiece.
 
Zstatman said:
And, isn't Jan making about $1M/year? Yes, she's a great post coach and she's well compensated for her contributions.
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According to the state salary database, for 2023 her base is $255,000. Her gross with bonuses and other incentives was $333,699.
 
Chickenlounge said:
According to the state salary database, for 2023 her base is $255,000. Her gross with bonuses and other incentives was $333,699.
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Not too shabby for an assistant coach of a program that has been consistently very good, but hasn't exactly consistently brought home tons of hardware beyond periodically. That's not a knock. Certainly, historically, and even in pre-clark...the program is very much in the top tier in the Big 10.

I don't know what her salary should be. But, I'd be OK with that, even pre-bonus/incentives. Again, I think there's only one person in that program who ever expected to be regularly appearing in packed arenas. And if that person were being absolutely truthful, they only 'hoped' to be in that kind of environment and thought it was possible, but not fully expected.
 
Zstatman said:
We do really need a taller and more athletic 5, let Hannah play her natural 4.

Easier said than done. The 6'4" 5 coming in next year could help but what can you really expect from a freshman?

Maybe the portal? But we haven't used the portal much, maybe that will change?
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The problem with Hannah playing the 4 is that she can't shoot worth a damn outside 3 ft of the basket. If you match her up with O'Grady at the 5, granted, Hannah is more likely to arguably get more rebounds and 'put back' offensive rebounds off other Hawkeyes' shots because the opponent's 5 would be occupied and boxing out O'Grady. IF Hannah could spend the summer becoming proficient at 10 ft jump shots, she already has the ability to drive, rebound, and run the floor...THEN you're looking at a potential 1st team All-BTen player. But that's a big IF...
 
Grady said:
The problem with Hannah playing the 4 is that she can't shoot worth a damn outside 3 ft of the basket. If you match her up with O'Grady at the 5, granted, Hannah is more likely to arguably get more rebounds and 'put back' offensive rebounds off other Hawkeyes' shots because the opponent's 5 would be occupied and boxing out O'Grady. IF Hannah could spend the summer becoming proficient at 10 ft jump shots, she already has the ability to drive, rebound, and run the floor...THEN you're looking at a potential 1st team All-BTen player. But that's a big IF...
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I think O'Grady might be able to develop into a consistent shooter from the elbow and short corner, ala Czinano. She has a pretty smooth looking stroke. This would allow you to invert the posts occasionally, having O'Grady operating from the elbow and Stuelke posting. And if they put the big post on Hannah, then she works from the elbow and users her quickness, and Addie tries to bury the smaller player under the basket.

For this to work OGrady needs to be more consistent shooting, and Stuelke needs to be able to drive from the elbow while keeping her head up and maintaining control. I think both of these are reasonable hopes, but far from guarantees.
 
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