Keeping Fan Expectations Real

[HaydenHawk56]

The board should be more like this and know better:

 

[BryceC]

Yea, fans should prob pull back the reigns a little bit. That Iowa St. team doesn't look to be that good, to be honest. They aren't gelling at this point and don't look to be very good shooters.

Gonna be tough for this ISU team to make the tourney. That said, probably will be a Q1 win. Good win for the resume yesterday.

 

[koralakers]

It's great that Iowa is now 8 and 3 with the latest win against ISU. Coming off that win Iowa may find itself without Bohannon going forward and a bench that is a bit depleted with Nunge done and Pemsl hurting. The schedule ahead is difficult with so many B1G teams highly rated. Iowa has 2 games vs MD, 1 more vs MI, 1 vs OSU and 1 vs MSU. Teams like Indiana, Illinois, Purdue, Rutgers and Penn State are on a similar level record wise with Iowa and Iowa has 8 games with those teams.

It is my hope that Iowa could get to 11 wins in the conference season and win the last two non-conference games. It is going to be tough. I just hope the team health can hold up.

Anything close to .500 in this conference would be amazing. Especially when you factor in all the departures and injuries.

 

[TJHawkeye]

This board is so negative. I like this team's heart and toughness. Even if we lose a game you can tell these guys are laying it all out there and I respect that. We haven't had a team this gritty in a long time. They are really fun to watch.

 

[ModebaSan]

Hopefully if they are planning on getting Patrick a medical redshirt, they have him "give it one last go" against Cincinnati before shutting it down. We need that win bad.

Cincinnati doesn’t scare me one bit. They lost their coach and six players have transferred since last season. Word is Diarra will hit the transfer portal after this season.

 

[WindsorHawk]

Cincinnati doesn’t scare me one bit. They lost their coach and six players have transferred since last season. Word is Diarra will hit the transfer portal after this season.

And we have 9 days. That will be good for the guys playing 30 minutes a game.

 

[WindsorHawk]

Said this in another thread, but if Iowa can beat Cincy and then go .500 in the big ten they're likely a tournament team.

Iowa's not going to win the Big Ten and I don't think anyone really believes that they will either. I dont think anyone could have predicted Garza was going to be this friggin good though either. I'm just gonna enjoy the ride.

I didn’t specifically quantify how good Garza was going to be. But at the end of his freshman year I said he was the best NBA prospect on the team.

 

[Northside Hawk]

This board is so negative. I like this team's heart and toughness. Even if we lose a game you can tell these guys are laying it all out there and I respect that. We haven't had a team this gritty in a long time. They are really fun to watch.

I like this team's basketball IQ in addition to it's heart and toughness. They won't beat themselves too many nights. That was the problem with so many of Mr. Davis's teams. For al! of their heart and effort I saw those Woolridge/Settles/Kingsbury teams find some of the dumbest ways to lose conference road games. Same thing with the Earl/Street teams, and some of Fran's earlier teams.

But this team, so far, is different. Hopefully it continues through what will be a gauntlet of a conference.

 

[eyekwah]

With one non-con game left it looks like Iowa will go into 2020 with a 10-3 and 1-1 record against a very tough schedule. These are the road games @PSU (Phila), @Neb, @NW, @Md, @Purdue, @IU, @ MN, @MSU, @ILL. I can see 3 possible road wins out of the 9 games. The home games are MD, MI, RU, WI, IL, NE, OSU, PSU, and Purdue. I can see 5 possible wins at home. Beating MD, MI, and OSU just looks too challenging given the short bench and the late February fatigue I expect. Anything better than a conference record of 8 and 12 will be gravy.

 

[PCHawk]

With one non-con game left it looks like Iowa will go into 2020 with a 10-3 and 1-1 record against a very tough schedule. These are the road games @PSU (Phila), @Neb, @NW, @Md, @Purdue, @IU, @ MN, @MSU, @ILL. I can see 3 possible road wins out of the 9 games. The home games are MD, MI, RU, WI, IL, NE, OSU, PSU, and Purdue. I can see 5 possible wins at home. Beating MD, MI, and OSU just looks too challenging given the short bench and the late February fatigue I expect. Anything better than a conference record of 8 and 12 will be gravy.

I feel like you aren't using the word "possible" right.

 

[PCHawk]

I see a couple games that like very likely loses. I see a couple games that look like very likely wins. I see the rest of the games as somewhere between 60/40 and 40/60. I'll be shocked if we win at Maryland and at Michigan State. No other outcome will shock me either way.

 

[NikeHawk21]

With one non-con game left it looks like Iowa will go into 2020 with a 10-3 and 1-1 record against a very tough schedule. These are the road games @PSU (Phila), @Neb, @NW, @Md, @Purdue, @IU, @ MN, @MSU, @ILL. I can see 3 possible road wins out of the 9 games. The home games are MD, MI, RU, WI, IL, NE, OSU, PSU, and Purdue. I can see 5 possible wins at home. Beating MD, MI, and OSU just looks too challenging given the short bench and the late February fatigue I expect. Anything better than a conference record of 8 and 12 will be gravy.

Typically even in Iowa’s worst years they knock off someone they shouldn’t at home, last year was Michigan. It doesn’t take looking around too far in the conference to see Nebraska blasting Purdue at home or Minny hammering Ohio State at home.

I’m not going to sit here and try to predict Iowa’s record. In this conference most of the games are toss ups, but I do think you're are being overly conservative with your analysis. Iowa isn’t the team you saw Saturday night (In a game they won) I don’t think, broad generalizations based on one game will get you killed in college basketball projections.

 

[WindsorHawk]

I think there may be about 8 teams in the conference that are looking at 10-10 as a realistic finish. Iowa is definitely 1 of them and arguably has the best resume of the bunch.

 

[eyekwah]

Are your expectations still in line with where you were at the end of December? On a personal basis Iowa getting 5 more regular season wins remains my hope and ending the regular season 10 and 10. At least that gets Iowa in the NCAA tournament. Iowa has 12 games left to get those 5 wins. Any number greater than 5 wins is the start of exceeding expectations for me.

 

[ModebaSan]

Talk about lowering your expectations. If Ferentz goes 7-5 or 8-4 everybody moans and groans about it. But by expecting the Hawks go .500 in B1G play just doesn’t cut it for me. They are playing at a high level right now, so I’m at least hoping for a B1G regular season championship or the very least a tourney championship. Looking for a nice high seed in the NCAA and a nice run deep into the tourney. I love it when any Iowa sports team whether it’s Men’s or Women’s, no matter the sport, wins a championship. More so for the football and basketball teams. I always have high expectations, but I know we aren’t going to do it year in and year out. Lower my expectations? Never, because average is not good enough for me. But sometimes the destination on the road you travel changes. There are bumps in the road and detours. But you have to make the journey and only hope you arrive there safely.