MAJOR love from Bilas

[uihawk82]

well I'm not so sure our half court offense is so great... we are a transition team that offensive rebounds... but nice that jay is saying good things about us

Our half court offense has been looking much better during league play. There are a lot of good screens and curl cuts around the elbow, other times players are two on a side doing a high-low screening action, other times guys are running baseline thru two screens and then either they have the jump shot or one of the screeners tries to post low.

There is a lot of variety and the flow is looking better.

I dont see hand signals calling out plays so not sure if the action just depends on their spacing on the court or if there is a lot of verbal play type calling.

 

[Skeets77]

A nice Hawk hello from Zach Johnson

 

[okeefe4prez]

A nice Hawk hello from Zach Johnson

TavernHok Zach Johnson, to be exact.

 

[ibahawkeye]

I said the final 4 was the ceiling. I'm not ready to change my mind yet. Win the next 3 and It's going to be hard for me to hold back my excitement!!

 

[Scotttyd]

I heard Jay on a local show out here in raleigh, NC - When asked who his pick for the title is, I paraphrase -Everyone knows Arizona, Michigan State and Syracuse, but I think you have to watch for Iowa - deep team who likes to run, only concern is this group hasn't been on the big stage - (NCAA tournament) and will be interesting to see how they handle the pressure.

Pretty fair analysis -

 

[528646]

I'm making a mental note of this thread for the next time when Bilas says something less flattering about the Hawks. I will then chuckle to myself as a "Bilas = HACK!" thread grows to 10X the size of this one.

 

[djwoody98]

WOOOOOO IOWA AWESOME!

 

[hawkinn3]

Am the only one that wishes we got some pub but not this much pub? Other teams are reading this stuff too, we are the hunted now.

 

[Hawk1960]

The only knock I have against Jay Bilas is his bias toward the power conferences and disdain of the Mid-Majors. The fact that Wichita State made it all the way to the final 4 last year, and Butler's success of late, VCU, etc... has to be proof that sometimes the 2nd best team in the mid-majors are as good as the 5th or 6th best team in the power conferences.


Most people on this board probably side with Bilas on this, but I graduated from Drake and I like to see the David's go against the Goliath's sometimes...

I agree, these mid majors who finish 1st or even 2nd in their conference are tough. They also tend to have teams that are loaded with juniors and seniors while the power conferences end up playing a lot of younger guys because their stars leave after a couple of years and are in the NBA (i.e. Kansas and Kentucky this year). Those freshman and sophomores can melt down in the NCAA after a grueling season. There is a lot more parity in college basketball then there was 15 - 20 years ago and that's a good thing in my opinion.

 

[hawkdrummer1]

Jay Bilas, whom I consider to be the pound-for-pound best analyst in college basketball today, just tweeted out that he's now watched every Iowa game from December on and says we're as good as ANYONE and are good enough to win it all.

I'm lovin' the love....been a LONG time coming!

Please forward this to all recruits..ASAP!!! Great stuff

 

[eveningnewsteam]

I dont disagree with him. I think the best 3 teams in the country are Arizona, Syracuse and Iowa.

 

[SnapBack]

Am the only one that wishes we got some pub but not this much pub? Other teams are reading this stuff too, we are the hunted now.

I love the pub. Yes, it does mean that we will get everyone's best shot and we won't sneak up on anyone, but it has to happen at some point to be successful. The pub obviously helps our recruiting, means we are winning games, players become more confident. The more we win the better our seed too, which doesn't hurt.

 

[Skeets77]

I heard Jay on a local show out here in raleigh, NC - When asked who his pick for the title is, I paraphrase -Everyone knows Arizona, Michigan State and Syracuse, but I think you have to watch for Iowa - deep team who likes to run, only concern is this group hasn't been on the big stage - (NCAA tournament) and will be interesting to see how they handle the pressure.

Pretty fair analysis -

Wow ! And nicely said about the big stage and handling the pressure. Fran will have to do his part in getting our boys ready better prepared for the big stage and bright lights, and hopefully Fran will stay calm in those tight games so our guys do the same.

 

[tm3308]

Am the only one that wishes we got some pub but not this much pub? Other teams are reading this stuff too, we are the hunted now.

We were the hunted during the Lute/Mr. Davis eras, too. I'd rather be hunted than be the one hunting. That's the whole meaning of.....

WE ARE BACK!!!!

 

[HawksMN]

The only knock I have against Jay Bilas is his bias toward the power conferences and disdain of the Mid-Majors. The fact that Wichita State made it all the way to the final 4 last year, and Butler's success of late, VCU, etc... has to be proof that sometimes the 2nd best team in the mid-majors are as good as the 5th or 6th best team in the power conferences.


Most people on this board probably side with Bilas on this, but I graduated from Drake and I like to see the David's go against the Goliath's sometimes...

Ya, like all those mid majors that made the Dance last year did a hill of beans job in there. Give or take a LaSalle, the bubble middies that made it did NOT deserve to be there.

 

[JonnyGuido]

The most recent ESPN bracket has us as a #3 seed with the #2 being SDSU and #1 being Wichita State. That is a Final Four bracket for Iowa imo. I would be scared to be in Syracuse's region though. I cant believe I am talking about the bracket in January. I love where this program is right now.

 

[ibahawkeye]

Am the only one that wishes we got some pub but not this much pub? Other teams are reading this stuff too, we are the hunted now.

One word: Recruiting

 

[nationalchamps]

The most recent ESPN bracket has us as a #3 seed with the #2 being SDSU and #1 being Wichita State. That is a Final Four bracket for Iowa imo. I would be scared to be in Syracuse's region though. I cant believe I am talking about the bracket in January. I love where this program is right now.

Pffsshh...JO would tear that Syracuse zone apart.

 

[WindsorHawk]

well I'm not so sure our half court offense is so great... we are a transition team that offensive rebounds... but nice that jay is saying good things about us

I think our half court offense has looked much better recently. We still prefer transition and it's our strength but we can win in the half court if we must...usually results in total lock down on defense...IMO

 

[tm3308]

I think our half court offense has looked much better recently. We still prefer transition and it's our strength but we can win in the half court if we must...usually results in total lock down on defense...IMO

This. Oglesby has had a big hand in that, IMO. He's exceptional when working in the half court, using cuts, screens and curls to generate good looks. That forces the defense to react to him, which in turn opens things up for Marble, White, etc.

JO playing at a high level, or JO not playing at a high level, is the difference between this team being great and being merely good.