Funny how we keep hoping but it’s the same shit every year . Or maybe I finally woke up ? Fran guys is not going to get us where we want to go . It would be nice to get to the sweet 16 some day but I’m 71 so I doubt I will ever see it .
Maryland game thread
- Thread starter trj
- Start date
#1DieHardHawk
Well-Known Member
Gotta love Sandfort. After he jumps all over Freeman for making a dumb error, he promptly turns the ball over twice against the press and gets caught flat-footed at the most important moment of the game....
That said, this was a team loss. Our veteran players for the most part looked disengaged the entire game. It was like everyone was waiting on a teammate to step up, and no one did.
That said, this was a team loss. Our veteran players for the most part looked disengaged the entire game. It was like everyone was waiting on a teammate to step up, and no one did.
HuckFinn
Well-Known Member
The crowd was weak. Very low numbers. Almost no students. Maryland took the crowd out of the game with smothering D and big shots late in the clock too many times. Crowd tried late to encourage the D, but even when they did, we could not score. Very disappointing performance. Fran and his coaches have a big chore to get our mojo back at Michigan. This very hard to watch. We played better against number 1 Purdue.
The Terps were switching everything, which really cuts down the effectiveness of Iowa's motion offense and messes up the cutters' usual routes. As you say, that led to far more dribbling than usual and forced shots at the end of the shot clock. Good coaching by Maryland. Poor adjustments by Iowa coaches.
Tough to win shooting 21% from treyland, even if you ARE leading the conference in 'points in the paint'. Odd thing is, it isn't the first time...and prior to the season, Fran said 3pt shooting was going to be the strength of this team.
Disagree that the veterans were disengaged. Perkins once again played his ass off, and carried the team offensively almost single-handedly at times. Sandfort may not be hitting shots, but it's not because he's not putting forth effort -- he's just limited athletically on offense and defense. But the effort was there from those two tonight.
Sandfort went too far in how he jumped Freeman's butt. Freeman didn't make an error. He was called for a foul and he reacted to aggressively towards the ref.
Sandfort only needed to go pull Freeman away from the ref. But to get in his face and scream at him at mid-court was wrong. Freeman did not look happy with Sandfort.
But karma is a bitch as Sandfort made 2 turnovers and couldn't even get the ball to the basket from half court on the final shot.
I've not been much of a Sandfort fan for awhile and last night mighta been the last straw. His game clearly has limitations but it's to the point now where if he's not hitting 3s he's not just worthless but he's a liability. (Kinda sounds like how JBo was described at times only he had a lot of assists too when he wasn't hitting shots)
You expect a true freshman big guy to commit dumb fouls. That's almost a given. So yes that last one Freeman committed was a bad dumb foul at the end of the shot clock. He'll learn. But Sandforts mistakes were way worse. He's a JR in yr 3 and should know better. That behind the back pass was inexcusable. He needed to go to the rim hard himself on that. His shot selection and decisions on the floor are almost as bad as PMs usually are. But Sandfort plays more.
I know some are surprised Iowa lost that game but for those that had been paying attention much of the yr I'm not. They could lose to literally anyone. Home or away it doesn't matter. We are capable of bad TOs. Bad shot selection and poor shot making. (didn't hit a fg last 5 mins of the game I think) And most obviously terribly bad defense which couldn't have been more on display then that last play.
If Iowa isn't hot and outscoring teams they can struggle against anyone pretty much. Iowa played poorly on O last night. Kept MD in the game when they shouldn't have been. So MDs stud Young who'd had a bad game for him for 3/4ths of it woke up put his cape on took over down the stretch and we couldn't do a damn thing about it.
Frans strategy with playing man to man at the end was to trap Young off that high pick and roll and try to get him to give up the ball. Well Sandfort was so noncommittal and slow to it he not only didn't have to give up his dribble or the ball but he just went right around him for about the easiest layup a guy could get in that situation.
InGoodCo
Well-Known Member
I'm coming to the realization that the disconnect is Fran and I can't imagine only having your barn with 6k people on a Wednesday 6 pm tip is likely in the top 3 initiatives that Beth will try and tackle. Moving on from Fran probably is the play, but I don't think that's because of lack of success - Iowa has had plenty of that over his tenure. There is a clear disconnect between Iowa fans and the sport that likely only making a final 4 could probably solve long term. If you move on from Fran, it's new hope, new blood, new looks.... different message and maybe the next coach will be a guy that fans will connect with better. I connect fine with Fran, it's apparent that most don't tho. He's a good coach, he's recruited about as well as you could, he's developed players and it's not enough - time for a new leader and if we lose guys we lose guys.
Iowa didn’t score with 5:44 left in game & loss by 2 points let that sink in.
Gander Hawk
Well-Known Member
He's got a lot of good young players I hate to see Iowa lose though, including next year's class.
Yeah MD played bad for themselves too. I think Iowa didn't hit a FG those last 5 mins but I think they did hit FTs though. I could be wrong though. Iowa gave up only 69 pts at home... That should be a W every time. Iowas O let em down most of the game and D the last 3 mins of the game
InGoodCo
Well-Known Member
I agree, and trust me, if he goes, the only way we retain most of them is hiring someone on Fran's staff. I don't particularly want to see any of it blown up either, but I think I am at the point where I believe there's nothing really more Fran can do to bring fans back outside of making a final 4. A sweet 16 isn't going to do much if anything. I mean, you might see a bump next season, but how long does that last?
There is a reason the place is FULL for Wrestling and Women's Basketball - those programs have reached the top end of the sport. A sweet 16 does almost nothing for Fran, it's going to take more than that to get butts back in the seats in Iowa City.
Not that I saw the game but why didn't Fran sub him out there? If you want to trap and play good man to man at the end of the game he is an obvious liability as far as that is concerned. Slower, not the best footwork(not his fault), not the best decision maker. An obvious weak point that I would go right at if I was Maryland. Fran didn't have anybody better at that point? You can trust your guys and go with them but then there is also just a bad match up that you can't hand your opponent to exploit if you can help it.
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HuckFinn
Well-Known Member
I could agree with any number of things in your post. But. Then we would both be wrong.
