Mens Basketball

[loesshillshawk]

How do you personally assess his mental toughness? wth

Seriously...how do you assess someone? In his face defensive pressure he wilts...one example.

 

[Gibsonian]

Young guys need to mature and develop. I'm sure they are up to the task.

 

[InGoodCo]

Uhlis was just killing us. I understand why he is starting given the squad we have, but Fran better beat into his head better ball protection or he will be riding the pine. That was the only weakness I saw last night.

You must watch basketball differently then I do and that's fine but IMO, Ulis was a huge part of why Iowa won last night IMO. Logged 36 minutes, got 7 boards which is huge for a team down their best rebounder. He did have 6 turnovers, but did you know that coming into last night, Iowa State was the # 1 team in the nation in steals? He was penetrating the ISU lane any time he wanted, which was opening up so much motion for the rest of the team. That's what Iowa needs in their PG. Also, Iowa is one of the best teams in the country in NOT turning over the ball. Ulis only averages just over 1 per game and considering he was our primary ball handler and he was driving the lane at will last night... ya live with a few TO's. IMO....what he was doing was successfully operating the Iowa offense. It was a thing of beauty.

I think I might be most excited about Ulis and he just continues to get better in a completely new role for him. Logging that many minutes is a new thing for him and with how good ISU is at turning over teams, I wouldn't read too far into it.

 

[InGoodCo]

Seriously...how do you assess someone? In his face defensive pressure he wilts...one example.

Well, that's not true, so I guess I question your ability to assess people.

 

[racerhawk]

Seriously...how do you assess someone? In his face defensive pressure he wilts...one example.

I would evaluate with metrics like FG percentage, points scored, rebounds, assists, etc.

I believe he was injured in the Duke game. Other than that he's basically playing like an All American. Was he lousy in other games?

 

[racerhawk]

Well, that's not true, so I guess I question your ability to assess people.

I assessed your assessment and agree with your assessment.

 

[HuckFinn]

You must watch basketball differently then I do and that's fine but IMO, Ulis was a huge part of why Iowa won last night IMO. Logged 36 minutes, got 7 boards which is huge for a team down their best rebounder. He did have 6 turnovers, but did you know that coming into last night, Iowa State was the # 1 team in the nation in steals? He was penetrating the ISU lane any time he wanted, which was opening up so much motion for the rest of the team. That's what Iowa needs in their PG. Also, Iowa is one of the best teams in the country in NOT turning over the ball. Ulis only averages just over 1 per game and considering he was our primary ball handler and he was driving the lane at will last night... ya live with a few TO's. IMO....what he was doing was successfully operating the Iowa offense. It was a thing of beauty.

I think I might be most excited about Ulis and he just continues to get better in a completely new role for him. Logging that many minutes is a new thing for him and with how good ISU is at turning over teams, I wouldn't read too far into it.

You did it again. This has got to stop. Factual posts are just too confusing.

 

[Robowe]

Oh I'm sure Iowa will lose at home, but I will still be disappointed - they lost 3 times last year to pretty good teams and I was pretty disappointed with that.

For perspective, the Illinois team that beat Texas on Tuesday (also in MSG) lost to Penn State by 15 today ... at home.

 

[HuckFinn]

For perspective, the Illinois team that beat Texas on Tuesday (also in MSG) lost to Penn State by 15 today ... at home.

Well, damn.

 

[BigD]

I’m not arguing that we suck or don’t suck. I just think it’s too early to make any predictions beyond conjecture.

Like I mentioned a while back, Iowa’s place in the circle of life is to win some we shouldn’t and lose some we shouldn’t, make the dance and exit early. If we can do that somewhat regularly with no scandal I’m good. With recruiting in 2022 and not being a blue blood people are idiots if they expect more. This isn’t Tom Davis plucking backyard kids and going to Final Fours.

It’s the era of one and doners who are being recruited on Twitter with sex drugs and rock and roll from 8th grade on. I’m gonna say it…Fran McCafferey is a way better coach than Tom Davis ever was. He’s got every card stacked against him where Davis had everything in his favor.

"With recruiting in 2022 and not being a blue blood people are idiots if they expect more."

Fran has been great at recruiting and coaching up Big Men (Centers and forwards). If by slim. slim chance he could land a Lester, Armstrong, or Marble (shooting guard, small forward) to carry the torch at the guard position, then greatness could very well follow. May be to expect it to happen is asking too much, but no one should ever give up hoping it could happen.

Too be fair to your comments, you did say "expect more" as far as consistent results. So landing a Lester, Armstrong, or Marble shouldn't be expected but I think with all the great guards out there that Iowa could get lucky once and land that type of player to play for Fran. I know if we did land someone like that, that likely he would leave early like Davis did.

I only focus on landing an all-conference first team guard as it seems like that has been the weakness in Fran's armor. This is like playing chess with out the Queen piece on the board. It's like playing behind the eight ball in pool.

Until that changes your comments are highly correct percentage wise. I do think your name calling of "idiots" is uncalled for though. Shit happens and who knows Fran may just break the drought one day. Fran is a good coach and just needs to get the Queen piece on the board to get him to where he may one day say "Check Mate!" Will it ever happen? Maybe not but I am not giving up hope.

 

[dahlhawk]

I think Fran is a great coach, but I don't think you are giving a fair assessment of the Big Ten during Davis' tenure. There were plenty of sharks in those waters, too. Getting black-balled from signing Chicago area kids because young assistant Pearl turned Illinois in for cheating was a massive hurdle and one that Iowa never really recovered from, in my opinion.

Or how about going against the Fab Five, the team on a payroll up in Ann Arbor? Didn't the Hawks finish second or third to them a couple times? What if Michigan hadn't cheated? (And not exactly like they just fudged here and there on a couple small violations).

By the way, Davis also had to keep one of those Hawkeye teams together (I think one that finished just behind Michigan), when his star player died mid-season. Cards weren't stacked in Davis' favor that year in more ways than one - and the way he kept that team together and performing was admirable and impressive (and damn good coaching).

Or how about the year the Hawks were runners up to Minnesota? That was a once in a generation line-up for Minnesota...that was completely assembled and kept eligible through a massive cheating scandal. The fact Davis even had the Hawks in that position (and would have been Big Ten champs without the cheating!) was one of the most impressive coaching jobs I've ever seen. One all-big ten player in Kingsbury basically flunks out (because Iowa had standards and Davis didn't cheat) and another all-big ten player had horrific luck with a ruined back, and Davis somehow patched together a team around Woolridge that finished second (behind a team built by a corrupt athletic department).

The program had strengths and weaknesses under Davis, but in the grand scheme of things, I think he was a pretty damn good coach with high integrity who put together a winning program that followed the rules.

No one should disagree with you and to talk about bad luck, who many times did Davis draw the eventually NCAA champion and run into a great Duke team multiple times. I loved Davis and his coaching style and up-tempo offense. His only failing was not landing the big fish in recruiting because he didn't cheat. With Raveling's talent he almost and should have played in the final four, while Raveling barely made it into the tourney.

 

[dahlhawk]

You must watch basketball differently then I do and that's fine but IMO, Ulis was a huge part of why Iowa won last night IMO. Logged 36 minutes, got 7 boards which is huge for a team down their best rebounder. He did have 6 turnovers, but did you know that coming into last night, Iowa State was the # 1 team in the nation in steals? He was penetrating the ISU lane any time he wanted, which was opening up so much motion for the rest of the team. That's what Iowa needs in their PG. Also, Iowa is one of the best teams in the country in NOT turning over the ball. Ulis only averages just over 1 per game and considering he was our primary ball handler and he was driving the lane at will last night... ya live with a few TO's. IMO....what he was doing was successfully operating the Iowa offense. It was a thing of beauty.

I think I might be most excited about Ulis and he just continues to get better in a completely new role for him. Logging that many minutes is a new thing for him and with how good ISU is at turning over teams, I wouldn't read too far into it.

Been incredible impressed with Ulis as well. He has been the leader against many of the tougher teams we have faced so far. I didn't see it coming. His defense along with Perkins is causing havoc out on the court and his ability so far to hit the open 3 has been a revelation. Might be out MVP right now along with Rebracca. I thought he would be a reserve by now and the freshman would be starting by midseason. Don't think so now.

 

[HawkGold]

You must watch basketball differently then I do and that's fine but IMO, Ulis was a huge part of why Iowa won last night IMO. Logged 36 minutes, got 7 boards which is huge for a team down their best rebounder. He did have 6 turnovers, but did you know that coming into last night, Iowa State was the # 1 team in the nation in steals? He was penetrating the ISU lane any time he wanted, which was opening up so much motion for the rest of the team. That's what Iowa needs in their PG. Also, Iowa is one of the best teams in the country in NOT turning over the ball. Ulis only averages just over 1 per game and considering he was our primary ball handler and he was driving the lane at will last night... ya live with a few TO's. IMO....what he was doing was successfully operating the Iowa offense. It was a thing of beauty.

I think I might be most excited about Ulis and he just continues to get better in a completely new role for him. Logging that many minutes is a new thing for him and with how good ISU is at turning over teams, I wouldn't read too far into it.

Hey, we agree! He did get tired though, but maybe this will build stamina.