JonDMiller
Publisher/Founder
Iowa lost to Purdue 79-76 on Wednesday night in their Big Ten opener.
The Hawks played tough, looked very good at times on the offensive end but their defense let them down too many times.
In the first half, the Boilermakers had too many wide open looks from three-point range and they hit half of them. In the second half, Purdue was able to get to the rim just about any time they wanted off of dribble drives. The Hawkeyes did not offer up any help side defense, players were not coming off of their man to slow down the attacking opponent and that was your ball game.
Iowa's defense has been suspect for much of the year, but tonight was likely the low point. Yes, they had been blown out in a few games, namely the contest in Des Moines against Creighton, but the 'at the rim' failures tonight were tough to swallow, and will likely be something Fran McCaffery will have a hard time dealing with when he watches the film.
It's too bad, as the Hawkeye offense was in a good place for most of the game, save a five minute stretch in the second half where Purdue forced Iowa to set up its half court offense. That's not a strength for this Iowa team right now, as it appears far more comfortable operating in transition.
Melsahn Basabe and Devyn Marble continue to put up good numbers, but Basabe didn't see enough touches in the second half and Marble got a little carried away at times, attacking the basket in 1 on 4 or 1 on 3 situations on more than one occasion.
Another curious aspect towards the end of the game was the lack of playing time for Josh Oglesby. Iowa was down two possessions late and needed to hit something from beyond the arc, especially in the final 30 seconds. The Hawkeyes have two legitimate three-point shooters on their roster in Oglesby and Matt Gatens, but Oglesby was curiously absent.
Marble led Iowa with 17 points and six assists to no turnovers. Basabe scored 14 points and had a team high eight rebounds. The Hawkeyes committed just 10 turnovers but forced only seven. Iowa made 47% of their shots to 50% for Purdue, but the Boilermakers got the most out of the long range game, hitting six three's to just three for the Hawkeyes. Iowa went to the line 29 times and made 21 free throws while Purdue was 7-11 from the line. Iowa had 34 rebounds to 35 for Purdue.
The stats tell you it was an evenly played game and it was. It was very entertaining save for the outcome, if you're an Iowa fan.
In the end, it came down to looking like a young team that had opportunities to seize the momentum but doesn't yet know how to do that. Purdue is likely going to finish somewhere in the middle of the pack in the Big Ten, maybe 5th place at best. It would have been a solid win for the Hawks, but will go in the books as a painful loss.
It was also likely Iowa's best chance at a win for some time, as the schedule is very, very tough over these next four weeks:
at #11 Wisconsin (12/31)
at 12-2 Minnesota
#2 Ohio State
@ #17 Michigan State
#16 Michigan
@ Purdue
Iowa will host Nebraska on January 26th, or about one month from now. It's a tough time to be a program in transition, but it's better to be on the climb than descent.
I believe this program is on the climb, but getting to a .500 overall finish for this season is going to be quite a hill to climb.
NOTES: This was Devyn Marble's seventh straight game in double figures for Iowa. During this stretch, he is averaging 15.7 points per game, 5.0 assists and just 1.1 turnovers. He reminds me of a poor man's Penny Hardaway right now, but with so much room to get better. If he keeps this up, he may be one of the most improved players from his freshman year to graduation that I have seen in my 32 years of watching Iowa basketball.
Melsahn Basabe continues to climb the ladder, too. He's scored in double figures in his last five games, averaging 14 points per game and 8.4 rebounds. He's done that damage on the scoreboard while averaging just 9.0 shots per game. He needs to be putting up 12 or more shots per game. He was 5 of 5 to start the game on Wednesday night, but only took three more shots in the second half.
Iowa has not been a great 'post feeding' team since Greg Brunner was a senior. They need to ride the horse when he's in the game, and Basabe is playing with more bounce right now than any time since the second half of his freshman season. Get Basabe the ball and good things are going to happen.
The Hawks played tough, looked very good at times on the offensive end but their defense let them down too many times.
In the first half, the Boilermakers had too many wide open looks from three-point range and they hit half of them. In the second half, Purdue was able to get to the rim just about any time they wanted off of dribble drives. The Hawkeyes did not offer up any help side defense, players were not coming off of their man to slow down the attacking opponent and that was your ball game.
Iowa's defense has been suspect for much of the year, but tonight was likely the low point. Yes, they had been blown out in a few games, namely the contest in Des Moines against Creighton, but the 'at the rim' failures tonight were tough to swallow, and will likely be something Fran McCaffery will have a hard time dealing with when he watches the film.
It's too bad, as the Hawkeye offense was in a good place for most of the game, save a five minute stretch in the second half where Purdue forced Iowa to set up its half court offense. That's not a strength for this Iowa team right now, as it appears far more comfortable operating in transition.
Melsahn Basabe and Devyn Marble continue to put up good numbers, but Basabe didn't see enough touches in the second half and Marble got a little carried away at times, attacking the basket in 1 on 4 or 1 on 3 situations on more than one occasion.
Another curious aspect towards the end of the game was the lack of playing time for Josh Oglesby. Iowa was down two possessions late and needed to hit something from beyond the arc, especially in the final 30 seconds. The Hawkeyes have two legitimate three-point shooters on their roster in Oglesby and Matt Gatens, but Oglesby was curiously absent.
Marble led Iowa with 17 points and six assists to no turnovers. Basabe scored 14 points and had a team high eight rebounds. The Hawkeyes committed just 10 turnovers but forced only seven. Iowa made 47% of their shots to 50% for Purdue, but the Boilermakers got the most out of the long range game, hitting six three's to just three for the Hawkeyes. Iowa went to the line 29 times and made 21 free throws while Purdue was 7-11 from the line. Iowa had 34 rebounds to 35 for Purdue.
The stats tell you it was an evenly played game and it was. It was very entertaining save for the outcome, if you're an Iowa fan.
In the end, it came down to looking like a young team that had opportunities to seize the momentum but doesn't yet know how to do that. Purdue is likely going to finish somewhere in the middle of the pack in the Big Ten, maybe 5th place at best. It would have been a solid win for the Hawks, but will go in the books as a painful loss.
It was also likely Iowa's best chance at a win for some time, as the schedule is very, very tough over these next four weeks:
at #11 Wisconsin (12/31)
at 12-2 Minnesota
#2 Ohio State
@ #17 Michigan State
#16 Michigan
@ Purdue
Iowa will host Nebraska on January 26th, or about one month from now. It's a tough time to be a program in transition, but it's better to be on the climb than descent.
I believe this program is on the climb, but getting to a .500 overall finish for this season is going to be quite a hill to climb.
NOTES: This was Devyn Marble's seventh straight game in double figures for Iowa. During this stretch, he is averaging 15.7 points per game, 5.0 assists and just 1.1 turnovers. He reminds me of a poor man's Penny Hardaway right now, but with so much room to get better. If he keeps this up, he may be one of the most improved players from his freshman year to graduation that I have seen in my 32 years of watching Iowa basketball.
Melsahn Basabe continues to climb the ladder, too. He's scored in double figures in his last five games, averaging 14 points per game and 8.4 rebounds. He's done that damage on the scoreboard while averaging just 9.0 shots per game. He needs to be putting up 12 or more shots per game. He was 5 of 5 to start the game on Wednesday night, but only took three more shots in the second half.
Iowa has not been a great 'post feeding' team since Greg Brunner was a senior. They need to ride the horse when he's in the game, and Basabe is playing with more bounce right now than any time since the second half of his freshman season. Get Basabe the ball and good things are going to happen.
