JonDMiller
Publisher/Founder
It was a painful night in Carver Hawkeye Arena has Iowa lost 79-73 against Nebraska on Thursday night.
This is the kind of game that an up and coming program needs to win. This is the kind of game you need to win if you're hoping to keeping building up fan support. Fans need to know that you can win most of the games you are supposed to win. Iowa was supposed to win this game. It was one of the two most 'winnable' games remaining on their schedule, in my opinion.
It's not just that they lost, but how they lost.
Nebraska outscored Iowa 48-35 in the second half. The Huskers shot over 54% from the floor in the second half and when Brandon Richardson wasn't going 6-7 from the three-point line, the Huskers were getting most of their shot attempts at the rim as Iowa defenders just did not stop the ball on penetration.
Iowa was also out rebounded in this game 34-27 and they were -2 on the offensive glass. This, after Fran McCaffery said his team spent a lot of time on defense and rebounding during Iowa's nine game layoff. Yikes.
Zach McCabe led Iowa with 20 points but he fouled out a few minutes left in the game and his absence was noticeable. Devyn Marble had 15, Matt Gatens 12 and Aaron White 11 points and a game high nine rebounds.
Once again, the spotlight shins on Melsahn Basabe for what he is not doing, which is namely giving any indication that he cares. Basabe played just 13 minutes and had one more point than you and I did. He did pick up two fouls in the first half in nine minutes of action, but finished the game with three fouls. That means he played just four minutes in the second half, which was purely a coaching decision.
Since Iowa's win at Wisconsin, which was the tail end of a six-game streak where Basabe averaged 14 & 8, scoring in double figures each of those six games, Basabe has scored just 21 points in his last six games. 17 of those points game in two games. The other four games saw him score 1, 1, 2 and 0 points. Not surprisingly, Iowa lost three of those four games.
Bryce Cartwright also found himself on the bench for much of the second half, having played just seven minutes in the second stanza. He was not in foul trouble, but he might have been in the defensive doghouse. McCaffery has been pleased with the progress of his offense, but has said Cartwright is not doing what needs to be done on the defensive end. Nebraska's guards were doing what they wanted far too often in this game, and Cartwright took a seat. The TV cameras focused in on him late in the game while he rode the pint, and he looked disappointed with the view he had.
Cartwright is a senior and he has seen younger players pass him by. Basabe is a sophomore and he has seen Aaron White and Zach McCabe eat up his minutes. There isn't an Iowa fan out there who would make the case for anything different at this point in time. White and McCabe are high energy players and they will keep gobbling up the minutes at Basabe's expense. Iowa will bring in two freshmen front court players next year and my guess is they will work their tails off, too.
I have no explanations for Basabe's seemingly lackluster effort. A player can miss shots, a player can blow an assignment here and there, but a player can never, ever look like he'd rather be somewhere else.
Iowa falls to 3-5 in league play with the loss, 11-10 overall. Iowa's next game is a road contest at Indiana on Sunday and then a short break before they are back at home against Minnesota on February 1st.
Was this the kind of loss that can derail the positive momentum this team has built up in its first seven games of league play? Can Basabe somehow flip a switch and give quality effort each time on the floor? Will Cartwright step things up on the defensive end?
There are no easy outs in this league, this year. I don't think there is a 'bad team' in the bunch. The Hawks are going to have to bring total effort from every player who sees the court for all 40 minutes the rest of this season, or there will be more disappointing finishes like we saw against Nebraska.
FRAN MCCAFFERY POST GAME
Q. What happened in the last six minutes? Seemed like you guys were one or two away from seizing control.
COACH McCAFFERY: I think it was fairly typical of, you know, probably what we've been experiencing all year. We couldn't get a stop when we needed it. I don't think I'm saying anything everyone in this room doesn't already understand. You saw it.
It was disappointing, because I mean, defensively tonight, that's about as bad as you can play. I can't ‑‑ and I'm not blaming my players, at all. And we have got to do a better job. We did not play good defense tonight.
Richardson is a good player, but nine for ten, six for seven, 25 points, I mean, he hasn't shown that. But you've got to give him credit. But he was going off the dribble, he was mixing it up. We concentrated on Spencer, did a pretty decent job on him and we still gave him 16. Very disappointed in our defensive effort.
Q. In the second half, getting back in foul trouble, how much does that affect your rebounding?
COACH McCAFFERY: It's going to affect your rebounding, especially if we downshift and play Eric at the four, already small. I thought Arch gave us great minutes in the second half. I was very proud of him. I thought White was great, 11 and 9, five offensive rebounds. When we were strong offensively, I thought he really picked us up a couple times with the put back, a tipped dunk, the one put‑back, Melsahn tipped it. So I think that was good.
But you're going with your zone offensive team, they went zone, we put our shooters in; you're not as big. So now you struggle together rebounding the ball but you figure we can guard penetration a little better, which we didn't do.
Q. Turned it over three times in a five‑possession stretch, and they went on an 8‑0 run, how pivotal was that?
COACH McCAFFERY: Very pivotal. Unfortunately we made another run at the end of the half, because it looked like it was going to be about a one‑point game after being up 11. So it was disappointing that that happened.
They put some pressure on us, and we tried to put our head down and go, and there was nothing there. And we have got to be a little smarter in that situation to keep them on defense for a while. We want to run ‑‑ we always tell the guys, we want to run but we don't want to play nuts. We played nuts for that minute and a half.
Q. You said over the nine‑day layoff the team really emphasized defensive rebounding ‑‑
COACH McCAFFERY: What I said was we emphasized offense. That's what I said. The offense was, all right. We shot 49. So I guess we should have emphasized defense.
Q. How surprised were you to see Doc play that much zone in the second half?
COACH McCAFFERY: Well, he has not done it, so I think from that standpoint, a little bit surprised but he has shown it and he has played it and he has utilized it effectively at times.
You know, he only played seven. So I think he had ‑‑ I wouldn't say a tired team, but he was trying to get them to the wire where they had enough juice on offense. And I thought we got great shots against it, we really did.
I think it might have helped him, and helped them in terms of fatigue. But I tell you, we got great looks at it. Unfortunately they didn't go in.
Q. McCabe went for 20, career high; seems like he's just more assertive on that end. To what do you attribute his having two great games like that offensively in a row?
COACH McCAFFERY: Well, what he's doing is he's mixing it up, he shoots threes, he drives the ball, he has put‑backs. He has versatility in his game but I think confidence is another side. He's very confident in himself right now.
The other thing that he did, he turned the ball over last year. He was a turnover guy and he's not a turnover guy anymore. So I think what that's done is helped his confidence. He knows he's not out there making mistake. He's typically making one good play after another helping our team. So that combination of things is really what's helping him.
Q. The first minute of the second half they scored the first seven points; did you feel you didn't have any rhythm or momentum?
COACH McCAFFERY: One of the things there, I think it was the second possession, they got three shots. That was disappointing, because they scored quick and then we got a miss twice and we couldn't get the ball and then they scored.
And then, you know, we had a couple looks at it, didn't go and next thing you know it's tied, and you know it's going to be a different kind of game than it would have been. We score the first seven points, it's a lot different.
Q. Looked like when Devyn got a couple quick fouls, he got taken out, lost a bit of rhythm on offense, as well.
COACH McCAFFERY: Yeah, I was reluctant to play him with foul trouble. Plus when I took him out then, he was clearly tired. It was sort of a combination of both. And we did, we clearly lost some momentum there, no question about it.
Q. The separation, he just could not get to a point in the first half where he could get away from them so that they wouldn't hang around.
COACH McCAFFERY: Well, you know, if you foul this team, I don't know why everybody is surprised. They lost the first three games without two of their best players. They are 3‑3 since then. They have not gone away against anybody. Down 11 against Indiana late, come back to win the game; at Wisconsin, same thing; at Illinois, same thing, down to the last possession. They have not gone away. They are not going away. They have got a good team. I give Doc a lot of credit. I give their players a lot of credit; they play hard and they play well together.
Q. 13 Melsahn, minutes no shot.
COACH McCAFFERY: No effort. No effort from him tonight. Disappointing.
Q. You've talked, it's happened over and over again ‑‑
COACH McCAFFERY: He's got to figure it out. We have done everything that we can do in terms of breaking it down on film, having discussions with him, working with him extra.
He's got to decide where this is going. I can't make it any simpler than that. I told him the same thing. He's got to decide, does he want to rebound, does he want to run, does he want to block shots, does he want to attack the rim.
Now, I will say this. He's doing it in practice. So I think that's probably step one, for him. Because he's clearly struggling in the games but he's not struggling in practice. That's why he's still in the starting lineup.
So I do think it will happen for him, but tonight, didn't bring it and that's unfortunate.
Q. McCabe was again in the 20‑point range.
COACH McCAFFERY: I mean, Zach is probably playing the best we have right now.
Q. What do you think is the main problem defensively down the stretch, seemed like Nebraska got ‑‑
COACH McCAFFERY: Well, they spread us out and we didn't contain dribble penetration.
Q. Will defense be emphasized now?
COACH McCAFFERY: It will, but it's always a fine line, because we have got to go down there and score, too. Because they are going to come after us and it's going to be an enthusiastic crowd. I think they are a substantially better defensive team this year than they were last year, simply because you have got Zeller in the middle but you've got long‑arm guys that have been around now, instead of freshmen, sophomores, you've got sophomores and juniors and then you have the big fellas. We'll do a little of both. But yeah, we will emphasize defense.
This is the kind of game that an up and coming program needs to win. This is the kind of game you need to win if you're hoping to keeping building up fan support. Fans need to know that you can win most of the games you are supposed to win. Iowa was supposed to win this game. It was one of the two most 'winnable' games remaining on their schedule, in my opinion.
It's not just that they lost, but how they lost.
Nebraska outscored Iowa 48-35 in the second half. The Huskers shot over 54% from the floor in the second half and when Brandon Richardson wasn't going 6-7 from the three-point line, the Huskers were getting most of their shot attempts at the rim as Iowa defenders just did not stop the ball on penetration.
Iowa was also out rebounded in this game 34-27 and they were -2 on the offensive glass. This, after Fran McCaffery said his team spent a lot of time on defense and rebounding during Iowa's nine game layoff. Yikes.
Zach McCabe led Iowa with 20 points but he fouled out a few minutes left in the game and his absence was noticeable. Devyn Marble had 15, Matt Gatens 12 and Aaron White 11 points and a game high nine rebounds.
Once again, the spotlight shins on Melsahn Basabe for what he is not doing, which is namely giving any indication that he cares. Basabe played just 13 minutes and had one more point than you and I did. He did pick up two fouls in the first half in nine minutes of action, but finished the game with three fouls. That means he played just four minutes in the second half, which was purely a coaching decision.
Since Iowa's win at Wisconsin, which was the tail end of a six-game streak where Basabe averaged 14 & 8, scoring in double figures each of those six games, Basabe has scored just 21 points in his last six games. 17 of those points game in two games. The other four games saw him score 1, 1, 2 and 0 points. Not surprisingly, Iowa lost three of those four games.
Bryce Cartwright also found himself on the bench for much of the second half, having played just seven minutes in the second stanza. He was not in foul trouble, but he might have been in the defensive doghouse. McCaffery has been pleased with the progress of his offense, but has said Cartwright is not doing what needs to be done on the defensive end. Nebraska's guards were doing what they wanted far too often in this game, and Cartwright took a seat. The TV cameras focused in on him late in the game while he rode the pint, and he looked disappointed with the view he had.
Cartwright is a senior and he has seen younger players pass him by. Basabe is a sophomore and he has seen Aaron White and Zach McCabe eat up his minutes. There isn't an Iowa fan out there who would make the case for anything different at this point in time. White and McCabe are high energy players and they will keep gobbling up the minutes at Basabe's expense. Iowa will bring in two freshmen front court players next year and my guess is they will work their tails off, too.
I have no explanations for Basabe's seemingly lackluster effort. A player can miss shots, a player can blow an assignment here and there, but a player can never, ever look like he'd rather be somewhere else.
Iowa falls to 3-5 in league play with the loss, 11-10 overall. Iowa's next game is a road contest at Indiana on Sunday and then a short break before they are back at home against Minnesota on February 1st.
Was this the kind of loss that can derail the positive momentum this team has built up in its first seven games of league play? Can Basabe somehow flip a switch and give quality effort each time on the floor? Will Cartwright step things up on the defensive end?
There are no easy outs in this league, this year. I don't think there is a 'bad team' in the bunch. The Hawks are going to have to bring total effort from every player who sees the court for all 40 minutes the rest of this season, or there will be more disappointing finishes like we saw against Nebraska.
FRAN MCCAFFERY POST GAME
Q. What happened in the last six minutes? Seemed like you guys were one or two away from seizing control.
COACH McCAFFERY: I think it was fairly typical of, you know, probably what we've been experiencing all year. We couldn't get a stop when we needed it. I don't think I'm saying anything everyone in this room doesn't already understand. You saw it.
It was disappointing, because I mean, defensively tonight, that's about as bad as you can play. I can't ‑‑ and I'm not blaming my players, at all. And we have got to do a better job. We did not play good defense tonight.
Richardson is a good player, but nine for ten, six for seven, 25 points, I mean, he hasn't shown that. But you've got to give him credit. But he was going off the dribble, he was mixing it up. We concentrated on Spencer, did a pretty decent job on him and we still gave him 16. Very disappointed in our defensive effort.
Q. In the second half, getting back in foul trouble, how much does that affect your rebounding?
COACH McCAFFERY: It's going to affect your rebounding, especially if we downshift and play Eric at the four, already small. I thought Arch gave us great minutes in the second half. I was very proud of him. I thought White was great, 11 and 9, five offensive rebounds. When we were strong offensively, I thought he really picked us up a couple times with the put back, a tipped dunk, the one put‑back, Melsahn tipped it. So I think that was good.
But you're going with your zone offensive team, they went zone, we put our shooters in; you're not as big. So now you struggle together rebounding the ball but you figure we can guard penetration a little better, which we didn't do.
Q. Turned it over three times in a five‑possession stretch, and they went on an 8‑0 run, how pivotal was that?
COACH McCAFFERY: Very pivotal. Unfortunately we made another run at the end of the half, because it looked like it was going to be about a one‑point game after being up 11. So it was disappointing that that happened.
They put some pressure on us, and we tried to put our head down and go, and there was nothing there. And we have got to be a little smarter in that situation to keep them on defense for a while. We want to run ‑‑ we always tell the guys, we want to run but we don't want to play nuts. We played nuts for that minute and a half.
Q. You said over the nine‑day layoff the team really emphasized defensive rebounding ‑‑
COACH McCAFFERY: What I said was we emphasized offense. That's what I said. The offense was, all right. We shot 49. So I guess we should have emphasized defense.
Q. How surprised were you to see Doc play that much zone in the second half?
COACH McCAFFERY: Well, he has not done it, so I think from that standpoint, a little bit surprised but he has shown it and he has played it and he has utilized it effectively at times.
You know, he only played seven. So I think he had ‑‑ I wouldn't say a tired team, but he was trying to get them to the wire where they had enough juice on offense. And I thought we got great shots against it, we really did.
I think it might have helped him, and helped them in terms of fatigue. But I tell you, we got great looks at it. Unfortunately they didn't go in.
Q. McCabe went for 20, career high; seems like he's just more assertive on that end. To what do you attribute his having two great games like that offensively in a row?
COACH McCAFFERY: Well, what he's doing is he's mixing it up, he shoots threes, he drives the ball, he has put‑backs. He has versatility in his game but I think confidence is another side. He's very confident in himself right now.
The other thing that he did, he turned the ball over last year. He was a turnover guy and he's not a turnover guy anymore. So I think what that's done is helped his confidence. He knows he's not out there making mistake. He's typically making one good play after another helping our team. So that combination of things is really what's helping him.
Q. The first minute of the second half they scored the first seven points; did you feel you didn't have any rhythm or momentum?
COACH McCAFFERY: One of the things there, I think it was the second possession, they got three shots. That was disappointing, because they scored quick and then we got a miss twice and we couldn't get the ball and then they scored.
And then, you know, we had a couple looks at it, didn't go and next thing you know it's tied, and you know it's going to be a different kind of game than it would have been. We score the first seven points, it's a lot different.
Q. Looked like when Devyn got a couple quick fouls, he got taken out, lost a bit of rhythm on offense, as well.
COACH McCAFFERY: Yeah, I was reluctant to play him with foul trouble. Plus when I took him out then, he was clearly tired. It was sort of a combination of both. And we did, we clearly lost some momentum there, no question about it.
Q. The separation, he just could not get to a point in the first half where he could get away from them so that they wouldn't hang around.
COACH McCAFFERY: Well, you know, if you foul this team, I don't know why everybody is surprised. They lost the first three games without two of their best players. They are 3‑3 since then. They have not gone away against anybody. Down 11 against Indiana late, come back to win the game; at Wisconsin, same thing; at Illinois, same thing, down to the last possession. They have not gone away. They are not going away. They have got a good team. I give Doc a lot of credit. I give their players a lot of credit; they play hard and they play well together.
Q. 13 Melsahn, minutes no shot.
COACH McCAFFERY: No effort. No effort from him tonight. Disappointing.
Q. You've talked, it's happened over and over again ‑‑
COACH McCAFFERY: He's got to figure it out. We have done everything that we can do in terms of breaking it down on film, having discussions with him, working with him extra.
He's got to decide where this is going. I can't make it any simpler than that. I told him the same thing. He's got to decide, does he want to rebound, does he want to run, does he want to block shots, does he want to attack the rim.
Now, I will say this. He's doing it in practice. So I think that's probably step one, for him. Because he's clearly struggling in the games but he's not struggling in practice. That's why he's still in the starting lineup.
So I do think it will happen for him, but tonight, didn't bring it and that's unfortunate.
Q. McCabe was again in the 20‑point range.
COACH McCAFFERY: I mean, Zach is probably playing the best we have right now.
Q. What do you think is the main problem defensively down the stretch, seemed like Nebraska got ‑‑
COACH McCAFFERY: Well, they spread us out and we didn't contain dribble penetration.
Q. Will defense be emphasized now?
COACH McCAFFERY: It will, but it's always a fine line, because we have got to go down there and score, too. Because they are going to come after us and it's going to be an enthusiastic crowd. I think they are a substantially better defensive team this year than they were last year, simply because you have got Zeller in the middle but you've got long‑arm guys that have been around now, instead of freshmen, sophomores, you've got sophomores and juniors and then you have the big fellas. We'll do a little of both. But yeah, we will emphasize defense.
