BirdsOfPrey
Well-Known Member
Call me confused. For 2/3's of this season, the Hawks played a fast paced motion offensive style of basketball combined with an agressive pressing defensive style. These complemented each other and made both styles better. The players seemed to enjoy this style of play and it was entertaining to watch. Lots of movement on offense, lots of steals and blocked shots on defense. Iowa dictated the tempo even when teams tried to slow it down. If they mugged us, we attacked and won at the free throw line. The first 20 games of our season, Iowa played outstanding basketball against one of the toughest schedules in the country. These last 10 games against far weaker opponents are a mystery to me. Assists are down, I guess thats to be expected with lower shooting percentage. Blocked shots are way down. Our defense is less disruptive and lots of standing around on offense. Is this a tired team? Are there injuries the public is unaware of? If the Hawks are tired, you would think the coaching staff would use subs more freely and take advantage of all our timeouts. This staff has always designed excellent inbounds plays following timeouts. This situation seems similar to the collapse two years ago. Many of the same players are involved. What's also similar is Fran designating one player as crucial to the teams success - Marble then and Uthoff now. Fran gave both guys the green light on all shots and encouraged both to take more. Both players displayed a sharp decline in quality of shot selection from a team play point of view in my opinion. That's all good when they are hot and shots go in. Effort, focus and team play seems lacking lately. Fran just seems ******. I'm not buying into any confidence problems, this team went from unranked with low expectations to #4 in the country and predictions of a top seed in the NCAA tournament. Is there an attitude problem on the team again? Where'd that senior leadership go? This ain't a spa - per Fran and the Souix City superstars ain't playing in the NBA.
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