NBC Sports: B1G Catchup

[ArvadaHawk]

White will do very well at the 4, IF Woody & Gabe are playing a good post game and we can make the pass to the Bigs.. IF PJ JO & JU are spreading the D with their threes. and IF our PG can drive and pass. Its a team game guys. We don't have any super stars.

LASBUR, my concern with White is on the defensive side of things. I think Gabe is best and defending the 4 spot. Fran is definitely going to have to massage Gabe between the 4/5 spots. We don't really have anyone besides Gabe to play defense at the 4 spot. We can play a lot of zone, but our guards didn't seem to be quick enough to keep guards from penetrating. We shall see. Officially, I am excited to see just how good PJ, JU and DM can be. I think we have a definite chance to finish well inside the top 4. Remember, us and WUs are the two teams that lost the least amount of impact players.

 

[hawkforlife9]

Iowa is going to be a lot better than what people think.

With the way they nailed the end of last season, for sure Top 10. Top 2 in BIG doesn't surprise me at all.

 

[LASBUR]

I get that concern. I also agree Gabe is going to be needed at the 4. But he is still going to have to back up Woody. I am concerned that we don't have enough depth at the 4. Meyers would have seen some min.

LASBUR, my concern with White is on the defensive side of things. I think Gabe is best and defending the 4 spot. Fran is definitely going to have to massage Gabe between the 4/5 spots. We don't really have anyone besides Gabe to play defense at the 4 spot. We can play a lot of zone, but our guards didn't seem to be quick enough to keep guards from penetrating. We shall see. Officially, I am excited to see just how good PJ, JU and DM can be. I think we have a definite chance to finish well inside the top 4. Remember, us and WUs are the two teams that lost the least amount of impact players.

 

[ArvadaHawk]

I get that concern. I also agree Gabe is going to be needed at the 4. But he is still going to have to back up Woody. I am concerned that we don't have enough depth at the 4. Meyers would have seen some min.

Right on, LASBUR. The miss on Atwood or another big, so far, to help inside in '14 does hurt a bit. I'm not saying Atwood was the end all be all, but he looked to be at least as capable as Melsahn, though a different type of player. Our inside depth will be tricky next season.

 

[UncleHawk]

I think White could do well in half court sets. He has some decent post moves that could be improved but he does get to the line quite often in half court sets. He looks like he's trying to draw the foul and not try to and-one. As an 85% ft shooter, I just can't believe he doesn't have a really good 15 ft jumper; I just can't believe that. White needs to get more and-one's and take 50% of his attempts from out to 15 feet. I believe he can do both of these. If he does, he could become the best player in the league; factoring in his ability to run the floor and his help side defense. But up to this point, that's just potential and not realized talents.

I think there is something to the fact that since White is an 85% ft shooter, you might expect him to shoot better outside the lane. Part of it could be that I think he's more comfortable as a 4, working his game inside out. Part of it is the fact that his release is fairly slow. As a 4 he might have more time for a slow release, less pressure on his shot from slower players, than as a 3. But the biggest thing at this point has to be confidence. Not sure he can get that confidence in a few months, but the potential is there.

 

[HawkeyeMHA]

Probably, I would expect him to be about the exact same player whether he plays the 3 or the 4. He will get his run outs and transition points and putbacks, but will struggle in the halfcourt. If he's your 3rd or 4th option offensively, you're in great shape, if you're expecting to be your go to guy, you're in trouble.

This.

 

[HawkeyeMHA]

They need White to camp out on the baseline during the set plays or go with back door alley oop play. It works the first time or two but then they quit running the set.

You can't run 37 ally oops per game

 

[MiniMoeHawk]

You can't run 37 ally oops per game

you could definitely run more than 1...How many times did AW score the first play of the game and then hide for the rest of the half?

 

[Tierney]

With the way they nailed the end of last season, for sure Top 10. Top 2 in BIG doesn't surprise me at all.

They should be fun to watch and they will be better than people expect. It wouldn't surprise me if they did end up in the top 10 or even will the conference. If you think there isn't anyone on the team or coaching staff that thinks it couldn't happen, you would be wrong. Iowa is going to be experience, and full of juniors and seniors. A big part of the game is mental, and hopefully, they got rid of a lot of the negative lickliter years last year. I don't think Wisconsin is better than Iowa.

 

[Tierney]

I wonder who will play Fran in the movie. It better be as good as Hoosiers.

They might make a movie if you were talking about Notre Dame or Indiana, but they won't make one about Iowa.

 

[Linesetter]

They should be fun to watch and they will be better than people expect. It wouldn't surprise me if they did end up in the top 10 or even will the conference. If you think there isn't anyone on the team or coaching staff that thinks it couldn't happen, you would be wrong. Iowa is going to be experience, and full of juniors and seniors. A big part of the game is mental, and hopefully, they got rid of a lot of the negative lickliter years last year. I don't think Wisconsin is better than Iowa.

Aaron White said the same thing after Wisky beat Iowa in Madison. As Jon said in his write up following the Iowa vs. Wisconsin game in Carver in February, if a team keeps beating you you aren't better than them. Especially if that team won 30 games and advanced to the Final Four and nearly played for the Natty.

Iowa is better than the end of season collapse but there is still much work to be done. White has been here 3+ years and still hasn't developed a dependable outside shot. After a certain amount of time you just come to the conclusion that the guy isn't a good shooter and should stick to his strengths. The entire team needs to get tougher and play with more discipline.

It wouldn't surprise me to see Iowa finish in the Top 4 of the league since outside of Wisconsin there are so many questions. Michigan is due for a fall back. Same with MSU. Crean can't keep players in his program and Northwestern and Minny still lack talent.

 

[HawkeyeMHA]

you could definitely run more than 1...How many times did AW score the first play of the game and then hide for the rest of the half?

True dat, but an oop is good for about two to three sets a game, start of game, start of second half, and an out of bounds play maybe and after a time out. Any more than that and it gets sniffed out and then you are the fan grumbing about how predictable the plays are (see kok). Whitey is pretty limited in a half court set. Unless it's a transition bucket or sneaking behind the defense on the baseline he doesn't produce a lot on his own one on one. I worry w out marble we won't have much for go To guys with the **** clock winding down. I see flashes in jok but he's a year to two away. Hawks take a step back next year UNLESS the twin towers are played together more frequently AND woody I takes that next step with his game which could happen.

 

[Tierney]

Aaron White said the same thing after Wisky beat Iowa in Madison. As Jon said in his write up following the Iowa vs. Wisconsin game in Carver in February, if a team keeps beating you you aren't better than them. Especially if that team won 30 games and advanced to the Final Four and nearly played for the Natty.

Iowa is better than the end of season collapse but there is still much work to be done. White has been here 3+ years and still hasn't developed a dependable outside shot. After a certain amount of time you just come to the conclusion that the guy isn't a good shooter and should stick to his strengths. The entire team needs to get tougher and play with more discipline.

It wouldn't surprise me to see Iowa finish in the Top 4 of the league since outside of Wisconsin there are so many questions. Michigan is due for a fall back. Same with MSU. Crean can't keep players in his program and Northwestern and Minny still lack talent.

Wisconsin had a pretty good year last year, but that was last year. The margin between wisconsin and Iowa wasn't very great and certainly isn't unsurmountable. Wisconsin probably would of bombed out last year if their center hadn't come around. Bo is a good coach and they should be pretty good this coming year, but I can see Iowa improving a lot in more than one area. Everyone has their opinion, but thats why they play the games.

 

[WindsorHawk]

Wisconsin lost 5 out of 6 between January 14 and February 1. Iowa lost 5 out of 6 to end the regular season. Timing is everything...have to be hot at the end of the season.

I dislike Brust as much as anyone but he was underrated as a player IMO and may very well be missed as much as Marble. Wisconsin is my pick to win the conference but hardly think they are unbeatable or a lock.