Nice win but...

[tweeterhawk]

... it came despite our improved individual and team defense taking long stretches off. We had a tough time clamping down on one of the worst teams in the conference. P-State was able to drive through our zone defense untouched at times or get wide open looks at the basket. We didn't disrupt their attack often enough.

P-State makes one or two of those wide open 3s, JBo misses that big 3 at the end, we may well have been lamenting another close loss on the road instead of a win.

We also didn't get to the free throw line on par with other games, suggesting we weren't as aggressive on the offensive end.

That won't fly against better teams.

 

[Robowe]

... it came despite our improved individual and team defense taking long stretches off. We had a tough time clamping down on one of the worst teams in the conference. P-State was able to drive through our zone defense untouched at times or get wide open looks at the basket. We didn't disrupt their attack often enough.

P-State makes one or two of those wide open 3s, JBo misses that big 3 at the end, we may well have been lamenting another close loss on the road instead of a win.

We also didn't get to the free throw line on par with other games, suggesting we weren't as aggressive on the offensive end.

That won't fly against better teams.

Iowa averages 28 FTs/game (506/18). Iowa shot 18 FTs last night. Tyler Cook averages 7.4 FTs/game. There's your explanation.

Defense wasn't as good as past games ... no doubt. Penn State was open from 3 for a reason ... they were 314th in the nation from 3 point range coming into the game at .307 percent. They shot 34% (12-35) from 3 last night. It was a percentage play.

 

[JG10Hawk]

28 3PA attributed to that as well. Hard to argue taking that many when hitting at an almost 43% clip.

 

[ArvadaHawk]

Iowa averages 28 FTs/game (506/18). Iowa shot 18 FTs last night. Tyler Cook averages 7.4 FTs/game. There's your explanation.

Defense wasn't as good as past games ... no doubt. Penn State was open from 3 for a reason ... they were 314th in the nation from 3 point range coming into the game at .307 percent. They shot 34% (12-35) from 3 last night. It was a percentage play.

they found a way to win on the road. so, two road wins where they hold jNW on 62 and scored 89 at PSU. both without TC. you could argue they now have confidence on both offense and defense to win on the road. PSU shooting was a one off that you would never game plan for, especially knowing that without TC, PSU had the edge in the paint. good call on that, rob.

 

[ibahawkeye]

Just a couple weeks ago the team was crap to half the posters on here. We play in the toughest conference in the country, pulled out a win on the road without our best player for the 2nd straight time.

Team sports ebb and flow so sure we didn't play our best game defensively.

But I guess I don't understand how you somebody can post with not 1 positive comment other than "nice win"

Get outta here with that BS.

 

[PCHawk]

Basketball is such a day to day sport. How we played last night has nothing to do with how we will play in the future. Against Illinois we might clamp down on defense and throw up bricks all night. Just gotta keep finding ways to win.

 

[Robowe]

they found a way to win on the road. so, two road wins where they hold jNW on 62 and scored 89 at PSU. both without TC. you could argue they now have confidence on both offense and defense to win on the road. PSU shooting was a one off that you would never game plan for, especially knowing that without TC, PSU had the edge in the paint. good call on that, rob.

Good point on the ways to win. PSU was 12-35 from three (34%). If they miss one of those 12, they are at 31 % (basically their average for the year). I will attribute that to Wheeler who was 3-18 in conference (4-19 overall) coming into the game, but he made 1-3. It happens.

 

[InGoodCo]

Iowa was straight up not defending a few PSU guys on the perimeter last night. Last season I think that was because of mental lapses and not clicking together on team defense, last night, several times it was by design.

 

[Xerxes]

Basketball is such a day to day sport. How we played last night has nothing to do with how we will play in the future. Against Illinois we might clamp down on defense and throw up bricks all night. Just gotta keep finding ways to win.

You're absolutely right on this. On top of that its such a long season. Iowa looked to have some good momentum going before B1G play, then looked like they lost it all losing 3 straight and looking bad in 2 of those games.

Now over the last 4 games they've won 2 without their best player and seemed to have some things going.

At some point this season it will likely flip a couple more times.

And the best part is that after a long season most teams are judged on basically two games over the first weekend of the NCAA tournament (half don't even get to play a second game actually). For the non-blue bloods, if you win those two games, its a good season. Any additional wins after that just increase the greatness of it.

 

[ssckelley]

That's a 2 way street, if Penn State doesn't bounce in that corner 3 pointer which started that run Iowa probably wins by double digits.

 

[InGoodCo]

really there is no but... it's not a good win but. It's a good win. Period. Without your best player on the road at a place Iowa hasn't won at since 2015. The D is going to have lapses. Every team has defensive lapses - even top ten teams have defenses lapses. I am encouraged because Iowa is winning ball games in different fashions. They can ugly it up a bit in a defensive low scoring battle, they can win a shoot out. They can win by hammering it inside, they can win a 3 point contest. All the wins look different. All 5 of our starting 5 can go off. Every one of them has been the hero and most all 5 have had multiple 20 pt games this season. Balance. Iowa is good you guys, time to embrace it.

 

[NikeHawk21]

Basketball is such a day to day sport. How we played last night has nothing to do with how we will play in the future. Against Illinois we might clamp down on defense and throw up bricks all night. Just gotta keep finding ways to win.

Agreed. I personally kind of like the fluid offensive game like we saw last night.

I don’t think Iowa’s defense was as bad as the score indicated. We weren’t great on that end by any means, but I think it was a very high possession game and some guys who normally aren’t great shooters knocked a few in for Penn State.

 

[BlacknGold19]

I wouldn’t look into percentages or how bad the defense was in this game compared to previous games. Tyler Cook was missing from the interior.

Do we win that game with TC? Kreiner was absolutely huge last night, hitting two 3’s and scoring at will in the post during the second half. What happens if he’s limited?

JBo..Can’t say enough! We were down 8-0, he nails a 3. We were down 68-60 and he nails a 3. Up 74-72 with 5 minutes left he pulls up off a screen with a defender closing in fast, money. Then we all know what he did that last shot. Talk about clutch shooting and a winner. Bohannon is one of my all time favorites. I’d ask him to take the last shot of every game the rest of his life, he might go through slumps like the rest of them, but when he’s open I expect it to go in everytime. Iowa doesn’t have those guys very often.

Great team effort. One game at a time attitude. To be 4-3 in the BIG after an 0-3 start speaks volumes about this teams character. Fran deserves a lot of the credit as well. Go Hawks!!

 

[PCHawk]

Agreed. I personally kind of like the fluid offensive game like we saw last night.

I don’t think Iowa’s defense was as bad as the score indicated. We weren’t great on that end by any means, but I think it was a very high possession game and some guys who normally aren’t great shooters knocked a few in for Penn State.

The one thing I hated about last night was how our post defenders kept stepping too far up into the lane leaving a wide open dunk behind them. That looked way too much like last year. The open 3s didnt really bother me much.

 

[Northside Hawk]

The one thing I hated about last night was how our post defenders kept stepping too far up into the lane leaving a wide open dunk behind them. That looked way too much like last year. The open 3s didnt really bother me much.

Penn State has an athletic front line. But they clearly miss Carr and Garner from last year's team. Their last couple offensive possessions, one off a timeout no less, looked like Chinese fire drills.

 

[Northside Hawk]

Agreed. I personally kind of like the fluid offensive game like we saw last night.

I don’t think Iowa’s defense was as bad as the score indicated. We weren’t great on that end by any means, but I think it was a very high possession game and some guys who normally aren’t great shooters knocked a few in for Penn State.

Anyone know what was wrong Watkins? The announcers were talking about him needing frequent breathers, asking out of the game, trying to get back into game shape.

When he's engaged he's a force. But when he's not in there Penn State is very much a perimeter oriented team, which we saw last night.

 

[NikeHawk21]

The one thing I hated about last night was how our post defenders kept stepping too far up into the lane leaving a wide open dunk behind them. That looked way too much like last year. The open 3s didnt really bother me much.

When you have big minutes of Kriener and Garza being paired, you’re behind the 8 ball in footspeed and can get carved up by penetration in zone. A few other guys were a step slow in rotations as well. But yes, I never understand why are middle guy in the zone slides up that far.

 

[Northside Hawk]

When you have big minutes of Kriener and Garza being paired, you’re behind the 8 ball in footspeed and can get carved up by penetration in zone. A few other guys were a step slow in rotations as well. But yes, I never understand why are middle guy in the zone slides up that far.

Wiescamp got burned backdoor at a critical time. But came up with a huge offensive rebound at an even more critical time.

 

[Robowe]

Anyone know what was wrong Watkins? The announcers were talking about him needing frequent breathers, asking out of the game, trying to get back into game shape.

When he's engaged he's a force. But when he's not in there Penn State is very much a perimeter oriented team, which we saw last night.

 

[Northside Hawk]

If I got McHale'd I'd lose mine, too.

Garza got rejected by Watkins several times. He tried a different way to skin the cat and succeeded.