Not a smart team, not a tough team... it was all an illusion.
- Thread starter Bigtenchamp
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Bigtenchamp
Well-Known Member
maybe "never good" was the wrong wording... they are not as good as I thought they could be or what they looked like on paper.
Sure they were good.. but losing 7 of your final 8 games and losing soooo many close games the past two years is not good.
Agreed.
Bigtenchamp
Well-Known Member
Did you suddenly turn into a 3 year old? I don't remember you posting like this before.
I'm hardly saying anything different than Mcaffery hasn't said about them (toughness, playing smart)
Why don't you go have a stroke/aneurism on him.
biasedHAWKEYE
Well-Known Member
Except for the fact that he was what kept Iowa in nearly every game to have a chance to win at the end...
biasedHAWKEYE
Well-Known Member
Fair point. It's frustrating, because they were so close to breaking through, but never could.
This team reminds me a lot of the 2010 football team with how they faded down the stretch.
WinOneThisCentury
Well-Known Member
I usually don't come to the board after losses like this...I usually give it a few days. You know what, sometime you get the bear, sometimes it gets you. I don't fault these guys for their effort tonight. I thought they were tough. I don't think the refs helped them...but I'm not blaming that. I posted something before the game about somebody having to make the big shots at the big moments down the stretch. Guess what...it didn't happen again. That doesn't mean the team isn't tough or didn't play with effort. An illusion to me is a team that beats up on the underlings and gets hammered by the big boys. This team played the big boys tough. I won't call them out and I think it's ridiculous that someone would.
Bigtenchamp
Well-Known Member
I'm not "Calling them out".
Its basketball... I saw 3 very dumb fouls down the stretch. I see a team that just can't win close games for two years... and it really looks mental/inside their head. Tougness is more than just body slamming someone - it between the ears... FRAN HIMSELF has said this... I guess he is a moron and calling them out... a despicable human being.
This team definitely could be called an illusion... a team that was in the top 10 - that people thought could make a final 4 run.,, but in the end it really wasn't... it was like... an illusion.
The only one acting like a child is you coming out insulting me like a 10 year old.
If you take away the gimmes in the preseason Iowa was just an average team. I'm not trying to knock them and I enjoyed watching them play, but its kind of like the football team finishing 7 and 4 when you have three gimme games at the start of the season. They are a lot better than when Fran took over, and they will be a lot better next year. They should be a lot more athletic next year.
WinOneThisCentury
Well-Known Member
I'm pretty sure Fran didn't say his team was an illusion...and you are using his comment about toughness out of context. He was specific about certain situations/games, not generalizing about his team like you are. So in the 12 losses before tonight, how many of those game went to the final possessions? 9? I'm thinking 9. So in each of those games, one or two breaks or a referees call here or there could have changed the outcome of the game. This team wasn't an illusion...they were so close being 25-8 or whatever. Honestly, they were one consistent scorer, other than Marble, from being a top ten team. I wouldn't call a team that played everyone as tough as we did a fake. Maybe I look at it from a players perspective...and maybe their coming to this board and seeing your post "not a smart team, not a tough team, it was all an illusion." I'm sure they would understand your perspective, you know with all your knowledge and experience.
Bigtenchamp
Well-Known Member
I'm not using his quote about context - he was referring to our ability to close out games. He has said it... analysts have said it. Losing all those final possession games was not a fluke... its happened for two years. So close to being 25-8? Last year much the same...
So you just boil that down to bad luck I guess? I never said the team didn't "try" or play hard. But in the end this is a game about finishing, winning and having poise when it matters - this team for the past two years does not. It's been proven over and over again.
I sure hope what's left of this teams not so sensitive as you are - they'd be in trouble.
Bigtenchamp
Well-Known Member
So you think this team is mentally tough and as good as everyone though they were earlier this year?
I'll admit I was fooled into it.
It's hard to lose 7 of your last 8 games and feel satisfied.
Bigtenchamp
Well-Known Member
I honestly think they could be better next year... all new chemistry.
But a few guys need to do some soul searching.
RocknRollface
Well-Known Member
This crew didnt have a good make up and lacked mental toughness.
Bigger problem was that they continually played stupid and the coach was the enabler and often encourager of the stupidity.
Whethere or not people want to admitt it this team exhibits the signs of being poorly coached and ill conceived.
This team and coach were not a good fit for eachother.
Bigger problem was that they continually played stupid and the coach was the enabler and often encourager of the stupidity.
Whethere or not people want to admitt it this team exhibits the signs of being poorly coached and ill conceived.
This team and coach were not a good fit for eachother.
PalmettoHawkFan
Well-Known Member
as I've been saying...
this is a well-coached team that kept hitting its head against its collective talent ceiling. the problem? too many tweeners, too many modest bb IQs. these are overachieving 3 stars.
white has major weaknesses whether at the 3 or 4. he's hit his ceiling, but is an all-conference complimentary piece. he can't be the main man next year.
gesell never makes bad choices, but he doesn't penetrate like the offense needs him too, hasn't shot well, and doesn't get the team into the flow of the half court. he's an undersized combo guard, not a pure point.
utoff is more skilled than white, but a tweener still. with utoff, white, and gabe, physical teams will punish us -- and that won't change next year. if we get atwood, he's another tweener.
fran has gone after the best players available and tried to coach them into his system -- the problem is that the best players available were not ideal fits for what he wants to do. however, when you look at the collective limitations -- especially how thin they are -- a slow down, half-court system wouldn't work better.
with or without atwood, I think this will be a 9-9, 10-8 team next year, with a trip to the ncaa. woody is going to mature and be the team leader. white will have a white year. jok will have some terrific nights. dickerson may end up the starter at PG (it will be open at the start of the year, and if gesell still struggles, he becomes a combo guard off the bench).
get two more top 150 level recruits for 2015 and fran is set.
this is a well-coached team that kept hitting its head against its collective talent ceiling. the problem? too many tweeners, too many modest bb IQs. these are overachieving 3 stars.
white has major weaknesses whether at the 3 or 4. he's hit his ceiling, but is an all-conference complimentary piece. he can't be the main man next year.
gesell never makes bad choices, but he doesn't penetrate like the offense needs him too, hasn't shot well, and doesn't get the team into the flow of the half court. he's an undersized combo guard, not a pure point.
utoff is more skilled than white, but a tweener still. with utoff, white, and gabe, physical teams will punish us -- and that won't change next year. if we get atwood, he's another tweener.
fran has gone after the best players available and tried to coach them into his system -- the problem is that the best players available were not ideal fits for what he wants to do. however, when you look at the collective limitations -- especially how thin they are -- a slow down, half-court system wouldn't work better.
with or without atwood, I think this will be a 9-9, 10-8 team next year, with a trip to the ncaa. woody is going to mature and be the team leader. white will have a white year. jok will have some terrific nights. dickerson may end up the starter at PG (it will be open at the start of the year, and if gesell still struggles, he becomes a combo guard off the bench).
get two more top 150 level recruits for 2015 and fran is set.
