Not-So-Subtle Reminder Of Where We're At

1977Hawkeye

1977Hawkeye

Well-Known Member
This is not intended as a rant thread, and I expected us to play much better today than we have, based on the past few games.

But today is a pretty harsh reality check that we still have alot of holes to fill on this team:

We simply don't have good shooters. Gatens shot 40% from 3 as a freshman, but has been low 30%'s since then. Not good, and not sure what the deal is there. May is over 40% for the year, but doesn't shoot a lot of 3's, and nobody else is really consistent from outside. We are not going to hurt people who play alot of zone as Minnesota is today.

Minnesota is packing it in and we simply don't have the size to impose our will in the paint, or the shooters to pull Minnesota out of the zone.

Gotta recruit some shooters and some size. Plain and simple. I'm sure Fran knows that, and will address it, but today is tough to swallow, and a rude reminder of where we're at. Didn't really see this coming today.
 
Today is certainly a step in the wrong direction but it is only one game. I have faith that Fran will get the ship straightened out and headed back in the right direction. We have to learn from this and move on to the next game and get back to playing like we have been recently.
 
I do have alot of faith in Fran - I'm still impressed with what he's gotten out of this team lately and am not jumping ship. Definitely a bad game today and things are not as bad as they seem after a game like this - I'm sure we'll bounce back. Just a bitter pill to swallow today.
 
I'm unable to watch but shooting 28+ three-pointers is not a good sign. Especially if you only hit just above 20%
 
Great thread considering...Matt has been very disappointing to me this year. I can understand a Freshman having the difficulties that Matt is having in making shots and just playing a decent game in general, but an upperclassman should not be having these difficulties. I agree, we do have some holes to fill and today only highlighted those holes.
 
Matt Gatens imo is not a good shooter "when the game matters". He misses a lot of shots when the game is in the balance. For supposedly your best shooter, Matt has to make those open looks. He had a ton of them today. Had he knocked down those open looks today and got Iowa going on the right path, tonight might have been a different story. Bottom line, Iowa just needs better players.
 
Couldnt make wide open shots, not a great sign for us. Every team from here on out is going to play a zone against us.
 
DaBears said:
Couldnt make wide open shots, not a great sign for us. Every team from here on out is going to play a zone against us.
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1. You're not an Iowa fan, stop pretending.
2. Not everybody plays the 2-3 as well as Minnesota does. They've just got great size and athleticism.
 
That was one ugly, disappointing game. BUT... I believe it was mostly the residue from the OT loss to Wisconsin. The Hawkeyes WANTED to play hard, but they were physically and emotionally drained after letting the Badgers get away. That's one reason Iowa missed so many open shots and just looked lethargic the whole game. They were mentally and physically fatigued. It happens...

The test will be if Iowa can recover, regroup and return to where they were before Minnesota. If so, this game, unfortunate as it was, will just be one of those blips. After all, you might recall, Minnesota came in on a 4-game losing streak. Does Iowa need more talent? Of course, but this game wasn't about that as much as it was just having nothing left in the tank, IMHO.
 
Just when it appeared that the Hawks had "turned a corner" last week, they find themselves at another very important "intersection". Not so much long-term (I still have hopes for Fran to keep rebuilding toward respectability) but definitely for the rest of the season. This is about the time last year where the entire team just checked out. We will see just how quickly Fran will bring success in the next game.

Hoping he sees the writing on the wall and goes with the following line-up:
Cole (Best all-around player on the team, night in / out);
Basabe (Best all-around player on the team, period, but struggles with consistency);
Cartwright (No explanation needed.);
May (Best athlete on the team and just has to keep playing. Attacked early, then, got tentative);
Marble (The closest Hawks have to a dual-threat guard and his ability to flush and keep getting after it on offense gets him the nod over Gatens).

1st sub - Brommer (You know either Cole or Basabe will get into foul trouble. Much improved presence on defense and his size is badly needed.)
2nd sub - Gatens (Dude hasn't been a reliable outside threat in 2 years and doesn't give you much defensively but might come in looser off the bench and actually have some success.)
3rd sub - Stoermer (Needs to understand that when he's on the floor it's because he is expected to shoot the ball. He's out there for 2-3 minutes and needs to bring a spark.)
 
We DON'T NEED SHOOTERS!!!!!!!! We need wings that can penetrate and create their own. We need one spot up shooter that can light it up from outside and the rest should take it to the rack....aka Minnesota, OSU, Illinois, etc.

We lack height inside and wings that can penetrate. If a D never has to worry about you taking it to the rim OR an offensive presence inside then they can close out without risk of you making them look stupid.

This was an ugly game but as someone said, it's just one game. You could see the coaching going on and you could tell that the players want no part of what they just experienced again. That's a good sign. Just like the Jets v New England, bury the damn ball and move on.
 
The frustrating thing to me is the inconsistency of some of the players. Cole has an NBA-type body but just can't put together a string of solid games. We just have too many players who show up one night and then take the next two nights off.
 
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Two steps forward, one step back. These guys will be fine. Probably thought they were at a road game with all the fans at the game...
 
I was thinking this before the game, but I didn't post it here, so if you want to take it for hind-sight, that's fine. The reason we played Wisconsin so close is because they were clearly not taking us seriously and they were looking ahead. Minnesota was a team that had to win, they took Iowa seriously, and they shut us down.
 
hawkeye12345 said:
We DON'T NEED SHOOTERS!!!!!!!! We need wings that can penetrate and create their own. We need one spot up shooter that can light it up from outside and the rest should take it to the rack....aka Minnesota, OSU, Illinois, etc.

We lack height inside and wings that can penetrate. If a D never has to worry about you taking it to the rim OR an offensive presence inside then they can close out without risk of you making them look stupid.

This was an ugly game but as someone said, it's just one game. You could see the coaching going on and you could tell that the players want no part of what they just experienced again. That's a good sign. Just like the Jets v New England, bury the damn ball and move on.
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+a trillion. We ultimately need guys that can get their own shot, and can beat their man. Cartright can do it, and Basabe can kind of do it right now. Other than that, there isn't a single guy on this team that beat his guy with any consistency (I guess Brommer can pull some stuff every now and again).

Fortunately, unlike Lick, I'm pretty sure Fran realizes this.
 
We definitely DO need shooters. How could you watch tonight's game and think anything else? What are slashers going to do against 3 shot blockers? We have one guy that is supposed to be able to shoot (Gatens) and he is freaking brutal. Teams know Cartwright is the only guy capable of doing anything off the dribble, so they trap him and force him to give it up, then we are done for. Guys that can't dribble or shoot pass to others who can't dribble or shoot and throw it to Cartwright with 5 seconds on the shot clock. This was definitely the Todd Lickliter tribute game.
 
hawkIhoops said:
We definitely DO need shooters. How could you watch tonight's game and think anything else? What are slashers going to do against 3 shot blockers? We have one guy that is supposed to be able to shoot (Gatens) and he is freaking brutal. Teams know Cartwright is the only guy capable of doing anything off the dribble, so they trap him and force him to give it up, then we are done for. Guys that can't dribble or shoot pass to others who can't dribble or shoot and throw it to Cartwright with 5 seconds on the shot clock. This was definitely the Todd Lickliter tribute game.
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That thought crossed my mind a couple times today. Gatens HAS to hit those shots (missed at least 5 wide open looks), and May needs to be more aggressive (he passed up a couple opportunities again).

Cartwright can only do so much, especially when teams play to shut him down. He made a few really sick moves tonight, only to find another tree falling on him.

We need to have another guy like Cartwright who can break guys down off the dribble, and we need at least one shooter that will consistently (70% or better) hit the wide open looks off the kick out.
 
I am going to get flack, but don't care. I don't have ANY issues with the starting five...each one has flaws, even Cartwright and Basabe. Where I have serious issues with Iowa is the productivity from the bench...that is a product of all the defections in recent years. When Iowa gets a bench the starters will relax more on the floor and play and not force things at times (Cartwright/Basabe) or play trying not to make mistakes and overthinking (Gatens/May). The starters have the mindset they have to be "perfect."
Remember one thing...year one under Fran and how many people expected tonight to be the norm this season and not the exception?
 
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