Now that the thrill has worn off...

G

Grady

Well-Known Member
from last night's miraculous come-back -- at least a little -- I'm left with 2 questions/observations:
1) how the heck does NW throw the ball the length of the court to an open player, who has time to turn around and get off an uncontested shot to win the game with .6 seconds left? Seriously, what happened to allow that?
2) I found it interesting that everyone on Iowa's team, from coach to multiple players, when asked the silly post-game question "What does this come-back mean for your team?" replied that "it means we can stick together even when things get tough." It seems odd to me that after getting outplayed for 37 min of a 40 min game that no one thought to say "it means we need to play a lot harder and better than we did tonight."
 
Guys like us should probably enjoy something like this more and turn the critical analysis down a few notches. But they'll get bounced in the first round of the NCAAs if they play like that
 
Po-Tay-Toe

Po-Tah-Toe


But that last shot defense was not good.

But you don’t want to foul cuz ya’ never know about these Big10 refs. Especially the Mini-me-Gene-Statutore on last night’s crew.
 
Here’s a question I would like the Big Ten officiating office to explain on that hard foul on Cook: Their player wasn’t even going for the ball as he was no where near it. Why wasn’t that called an intentional foul? The other foul that was called an intentional foul was mild compared to the foul that sent cook to the floor hard.
 
I hope going forward we learned some things. I am no coach, but this is what I would take away from this game:

1. Just suck it up and play zone. We are not a good man to man team, we don't communicate switches, we dont help on the back side and pretty much every team has quicker guards than us that penetrate the lane and put pressure on our bigs, which puts us in foul trouble, which negates our advantage. If the other team shoots 50% from three, just tip your hat to them. But know our opponent has a problem, because if they put shooters on the floor, that means more than likely they can't guard our height on the defensive end. Our opponents shoot 30% from three with us in a zone, I like our chances.
2. I would like to see us press and trap more, then drop into the zone. I think that 3/4 press just wears on a team over the course of a game and gets them out of their game plan. It certainly takes time off the shot clock and hinders the other team from getting into their offense.
3. We have some great shooters in Jbo, Wiesy and Moss. Let them shoot more early. Encourage Cook and Garza to play a little inside out because everytime, and I mean everytime they get the ball in the post they are making a move. I know that getting the other team in foul trouble is a big advantage for us, but our offense would be more fluid with a balanced offense.
 
FYI, there is no such thing as an intentional foul in college hoops any more. It has been replaced with the flagrant 1 and flagrant 2. As to why the one in question was not called, who knows?
 
BigD said:
Here’s a question I would like the Big Ten officiating office to explain on that hard foul on Cook: Their player wasn’t even going for the ball as he was no where near it. Why wasn’t that called an intentional foul? The other foul that was called an intentional foul was mild compared to the foul that sent cook to the floor hard.
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He went for the block and missed, that wasn't really intentional. Bohannon actually got away with grabbing a guy's jersey from behind on a breakaway. They still got the shooting foul, but that should've been an intentional as well. One extra possession might've changed the entire game.
 
Grady said:
from last night's miraculous come-back -- at least a little -- I'm left with 2 questions/observations:
1) how the heck does NW throw the ball the length of the court to an open player, who has time to turn around and get off an uncontested shot to win the game with .6 seconds left? Seriously, what happened to allow that?
2) I found it interesting that everyone on Iowa's team, from coach to multiple players, when asked the silly post-game question "What does this come-back mean for your team?" replied that "it means we can stick together even when things get tough." It seems odd to me that after getting outplayed for 37 min of a 40 min game that no one thought to say "it means we need to play a lot harder and better than we did tonight."
Click to expand...
It means the team dodged a bullet.
 
Grady said:
from last night's miraculous come-back -- at least a little -- I'm left with 2 questions/observations:
1) how the heck does NW throw the ball the length of the court to an open player, who has time to turn around and get off an uncontested shot to win the game with .6 seconds left? Seriously, what happened to allow that?
2) I found it interesting that everyone on Iowa's team, from coach to multiple players, when asked the silly post-game question "What does this come-back mean for your team?" replied that "it means we can stick together even when things get tough." It seems odd to me that after getting outplayed for 37 min of a 40 min game that no one thought to say "it means we need to play a lot harder and better than we did tonight."
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I re-watched the end of the game and it looked like Daily was standing between two wildcats. i think daily should have been guarding parden but (somehow) thought the pass was going to the guy standing next to the sideline. i'd have to say that if baer hadn't been dinged, he'd have been in there and that confusion wouldn't have happened.

i like the word JBo has used a couple of times this season. he said they are staying "connected" this season. in sports, no matter how good you are, sometimes you just can't stop dribbling the ball off your foot, or missing a wr by 5 yards, or letting a grounder go through your legs. but if you actually win a game where you're missing grounders, wr's and dribbling off your foot, that can give you an immense confidence boost. the players know when they aren't playing well and know they need to "play better." that's why the "staying connected" comment is a good one, because it means (in my opinion) they they refuse to quit. and the best chance you have at winning, whether you play well or poorly, is to never quit.

that's my 2 cents. still a lot of games left to be played and we'll see how it plays out. but to me, this win is proof positive that if you don't quit, you can overcome something that seems impossible. cuz you just did it. now they know how it feels and how to do it.
 
dirtwrap said:
I hope going forward we learned some things. I am no coach, but this is what I would take away from this game:

1. Just suck it up and play zone. We are not a good man to man team, we don't communicate switches, we dont help on the back side and pretty much every team has quicker guards than us that penetrate the lane and put pressure on our bigs, which puts us in foul trouble, which negates our advantage. If the other team shoots 50% from three, just tip your hat to them. But know our opponent has a problem, because if they put shooters on the floor, that means more than likely they can't guard our height on the defensive end. Our opponents shoot 30% from three with us in a zone, I like our chances.
2. I would like to see us press and trap more, then drop into the zone. I think that 3/4 press just wears on a team over the course of a game and gets them out of their game plan. It certainly takes time off the shot clock and hinders the other team from getting into their offense.
3. We have some great shooters in Jbo, Wiesy and Moss. Let them shoot more early. Encourage Cook and Garza to play a little inside out because everytime, and I mean everytime they get the ball in the post they are making a move. I know that getting the other team in foul trouble is a big advantage for us, but our offense would be more fluid with a balanced offense.
Click to expand...
Less Cook, more Joe and JB...Cook, garbage, dunks, rebounds
 
Grady said:
from last night's miraculous come-back -- at least a little -- I'm left with 2 questions/observations:
1) how the heck does NW throw the ball the length of the court to an open player, who has time to turn around and get off an uncontested shot to win the game with .6 seconds left? Seriously, what happened to allow that?
2) I found it interesting that everyone on Iowa's team, from coach to multiple players, when asked the silly post-game question "What does this come-back mean for your team?" replied that "it means we can stick together even when things get tough." It seems odd to me that after getting outplayed for 37 min of a 40 min game that no one thought to say "it means we need to play a lot harder and better than we did tonight."
Click to expand...

For # 1 yes that was bad defense, almost anytime the catch on a long pass is contested it is never called a foul. I think the hawks might have had a guy guarding the player inbounding the ball, will have to watch again, but that is not needed on length of the floor passes, need just one guy to tip that inbounds pass.

As for # 2, that is the cliche that all of the players have been taught to say. Period in about every sport. But you are correct that they were getting outplayed or they were half asleep. And NW beat Iowa's man to man so maybe use a lot less of that defense, only once in awhile to make the other team use up some shot clock, because if NW's talent can chew it up then much better teams and guards will destroy it.
 
One thing you DON'T want to do, guarding with .6 seconds left is foul...they didn't foul but the shot could have gone it.
 
As I understand it, there's not a whole lot Iowa could have done against the last shot. We obviously could not risk a foul, and as ass as the refs were last night, it's not like our on ball defense would have altered it any.

We can admit that the first 36 minutes was a shitshow while admiring the team's toughness and ability to hit big shots. Some nights are just off, and luckily enough we still escaped with a win.
 
Xerxes said:
That was a pretty easy catch a shoot with .6 left. But I doubt it would have counted had it went in.
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For the third time, the shot would not have counted had it gone. It was still in Pardon's hand when the red light flashed on the backboard. There would have been a monitor review, which would have been excruciating to sit through.

I was more concerned that Kriener would foul the inbounder. He came close. I saw the Jim Bain game. I held my breath.

Collins could also have slid someone up under Kriener and drawn a charge, like Billy Tubbs attempted to do many years ago when Gamble hit the late shot against Oklahoma.
 
I think some of the concerns expressed on here are legit, but IMO - Iowa did play some pretty good D in stretches last night too. That press is D. It was very effective. NW was making a lot of contested shots late in the shot clock after some pretty good D was played. There was some lapses, but even great teams have those. I think we switch between Man and Zone because it can allow a "shock" to opposing offenses once they've become comfortable playing against 1 type of defense. NW made a ton of shots that normally don't go in (Vic Law's desperation 3 at the end of the shot clock that banked in for example) and Iowa missed a lot of contested 3 footers that didn't. Those nights happen. Most teams get a L as a result. I think a lot of fans, myself included sometimes, have to learn to deal with the ups and downs of a long basketball season. If you're 19-5 and lose a game, that doesn't mean your dog shit and we need to look at blowing up our foundation. There is no team in the league that is so good that they don't have to worry about the risk of losing on any given night.
 
uihawk82 said:
For # 1 yes that was bad defense, almost anytime the catch on a long pass is contested it is never called a foul. I think the hawks might have had a guy guarding the player inbounding the ball, will have to watch again, but that is not needed on length of the floor passes, need just one guy to tip that inbounds pass.

As for # 2, that is the cliche that all of the players have been taught to say. Period in about every sport. But you are correct that they were getting outplayed or they were half asleep. And NW beat Iowa's man to man so maybe use a lot less of that defense, only once in awhile to make the other team use up some shot clock, because if NW's talent can chew it up then much better teams and guards will destroy it.
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Most teams guard the inbounder since this play happened in 1992. :)

 
Now that the shine has worn off a bit, it might also be added that Northwestern has some talent, and has been somewhat of an underachiever this year. They pretty much schooled a top 20 team, on the road, for 37 minutes. This team was no pushover as the players and others might have assumed. Thus, it is a good win, although a squeaky win.
 
InGoodCo said:
I think some of the concerns expressed on here are legit, but IMO - Iowa did play some pretty good D in stretches last night too. That press is D. It was very effective. NW was making a lot of contested shots late in the shot clock after some pretty good D was played. There was some lapses, but even great teams have those. I think we switch between Man and Zone because it can allow a "shock" to opposing offenses once they've become comfortable playing against 1 type of defense. NW made a ton of shots that normally don't go in (Vic Law's desperation 3 at the end of the shot clock that banked in for example) and Iowa missed a lot of contested 3 footers that didn't. Those nights happen. Most teams get a L as a result. I think a lot of fans, myself included sometimes, have to learn to deal with the ups and downs of a long basketball season. If you're 19-5 and lose a game, that doesn't mean your dog shit and we need to look at blowing up our foundation. There is no team in the league that is so good that they don't have to worry about the risk of losing on any given night.
Click to expand...
Basketball statistics are a funny thing. The announcers kept mentioning NW being above 50% shooting. I was like yes they are still above 50% because they haven’t attempted a shot in the last 4 possessions that have all been turnovers. They finished the game with 16 turnovers.

I thought Iowa’s defense was lazy at times but NW was also hitting some they normally don’t. I thought Iowa’s poor offense was just as much to blame, we were super stagnant in the 2H for awhile there. It seems our offense usually goes array when we try to force feed it in to Cook. That’s not Tyler’s fault it just seems others kind of stand and watch, plus TC has his FT issues.
 
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