our defense this year..

[ForrestEvy]

The Hawks have had some defensive success because there are a lot of players with some length who are hard for some teams to shoot over. However, this is not a fundamentally good defensive team. The close-outs are consistently weak, very poor at challenging shots, some players leaving their feet easily on shot fakes, don't fight through screens well leaving the bigs in difficult situations, and stopping dribble penetration.

Some teams go to zone defense to change up for a little while. Iowa often times goes to a zone because they don't match up well in man-to-man. When playing the type of zone Iowa plays, the offense sets the tempo. Good teams get ball reversal on the Iowa zone and then the weakness at close outs kicks in.

It's up to the coaching staff to coach them up on defense better. Iowa has had three one-game weeks where improvement in defense was possible, but on each week, little improvement has been made.

Maybe with a lot of games coming up with little practice time will be good for the players to figure things out.

 

[doclee]

Good thread! My sense is that we are a good, but not great defensive team. The comment about going to more zone, with its inherent weaknesses, due to the fact that we struggle in man to man, really hits the nail on the head. As a side note, it was refreshing to get through a two page thread on this board without reading a personal attack on someone's opinion or having to endure a couple of insults directed at an individual Iowa player, or coach. Thanks for that to all of you.

 

[EST1847]

Their defense was ok in the 2nd half. Giving up offensive rebounds and not coming up with loose balls in scramble situations were the killers.

What you really said "Not having Basabe to secure crucial rebounds was killer"