Perspective for a moment - two fold.

[Northside Hawk]

I simply find Iowa basketball boring as hell right now. We need more athleticism, but when he recruits it, it sits on the bench behind mediocre athletes like his two sons. Bowen should have been playing all year, not Connor.


The recruiting really isn't there. Fun team to watch at times, but a run in the NCAA will never happen with Fran.

Bowen wasn't ready. He coughed the ball up too much. He didn't have a clue how to properly feed Rebraca or Sandfort or Murray.

He should make a quantum leap next year and blow past Ulis, if Ahron is even here next year. But we don't even sniff the NIT without Connor and I don't know how many more ways I can make that clear.

 

[HawkGold]

Go back to my posts in the February 19 game vs Northwestern.

My worst fears were confirmed. That was not only a loss, but a blueprint for other teams on how to beat Iowa. Clog the middle, pack it in.

We burned Indiana, and Michigan State late on a once in a lifetime comeback. Everyone else from that game on worked that plan to perfection.

The player it hurt the worst was Perkins. He needs driving and pull up lanes to be effective.

When threes aren't dropping those lanes aren't there. And by the way don't pick on the Mac Brothers. Murray and Sandfort were missing open looks as well.

Agree with most. When you have people hanging on you....tired legs. Legs are the most important part of shooting. Every team knows where Murray and Sandfort are. Sandfort has to shoot over people and gets body contact. PM and CM don't get that attention. They were the key. That is on FM.

Those of us who were around the Lester years can appreciate what I am saying....and you do. I rewatched the 1980 Iowa Georgetown game. Georgetown had terrific D and Lester wasn't himself due to his knee. He took a hit with maybe 8 minutes left. I forgot about that and likely explains the Louisville injury. Still he as a master passer. Iowa set huge monster inside screens. Iowa had 2 effective big men. I forgo how good Boyles general game was. Brookings was left more open to stop the Iowa inside game and he hit.

Murray and Sandfort plain out....tired due to support cast.

I want in favor of moving on for past few years until last night.

And yes you did say that. Ironically IU and MSU didn't have the inside scrum players this year. OSU and Nebby are good at scrum inside.

 

[kicker22]

I simply find Iowa basketball boring as hell right now. We need more athleticism, but when he recruits it, it sits on the bench behind mediocre athletes like his two sons. Bowen should have been playing all year, not Connor.


The recruiting really isn't there. Fun team to watch at times, but a run in the NCAA will never happen with Fran.

Sorry but I don't think you could be further from the truth. Nothing against Bowen, but Connor did the little things that no one else on the team did. Sure he's not the best athlete, but IMO we needed more guys like him. IMO we need diversity more than athleticism. Maybe we'd have better athletes if we were actually looking for athletes and not perimeter shooters. It can't always be about stat lines and scoring, and quality role players are needed to do the dirty work. Like him or hate him, Connor had a toughness that very few of Frans players have. By no means am I sticking up for Fran or his system in this response, but I don't think it's fair to attack Connor I don't see him as a problem any more than any other player on the court.

 

[MelroseHawkins]

Sorry but I don't think you could be further from the truth. Nothing against Bowen, but Connor did the little things that no one else on the team did. Sure he's not the best athlete, but IMO we needed more guys like him. IMO we need diversity more than athleticism. Maybe we'd have better athletes if we were actually looking for athletes and not perimeter shooters. It can't always be about stat lines and scoring, and quality role players are needed to do the dirty work. Like him or hate him, Connor had a toughness that very few of Frans players have. By no means am I sticking up for Fran or his system in this response, but I don't think it's fair to attack Connor I don't see him as a problem any more than any other player on the court.

Good objective take.

Reggie Evans comes to mind. See bold above. He was kind of the proverbial "garbage" type player that was effective and could rebound the shit out of the ball (Extra possessions!). He had his role to take up space inside, control the opposing bigs and rebound. He sometimes got 20 rebounds a game. He actually went on to have a decent NBA career.

Yea, it's almost like Fran loads up and seeks out shooters a bit too much. Many of these guys have a great shot but can be defended at this level. They can be shut down with athletic opposing D players who keep up with them.

 

[kicker22]

Good objective take.

Reggie Evans comes to mind. See bold above. He was kind of the proverbial "garbage" type player that was effective and could rebound the shit out of the ball (Extra possessions!). He had his role to take up space inside, control the opposing bigs and rebound. He sometimes got 20 rebounds a game. He actually went on to have a decent NBA career.

Yea, it's almost like Fran loads up and seeks out shooters a bit too much. Many of these guys have a great shot but can be defended at this level. They can be shut down with athletic opposing D players who keep up with them.

The thing that hurt the most IMO last night wasn't the end result as we can all agree that it wasn't really a surprise based on how inconsistent we were all season, but I really felt for Connor leaving the field and how hard the moment hit him, knowing that it was over. It's IMO a moment that shows what it meant to him to be a Hawkeye and how, similar to the way he played the game, it meant more about the name on the front of the jersey then the name on the back. In my opinion he was always team first and seemed like one of the best teammates you could ask for. While his contributions on the stat line won't ever standout, I think his attitude and leadership are going to be irreplaceable and not something that can be brought in with a new freshman class. He's going to really be missed.

 

[HaydenHawk56]

Iowa upped the intensity and Auburn matched it.

Iowa has no answer to play inside. No plan. This is why FM really doesn't belong.

Love Rebraca's improvement this year.....but man on man it does get tiring of seeing players playing out of position under Fran.

 

[Hawkfnntn]

Good objective take.

Reggie Evans comes to mind. See bold above. He was kind of the proverbial "garbage" type player that was effective and could rebound the shit out of the ball (Extra possessions!). He had his role to take up space inside, control the opposing bigs and rebound. He sometimes got 20 rebounds a game. He actually went on to have a decent NBA career.

Yea, it's almost like Fran loads up and seeks out shooters a bit too much. Many of these guys have a great shot but can be defended at this level. They can be shut down with athletic opposing D players who keep up with them.

I get the Evans take on being a garbage guy. But he was leaned on for scoring too... He put up a consistent 15 pts/game for the two yrs we had him. By no means was he a shooter he did everything in the paint and at the Ft line. He was pretty unique though we've never had anyone like him since.

 

[HaydenHawk56]

I'd rather have Beth Mowins call a game.

Wow, ear torture either way...yikes! lol

 

[HaydenHawk56]

I simply find Iowa basketball boring as hell right now. We need more athleticism, but when he recruits it, it sits on the bench behind mediocre athletes like his two sons. Bowen should have been playing all year, not Connor.


The recruiting really isn't there. Fun team to watch at times, but a run in the NCAA will never happen with Fran.

Heard on the Corey/Gary youtube (hawkeye of the storm) that Bowen changed his twitter profile removing his Iowa stuff.

 

[MelroseHawkins]

I get the Evans take on being a garbage guy. But he was leaned on for scoring too... He put up a consistent 15 pts/game for the two yrs we had him. By no means was he a shooter he did everything in the paint and at the Ft line. He was pretty unique though we've never had anyone like him since.

Yea, they went to him a little bit, especially his later years, but many of his points prob came from rebounds and put backs. He wasn't looked at as a primary option or scorer. He was a role player and played a good role.

 

[kicker22]

Yea, they went to him a little bit, especially his later years, but many of his points prob came from rebounds and put backs. He wasn't looked at as a primary option or scorer. He was a role player and played a good role.

This is the exact player mold/type we need. We've got shooters. We need grinders. Guys that get hustle points and earn shots off the glass rather than by spotting up. A pretty stroke is not going to win games when the whistles are swallowed and defenders are in our shorts and that's what this team lacks. Those guys are also usually the same guys that get after it on defense as well. Definitely the player/mentality we don't have.

 

[STILLBUSTER]

I simply find Iowa basketball boring as hell right now. We need more athleticism, but when he recruits it, it sits on the bench behind mediocre athletes like his two sons. Bowen should have been playing all year, not Connor.


The recruiting really isn't there. Fun team to watch at times, but a run in the NCAA will never happen with Fran.

Gotta disagree on C-Mac. He was consistently the 3rd best all-around player on the team and #1 in terms of IQ, toughness and leadership. He also was the ONLY player besides Fil to show noticeable physical and skills improvement from last year.

Now, if you wanna say Bowen shouldve been given a long leash to eventually outplay Ulis ... Absolutley!

 

[Northside Hawk]

The thing that hurt the most IMO last night wasn't the end result as we can all agree that it wasn't really a surprise based on how inconsistent we were all season, but I really felt for Connor leaving the field and how hard the moment hit him, knowing that it was over. It's IMO a moment that shows what it meant to him to be a Hawkeye and how, similar to the way he played the game, it meant more about the name on the front of the jersey then the name on the back. In my opinion he was always team first and seemed like one of the best teammates you could ask for. While his contributions on the stat line won't ever standout, I think his attitude and leadership are going to be irreplaceable and not something that can be brought in with a new freshman class. He's going to really be missed.

Didn't Bohannon break down the same way last year after it hit him that it was over for him as well?

 

[Dadman]

IMO the biggest issues this year were lack of quality depth. No question the players were gassed at the end of the year- while the MSU comeback may have been one of the best games in many years, I think it took a lot out of the team. The Nebby and OSU games that followed were emotional lows and simply could not be overcome in the tourney. I think Kris is a helluva player, but you can't be the only "go to" guy in this day and age. Even the best legs get tired.

Sometimes I think that having a star player, as we have had for some time, can affect the chemistry of the team- the role players have to resent all the attention being heaped on one guy. These are young guys, they all have egos. I think one advantage Tom Davis has over Fran was his ability to handle the ego's, who can deny the 86-87 team had more overall talent than any other team at Iowa in recent history

In fact, I hold to the position that there was a chemistry issue on this team. I am not going to name names, I am not trying to be overly critical of any one person, but I saw signs that there was something going on between the primary players pretty much all season.

Just some thoughts..........depressing day. At least I will have some green beer tonight.

 

[okeefe4prez]

Didn't Bohannon break down the same way last year after it hit him that it was over for him as well?

Don't blame Fran. Dude is trying to get an NIL deal with Morton's Salt and guys crying is what they're looking for. "We have a better way to get you some salt. Morton's."

 

[Hawkfnntn]

Yea, they went to him a little bit, especially his later years, but many of his points prob came from rebounds and put backs. He wasn't looked at as a primary option or scorer. He was a role player and played a good role.

When we got him the ball on the block he had that spin move where he'd do a two foot jump stop and he'd either pump fake or go straight up with it. He didn't have much of an offensive game at beyond that. Kinda had this awkward half hook thing he did but that was about it that I remember.

 

[Hawkfnntn]

Speaking of Evans holy shit. I just saw that he's at Carver today watching his daughter play for GA. How wild is that? No telling when the last time he'd been back woulda been.

 

[Hawkfnntn]

Heard on the Corey/Gary youtube (hawkeye of the storm) that Bowen changed his twitter profile removing his Iowa stuff.

Yikes.... That's probably not good. It's probably not the best idea to go reading into that sort of thing too much but yet it usually does mean something unfortunately

 

[HawkGold]

Love Rebraca's improvement this year.....but man on man it does get tiring of seeing players playing out of position under Fran.

Like a drive straight down the lane on the dominant hand side..

 

[Hawkboys]

Not starting any rumor, but I wouldn't be surprised if there wasn't more negative stuff happening within the roster besides PM's anxiety. There just seemed to be lots of bickering in game.