Playing better without Tucker?

C

cockyhawkfan

Well-Known Member
It seems like the aggression and fight has picked up since AT's been out. They've looked looser and look to be playing with a chip on their shoulder. Maybe it's just me.
 
We talked a little about this after the last game. Sort of chalked it up to the opposition and a little to do with Tuck not taking so many treys.

Now the competition is better, same sort of tempo... so it's possible.

Then again, both SCSU and Purdue play high tempo styles.
 
And players like to play uptempo. Plus, May is naturally aggressive, more physical, and he will fight, whereas Tucker had no fight, no passion in him.
 
First of all...great game by the Hawks tonight...they showed a lot of heart out there.

Second, why on earth is this a surprise that we are better without Tucker? The guy was an absolute cancer on the offensive end. He shot 35% from the field, 31% from the 3 point arc, and 55% from the line. Why there are still people who think he is a "loss" is beyond me. He was successful last year because teams focused on our better players like Kelly and Gatens.

Any coach with half a brain puts his best defender on Tucker because he is going to shoot 15 times a game regardless of the defense. Heck Tucker would shoot 15 times a game if a team played the triangle and two on him. If he wants to be a contributing member of the TEAM he needs to pass more and shoot less when he comes back.
 
I believe they are playing better basketball over the last three games, however, to say the only reason is due to the loss of Tucker is a bit over the top. Here are just a few of the other possibilities that come to mind.

1) Fuller is now 100% after the ankle sprain which gives us another athletic big down low alongside Cole who crashes the boards and both appear to be playing better position defense which is allowing them to stay out of severe foul trouble.
2) May & Gatens are seeing more time at what I consider their more natural positions thanks to point #1 and are getting better match-ups. May is also playing more and thinking less with each game as he continues to learn "the system" while Gatens struggled early in the year with his shot but has been lights out over the past few games (tonight he simply didn't get many open looks).
3) Payne is getting a better sense of the rest of the team's tendencies with each game and also continues to improve his conditioning (even though he cramped a bit again tonight)
4) Cole continues to work hard on his mid-range game which is starting to force opposing bigs to hedge away from the basket and has allowed Fuller/May more offensive rebounds
5) Lickliter is healthy and back on the bench after missing a few games due to surgery plus this is the second game in a row I believe where we have had extra practice time to work on a game plan that gives the team a chance as evidenced tonight.
 
Even if Tucker comes back I don't see him in the starting lineup. I was flipping back and forth between games yesterday and was surprised and pleased with how competitive Iowa was.
 
Gohawks123 said:
First of all...great game by the Hawks tonight...they showed a lot of heart out there.

Second, why on earth is this a surprise that we are better without Tucker? The guy was an absolute cancer on the offensive end. He shot 35% from the field, 31% from the 3 point arc, and 55% from the line. Why there are still people who think he is a "loss" is beyond me. He was successful last year because teams focused on our better players like Kelly and Gatens.

Any coach with half a brain puts his best defender on Tucker because he is going to shoot 15 times a game regardless of the defense. Heck Tucker would shoot 15 times a game if a team played the triangle and two on him. If he wants to be a contributing member of the TEAM he needs to pass more and shoot less when he comes back.
Click to expand...
I disagree on so many things in this post that I don't know where to begin.
 
Agree on most points...

webguy96 said:
I believe they are playing better basketball over the last three games, however, to say the only reason is due to the loss of Tucker is a bit over the top. Here are just a few of the other possibilities that come to mind.

1) Fuller is now 100% after the ankle sprain which gives us another athletic big down low alongside Cole who crashes the boards and both appear to be playing better position defense which is allowing them to stay out of severe foul trouble.
2) May & Gatens are seeing more time at what I consider their more natural positions thanks to point #1 and are getting better match-ups. May is also playing more and thinking less with each game as he continues to learn "the system" while Gatens struggled early in the year with his shot but has been lights out over the past few games (tonight he simply didn't get many open looks).
3) Payne is getting a better sense of the rest of the team's tendencies with each game and also continues to improve his conditioning (even though he cramped a bit again tonight)
4) Cole continues to work hard on his mid-range game which is starting to force opposing bigs to hedge away from the basket and has allowed Fuller/May more offensive rebounds
5) Lickliter is healthy and back on the bench after missing a few games due to surgery plus this is the second game in a row I believe where we have had extra practice time to work on a game plan that gives the team a chance as evidenced tonight.
Click to expand...

Agree wholeheartedly that May and Gatens are much better served playing the 2 and 3 spots and not having to guard opposing 4 players. May is a Big 10-caliber athlete and needs to get a much time on the perimeter as possible this year. Fuller needs to build on his game tonight and more time on the court will help him.

I liked Iowa's fight, but it is still discouraging to realize that Purdue paid attention for basically about 15 minutes in this game (end of first half and first 10 minutes of second half) and that was enough for them to win by 11 at our place. Still a long, long way to go to actually beat a good team in this league.
 
I think Iowa definitely moves the ball better with Tucker not there! Also, Gatens and May seem to be penetrating better, but that may be because Tucker is not in there. It would be nice to have a combination of Gatens and May and Payne's penetration with Tucker's outside shooting when he is on!
 
webguy96 said:
I believe they are playing better basketball over the last three games, however, to say the only reason is due to the loss of Tucker is a bit over the top. Here are just a few of the other possibilities that come to mind.

1) Fuller is now 100% after the ankle sprain which gives us another athletic big down low alongside Cole who crashes the boards and both appear to be playing better position defense which is allowing them to stay out of severe foul trouble.
2) May & Gatens are seeing more time at what I consider their more natural positions thanks to point #1 and are getting better match-ups. May is also playing more and thinking less with each game as he continues to learn "the system" while Gatens struggled early in the year with his shot but has been lights out over the past few games (tonight he simply didn't get many open looks).
3) Payne is getting a better sense of the rest of the team's tendencies with each game and also continues to improve his conditioning (even though he cramped a bit again tonight)
4) Cole continues to work hard on his mid-range game which is starting to force opposing bigs to hedge away from the basket and has allowed Fuller/May more offensive rebounds
5) Lickliter is healthy and back on the bench after missing a few games due to surgery plus this is the second game in a row I believe where we have had extra practice time to work on a game plan that gives the team a chance as evidenced tonight.
Click to expand...
Agreed with everything you said here. Fuller looks really good. You know some folks are going to not believe #5, but I agree that getting the HC has helped (also the extra prep time). I hope the improvement continues on Saturday versus an athletic Minnesota team.
 
I second that Freddy. The team is better off without Tucker and I never thought I'd ever say that. Big mistake by Lick letting him back on the team and when he falls off the wagon again, it will all be on Lick and they may be able to leave town together.
 
Bump. Stormin if you want to disagree with my post feel free...but at least give reasons and facts to back up why, instead of the drive by you just pulled to belittle me. I listed a number of stats above that are accurate and show in my opinion how Tucker hurts this offense. If you disagree with my opinion I am open to constructive banter.
 
Ol Bud Grant would like for some stats to be ignored, like the fact that he lost the Super Bowl FOUR times ( and no wins either ).
 
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