JonDMiller
Publisher/Founder
Ohio State played six players. Four of Ohio State's starters played all 40 minutes.
Since playing his son 24 minutes in a loss at Michigan and then two days later in a Monday press conference saying that he should have been playing his son more minutes earlier in the year, Todd has played John a total of 11 minutes in the last two games; six minutes against Illinois and five against Ohio State. Here are John's minutes totals going back to the start of the Big Ten season:
@OSU: 5
Illinois: 6
@Michigan: 24
OSU: 7
@Indiana: 8
@MSU: 16
PSU: 9
Tennessee State: 9
MSU: 15
@ ILL: 11
Minnesota: 21
Purdue: 8
SC State: 5
The reason I bring this up is not to run John through the ringer, I promise you that is not the case. I understand the need for John to see spot minutes here and there so that Cully can get a bit of a breather. It's last Monday's press conference comments that just stick in my head....and since then, and since the tempest in a teapot that ensued, John has played the least amount of minutes in any game since the start of the Big Ten season. Prior to the SC State game, the last game before the start of the Big Ten season, John didn't play at all, in any game. This was also the first game Iowa played in following the suspension of Anthony Tucker.
Again, I see the need, given the Tucker situation, for John to see the floor for a few minutes.
But which is it? If you are going to say things along the lines of what was said last Monday at the press conference, and then after that he plays the least amount of minutes in back to back games he has played since you put him in the mix back in late December, it's all the more befuddling.
I am willing to give Todd the 'human factor' benefit of the doubt here. Todd's just like the rest of us; he isn't perfect and emotion can sometimes kick in. Don't I know that...as I have probably posted more emotionally fueled diatribes in the past three weeks than I have since Alford tried to sell us that he had no interest in the Missouri job. So I'll stand up and raise my hand in the front of the line as being guilty of reactionary statements, both spoke and written, since the Michigan game.
I just felt like someone was peeing on my shoes last week and tried telling me it was raining.
After thinking about some things, reading some posts from Hawkeye fans on this site and others, I have found some shreds of wisdom...or at least, things that clicked a bit with me.
One being that this team is performing pretty much how I expected they'd perform. Before the year began, I felt like they would win between 8-11 games, in total. They are now 8-16. I felt like there was a 25% chance they would not win one Big Ten game, period, and they have won two.
They fight, they don't quit and while a lot of that credit goes to the character of the kids, I don't think people would play that hard or that way for a coach they didn't like or care for. So in the immortal words of Denny Green, they are who we thought they were.
For the rest of this season, I am going to try to just stick to talking x's and o's and leave the other stuff on the side...unless something takes place that is so egregious that it cannot be ignored. I don't need to add whatever little fuel my words or opinions amount to in the way of fuel to the fire.
There will be a time and place to discuss the other stuff. I don't believe Iowa is going to make any coaching change after this season. I believe Lick is going to get to mix next year's fine freshmen crop in with the players he has coming back, and it will be interesting to see what this team will be able to do with a few more shooters in the mix at nearly every position on the floor.
I am not going to sit here and say that I have all of the sudden swung back into being highly optimistic for the future of the program; I still have doubts. But I am also not going to spend the next two or three months ticked off at the world, either. It is what it is, and I don't have any control over anything that has taken place, or that will take place. The last thing I want to do is to rain down on the forums each day with negativity, because that is not who I am, and I have already grown tired of doing that for a short period of time. It is what it is. We'll see what happens the rest of the way.
Iowa has Northwestern, Michigan and Indiana at home the rest of the way. They can win those games, though I don't think they will win all three.
Finally, and before anyone makes this post; my comments in this post were not motivated by any outside remarks or criticisms or phone calls or emails. None at all. I just get tired of the negativity, even my own.
Since playing his son 24 minutes in a loss at Michigan and then two days later in a Monday press conference saying that he should have been playing his son more minutes earlier in the year, Todd has played John a total of 11 minutes in the last two games; six minutes against Illinois and five against Ohio State. Here are John's minutes totals going back to the start of the Big Ten season:
@OSU: 5
Illinois: 6
@Michigan: 24
OSU: 7
@Indiana: 8
@MSU: 16
PSU: 9
Tennessee State: 9
MSU: 15
@ ILL: 11
Minnesota: 21
Purdue: 8
SC State: 5
The reason I bring this up is not to run John through the ringer, I promise you that is not the case. I understand the need for John to see spot minutes here and there so that Cully can get a bit of a breather. It's last Monday's press conference comments that just stick in my head....and since then, and since the tempest in a teapot that ensued, John has played the least amount of minutes in any game since the start of the Big Ten season. Prior to the SC State game, the last game before the start of the Big Ten season, John didn't play at all, in any game. This was also the first game Iowa played in following the suspension of Anthony Tucker.
Again, I see the need, given the Tucker situation, for John to see the floor for a few minutes.
But which is it? If you are going to say things along the lines of what was said last Monday at the press conference, and then after that he plays the least amount of minutes in back to back games he has played since you put him in the mix back in late December, it's all the more befuddling.
I am willing to give Todd the 'human factor' benefit of the doubt here. Todd's just like the rest of us; he isn't perfect and emotion can sometimes kick in. Don't I know that...as I have probably posted more emotionally fueled diatribes in the past three weeks than I have since Alford tried to sell us that he had no interest in the Missouri job. So I'll stand up and raise my hand in the front of the line as being guilty of reactionary statements, both spoke and written, since the Michigan game.
I just felt like someone was peeing on my shoes last week and tried telling me it was raining.
After thinking about some things, reading some posts from Hawkeye fans on this site and others, I have found some shreds of wisdom...or at least, things that clicked a bit with me.
One being that this team is performing pretty much how I expected they'd perform. Before the year began, I felt like they would win between 8-11 games, in total. They are now 8-16. I felt like there was a 25% chance they would not win one Big Ten game, period, and they have won two.
They fight, they don't quit and while a lot of that credit goes to the character of the kids, I don't think people would play that hard or that way for a coach they didn't like or care for. So in the immortal words of Denny Green, they are who we thought they were.
For the rest of this season, I am going to try to just stick to talking x's and o's and leave the other stuff on the side...unless something takes place that is so egregious that it cannot be ignored. I don't need to add whatever little fuel my words or opinions amount to in the way of fuel to the fire.
There will be a time and place to discuss the other stuff. I don't believe Iowa is going to make any coaching change after this season. I believe Lick is going to get to mix next year's fine freshmen crop in with the players he has coming back, and it will be interesting to see what this team will be able to do with a few more shooters in the mix at nearly every position on the floor.
I am not going to sit here and say that I have all of the sudden swung back into being highly optimistic for the future of the program; I still have doubts. But I am also not going to spend the next two or three months ticked off at the world, either. It is what it is, and I don't have any control over anything that has taken place, or that will take place. The last thing I want to do is to rain down on the forums each day with negativity, because that is not who I am, and I have already grown tired of doing that for a short period of time. It is what it is. We'll see what happens the rest of the way.
Iowa has Northwestern, Michigan and Indiana at home the rest of the way. They can win those games, though I don't think they will win all three.
Finally, and before anyone makes this post; my comments in this post were not motivated by any outside remarks or criticisms or phone calls or emails. None at all. I just get tired of the negativity, even my own.
