Quick Iowa observations following Ohio State roadie

[TalkHawk]

I posted 4 or 5 different comments on the fact that OSU is not a deep team.


TL stopped the excuses from flying real fast when Iowa lost to OSU in Iowa City about the Hawks just being too tired from minutes played. Iowa played more players in that game.


I think TL's comments about his son deserving more minutes earlier than he played them.... was an emotional response sticking up for his son.

TL did not mean that. he knows in his heart he should not be playing. 4-8 minutes to spell Cully. Fine. That is what it is.


I would venture to guess TL regrets those comments and would admit he was just sticking up for his son.

 

[HeneryHawk]

Again, Brust, Marble, McCabe all playing PG this year. May not be true pg's but it will help!

Playing the point in HS does not guarantee that a player will have the ability to play PG in college. HS is such a weaker level, varies greatly with the area, and the step up to D I is exceedingly high. From your logic, Fuller played center in HS, then shouldnt he excell at the 5 in DI?

 

[JHHawk]

Actually, I do not think Brust is playing pg this year...the coach's son,Knaar,a frosh, is playing pg and is a pretty good prospect. Brust is a scorer and that is what he excels at...I sure hope lick does not try to fit him into a new role at Iowa.

 

[ForeverHawk]

I am not saying any of them are true pg's. They have all played pg this year. Yes, I understand there is a difference between high school and college. But I dsagree with the Fuller and the center comparison. I think it is much easier to make a transition form pg in high school to pg in college than it is from the center position mainly based on height and strength. With that being said, it is obvious that Fuller has some inside skills and can do some damage inside.

My original point is that all three of those incoming freshman will be able to help out at the point. Obviously not the ideal situation, but I think we will be fine at the pg postion next year.

 

[DuffMan]

The program IS what it is. They may not win anymore games this year or they might win one or two, who knows. It doesn't really matter anymore this year. Iowa is as good as their record, which means that the program is in terrible shape. What we do know is that Iowa is going to lose more than 21 games this year. And before the season, many Hawk fans said this team was going to surprise all the negative Hawk fans. After a few games those same fans started saying, "We should have expected a bad season." Didn't take long for optimism to turn into excuses.

Whether the new recruiting class can come in and make much of a difference remains to be seen with lick ball. What the 4th year of this coaching staff and the new recruiting class converts into wins in the Big 10 should be the bottom line. We could definitely see the difference in talent between the two teams today. Again, Iowa is only as good as their record and where they are in the standings of the Big 10.

lil lick wouldn't even see an Iowa uniform if big lick wasn't the coach. A different coach wouldn't give lil lick the time of day as a walkon but big lick gives lil lick 10 to 12 minutes a game in the Big 10. THAT is a travesty. If nothing else big lick should at least hold tryouts for walkons but doesn't even have the honesty to do that, preferring to play his son. Then people get their panties in a bunch when lil lick is made fun of. But why should you get upset, the kid does not deserve to play on a Big 10 team and everyone knows it. Just because big lick is unable to recruit, lil lick gets a spot on the team and a lot of minutes that he does not deserve.

The kid is going to be made fun of regardless how hard he works or plays. Is it right? Doesn't matter...he is the coaches kid, he doesn't deserve to play, and it looks like favoritism...he IS going to take the brunt of the criticism. Get used to it because as long as lil Lick plays this many minutes the criticism isn't going to stop regardless whether he is a nice kid or works hard. Big lick set him up and lil lick is paying...

Does this strike anyone else as nothing but a big "it's not fair" kind of thing. He doesn't DESEVER it, it's not fair.

This whole argument is pretty similar to the group of people whining that KF didn't "Desever" his 3 million salary when they werent winning 10 games a season.... same argument... "It's not FAIIIIR. I don't make that kind of money/play on a big10 basketball team but he does/gets to play.

 

[DuffMan]

My logic is this. If you are not good at basketball. You don't play. ever.

John Lickliter is better at basketball than 99.9 percent of the posters on this board and probably 95 percent of HS basketball players in the state.

News flash it is possible to be good at basketball while not being a Big10 caliber player. I've seen folks say "he's terrible, he's like a division 3 player". Guess what asshats division 3 basketball players are pretty damn good in the grand scheeme of things. Most schools in Iowa (especially the smaller ones) don't have a single player in the starting lineup that plays college basketball ANYWHERE.

My logic is this. If you throw out idiotic blanket statments like this your loose all creditibliy you might of had as an intelligent poster.

 

[1977Hawkeye]

John Lickliter is better at basketball than 99.9 percent of the posters on this board and probably 95 percent of HS basketball players in the state.

News flash it is possible to be good at basketball while not being a Big10 caliber player. I've seen folks say "he's terrible, he's like a division 3 player". Guess what asshats division 3 basketball players are pretty damn good in the grand scheeme of things. Most schools in Iowa (especially the smaller ones) don't have a single player in the starting lineup that plays college basketball ANYWHERE.

We all appreciate the name-calling, but John Lickliter is not a D1 talent. D3 players are at the D3 level for a reason. They may know how to play basketball, but try building a team out of D3 players and put them in the Big Ten and see what happens.

 

[DuffMan]

We all appreciate the name-calling, but John Lickliter is not a D1 talent. D3 players are at the D3 level for a reason. They may know how to play basketball, but try building a team out of D3 players and put them in the Big Ten and see what happens.

I haven't seen anyone make the claim he was a D1 talent.

 

[Hooper]

What would you "experts" do if during a road game:
a. Your starting pg is ill and struggling
b. the backup pg is currently suspended for drinking issues
c. your next best ballhandler severely sprained his ankle but is gutting it out but his mobility is not good
d. your son, a walkon pg who won a state hs basketball championship is available to play even though he does not have a lot of game experience.

I would really be interested in knowing just what you think Lickiter's options were at that point. And don't say recruit better players because you can't do that in the middle of a game. I am pretty sure John is better than one Kenny Fullard who Raveling used to play at times.

I heard comments that John got more minutes than Cole. (he did) Would you play Cole at Point Guard then? I would really like to know.

 

[1977Hawkeye]

What would you "experts" do if during a road game:
a. Your starting pg is ill and struggling
b. the backup pg is currently suspended for drinking issues
c. your next best ballhandler severely sprained his ankle but is gutting it out but his mobility is not good
d. your son, a walkon pg who won a state hs basketball championship is available to play even though he does not have a lot of game experience.

I would really be interested in knowing just what you think Lickiter's options were at that point. And don't say recruit better players because you can't do that in the middle of a game. I am pretty sure John is better than one Kenny Fullard who Raveling used to play at times.

I heard comments that John got more minutes than Cole. (he did) Would you play Cole at Point Guard then? I would really like to know.

The controversy wasn't over Lickliter playing. It was over his getting 24 minutes at Michigan.

 

[DuffMan]

The controversy wasn't over Lickliter playing. It was over his getting 24 minutes at Michigan.

Did you even read his question?

 

[rchawks]

I believe the coach putting him in games is the same as saying that he IS a D1 talent. Then to compound the problem, the coach says that he deserves to be playing more. So, yes, I believe the claim that he is a D1 player has been laid before us...

I haven't seen anyone make the claim he was a D1 talent.

 

[1977Hawkeye]

Did you even read his question?

Yes.

Again, nobody is saying they don't understand why Lickliter gets some minutes. The controversy was over him getting 24 minutes against Michigan.

To answer Hooper's question: No. You don't play Cole at point guard. Did that need an answer?

We are decimated at PG. Payne and Lickliter. That's it.

I personally am not making a big deal of it, because the last two games, Lickliter's PT has gone back down.

 

[rchawks]

Question: Why can't Gatens swing over and play the point for a few minutes a game? I'm pretty sure Matt can dribble up the court and start the game of Ring-Around-the-Rosie at the 3-point line.

 

[hawkeye12345]

You guys are making playing the point some exclusive club that only Cully and JL can play which is just wrong. We have options on the team that could be utilized but they aren't.

You could go with this:

PG - Gatens
SG - Bawinkel
Wing - May
SF - pick one
C - pick one

Then you could rest Cully for 1-2 minutes and bring Gatens in for May, then when May is rested May can come in for Bawinkel and you start the process all over again based on media timeouts, fouls, etc.

The only reason Lil John is considered a point guard is because he is 5'10" not because of his overall skill set. The only guard on the team that has an ***-To ratio lower than 1.0 to 1.0 is May...for reference Bawinkel and Lil John are the same and Gatens is better than Payne.

 

[DuffMan]

Yes.

Again, nobody is saying they don't understand why Lickliter gets some minutes. The controversy was over him getting 24 minutes against Michigan.

To answer Hooper's question: No. You don't play Cole at point guard. Did that need an answer?

We are decimated at PG. Payne and Lickliter. That's it.

I personally am not making a big deal of it, because the last two games, Lickliter's PT has gone back down.

Ok.... well in no particular order we have....

Cully was sick
Cully was having his worst game of the season
Our SG was playing on one leg
Our back up PG was not eligible
We were down 20 points
It was the teams 3rd game in 7 days

All these points (other than the 3rd game in 7 days) were mentioned in the post you replied to.

 

[ChosenChildren]

I really think the "Lil Lick" controversy is a distraction. He is playing because he is the coach's son, but if you think that is unusual, you must have been living under a rock the past 40 years. It happens all the time. I remember many years ago when a very famous Marquette coach (Al MaGuire)(sp?) was playing his son on one of the best teams in the country. His kid wasn't very good, by the way.

Bob Knight's kid also played for him (again, not a very good player).

I think the key for Lickliter for next year is to keep all of his players (no more transfers) and then build with the new recruits. This year is about over, although it would be nice to see one or two more wins.

Next season could be a lot better if those things happen. If they do not, it could get rocky for him.

 

[kgoblee]

I never had a problem with playing Lick under the circumstance, but I too do blame Coach for these conditions and Lack of a back up PG. That being said I really enjoy Johns hustle and crisp passing and general guts.............I think he will one day look back on this and draw from it. I would be willing to wager he will be a great coach someday...