So here, I'll do a real positive/negative style breakdown like Illinihawk did.
Positives:
Vast overall defensive improvement over last season - going from 180th in the nation to 28th in the nation defense after losing our best perimeter defender is something that even the most optimistic fans could have predicted
Terrific 3 point defense -Went from 182nd in the nation to 11th in the nation in 3pt FG% defense
Woodbury's defense and aggressiveness: Woodbury has been better than I expected on the defensive end and has done a great job battling with B10 upper classmen in the paint all year, last year we consistently got destroyed inside
Improved Rebounding: Like our defense, our rebounding especially defensive rebounding has been vastly improved
Eric May: He's been terrific in all facets of the game this year, how someone could see a senior playing terrific as a negative is beyond me, you expect your upperclassmen to be leaders and May certainly has
Basabe: He's brought energy and rebounding every game this season, no more games where he seems disinterested, which were all too frequent last year
White's ability to get to the line: White has shown an a truly elite ability to get to the free throw line this year, he's 4th in the nation in FT rate and 10th in the nation in fouls drawn/40 mins, White's averaging 13/6 a game and we still have him for two more years
Gesell: He's been great as a freshman this year, a starter from day one and averaging almost 10 a game, he's had some big games and shown a really solid stroke
Play at Home: Iowa is 14-2 at home this year with the two losses coming by a total of 7 points to two top 10 teams while missing a major player in each of those games
Fan Excitement: Iowa's attendance is at its highest level since early in Alford's tenure, this team plays hard every night and the improvement is evident
Negatives:
Shooting: Iowa, as a whole, has been a very bad outside shooting team, 304th in the nation in 3pt FG%, the fact that we've shot as poor as we have and still been extremely competitive in all but one B10 game is very impressive though
Ogelsby: There's no way around it, he's had a terrible year offensively, shooting 26% from 3 is terrible no other way to look at it
Marble's play against B10 elite: Marble has struggled mightily against top tier B10 teams, whether some of that is due to being banged up or not he hasn't made the jump to All B10 player I hoped he would make this year, still a very solid B10 starter and I think the lack of other scoring threats has made it harder on him to get going in a lot of games
Woodbury's Offensive Development: I was very impressed with the offensive flashes we saw from Woodbury early in the year (especially against ISU) however, his offensive game has basically disappeared during almost all of the B10 season, he still looks rushed every time he gets the ball, I have no doubt he will improve over the next few years and the experience from this season will be very valuable
Lack of Signature Wins: We were oh so close in many games this year but just couldn't pull one out, it will keep us out of the tournament this year barring a major run in the BTT but it's not unexpected with how young of a team we are (301st in the nation in experience)
Overall: I'd give Iowa a solid B for this season, very close to a B+ if we had just pulled out one or two more games. Iowa is only losing one of their top 11 guys, the B10 is going to lose a lot of talent this year. The addition of a great shooter in Jok and a top 150 recruit who has had 2 seasons of practice and working out in B10 strength and conditioning programs should help us improve on offensive next year as well as the continued growth of our returning players, especially Gesell. Next year Iowa should be solidly in the tournament and finish in the upper division of the B10.
