I suggest we stop with the excuses. Seriously, it's pathetic and getting rather tiresome.So I read that the Iowa Men's Basketball team is not doing well so far. As it stands they are 5 and 6 on the season and unlikely to be an NCAA qualifier according to many. So making the field of 68 or 72 NCAA tournament is the most important objective it seems. A few of us can go back to when the NCAA field was 32 teams and winning the conference championship was the first and foremost goal. Unless you did the latter you didn't make the tournament. Making the NCAA tournament is not the achievement it once was.
Let's try to put this season into some perspective. You have a team made up of basically freshmen and sophomores. There is one senior and three juniors, one of which missed most of the games to date with a finger injury. The one player that could handle the point guard position has been out with mono. It is also true that five of the last seven games were not in CHA and five losses were the result. Was the competition in those games the greatest? No, but there wasn't any home court advantage.
What you are watching is "inexperience" on display with a missing component . There is only one way to get experience and that is to play the games. I read comments that Dailey has shown some abilities to spell the point guard position. I read that Nunge is showing some offensive competence. I read that Conner played some point today. I suggest those on the ledge step back and temper their expectations. All it needs to do is win the conference tournament and that NCAA tournament berth is all that matters, right?
I suggest we stop with the excuses. Seriously, it's pathetic and getting rather tiresome.
It's unfortunate that one has to make excuses in order to be positive about this season.Seems to me that whenever someone suggests there are some alternatives to your negative views, you play the "excuse" card. I consider that to be pathetic and tiresome. But, hey, stick to your guns...free speech.
How dare you spew facts in this discussion, mister?!NCAAs 2 years ago, NIT last year, probably no tourney this season. Believe it or not, but some people call that improvement lol.
It is what it is. No doubt this season is a massive disappointment but no sense dwelling on it constantly like a lot of people do.
Iowa returns 100% of their minutes next year and the year after that they lose Wagner and Ellingson...not huge losses....and Baer. No sense giving up on the players. They can still learn, develop, and grow this season
Nunge looks like he's going to be a stud. Garza has been wildly inconsistent but shown flashes. Connor needs more minutes. Wieskamp should be a good one. There's still a ton of upside with this team even if the results this year won't reflect it
I will admit that my hopes for this season were sky high. I couldn't wait to get through fb season so I could bask in the glory of win after win on the bb court. This was to be the season Iowa has been building towards for the last 2 or 3 seasons. Now to find out that Iowa continues to "rebuild". It's disheartening and disappointing to put it mildly.
Iowa is in a tough spot with FM. The team seems to be regressing this year and people are getting antsy. But Weiskamp and Patrick McCaffery are on the horizon and they are predicted to be terrific players. I don't see anyway Barta would cut FM loose, nor do I think he should. The season isn't a lost cause yet, but it sure is barreling down that road at a high speed.
I'm withholding judgement for now...
Another thing I noticed is he said there will only be 2 appearances in almost a decade. But the next 2 years there is a very good chance we make it. 4 times in a decade (5 if you count the play in game) is a big difference from 2 in "almost" a decade.
He also said Fran is in a different phase of his coaching tenure. Going from "rebuild", to "be good". I agree with that. That's why we should judge how he is doing in this phase based on his results since he's moved into this phase. It's unfair to use statistics from his "rebuild" phase to determine if he is doing good during his "be good" phase. That's why I hate when people say 2 times in 8 years doesn't cut it. If Fran quit tomorrow, the next coach should be fired well before he goes 2 out of 8 because he will inherit a borderline tournament team right away. Fran did not so the first 3 years or so shouldn't count against him.
I will admit that my hopes for this season were sky high. I couldn't wait to get through fb season so I could bask in the glory of win after win on the bb court. This was to be the season Iowa has been building towards for the last 2 or 3 seasons. Now to find out that Iowa continues to "rebuild". It's disheartening and disappointing to put it mildly.
Iowa is in a tough spot with FM. The team seems to be regressing this year and people are getting antsy. But Weiskamp and Patrick McCaffery are on the horizon and they are predicted to be terrific players. I don't see anyway Barta would cut FM loose, nor do I think he should. The season isn't a lost cause yet, but it sure is barreling down that road at a high speed.
I'm withholding judgement for now...
1h1, i do not agree, overall. i do agree that we have seen a disappointing start to the season. what i believe we're seeing is a team exposed at pg. i stated early on last season that JBo is not a ball handling pg. somehow it worked ok last season, but he's been fully exposed this season; you get up in JBo's grill when he's bring it up court, you can move him side to side and we spent valuable shot clock.
I think we are seeing a "reinventing" of Iowa, in-season and in progress. Last night I saw Conner do a really good job at pg moving the ball quickly and to the right guy. Conner is a better ball handler then JBo; though he isn't elite, he is above average. I think we'll see JBo at sg and backup pg with Dailey also as backup pg. Also, I think Fran is seeing that Garza is better off the bench and Nunge is better as a starter. Fran is redoing the line up in-season. I think Moss has been a huge disappointment and needs to be careful lest he lose minutes. Same with Pemsl, though he had back to back good games, including ISU, until he got hurt.
My new starting combinations:
* Cook
* Nunge
* Baer/Moss
* JBo/Ellingson
* Conner
Next five combinations:
* Garza
* Kriener
* Pemsl
* Moss/Ellingson
* Dailey/JBo.
To the negative nancies, (tksirius, tweeterhawk, cytwins, etc.) I hope you all cease following MBB. It has to be very stressful on your health. It could drive you all to drink and just think of the consequences! OMVI's health issues like ulcers, stress, head aches to name a few. Just humble opinion of course and just trying to help!