Schwartz: Iowa Hoops Sees Slide Amid Success Story

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?
 
eyekwah said:
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?
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I suggest we stop with the excuses. Seriously, it's pathetic and getting rather tiresome.
 
It looked like Conner gave some help today. 2nd half looked sharper. Still, beat up on a team you should beat up on. Win better than a loss though.
 
tksirius said:
I suggest we stop with the excuses. Seriously, it's pathetic and getting rather tiresome.
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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.
 
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
 
mopkins said:
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
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Returning all our minutes could be viewed as a negative instead of a positive.
 
Fran is on the ropes taking alot of punishment right now. What I can't figure out is whether this is an attrition strategy or that his legs are gone...and one good shot to the chin is going to take him down.

I do know we have to get more athletic in the backcourt and need a defensive stopper there.

If the 2018 team doesn't make the tourney...that's going to be a problem for 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...:cool:
 
1hawkeye1 said:
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...:cool:
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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.
 
PCHawk said:
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.
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When it comes to Iowa hoops, I've learned to stop counting any chickens before they hatch. I've been disappointed far too many times... I can't just assume they're dancing the next couple years. The only way for me to stay sane is to take it as it comes, and then evaluate.

But IF Fran makes the tournament the next 2 years, 4 out of 10 isn't that great (or 5 out of 10) but that would be 4 out of 6 or 5 out of 7 depends on where you stand regarding the play in game. That looks a whole lot better and indicates general upward movement as a program.

I also take into account Fran's first few years and the rebuild he had on his hands, which is why I wont be calling for his head just yet. But I agree that we're out of "rebuild" mode and it's HIS program now.. The next couple years are going to tell the story IMO.
 
1hawkeye1 said:
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...:cool:
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I'm in this same boat. I definitely put unrealistic expectations on this season and on some guys like Bohannon, Moss and Garza. I just didn't think losing Jok would hurt this badly.

Looking back, I think the Baer injury really crushed the team. Baer averaged 24 minutes last year, 4th most on the team. Him getting hurt forced very young guys to play a lot of extra minutes that they weren't ready for, and it showed. Also, Christian Williams played in every game last year and averaged 13 minutes per game.

If you combine Baer and CW's minutes from last year, that almost equals a full 40 minutes. So right before the season officially started, Fran basically lost one-fifth of his minutes. That's hard to recover from, especially when their replacements are freshmen (Nunge) or players you weren't planning on using much of (Dailey/Connor).

What's Iowa's record right now if they had a healthy Baer and CW? 6-5? 7-4? 8-3? Who knows. It would have made a difference though.
 
ArvadaHawk said:
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.
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Let’s slow down a bit on Connor. He’s played 1 game against a bad team.

I think he can Gelp the team but I’m also not ready to throw him into the starting lineup either.
 
Those that like to throw out there that it's 'year 8' for Fran are correct. However it feels more like a year 2 in a way. Iowa has 2 freshman and 3 sophomores they are leaning on a ton right now. Iowa isn't MSU where that same dynamic makeup is a good thing. For us it's just not. Our kids need time to develop as they aren't all 4/5 stars. Remember how good Aaron White was his first two years? Or Devyn Marble? Heck MG and Woodbury as well. So I'm going to try and not have unrealistic expectations based on the players out there not on the coach.

I feel adding Weiskamp to this group and allowing those big guys to get a year under them will make a world of difference. If Moss doesn't improve and get more consistent who's to say Weiskamp doesn't have a chance at taking a big chunk of his mins next yr? Weiskamp is a scorer and can put the ball in the hoop from anywhere it looks like. Yeah it's against mostly pasty Iowa kids that aren't in his stratosphere talent wise but the kid dominates. Moss seems like he just either has it going or he don't and when he don't.....
 
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!:p:D
 
I like how if you say "I think Connor played well yesterday, I'd like to see him start or play more"

You immediately get the "woah buddy, we aren't gonna be tearing down the nets anytime soon" Guy

Also, if you say "they are young", and they are ... then you get "wait this is year 8 why aren't we better we were young last season stop making excuses" guy.

yeah we know - Iowa hasn't played well this season, they aren't going to the NCAA - but some of us still would like to talk about this team without firing the coach or dumping on the program or players every chance we get. We get it, Iowa isn't good. We know the faults of this season, we're watching. Can we still discuss the team or no?
 
BILLYBOBSTEXAS said:
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!:p:D
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It's ok to be a negative nancy. This team is not very good. But we know that now. I don't think anyone who brings up a positive suddenly thinks this team is now a top 25 team because you noticed something good. I think we can move on and try and see how the team comes together the rest of the season. I think they've played better the last 2 games, I hope it continues. Me noticing that doesn't mean that I think we need to alert Joe Lunardi.
 
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