Serious thoughts moving forward...

[loesshillshawk]

Ok now that I have backed off the ledge
Some thoughts...and feel free to jump in...not off

• Many teams have finished the year in somewhat of a funk and went along ways in the tournament (See Louisville last year)
• We have great back court...Mike very underrated...and we know great back courts progress in the tournament
• Outside shooting is a BIG CONCERN for this team
• Length is critical in a tournament run...this team is long and is capable of defending very well
• Free throws scare me to death...usually end good teams runs in the tournament
• Still wonder about the in-game strategies of this staff
• WE LACK PHYSICAL TOUGHNESS
  • Get a match up with someone like Cincy, WSU and we are sunk
• Aaron White must find a shot
• The next 7 days will show where this team is headed

 

[HawkPrdatr40]

I agree with everything you say. However IMO right now Fran is not utilizing the tools he has and until he does Iowa will be just a good team that goes 1 and done.. Lastly Fran late game coaching decisions are downright scary. eek..

IMO this team is a lot better than a 1 and done team, the ball is in Fran's court on how far this team goes.

 

[McNutt7gets6]

Ok now that I have backed off the ledge
Some thoughts...and feel free to jump in...not off

• Many teams have finished the year in somewhat of a funk and went along ways in the tournament (See Louisville last year)
• We have great back court...Mike very underrated...and we know great back courts progress in the tournament
• Outside shooting is a BIG CONCERN for this team
• Length is critical in a tournament run...this team is long and is capable of defending very well
• Free throws scare me to death...usually end good teams runs in the tournament
• Still wonder about the in-game strategies of this staff
• WE LACK PHYSICAL TOUGHNESS
  • Get a match up with someone like Cincy, WSU and we are sunk
• Aaron White must find a shot
• The next 7 days will show where this team is headed

I agree Mike G is very underrated and has been playing great ball - he should be in 95% of the time IMO

 

[SonofaSailor]

If people hate on Ferentz for being a bad "gameday coach" I'm not sure how you can consider Fran anything but the same...might be a great guy for all the other days...but his lineups/decisions are puzzling most of the time. Why Mike G is ever on the bench with the game in question is beyond me...he is the man that makes Iowa go. And I won't touch the McCabe playing time issue since that has been discussed ad nauseam.

 

[DDThompson]

The next 7 days aren't going to reveal anything new about this team. They can't close out top tier teams. That's been the M.O. all season. We keep hearing this is a talented team with final four capability. Final four capability means beating top tier teams on your home court.

So either the experts are wrong about the talent on this team and we should all just dial back to our pre-season expectations of an NCAA tourney bid and maybe sweet 16 appearance or this teams just doesn't hate losing enough.

 

[Tierney]

The next 7 days aren't going to reveal anything new about this team. They can't close out top tier teams. That's been the M.O. all season. We keep hearing this is a talented team with final four capability. Final four capability means beating top tier teams on your home court.

So either the experts are wrong about the talent on this team and we should all just dial back to our pre-season expectations of an NCAA tourney bid and maybe sweet 16 appearance or this teams just doesn't hate losing enough.

I just hope Iowa can win a couple more games and make the NCAA tournament. Once they are in the tournament, they have the ability to beat anybody on a given day. I don't want to see Iowa play Baylor in the NIT.

 

[RushTogether]

I just hope Iowa can win a couple more games and make the NCAA tournament. Once they are in the tournament, they have the ability to beat anybody on a given day. I don't want to see Iowa play Baylor in the NIT.

Do you seriously think there is any doubt that this team will make the tourney?

My math may be horrible, but usually the #15 team in the country has a pretty good chance, of making a 64 team field...

 

[ssckelley]

I just hope Iowa can win a couple more games and make the NCAA tournament. Once they are in the tournament, they have the ability to beat anybody on a given day. I don't want to see Iowa play Baylor in the NIT.

Yeh let's go wayyyyyy off the deep end.

These types of posts are why I couldn't stomach coming here yesterday.

 

[uihawk82]

It is still a shooting issue for this team, both on offense and defense. C'mon, how often is Wisky going to shoot 75% for most of the first half and 60% for the whole first half.

And these werent all open shots.

The hawks were not able to feed off opponent missed shots in the first half and the hawks didnt shoot great which led them to being behind by 9 at halftime, but only behind by about 4-5 right before the half.

If Wisky shoots normal for the whole game we win.

Wisky was hot and with basabe not playing it hurt.

 

[lightning1]

Fran doesn't know who his best line up is and it is hurting us in these tough games. I go back to my opinion that the starting 5 should be the 5 on the court in the last 4 minutes of regulation, unless fouls make that impossible. If you have a different line up on the floor, you didn't start your top 5 players. I don't get it.

 

[ibahawkeye]

It is still a shooting issue for this team, both on offense and defense. C'mon, how often is Wisky going to shoot 75% for most of the first half and 60% for the whole first half.

And these werent all open shots.

The hawks were not able to feed off opponent missed shots in the first half and the hawks didnt shoot great which led them to being behind by 9 at halftime, but only behind by about 4-5 right before the half.

If Wisky shoots normal for the whole game we win.

Wisky was hot and with basabe not playing it hurt.

Koenig is shooting 29% from three on the year. 2-4 yesterday on some difficult shots.

 

[Foval21]

Fran doesn't know who his best line up is and it is hurting us in these tough games. I go back to my opinion that the starting 5 should be the 5 on the court in the last 4 minutes of regulation, unless fouls make that impossible. If you have a different line up on the floor, you didn't start your top 5 players. I don't get it.

I don't think you have to start your top 5. By that thought James harden should have started when okc was runner up to the heat. Seemed to work for the thunder.

 

[ArvadaHawk]

It is still a shooting issue for this team, both on offense and defense. C'mon, how often is Wisky going to shoot 75% for most of the first half and 60% for the whole first half.

And these werent all open shots.

The hawks were not able to feed off opponent missed shots in the first half and the hawks didnt shoot great which led them to being behind by 9 at halftime, but only behind by about 4-5 right before the half.

If Wisky shoots normal for the whole game we win.

Wisky was hot and with basabe not playing it hurt.

Yep. And we were out rebounded, at home. Maybe it has been so long since Iowa has had a good tournemnet team, that didn't lose to a 14 seed, that many have forgotten that basketball coaches need to use the entire season to try combinations to see if they work or not. Coaches need to use the entire season to get ready for the tournement. Basketball is a game of emotion, momentum and of peaking at the right time.

I've stated before and I believe this...Fran's coaching philosophy has been molded by his previous coaching stops where the only way into the NCAA tourney is by winning the conference tournement. Fran simply fields teams built for tournement runs. I will use our NIT run last season as the basis of my point of view. Folks, THE prize is still out there, and, win or lose, Fran has this team seeking the ultimate prize.

 

[MisterLucky]

Unless this team goes into a total collapse, we will make the tournament this year. More progress for this program. And when there, who knows, maybe the level of competition we see will be a cut below what we have been playing against the past couple of months and we will actually make some noise. I haven't given up on this team yet.