So what can you say after Drake game?

[thedukeofearl]

Instead of focusing on the players my comments deal with the coaching staff. In at least this one game, someone in that braintrust figured out the best way to defend against Drake’s 3-point shooters was to not let them get in position at all. Or if they did they’d have to rush the shot.

Iowa’s press was extremely effective disrupting Drake’s half court offense. Drake lost the ball and committed turnovers that led to Iowa’s runs.

Someone on the staff spotted a Drake weakness and how to use an Iowa strength (length) to exploit it.

So we learned that Fran and his staff are capable of changing tactics mid-game.

Will/can they do it again?

I guess stay tuned.

One of the keys is to deny the opponent the ball. Prevent him from being open to receive the ball and immediately launch the three. Looked much better in that aspect yesterday.....

 

[HawkGold]

Didn't see the game. JBo and CM seem to be not discussed. Why?

 

[thedukeofearl]

Didn't see the game. JBo and CM seem to be not discussed. Why?

Probably the return of Baer trumped everything else.....

Bohannon had an outstanding game. He shot the ball very well, 3/4 from long range and 6/8 for the game. Looked good taking it inside a couple of times. Seven assists vs one turnover.....

Connor looked tired, a bit fatigued after being in the game a while. He moved the ball and dribbled well if no one was open. No turnovers was a good thing for him. The team did well as far as turnovers were concerned. Take away Tyler's 6 TOs and things would have looked very good.....

Perhaps we should stop tossing the ball to Tyler when he is double teamed. Not much good results from that, although he did have 3 assists.....

 

[DDThompson]

Didn't see the game. JBo and CM seem to be not discussed. Why?

They’re not B1G caliber PGs so Fran didn’t play em much. 10-12 mins each.

Maishe played PG and Baer played point forward.

 

[PCHawk]

This is the team that was supposed to start the season. If they would have started like this and stayed the same all year, they would have ended up on the bubble. If they would have started like this and improved as the year went on (what I thought would happen) they would have been in easy. Instead they started like complete garbage and made it almost impossible to recover from. Right now I'm hoping they get to 20 wins and make a deep run in the NIT.

 

[ibahawkeye]

Garza has played well these last 2 games as well. I think the question is can he maintain it when the competition level is better but he seems comfortable in his role coming off the bench.

 

[mopkins]

My impression was Iowa finally has the team they wanted to start the season with. A healthy Baer and basically Connor filling in the Christian Williams role.

They're still young and making a ton of mistakes but they're looking a lot better at full strength

 

[Xerxes]

I wish Iowa would just go to a full court press for most of the time. They'll give up a ton of easy baskets doing so but they do that in their half court defense as well. Pressure at least disrupts the other team from getting into their offense and creates turnovers.

 

[NikeHawk21]

Really good to see Baer back. He is the MVP for the Hawkeyes. He is the smartest player on the court. Very high basketball IQ, anticipates passing lanes, has the ability to analyze the angles, where the ball will carom off the glass or rim.....

The press looked very good. Almost felt sorry for the Bulldogs.....

Connor looked good passing the ball around. He is definitely not at full strength. He might have to play in 3/4 minute stretches. He would still be effective and hopefully, have the energy to play the entire game that way.....

We should use Wagner when we need a big body on the floor. He plays D well and can get rebounds. He is also fearless.....

Finally, a game to feel good about......

I still think this team will upset a few B1G teams this season. At least the games could be fun to watch again.....

While I understand what you’re saying about Wagner, that is not the way that we are using Wagner. Really he’s probably 6’6/6’7 and the only thing he is bringing from the 3 is rebounding. We just have a handful of bigs that are bigger and more skilled than him.

He is taking minutes away from Dailey at the 3 who is long, can run and handle the ball, and can knock down an outside shot. I like Ahmad a lot, but if he is a 3 man, he is at least third on the depth chart in my estimation.

 

[Bluesman]

It would be hard to find a team that Iowa has a more favorable matchup with than Drake. I'm not sure that game was indicative of anything other than that fact.

Any talk of an NCAA berth is ridiculous at this point; that ship has sailed due to their awful start. Plus, I still don't see this team playing .500 ball this season. They certainly looked better against Drake and I suspect the team will improve as the season goes on but I still see a sub .500 team when it's all said and done.

 

[lightning1]

As team we probably played our best game of the season. We stuck to our game plan and used our advantage to exploit Drake.

I’m wondering where those 4 “all world” guards from Drake were, maybe they didn’t get off the bus. Funny that we haven’t heard much from those posters that were claiming those guys were going to shred Iowa.

But this one was all about Baer. He is just a good basketball player. His injury, as many of us realized, was a big reason for some of the early season woes. Plus he took some time to shake off the rust. On a young team he is the energy and glue guy that we need to make this thing go.

Going forward Fran still needs to shorten this rotation, it is just unsustainable. Right now I don’t see what, if anything Wagner is bringing us at the 3. To me he is just taking Dailey’s minutes which I’m not a fan of. I also think Ellingson’s minutes should be limited. Needles to say we know Fran and that probably won’t happen.

???? I'm pretty sure the phrase "4 all world guards from Drake" has never been uttered. Not outside of your imagination, anyway.

 

[SayHawkKid]

As team we probably played our best game of the season. We stuck to our game plan and used our advantage to exploit Drake.

I’m wondering where those 4 “all world” guards from Drake were, maybe they didn’t get off the bus. Funny that we haven’t heard much from those posters that were claiming those guys were going to shred Iowa.

But this one was all about Baer. He is just a good basketball player. His injury, as many of us realized, was a big reason for some of the early season woes. Plus he took some time to shake off the rust. On a young team he is the energy and glue guy that we need to make this thing go.

Going forward Fran still needs to shorten this rotation, it is just unsustainable. Right now I don’t see what, if anything Wagner is bringing us at the 3. To me he is just taking Dailey’s minutes which I’m not a fan of. I also think Ellingson’s minutes should be limited. Needles to say we know Fran and that probably won’t happen.

1) Count me as a happy idiot that thought Drake could be a big problem for Iowa (I apologize if I worried any little boys)
2) The game was close with a ton of lead changes in the first half.
3) Drake lost by 1 ON THE ROAD at Minnesota (RPI 36). They played Iowa (RPI 186) on a neutral court.
3) Please show me where any poster on this board said Drake was going to shred Iowa as I haven't been able to find it.

 

[NikeHawk21]

1) Count me as a happy idiot that thought Drake could be a big problem for Iowa (I apologize if I worried any little boys)
2) The game was close with a ton of lead changes in the first half.
3) Drake lost by 1 ON THE ROAD at Minnesota (RPI 36). They played Iowa (RPI 186) on a neutral court.
3) Please show me where any poster on this board said Drake was going to shred Iowa as I haven't been able to find it.

There inlies the danger of using the RPI to rank teams. It’s a completely flawed system.

The only reason it was close in the 1H imo is because Iowa missed about 8 bunnies and was like 1-7 on 3s.

 

[InGoodCo]

They played well, I hope to watch them continue to build on it. This team has a lot of talent and good players IMO - they just haven't put it together and they are short a difference maker at guard.

 

[NikeHawk21]

???? I'm pretty sure the phrase "4 all world guards from Drake" has never been uttered. Not outside of your imagination, anyway.

Clearly hyperbole, but the point remains. Just makes me laugh reading threads from Hawkeye posters claiming they wish we had Drake’s guards (yes there were posters saying this), only to play them and completely blow the doors off of them.

 

[ArvadaHawk]

Didn't see the game. JBo and CM seem to be not discussed. Why?

they weren't on the floor together for very long. didn't really get to see how they worked off each other. another poster said CM looked tired and that could very well be why.

 

[InGoodCo]

Clearly hyperbole, but the point remains. Just makes me laugh reading threads from Hawkeye posters claiming they wish we had Drake’s guards (yes there were posters saying this), only to play them and completely blow the doors off of them.

Last week, there were a lot of posters saying their guards would shred Iowa. That's ok though, because going into the game, it looked like they would. Iowa's guards have been shredded this season. It was a logical prediction. Iowa played well and answered the bell. Now of course in hindsight it's because Drake was trash. That's how it swings on a message board. I'm in between, Drake is not a good basketball team, but in the same breath I think that was clearly Iowa's best win of the season.... because it was. That may make it sorry or sad.... that may mean something is horribly wrong and we should all call for Fran's head, but it is the truth. All this team can do at this point is play the schedule and try and accrue all the wins it can.

 

[Hawk5656]

Last week, there were a lot of posters saying their guards would shred Iowa. That's ok though, because going into the game, it looked like they would. Iowa's guards have been shredded this season. It was a logical prediction. Iowa played well and answered the bell. Now of course in hindsight it's because Drake was trash. That's how it swings on a message board. I'm in between, Drake is not a good basketball team, but in the same breath I think that was clearly Iowa's best win of the season.... because it was. That may make it sorry or sad.... that may mean something is horribly wrong and we should all call for Fran's head, but it is the truth. All this team can do at this point is play the schedule and try and accrue all the wins it can.

UAB was a better win than Drake.

 

[ibahawkeye]

It would be hard to find a team that Iowa has a more favorable matchup with than Drake. I'm not sure that game was indicative of anything other than that fact.

Any talk of an NCAA berth is ridiculous at this point; that ship has sailed due to their awful start. Plus, I still don't see this team playing .500 ball this season. They certainly looked better against Drake and I suspect the team will improve as the season goes on but I still see a sub .500 team when it's all said and done.

The conference slate is still favorable and we should win the next 3 all at home.

So I'll go with 3-0.
Next 2 conference games against Mich & OSU but both at home. I'll take a split- 1-1.
Then on the road to Maryland, IL and Rutgers. I'll go with 1-2.
3 out of the next 4 at home... I'll go with 2-2 against Purdue, Wisconsin, Nebraska and Minnesota
Penn St/Mich State - 0-2
Next 3 on the road.. 1-2
Finish up with Minny & Northwestern - I'll go 1-1

I have them at 8-9 to end the year so pretty close to .500

 

[MWS604]

• RPIs have been used to keep the Hawkeyes out of tourney when we finished .500 or better in the B1G. Some may think they can judge teams more objectively, but the NCAA uses this as a criterion
• Iowa turns the ball over A LOT. Even against Drake, we had 14 turnovers. However, Drake had 25+ TOs. What I have seen is that turnover margin is the key stat in our win/loss record