Thank the good Lord!

[InGoodCo]

Last year it was not secret that they didn't work on D very much in practice. I believe even stated by players to the press, which is astonishing. Actually embarrassing.

That's not exactly accurate - Mike Gesell said on a podcast that his teams hardly practiced defense. He said it last season, but was talking about when he played. Which I have no issue with considering Mike's teams were pretty good at D.

 

[tksirius]

That's not exactly accurate - Mike Gesell said on a podcast that his teams hardly practiced defense. He said it last season, but was talking about when he played. Which I have no issue with considering Mike's teams were pretty good at D.

According to the president of the Ferentz Fan Club, this is what Mikey said:

"A prominent, recent former Hawkeye recently said in his four years under McCaffery, they rarely practiced defense."

https://www.hawkcentral.com/story/s...ry-hawkeyes-after-ohio-state-loss/1005860001/

If they "rarely practiced defense" during his 4 years at Iowa, I doubt it changed when he graduated. Wouldn't you agree?

 

[InGoodCo]

According to the president of the Ferentz Fan Club, this is what Mikey said:

"A prominent, recent former Hawkeye recently said in his four years under McCaffery, they rarely practiced defense."

https://www.hawkcentral.com/story/s...ry-hawkeyes-after-ohio-state-loss/1005860001/

If they "rarely practiced defense" during his 4 years at Iowa, I doubt it changed when he graduated. Wouldn't you agree?

I would agree to an extent. I think most coaches would adapt and focus practice times with the pieces he had and to the strengths and weaknesses of the make up of his teams.

 

[HawkGold]

I would agree to an extent. I think most coaches would adapt and focus practice times with the pieces he had and to the strengths and weaknesses of the make up of his teams.

Good, in this is the problem. Most coaches would do that.

I would strongly disagree about Mike's teams being good D. I would agree that they are better. The general lack of D fundamentals baffles those of us who have coached before (HS in this case). On the subject of Mike, the main reason for the better D then started at the pt guard being better on positioning on the floor, body, hands, legs, feet and so on. The D was better because Mike was better. If you don't start with better D at the top, the rest of the D is playing to reactions and trying to make up what was lost.

Realism does not equal being negative.

 

[InGoodCo]

Good, in this is the problem. Most coaches would do that.

I would strongly disagree about Mike's teams being good D. I would agree that they are better. The general lack of D fundamentals baffles those of us who have coached before (HS in this case). On the subject of Mike, the main reason for the better D then started at the pt guard being better on positioning on the floor, body, hands, legs, feet and so on. The D was better because Mike was better. If you don't start with better D at the top, the rest of the D is playing to reactions and trying to make up what was lost.

Realism does not equal being negative.

Mike's Jr and Sr years were both top 35 in D efficiency rating per Ken Pom. Out of 350+ schools, that's not bad right? I'm just saying, if you have a good defensive team in general, you probably aren't putting a lot of time out to practice that. I got no issues with realism as long as we can be real about it. Saying Mike's teams weren't good at D and strongly disagreeing with that doesn't seem real.

 

[HawkGold]

Mike's Jr and Sr years were both top 35 in D efficiency rating per Ken Pom. Out of 350+ schools, that's not bad right? I'm just saying, if you have a good defensive team in general, you probably aren't putting a lot of time out to practice that. I got no issues with realism as long as we can be real about it. Saying Mike's teams weren't good at D and strongly disagreeing with that doesn't seem real.

I get what yiu are aaying and we both are valid. To make my point more precise...eye poking is not considered good D.

 

[MelroseHawkins]

That's not exactly accurate - Mike Gesell said on a podcast that his teams hardly practiced defense. He said it last season, but was talking about when he played. Which I have no issue with considering Mike's teams were pretty good at D.

That is correct.

 

[mopkins]

If JBo can't guard a point guard the whole thing falls apart in a hurry. At least TC should be plenty motivated to play some D and grab some boards

 

[kicker22]

To me its simple...Cutting down on the turnovers creates more scoring attempts and eliminates easy baskets for the opponent. When a team struggles defensively any transition baskets off turnovers can kill a team. When a team has scoring droughts and struggles defensively it can kill a team. My opinion is taking care of the ball, and never "turning off" or losing focus on the defensive end is just as valuable as making more threes or hitting more shots.

That said, I hope JBo's statement is accurate and they are putting an extra emphasis on getting better defensively. My only problem with that is I'm not sure why they weren't doing that anyway.

 

[Knight78]

Interesting. Yet we scored over 78 pts a game and were one of the higher scoring teams out there.. I thought we were pretty decent at shooting 3s evidently not. The free throw percentage is what I'd like to see drastically improved as well Our guys are capable shooters. I know we can't have JBo shoot em all but guys like Garza, Cook and Moss who should be getting to the line a lot should be able to hit 72 plus percent at the very least. Garza kinda got off to a slow start due to freshman nerves/lack of confidence. Hopefully with that out of the way he'll get off to a better start this year. I really really like his game and think he should develop into a stud. Him getting to the line and making a solid percentage of them will be huge for him and team

We actually WERE pretty decent at shooting 3s. We just didn't shoot them enough.

 

[lightning1]

Last year it was not secret that they didn't work on D very much in practice. I believe even stated by players to the press, which is astonishing. Actually embarrassing.

It IS embarrassing. And it's grounds for immediate termination. For any AD that isn't Gutless Gary, that is.

 

[lightning1]

Good, in this is the problem. Most coaches would do that.

I would strongly disagree about Mike's teams being good D. I would agree that they are better. The general lack of D fundamentals baffles those of us who have coached before (HS in this case). On the subject of Mike, the main reason for the better D then started at the pt guard being better on positioning on the floor, body, hands, legs, feet and so on. The D was better because Mike was better. If you don't start with better D at the top, the rest of the D is playing to reactions and trying to make up what was lost.

Realism does not equal being negative.

Those teams with Mike and Anthony were better defensive teams than our current roster. They still were not good. Not IMO. They couldn't get stops when it mattered at the end of games. Fran's teams have always exhibited this trait since he's been here. Not mentally tough enough.

 

[trj]

That’s fair. Increasing their 3pt attempts by 5 or so won’t be tough with Weiskamp coming in and taking Wagner’s minutes and likely cutting into the minutes of others. Not to mention Garza will be firing away from deep if he shoots that ball like he did at the end of the year.

We really weren’t that uptempo last year, we ranked 112 in possesions per game, and 71 in adjusted tempo (KenPom). I think cutting down on turnovers and guys busting their tails back on defense would go a long way for improving our defense.

I’m all for shooting more 3s, but again they have to be shots off of good offense. Jbo’s % when he tries to create off the dribble is not very good. Hopefully Weiskamp is the missing piece we need.

yet Iowa's APL(average possession length) on offense was 15.9. That put Iowa 34th in country. 112th in possesions per game translates to what exactly.? That they can't get key stops?

 

[Knight78]

A lot of coaches will have their players practice layups and shooting drills, each and every day. But not defense. It never made any sense to me. I've no interest in coaching or playing under someone like that.

I'd have to agree. When I was on the team at Wartburg, Levick had about 80% of our practice dedicated to defensive drills. We spent almost no time in scrimmage. One on one, two on two, three on three, all with an emphasis on defense. The games were almost always a "vacation" from practices.

 

[BigD]

We missed two years ago because we couldn't get stops in a critical late season home loss to Illinois.

And we didn't have a clue in the BTT against Indiana.

That was the difference between the dance and the NIT.

Last year wasn't a train wreck. It was more like a napalm attack. It could easily HAVE lost all it's (big ten) games. We should have gone 2-16 or 1-17. Effort was lacking. Certain players looked like they had better things to do at times. That's why people are so frustrated. And the fact that we have to wait four and a half months to play again. If guys are taking stock on their ass, then hallelujah, it's about time. No one is expecting a repeat of last year. But I'm far from convinced that we are NCAA tournament material. Let's see someone apply nasty ball pressure or make someone pay for going to the rim and that would be a start.

Last year was more than horrible-it was an embarrassment to anyone who's been a fan or wore the black and gold. Bobby Hansen, who had a third of Moss or Dailey's talent but has a final four appearance and an NBA championship ring was beside himself at times last year. You could hear it on the air.

Great post!!!

I agree with good in that it’s good to hear they are attacking the apparent weakness of this team. I am hoping it works. I think the team will be better this year due to what we gained and what we lost. Will it add up to an NCAA bid? I certainly hope so.

Havng said that if for some reason we have another nuclear meltdown then Fran has to go!!! Buy out be damned!!!

 

[NikeHawk21]

yet Iowa's APL(average possession length) on offense was 15.9. That put Iowa 34th in country. 112th in possesions per game translates to what exactly.? That they can't get key stops?

That seems a bit more realistic, and probably a big part of why we sucked last year. We tried to play fast with Wagner, Nunge, and Baer at the 3 and Pemsl at the 4 while other teams ran circles around us with quicker players playing the 3 and 4.

Hopefully this year we will go with smaller more athletic lineups if we are going to play fast.

 

[Adam]

Those teams with Mike and Anthony were better defensive teams than our current roster. They still were not good. Not IMO. They couldn't get stops when it mattered at the end of games. Fran's teams have always exhibited this trait since he's been here. Not mentally tough enough.

He did say "good" not great. The statistics and the win lose ratio support that the team at that time performed defensively at a level above, above average which is the "good" category.

Now if you want to say that "good" still wasn't good enough well that much would be hard to refute.

 

[atomicblue224]

Look at his fangs!

 

[hawkdrummer1]

Last year it was not secret that they didn't work on D very much in practice. I believe even stated by players to the press, which is astonishing. Actually embarrassing.

Got my extension, don't needa practice no Defense

 

[tksirius]

Got my extension, don't needa practice no Defense

I heard Morehouse & Dochterman say that the baseball coach should be given a lifetime contract already.