That's just the way basketball is. Upsets aren't a big deal anymore, especially with the 3 point shot. Just think about it. A 10 point win is pretty dominant. But if the winning team makes 2 less 3s (not a big deal at all) and the losing team makes 2 extra 3s (also not a big deal at all) a 10 point win becomes a 2 point loss. That is just 2 possessions going different. If we lose in the first round as a top 5 seed, it will be really depressing. It's something that happens to probably 4 or 5 teams a year on average.
The D
- Thread starter HawksMN
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Ian Pike Hammer
Guest
I'd have to agree, 2 wins minimum for the NCAA tourney.
trj
Well-Known Member
I think you are getting the Tennessee game at some point. Proud by the effort, yet still frustrated by 'what might have been'. Hopefully, it comes 3,4,5 games into the tournament.
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MelroseHawkins
Well-Known Member
You thought the D against Mich St. was shaky???
Boy, you better be glad you missed some earlier games!!
MelroseHawkins
Well-Known Member
This is where I am. The Sweet 16 was in my head. Anything beyond that is a bonus and can build off of.
MelroseHawkins
Well-Known Member
I will be interesting to see how teams deal with Garza who have not seen him. It will be interesting to watch the BIG teams eat each other up in the NCAA tournament. Honestly, my concern is meeting an Ohio St or Michigan who has seen us before and for several seasons.
I is going to be a hard guard for teams that have not seen Iowa and on a short turn-around. That is going to be interesting to watch.
I is going to be a hard guard for teams that have not seen Iowa and on a short turn-around. That is going to be interesting to watch.
Newcomer here just an observation on the deep run in the tournament (NCAA). The teams that make those deep runs historically have good to great defenses to go along with efficient offenses. Iowa obviously has a good offense however going through the brackets in that tournament you consistently can not out score/out run all the time. There is always some teams that control the tempo you will see one tonight in Madison.
MelroseHawkins
Well-Known Member
Welcome and you make a good point.
A team banking on their offense for a 6 game stretch seems like a stretch.
kicker22
Well-Known Member
I tend to agree with this which is part of why I posted what you responded to. I've always been of the mindset defense wins championships which is why I'm on the fence with regards to how far this team can go, but definitely looking forward to see how far they can go.
Defense in general has been better and the man to man has been much better. I like that they are going with that more often for rebounding.
As far as tournament and any other time, defense is always more dependable than offense. Offense can be more of a wild card where a team can get hot or cold. Hopefully we can get hot come tournament time.
Most teams that go far also take care of the ball. Every possession is important come tournament time. That is something we have been good at. If we can win rebounding battle I like our chances against most teams.
We still have several games to show what we can do before tournament.
As far as tournament and any other time, defense is always more dependable than offense. Offense can be more of a wild card where a team can get hot or cold. Hopefully we can get hot come tournament time.
Most teams that go far also take care of the ball. Every possession is important come tournament time. That is something we have been good at. If we can win rebounding battle I like our chances against most teams.
We still have several games to show what we can do before tournament.
WindsorHawk
Well-Known Member
I like the building comment. Let’s make the Sweet 16. Our freshmen are very good. We’ve struggled in the BTT and NCAA. But the youngsters weren’t here...just us fans. I want the freshmen and sophomores (no NCAA last year) to think the Sweet 16 is the normal expectation...get them in a proper mindset.
WindsorHawk
Well-Known Member
We’re 9-5 in conference games. Virtually every game is an NCAA team. There’s a good chance we won’t see a team as good as our Big 10 competition until the Sweet 16. With that mindset we only need to get hot for 2 games to make the FF4.
MelroseHawkins
Well-Known Member
........but let me continue. I don't think that is this team's ceiling. I think they can go farther if play a lick of D and rebound. If they make a run to the 16 it will gets people's hope up. I'll be honest I'd probably be disappointed after that if they took a loss. The what could have been..............
WindsorHawk
Well-Known Member
It’s definitely not this team’s ceiling. But it’s something we haven’t done in awhile. And I would love it if the freshmen and sophomores viewed it as the (expected) floor going forward.
Side Note - We are still the 5th betting choice to win the National Championship.
Like the optimism I see on some of these posts. Sweet 16? Well as life is relative so is NCAA tournament hoops. That would be quite an accomplishment considering past years results. I did see a comment from Franny the other day saying "he stayed with the zone to long" Amen to that. Zone is okay match up/ 2 3 zone if you know how to play it. This crew struggles with it especially left corner/right corner of the floor. My scouting report on Iowa if they play a zone is to tell the kid to stand in one of those corners wait for 16 seconds and you are wide open.
Fryowa
Administrator
The only reason this team is anywhere remotely close to where it is is because of Luka Garza. Remove him from the equation and our defense is way worse than 108th in the country (KenPom) and this team is probably not even making the tournament. This isn't really building anything, it's a matter of Fran winning the lottery and getting struck by lighting twice on the same day when he signed Garza.
As mentioned before, Iowa has a consistent ceiling of 60-80th in the nation in recruiting, and that's what determines success for the most part. Hate to tell you but this here season is our one chance to make a splash and then it's back to reality. We have one player coming back next year who has double digit PPG, and he's sitting at 10 fewer points than Garza.
Our starters next year have scored as following...
Wieskamp - 15.4
Connor - 4.0
CJ - 8.2
Murray - 7.0
Nunge - 7.8
Total: - 42.4
Now obviously These guys will have more scoring available to them without Garza, but someone needs to explain to me how you're going to make up that kind of margin? Even if Weezy goes out of his mind next year and adds 5 points to his PPG and everyone else adds a point you still wouldn't be there, and fat fuckin chance of that happening when Luka isn't out there drawing double teams and inhaling rebounds like a madman.
Let's not kid ourselves, folks...This thing is built on one guy and without him I don't care how many Keegan Murrays you have, we are back to slightly below 20 win seasons again next year...especially in this meat grinder conference and reverting back to 150th or so in defensive efficiency. The Big Ten is a cold heartless bastard who doesn't give a F about our hopes and dreams.
Unless Fran somehow pulls a Marble/White duo out of his ass or a team with 4 double digit scorers on it this is our Alamo.
