The Official Western Carolina...Who?....Game Thread

[PCHawk]

Well that puts us at 4-8 in the league with games at OSU, at Nebraska, and at Wisconsin remaining on the schedule. Not ideal if our goal is to make the dance.

Win the others and we are 9-11. That puts us at 1% off from making the dance. Damn that Nebraska home game and only having a 49% chance of winning.

 

[NikeHawk21]

Win the others and we are 9-11. That puts us at 1% off from making the dance. Damn that Nebraska home game and only having a 49% chance of winning.

You realize the way he did his formula even if you put Nebraska at say 54% chance of winning the projected wins would still equal about 4?

It’s all hearsay at this point. Win a couple we aren't expected to and take care of the others and we will be in good shape. I still think that Wisconsin home loss is going to loom large.

I also think we have a chance to dance at 9-11 with one win in the BTT.

 

[ssckelley]

Right, so far, at this point of the year, they "look" like a team that will be in the NCAA's. That's all we can really go off of right? I get being skeptical tho, so it's not like I am saying you're crazy...but in the same breath, me saying they look like an NCAA team isn't black and gold glasses, it's the truth.

But that wasn't what I was asking, I can look at the Bracketology's myself. From what I've seen so far I am not sure this is a tournament team. I admit that feels weird saying that since Iowa does have a few decent wins and is ranked.

I know I'm repeating myself but we lack a true point guard. But having said that I am much more impressed with Connor running the point than Bohannan and I wish Fran would use him more at the point. With Pemsl going down I also question the depth at the post. Another poster said this, and I agree, Garza has gotta step up and keep himself out on the court.

 

[PCHawk]

You realize the way he did his formula even if you put Nebraska at say 54% chance of winning the projected wins would still equal about 4?

It’s all hearsay at this point. Win a couple we aren't expected to and take care of the others and we will be in good shape. I still think that Wisconsin home loss is going to loom large.

I also think we have a chance to dance at 9-11 with one win in the BTT.

Yea I was just messing around.

 

[PCHawk]

But that wasn't what I was asking, I can look at the Bracketology's myself. From what I've seen so far I am not sure this is a tournament team. I admit that feels weird saying that since Iowa does have a few decent wins and is ranked.

I know I'm repeating myself but we lack a true point guard. But having said that I am much more impressed with Connor running the point than Bohannan and I wish Fran would use him more at the point. With Pemsl going down I also question the depth at the post. Another poster said this, and I agree, Garza has gotta step up and keep himself out on the court.

If Connor isnt a true point guard, then I dont know what is.

 

[ssckelley]

On a side note, once again Connor took over late in the game. It wasnt going to end in a loss anyway, but he made some good plays down the stretch. Most importantly, he went hard after two rebounds that probably weren't supposed to be his. To me that shows that he is a gamer and when its crunch time, his head is in the game and he's gunna do whatever he can to make a play. He's going to win us a lot of close games over the next few years .

I'm starting to warm up to the idea of Connor running the point. At least offensively he looks much better than JB. He can create off the dribble and some of his passes are incredible. That feed to Kriener last night looked like a QB hitting a TE on a slant pattern.

 

[ssckelley]

If Connor isnt a true point guard, then I dont know what is.

Offensively I'm warming up to the idea. He's still missing that step on the defensive end.

 

[NikeHawk21]

If Connor isnt a true point guard, then I dont know what is.

I’m not really a believer in the “true PG” thing to begin with. I would say that Connor’s best position is PG.

I think a “true pg” advocate would tell you he doesn’t really break down the defense with penetration. He’s not lightning quick. What he can do off the bounce is use his size against smaller guys to create contact or shoot over them.

Right now over 50% of his points are coming from the foul line, I expect his FT attempts to drop drastically in B1G play. He is pretty crafty at drawing fouls. Quite frankly a lot of fouls I’ve seen him draw have been in our own backcourt or near half court or at the end of a game. Look at last night for example, 6 of his 10 FT attempts were in the last 2 minutes of the game when they were fouling.

His assists per minute is actually lower than Jbo’s was last year, however he does a much better job limiting turnovers, which is a positive.

He’s given this team a boost there is no question about that, but we just didnt have many options at the position.

 

[kicker22]

It’s very easy to form bad habits against these crappy teams. Many of us noticed that against Alabama St and it carried over into the 1H if the Pitt game. Hopefully playing these crappy teams doesn’t lead to bad habits that carry over into Purdue or further.

I'm with you. I've been picked apart recently for my line of thinking, but IMO the only thing you actually gain from scheduling this weak of a program is it gives you an opportunity to see what you have on the bench, and at this point in the season we know exactly what we have.

I actually worry about what's going to happen going forward after 3 games of subpar opponents. These games are not going to do anything to create high pressure situations that you'd experience in a tight game. Your not going benefit defensively or on the glass, by playing smaller, slower guys. Offensively your not going to get better when the defensive talent is less than what we'd see in conference play. I simply don't see how we benefit at all from this, in fact I'd go as far to say it may be a step down from a practice in terms of intensity. And honestly it looked as though they were simply going through the motions in a game they knew they'd win. Sure wins matter and the next two games should produce results, but in the end I'm never going to be convinced that this level of opposition is going to do us any favors headed into the real conference slate.

 

[NikeHawk21]

I'm with you. I've been picked apart recently for my line of thinking, but IMO the only thing you actually gain from scheduling this weak of a program is it gives you an opportunity to see what you have on the bench, and at this point in the season we know exactly what we have.

I actually worry about what's going to happen going forward after 3 games of subpar opponents. These games are not going to do anything to create high pressure situations that you'd experience in a tight game. Your not going benefit defensively or on the glass, by playing smaller, slower guys. Offensively your not going to get better when the defensive talent is less than what we'd see in conference play. I simply don't see how we benefit at all from this, in fact I'd go as far to say it may be a step down from a practice in terms of intensity. And honestly it looked as though they were simply going through the motions in a game they knew they'd win. Sure wins matter and the next two games should produce results, but in the end I'm never going to be convinced that this level of opposition is going to do us any favors headed into the real conference slate.

We don’t really have any young guys that need experience. We have 9 scholarship players available and they all play.

I get your frustration, but for some perspective. Wisconsin just played Savanna State who we have coming up and they play Grambling this weekend. Nebraska plays two 250+ level teams the next two games. Part of this is just how the scheduling worked out.

 

[smitharooney]

The main bad thing about the second half was they couldn't make a shot. Their defense was still pretty good (for them) and they weren't turning the ball over much. They just went ice cold. That was a pretty good time to go cold if you ask me.

Exactly . Trying new sets has nothing to do with missing wide open shots . Statistically we our one of the worst outside shooting teams in the country

 

[tweeterhawk]

...When is it OK for Iowa fans to feel good about this team? Is it ever.

When:

- Iowa competes for some of the best talent available.
- 20+ season wins is the norm.
- B1G opponents fear Iowa coming to town, or them coming to Carver Hawkeye.
- Iowa is in the upper division of the conference and regularly contends for league season and tournament championships.
- The question is not whether Iowa makes the dance but where above 8 it is seeded,

Is that too much to ask?

 

[kicker22]

We don’t really have any young guys that need experience. We have 9 scholarship players available and they all play.

I get your frustration, but for some perspective. Wisconsin just played Savanna State who we have coming up and they play Grambling this weekend. Nebraska plays two 250+ level teams the next two games. Part of this is just how the scheduling worked out.

I totally get that it's just how the schedule works, but what could/should be "automatic" wins could end up being detrimental to how we start back up in conference play. I just don't see it as a good thing. Just my opinion but late December is not the time to line up 3 straight cupcakes. I don't think that does the team any favors heading into conference play. Hope I'm wrong.