The pattern of slow starts...

[hawkdrummer1]

After respecting the 24 hour rule (I know it's KFz's, but it makes sense)...

Incredible comeback yesterday by the Hawks...took a lot of guts and effort. Had they pulled it out in OT it would have been one for the ages. Gotta love the heart. We also saw a couple games earlier in the year where the team sleep walked through the first half...or longer. Some they pulled out with a miracle shot. Some they didn't. Yesterday Cook came out of halftime like a man with a mission...the kind of dominant player we all thought he was.

Why does it take so long...for them to get going? Where's the mojo right out of the gate? Why does Cook need to see the edge of the cliff before he turns it on like he did yesterday?

What is it, guys? The coaching and prep...character of the team...leadership. What's been missing?

 

[trj]

Maybe this is a reach.

Iowa's offense fuels their defense. When they are not making shots their defense goes to crap. Transition defense becomes an issue. I will let others debate if that is a lack of athleticism or an effort problem. It is a snowball effect where they miss shots and it compounds itself from there.

Reiterating what Chris Webber was getting at during the game, you start working the ball inside sooner when the shots aren't falling. We all know this roster is limited on how they generate offense. I get why Fran wants to increase the number of possessions, but there are times when you have to slow tempo down and play the inside/out game.

 

[SpiderRico]

I've always felt it was a snowball effect. The less shots are falling, the more the team tries to go hero ball. The more it goes hero ball, the less it works because we don't have anyone that can play hero ball successfully. And around and around it goes. And to compound matters, we don't have the type of athletes that can stop a good, athletic team in transition after we continue to miss....so that's how you get a Cincy going out to 18-5 or a Tenn going out to 44-19.

My biggest beef with Fran is his unwillingness to use timeouts to their greatest effect. You see it ALL THE TIME by the best teams in the tourney as well as the ones that pull the big upset....they don't have an issue using timeouts in the first half to settle the team down, or to get a bucket to stem the tide. Even in the OT session, once Bone hit the 3 as the shot clock expired to go up 5, Fran had 3 timeouts....you take one there to get the team in your best set that will result in cutting it to 3 (or 2) to get it back to a 1 possession game and go from there. You don't take it with 50 seconds left in OT down by 7.

I honestly think that if Fran would do two things....1) Use 1st half timeouts better and 2) go to an 8 man only rotation....it would be worth at least 2-3 more wins per year.

 

[PCHawk]

I think it's all in their head. Similar to the teams a few years ago that couldn't win close games. They thought "here we go again" every time a game was close late. The team this year thought "no big deal, we got this". They made a comeback and a couple late game shots. That not only gave them confidence for playing good 2nd halfs, but it also probably made them a little over confident in 1st halfs thinking they could always make a comeback. That's my best guess. It was all between the ears.

 

[thedukeofearl]

I really don't know. Perhaps we just adjust to what the opponent is giving us or the style of play

Maybe we just settle into the way the game is being played

How the zebras are calling it

How aggressively our threes are being contested

How to get Tyler to play in the paint

Which Defense are we going to utilize to start the game and how soon to adjust

Start to make shots sooner and get back on D quickly to set

Set up the 3/4-half court D right away or wait to apply the pressure

We do seem to be rather adept, most of the time to overcoming large deficits

We played with intensity and skill in the second half last Friday and Sunday

Not certain if we could start at that level and maintain it the entire game

It would certainly be better not to fall behind double digits at the start of the game

We have adjusted in every way this season and the stage is set for an outstanding season in November

 

[DDThompson]

Why does it take so long...for them to get going? Where's the mojo right out of the gate? Why does Cook need to see the edge of the cliff before he turns it on like he did yesterday?

What is it, guys? The coaching and prep...character of the team...leadership. What's been missing?

I think it's some or all the above depending on the game.

There's one common mal-characteristic for every game: starting in man-2-man.
BUT -- second half comeback vs. Tennessee was largely due to M2M defense.

There's no on-floor leadership during the game. I think Fran has such a big personality that it doesn't allow room for player leadership to develop. I've only seen one time this year a player get in the face of another player for a bad play: JBo getting after Weiskamp for a turnover. If JBo did that to Cook and Moss then he would be the team leader; it would be his team. I'm guessing he defers to Cook because of Cook's talent.

This team has played better with a chip on their shoulder. Most games in this losing fade they have had the energy of Betas instead Alphas. Tennessee player setting an illegal screen and JBo pushing back -- twice to illegal screens. Loved it.

 

[PCHawk]

I really don't know. Perhaps we just adjust to what the opponent is giving us or the style of play

Maybe we just settle into the way the game is being played

How the zebras are calling it

How aggressively our threes are being contested

How to get Tyler to play in the paint

Which Defense are we going to utilize to start the game and how soon to adjust

Start to make shots sooner and get back on D quickly to set

Set up the 3/4-half court D right away or wait to apply the pressure

We do seem to be rather adept, most of the time to overcoming large deficits

We played with intensity and skill in the second half last Friday and Sunday

Not certain if we could start at that level and maintain it the entire game

It would certainly be better not to fall behind double digits at the start of the game

We have adjusted in every way this season and the stage is set for an outstanding season in November

I think good coaching and adjusting is probably a big part of it. But most people think that is a weakness of Fran. People think we suck at the end of the year because teams figure us out. If that were the case and Fran actually does have the coaching ability to make us way better in the 2nd half, then that same coaching ability would help us when we play teams late in the year. I don't think it's possible to be a good second half coach and a terrible end of year coach so I'm not sure what to think.

 

[revkev73]

Play Wisconsin Ball the first 5 minutes, just to settle in, let the nerves cook off a bit.

On the football and BB teams we tend to have a bunch of nervous nellies who aren't used to the big time, which is the type of athletes we tend to recruit, 2-3 stars. They aren't used to doing what it takes to win especially when going vs bluebloods. So, the nervousness allows better teams to roll the timid Hawkeyes quite often at the start.

Do some serious stall ball, play DEFENSE, settle in, get acclimated, then move up the temperature and risk.

 

[PCHawk]

Play Wisconsin Ball the first 5 minutes, just to settle in, let the nerves cook off a bit.

On the football and BB teams we tend to have a bunch of nervous nellies who aren't used to the big time, which is the type of athletes we tend to recruit, 2-3 stars. They aren't used to doing what it takes to win especially when going vs bluebloods. So, the nervousness allows better teams to roll the timid Hawkeyes quite often at the start.

Do some serious stall ball, play DEFENSE, settle in, get acclimated, then move up the temperature and risk.

That's a pretty good idea.

 

[revkev73]

That's a pretty good idea.

It would work if you can play disciplined BB, especially defense. No hero ball. Then open up the throttle when the nerves burn off "Rope a Dope" Fran ball, lull them to sleep, then BOOM, off to the races.

 

[HawkGold]

Some of it could be in their heads. Then again, it's obvious there is a speed differential and that will show up earlier in the game than later. You can't coach speed. You can coach endurance and coach a deep bench. Iowa can't race with most teams with fresh legs.

Sort like soccer. If you can slow down a faster opponent, it doesn't matter if one team is faster in the opening 20 minutes. In HS I'm more concerned about who plays faster during the next 60 and especially the last 20.

Garza seemed the same speed throughout the game. Those against him were slower later.

Sitting General who ever he was in the overtime led to fresh legs. He'd lost his legs into the 2nd half. He was awfully good in the first half.

I just don't buy that this team is lazy. I don't buy that they need to be screamed and yelled at. There are what they are and when fresh they aren't fast.

Cook looked terrific early in the 2nd. Later in the 2nd he just wasn't all enough with not enough leg left. Was kind of hoping K would get in more late with more fresh legs.

 

[HaydenHawk56]

-Would like to see Iowa start in zone on defense. Just don't seem ready from the gun against the Elites in Man to Man.

-Timeouts like mentioned above....not used soon enough when the other team gets on a run.

-We need to pass more, dribble less. Make the other team have to defend the whole half court. Work the ball around the perimeter and feed the post players.

Turn up the heat when you start smelling blood in the water.

 

[trj]

Transition defense when they are not making shots.

 

[Ree4]

I think it's some or all the above depending on the game.

There's one common mal-characteristic for every game: starting in man-2-man.
BUT -- second half comeback vs. Tennessee was largely due to M2M defense.

There's no on-floor leadership during the game. I think Fran has such a big personality that it doesn't allow room for player leadership to develop. I've only seen one time this year a player get in the face of another player for a bad play: JBo getting after Weiskamp for a turnover. If JBo did that to Cook and Moss then he would be the team leader; it would be his team. I'm guessing he defers to Cook because of Cook's talent.

This team has played better with a chip on their shoulder. Most games in this losing fade they have had the energy of Betas instead Alphas. Tennessee player setting an illegal screen and JBo pushing back -- twice to illegal screens. Loved it.

I could see Garza developing into the on floor leader. He seems to be the most visibly passionate player we have and having a leader under the basket on defense seemed to help when we had Woody doing that

 

[Ree4]

Play Wisconsin Ball the first 5 minutes, just to settle in, let the nerves cook off a bit.

On the football and BB teams we tend to have a bunch of nervous nellies who aren't used to the big time, which is the type of athletes we tend to recruit, 2-3 stars. They aren't used to doing what it takes to win especially when going vs bluebloods. So, the nervousness allows better teams to roll the timid Hawkeyes quite often at the start.

Do some serious stall ball, play DEFENSE, settle in, get acclimated, then move up the temperature and risk.

I like this idea. It would keep the games closer earlier and prevent such large deficits. Be down by 5-10 instead of 15-20 once we can settle in

 

[Ree4]

Some of it could be in their heads. Then again, it's obvious there is a speed differential and that will show up earlier in the game than later. You can't coach speed. You can coach endurance and coach a deep bench. Iowa can't race with most teams with fresh legs.

Sort like soccer. If you can slow down a faster opponent, it doesn't matter if one team is faster in the opening 20 minutes. In HS I'm more concerned about who plays faster during the next 60 and especially the last 20.

Garza seemed the same speed throughout the game. Those against him were slower later.

Sitting General who ever he was in the overtime led to fresh legs. He'd lost his legs into the 2nd half. He was awfully good in the first half.

I just don't buy that this team is lazy. I don't buy that they need to be screamed and yelled at. There are what they are and when fresh they aren't fast.

Cook looked terrific early in the 2nd. Later in the 2nd he just wasn't all enough with not enough leg left. Was kind of hoping K would get in more late with more fresh legs.

This is a good counter. I laughed when C Webb talked during the 2nd half of the Cincy game that Iowa was going to get tired - there are very few teams that run as much as we do, conditioning is one of the biggest advantages we have over other teams and we have to utilize that. I still remember watching Bol Bol sucking wind after just a few minutes of gameplay.