This is still the team that won 10 games and lost its center.

[BSpringsteen]

Look the Mel thing is mind blowing...

But ultimately, we're excited about Iowa basketball because of a recruiting class that isn't on campus yet and some press conference quotes.

Anyone who was expecting anything more than this was setting themselves up for disappointment. There was no reason to expect that things would be different this year than they were last year.

I'm hoping that we can get competitive and continue to recruit well.

I think we all underestimated how big the hole that was dug was.

We have the facilities, we have the coach, we have some good recruits coming in. But we are realistically the 2013 season from really competing at a level that resembles what we want.

 

[ChosenChildren]

Look the Mel thing is mind blowing...

But ultimately, we're excited about Iowa basketball because of a recruiting class that isn't on campus yet and some press conference quotes.

Anyone who was expecting anything more than this was setting themselves up for disappointment. There was no reason to expect that things would be different this year than they were last year.

I'm hoping that we can get competitive and continue to recruit well.

I think we all underestimated how big the hole that was dug was.

We have the facilities, we have the coach, we have some good recruits coming in. But we are realistically the 2013 season from really competing at a level that resembles what we want.

You are 100% correct.

It is just that we older fans are running out of time - wow, it has been a long time since we had a BB team that we were proud of.....

 

[SwirlinLingerie]

No Bruce, it's way more than that. If Iowa was losing by a few points here or there to good teams (like Creighton), then we should be having that discussion.

But not only is the Mel thing mind-blowing, what about Marble and Cartwright?

Where is the competitive spirit the team showed the final month of last season?

These aren't tough road games...tonight was a home contest against a potential conference bottom feeder in Clemson.

Don't kid yourself. There is a huge difference between this team and the one from February and March last season...way more than just Cole being gone.

Not many of us were asking for a tourney run - but how about some competence and competitiveness against below average division I teams at home? We got more than that for the final month last season...and should be witnessing some strides forward from at least one or two players, if not collectively as a team under a second year coach.

 

[JHHawk]

Gatens,May,Cartwright,Basabe and Brommer were 5 of 31 from the field tonite.
This is not just Mel or Bryce...those are our upperclassmen plus Mel...the leaders.
Bad shooting nite,but they must now show us that they are not just bad shooters.

 

[CAARHawk]

This team will continue to struggle until there is a complete overhaul on who is on the court. Not one of the current starters, including Mel, is good enough to be a B1G starter.

You say Mel was on the B1G All-Frosh team? Well, so were May and Gatens and neither of those guys is close to being a B1G starter. The reason they all made all-frosh is because the team sucked so bad it had to play them as freshmen. These are not the Hardaways, Sullingers, and Bufords of the conference.

Cartwright led the B1G in assists. He was the ONLY ball handler!

 

[Row55]

Disagree with the OP. This team played better down the stretch last season, and there was no reason not to expect at least modest improvement to continue. That Basabe and Cartwright have turned to crap, couldn't have been foreseen. Brommer had been playing better in spots, and is now a senior. Archie has been awful, but is at least now a senior. May sucked last year, and while there was no guarantee he'd improve, there was hope based on his freshman year plus moving to a system that would seem to favor his athleticism. Marble has a season of college experience under his belt.

I'll grant that the team misses Cole more than I (and a lot of other people) expected, and it now seems like a tough assignment to match or beat last seasons win total. But there was legitimate cause for optimism going into the season.

 

[CptPuertoRico]

Putting all of your hopes in a thin, 7 foot, freshman is just lining yourselves up for another fall at the beginning of next season. Other then a couple freaks of nature every year, big guys take time to develop.

 

[Dominate]

No Bruce, it's way more than that. If Iowa was losing by a few points here or there to good teams (like Creighton), then we should be having that discussion.

But not only is the Mel thing mind-blowing, what about Marble and Cartwright?

Where is the competitive spirit the team showed the final month of last season?

These aren't tough road games...tonight was a home contest against a potential conference bottom feeder in Clemson.

Don't kid yourself. There is a huge difference between this team and the one from February and March last season...way more than just Cole being gone.

Not many of us were asking for a tourney run - but how about some competence and competitiveness against below average division I teams at home? We got more than that for the final month last season...and should be witnessing some strides forward from at least one or two players, if not collectively as a team under a second year coach.

Excellent post!

 

[HawkForce]

Putting all of your hopes in a thin, 7 foot, freshman is just lining yourselves up for another fall at the beginning of next season. Other then a couple freaks of nature every year, big guys take time to develop.

^this....I really am not sure Fran is going to get the time to watch that class grow.

I knew we were not going to be very good (heck go back and look at my preseason posts, I was saying people predicting 15-20 wins were insane...) BUT I never thought we wouldn't even be competitive...I expected losses...and lots of them...but not like this...every loss we never even had a shot in...Basabe might as well just leave the team if that's the production he's going to have. And the total regression by just about everyone is dumbfounding....it looks like they don't practice, and don't care about the games at all....