This looks to be the winter or our discontent

[1hawkeye1]

I didn't expect a lot from this team. Probably NIT and a .500-ish record.

After seeing them in person Saturday vs UNO, I now think those are lofty expectations for this group. I still think the future can be bright for them. But I'm talking 2 years down the road future. The interior defense is non existent, perimeter defense is weak, and rebounding seems to be too much work for them. There doesn't seem to be a blue collar player on the whole team. Maybe Baer, but he can't do it all by himself.

I walked out of CHA very dejected. It's gonna be a long year. Please prove me wrong, Hawkeyes.

 

[homes]

Unless and until they actually start playing defense, as opposed to just talking about needing to play defense, this is going to be a long winter. The light can go on - look at how the football team switched it on for the last 3 games - but, so far, this team hasn't shown the willingess to do so, as that's what good defense is about.

 

[sioux34]

Sadly there is no Son of York to make this team glorious by spring.

 

[Mountiejoe]

The silver lining is this team has the individual talent to defend, it's not like they're a step slower physically. As the younger players learn more of the team-defense concept, and every player steps up their defensive effort, I still believe this team can be an adequate defensive team. I haven't seen anything to make me believe their rebounding will improve.

 

[thedukeofearl]

Sadly there is no Son of York to make this team glorious by spring.

Had to look it up, Sioux.....

Alright, Alright, Alright.....

 

[MWS604]

The UNO loss was Dick Vitale's "Shock of the Week"

 

[HawkeyeHypnosis]

This team will get better. They have put up points in every game. The D can only get better.

 

[Stanzi]

Cook, Pemsl, Moss and Bohannon give me hope. Adding a legit big in Garza next season will also help. Fran seriously needs to find a legit point guard though.

 

[Hawk5656]

Cook, Pemsl, Moss and Bohannon give me hope. Adding a legit big in Garza next season will also help. Fran seriously needs to find a legit point guard though.

Didn't you and everyone else attack me this summer when I said this?

 

[Stanzi]

Didn't you and everyone else attack me this summer when I said this?

I don't recall anyone saying we didn't need a good point guard or attacking someone who said we did. I do recall people saying to at least give Williams and Bohannon a chance before calling them terrible, worthless players. Now, Williams has looked bad, and Bohannon is more of a 2 than a 1, but it was tiring to see people saying they sucked before the season even started.

 

[PhotoHawk]

Perhaps I am in the minority but I have been pleasantly surprised by what Bohannon has been able to do this early in the season when you consider the injuries and number of differing line-ups Fran has put on the floor together in the first 10 games (not too mention most are also true freshman). Jordan is going to have some head-scratching turnovers as he continues to adjust to the speed of the game at the college level but he hasn't showed signs of getting rattled by pressure and his offensive potential from deep opens up passing lanes so he doesn't necessarily need to drive & dish to be effective. Opposing benches are already yelling "shooter" when he touches the ball which also keeps the guards from sagging in too deeply. Most recent PG with that sort of respect from the outside that I can recall is Jeff Horner way back in 2002-2006.

 

[deanvogs]

Perhaps I am in the minority but I have been pleasantly surprised by what Bohannon has been able to do this early in the season when you consider the injuries and number of differing line-ups Fran has put on the floor together in the first 10 games (not too mention most are also true freshman). Jordan is going to have some head-scratching turnovers as he continues to adjust to the speed of the game at the college level but he hasn't showed signs of getting rattled by pressure and his offensive potential from deep opens up passing lanes so he doesn't necessarily need to drive & dish to be effective. Opposing benches are already yelling "shooter" when he touches the ball which also keeps the guards from sagging in too deeply. Most recent PG with that sort of respect from the outside that I can recall is Jeff Horner way back in 2002-2006.

You aren't in the minority at all Photo.....there has been a very vocal minority that has been trashing Jordan since he signed his scholarship with Iowa last November. You are right along with the majority in seeing his offensive potential and what having a shooter on the floor at PG does for an offense overall.

 

[BryceC]

Bohannon seems just fine. If he can improve the defense he could easily be an upgrade of Gessell in the long run.

 

[STILLBUSTER]

You aren't in the minority at all Photo.....there has been a very vocal minority that has been trashing Jordan since he signed his scholarship with Iowa last November. You are right along with the majority in seeing his offensive potential and what having a shooter on the floor at PG does for an offense overall.

I wasn't part of the trashing but, the first couple games, was in the "give me more Williams" camp, mostly because of his length. Now, I'm all-in on JorBo being the point guy as a much quicker, decisive, confident player who has the potential to fill it up.

Here's the caveat, though -- When true freshmen are put into starting roles / play significant minutes, they bring all of their high school / AAU habits and decision-making with them. Rather than getting spot exposure to the level of play - which allows for teaching moments and opportunities to be coached up -- they are always in "go" mode, relying on instincts, moves, even strategies that got them by at the high school / AAU level.

Saw this, A LOT, with Mikey. He was never able to shed that drive down the right side of the lane, even though he usually got swatted. I actually saw JorBo try the same thing, twice, I think, against Stetson -- SWAT! Hopefully this is lesson learned.

Thing he has to (un)learn is situational shot selection and realizing those "thread the needle" passes to Pemsl are gonna be a lot less successful at this level. Nothing that any true freshman doesn't have to understand, however, it's going to be a lot tougher for him if he's having to "play" and not "learn".

Then again, it's pretty obvious to me -- by the lack, thereof -- that Fran's emphasis, let alone, ability to teach skills is very suspect, anyway. Hope JorBo has good self-awareness, self-assessment and smarts to learn on his own because he really isn't going to get much "coaching up".

 

[deanvogs]

I wasn't part of the trashing but, the first couple games, was in the "give me more Williams" camp, mostly because of his length. Now, I'm all-in on JorBo being the point guy as a much quicker, decisive, confident player who has the potential to fill it up.

Here's the caveat, though -- When true freshmen are put into starting roles / play significant minutes, they bring all of their high school / AAU habits and decision-making with them. Rather than getting spot exposure to the level of play - which allows for teaching moments and opportunities to be coached up -- they are always in "go" mode, relying on instincts, moves, even strategies that got them by at the high school / AAU level.

Saw this, A LOT, with Mikey. He was never able to shed that drive down the right side of the lane, even though he usually got swatted. I actually saw JorBo try the same thing, twice, I think, against Stetson -- SWAT! Hopefully this is lesson learned.

Thing he has to (un)learn is situational shot selection and realizing those "thread the needle" passes to Pemsl are gonna be a lot less successful at this level. Nothing that any true freshman doesn't have to understand, however, it's going to be a lot tougher for him if he's having to "play" and not "learn".

Then again, it's pretty obvious to me -- by the lack, thereof -- that Fran's emphasis, let alone, ability to teach skills is very suspect, anyway. Hope JorBo has good self-awareness, self-assessment and smarts to learn on his own because he really isn't going to get much "coaching up".

By a very vocal minority, I mean a minority of 1. 1 dude who trashed him before he stepped on campus and continues to trash him all the time, non stop.

Buster, you are just like me, I had lot of questions about him before this season, but I don't remember you trashing him, and I know I didn't. He is gonna take his lumps this year, much like most every Fr, but he has some good skills to work with.

I will say that Marble, White, Uthoff, Jok, all disagree that Fran can't coach guys up. Coming in as 3* kids and leaving as 1st Team All B1G player, it is hard to argue they aren't getting "coached up".

 

[Husky28]

By a very vocal minority, I mean a minority of 1. 1 dude who trashed him before he stepped on campus and continues to trash him all the time, non stop.

Buster, you are just like me, I had lot of questions about him before this season, but I don't remember you trashing him, and I know I didn't. He is gonna take his lumps this year, much like most every Fr, but he has some good skills to work with.

I will say that Marble, White, Uthoff, Jok, all disagree that Fran can't coach guys up. Coming in as 3* kids and leaving as 1st Team All B1G player, it is hard to argue they aren't getting "coached up".

I agree with this... I think it's more about whether a kid has peaked in their skills early (MG) and/or playing out of position due to needs vs. ability vs. coaching up. Iowa has struggled for many years to find scoring point guards... "many years" as in clear back to the beginning of Davis's coaching regime. Off the top of my head, I can probably count maybe 3 scoring Iowa point guards that were good at their craft. That's 20+ years. It's hard to find good point guards, period. Last year, Valetine for MSU had to frequently play point guard a lot due to the lack of a true point guard and he's a shooting guard.

IMO. I think Jordon will be a good point guard... He'll struggle, just like Horner did as a freshmen, but he's already showing us stuff that we haven't really seen since Horner was a freshmen...

 

[STILLBUSTER]

I will say that Marble, White, Uthoff, Jok, all disagree that Fran can't coach guys up. Coming in as 3* kids and leaving as 1st Team All B1G player, it is hard to argue they aren't getting "coached up".

Certainly something to be said about those you reference. Though, I'm inclined to consider those more achievements -- actually, overachievements, according to your implication -- as opposed to developments.

Maybe those guys' skills or athleticism were underrated at 3*. Maybe they had lower exposure or pedigree that limited their star value but, with some P5-D1 conditioning and training, they realized their potential. Maybe those guys were wired with the ethic and desire to overachieve. Maybe a long tenure of solid, consistent productivity helped them be chosen as 1st Team.

Point being, there's a lot of subjectivity in your criteria. As much of it can be attributed to the player as it could be to Fran.

Let's entertain it, though. Maybe Fran actually did help them overachieve. Maybe his decision to give them more opportunities to compete and "learn on the job" helped them overachieve. Maybe he is a great motivator and confidence builder. It's well known Fran (admittedly) gives all his guys the "green light" to go make plays. What you don't hear much about is how he puts them in a position and / or instructs them to create those plays.

Not only is there little commentary about skill and IQ development, there's little evidence of it on the floor. Of all those guys you mentioned, tell me what they did differently from their freshmen seasons to their senior seasons? What fundamental or move or skill evolved over their respective careers? Not trying to be confrontational, just that I struggle to think of anything that was a noticeable "ah-ha" moment that left an impression.

One last thing, even if I'm missing something that you point out to me, those guys are all "face-up" players. The group exemplifies my biggest criticism of Fran -- he does not have a frickin' clue about the post position! No clue about the mechanics of the position, how to strategize around it, nor, especially, develop it.

It riles me so much that maybe it's driving my generalized criticism about the other positions.

 

[PCHawk]

Improving at basketball is so much about individuals putting in the time. I doubt Fran "coached up" the good players any more than he "coached down" some other ones.

It's more about motivating the players to put in the work and putting scouting reports into gsmeplans. Which Fran has gotten a lot of credit for doing.

As far as teaching post moves goes. No way the entire staff has no idea how to teach post moves. It's more about having the right players to make doing those moves the best option. Take Pemsl for example. By the time he leaves, people will think he's a genius at teaching post moves.

 

[PhotoHawk]

Would add that Fran did have a more long-term vision when recruiting Trey Dickerson as we would have had him as a Sr this season to teach and push the younger point guards but transfers happen.

 

[Tiptontiger]

Perhaps I am in the minority but I have been pleasantly surprised by what Bohannon has been able to do this early in the season when you consider the injuries and number of differing line-ups Fran has put on the floor together in the first 10 games (not too mention most are also true freshman). Jordan is going to have some head-scratching turnovers as he continues to adjust to the speed of the game at the college level but he hasn't showed signs of getting rattled by pressure and his offensive potential from deep opens up passing lanes so he doesn't necessarily need to drive & dish to be effective. Opposing benches are already yelling "shooter" when he touches the ball which also keeps the guards from sagging in too deeply. Most recent PG with that sort of respect from the outside that I can recall is Jeff Horner way back in 2002-2006.

I also agree that Jordan Bohannon doesn't need to drive and dish to be effective. I'll gladly take him roaming the perimeter and waiting for his chance to pop one.