This staff blew it

[thedukeofearl]

I don't disagree and from a fan or observation standpoint, you are 100% correct, but we are talking about athletes. Type A personalities. A lot of athletes have been "The Show" at their perspective high school or possibly at other programs.

That treatment and status becomes a bit intoxicating and addictive. But we all know ego often plays into it. I would say most athletes (especially the top tier ones) possess and ego. They exude confidence and sometimes even an air about them.

My comment is just that some players don't want to be second banana. So they choose to go elsewhere to maintain the spotlight.

But absolutely, players benefit from CC's play. 100%. The example I used was Monica. I think her draft stock rose in light of playing with CC. Take nothing away from her, but she definitely benefitted from playing with CC.

Sort of like: Letting the Ego override Common Sense

A tall solid 4/5 Star center playing with Caitlin would/could be a strong candidate for The Final Four

 

[Northside Hawk]

He still remembers the exact shape of every single he saw that night!

I sure do. They were all hexagons

 

[BryceC]

The first thing is that for the next two years any player who comes here is going to live way back under the shadow of Clark. Sorry, but the most elite players don’t want to do that.

I'm not making excuses for anybody but honestly I think this is the issue. If I were negatively recruiting Iowa I would just say yeah you can go there, but Clark is going to get all of the shine and you'll be an also ran. Elite athletes don't think like that.

 

[BryceC]

But absolutely, players benefit from CC's play. 100%. The example I used was Monica. I think her draft stock rose in light of playing with CC. Take nothing away from her, but she definitely benefitted from playing with CC.

She was extremely unique though. Wasn't there a stat that she hadn't dribbled once in the NCAA tournament? She was the perfect fit for the offense. Most players want the ball in their hands even if they are a center.

 

[CP87]

She was extremely unique though. Wasn't there a stat that she hadn't dribbled once in the NCAA tournament? She was the perfect fit for the offense. Most players want the ball in their hands even if they are a center.

Counterpoint: this staff would love to take some load off of Clark, but there was no one on the team capable of doing so. I think Morrow would have been a great fit alongside Clark because she can legitimately create and threaten a defense on her own from 15' in. Iowa is in a position where Clark creates, or the whole offense implodes.

Bluder and staff are offensive whizzes, they could absolutely create a top-tier offense around any collection of talent, we have seen that year after year. After all, Iowa has had the conference player of the year 5 out of the last 6 years (and it would have been 6 of 6 but no one wanted to vote for Clark 2 years ago because she was a freshman). That spans 3 different players with very different skillsets (Gustafson, Doyle, Clark).

No splashy names is all about NIL, in my opinion. We just don't have that revved up to the necessary level yet.

 

[BryceC]

Counterpoint: this staff would love to take some load off of Clark, but there was no one on the team capable of doing so.

I don't doubt that, but if you're somebody looking at Iowa you're looking at a team where one player is quite possibly the biggest star in Women's CBB history taking roughly 1/3 of the shots on the team. This is Clark's team, it should be Clark's team, when you come in you're signing up for that and there just aren't a lot of elite prospects that want to transfer into that type of situation.

 

[loesshillshawk]

2 days ago Sabreena Merchant of The Athletic wrote this in response to a myriad questions by Hawk fans:
(sorry for the varying size of the text. It's a copy & paste, & the 2nd paragraph just came out smaller)

When looking at Iowa’s 2023-24 roster, the backcourt positions are set. Clark returns, along with Gabbie Marshall and Kate Martin, and a trio of underclassmen guards (Sydney Affolter, Jana Gyamfi and Taylor McCabe) should be able to handle the backup perimeter minutes. However, rising sophomore Hannah Stuelke and rising junior Addison O’Grady are the frontcourt options to replace Czinano and McKenna Warnock, but neither has shown the capability to be as efficient as their predecessors. One would think that any big in the transfer portal would be dying to play with Clark, but Lauren Betts (Stanford) went to UCLA, Maria Gakdeng (Boston College) to UNC, Alanna Micheaux (Minnesota) to Virginia Tech and Camille Hobby (NC State) to Illinois, among others.

My thought is it is too soon to conclude that Coach Bluder and her staff "blew it". Let's see what happens and assess after the vacancy has been filled.

LSU, LOUISVILLE are putting together super rosters. Caitlin cannot do it all by herself. This staff failed. Hell. OSU greatly improved also.

 

[DrKnipe]

Well it was fun to pretend the best would want to come here. A national title game appearance and it’s still not enough to shake the “we’re just little ‘ol Iowa” mentality

 

[Northside Hawk]

Heck, look at Colorado football. The jury is very much out on whether or not the new coach can do it in a power conference, or if he will evaluate the players fairly, but because his name is Deion Sanders the recruits will flock there.

Colorado weather in the winter (and well into spring) can be cranky as well.

 

[Hawkboys]

Until Barta and the Swarm get totally aligned UI athletics will be disadvantaged.

 

[justwinbaby]

I’m guessing that this staff is not the biggest problem in acquiring players from the portal. It’s more likely what some have mentioned previously. Players don’t want to be an afterthought. They want the attention and NIL deals and at Iowa the focus is entirely on Clark. Hopefully Stuelke can make strides to be a force down low. With Clark on the floor there’s always a chance to beat anyone. It’s too bad that the NC game played out the way it did with horrible officiating and LSU shooting out of their minds. Hopefully the loss and the taunting of Clark by Angel fans the flames of Clark’s competitive fire to another level. That’s hard to imagine seeing that it’s already on a Jordanesque level but I’m excited to watch to see if she can add to her already legendary career.

 

[dahlhawk]

Still a lot of good post players and power forwards available out there. Hopefully the staff is in on someone who will be a good fit. I read about players every day in the portal. Bluder might be looking for someone that is a fit for the team culture. She can't afford another swing and miss.

 

[dahlhawk]

I'm not making excuses for anybody but honestly I think this is the issue. If I were negatively recruiting Iowa I would just say yeah you can go there, but Clark is going to get all of the shine and you'll be an also ran. Elite athletes don't think like that.

The negativity from Staley and Angel I think are really hurting the Hawks recruiting. The mud is sticking from all the slinging. So many haters out there against Clark and Iowa in general. People have really been painting a negative narrative since the tournament on Twitter and Utube against Iowa.

 

[dahlhawk]

The primary group responsible for Iowa seeming like a racist program is loudmouth people on the internet acting like racists. I am not aiming this at you, but at the screaming minority of fans on twitter who...
1) called every one of our opponents thugs from the first round onward, 2) lost their ever-loving shit over Angel Reese when what she did was in the same neighborhood as what Clark had done in the past.

The media hyped up the Reese thing because it gets lots of clicks, and that didn't help. Iowa said the right things over and over again, and the media kept trying to fan the flames.

I don't blame Staley. Her players need to deal with a bunch of shit, and she was standing up for them. By all accounts, Aliyah Boston is a wonderful human being and teammate. Yet, I saw her called a thug many times, and I saw many people suggest that if she wasn't 6'5" she would be working at McDonalds (or some similar sentiment). Staley was asked to comment specifically on stuff like that, and she stood up for her players. She alluded to the Bluder "bar fight" comment, which I am sure Bluder did not mean as a shot at SC's players but rather as a metaphor for the challenge ahead. But you can see how comments like that, regardless of intent, can have a cumulative impact.

Regardless, I don't think any of this has much impact on how the offseason has gone thus far. I think this is all coming down to money, and I don't think Iowa can compete in that arena yet. If you want to blame anyone here, blame Barta's heretofore antagonistic relationship with the UI Swarm Collective and the brave new NIL world.

Take race out of the equation, a player following another player for 30 seconds or more to mock her and rub salt in after a win, is not something Clark has ever or would ever do. Clark said the right things because she had to, but anyone who compares Angel's actions based on what Clark has done in the past hasn't watched Iowa Women's basketball or did so very casually and just recently jumped on the bandwagon. The "neighborhood" is about as close as Sesame and Mr. Robinson's. I have never liked bad sportsmanship because it leads to the kinds of actions like what we just saw with the sucker punch in wrestling recently. It's dangerous and leads to bad outcomes. Clark in her 2 years has paid the price for her success. She faced a "Jordan rules" type of defense for the last two years and it only will get worse. Staley was being salty, pure and simple, she was embarrassed and she wanted to make Iowa pay.

I don't think coach Staley was ever speaking about Iowa. I recall a reporter from the Houston Chronical asking questions to her - relating to the whole season. Then the coach talked about things she heard were said by members of the media.

I don't recall any thing related to Iowa what so ever.

She led with the "bar fight" and the question from the reporter was a plant. She was venting. Then she made accusations against the entire media, local and national, who didn't even have the guts to question her assertions and confirmation of her sources, the fact she didn't identify anyone made it a blanket statement. She was given a complete pass. Really pathetic. Bluder would have been crucified if she ever went on a similar rant.

 

[Fryowa]

Heck, look at Colorado football. The jury is very much out on whether or not the new coach can do it in a power conference, or if he will evaluate the players fairly, but because his name is Deion Sanders the recruits will flock there.

Colorado weather in the winter (and well into spring) can be cranky as well.

I've been to Boulder multiple times in all four seasons and I have to say Iowa City ain't living up to even 1% of the fun you can have in that place And I love Iowa City.

 

[OlRustyBoy]

To be honest I didn't know about the interstate getting shut down until maybe five years ago.

1979 to this day is the benchmark that Iowa Winters are measured against. We had a Thanksgiving week snowstorm, then a bad ice storm, then January and February were brutal. I also credit that winter as part of the perfect storm, pun intended, that helped Iowa basketball reach a whole new level of popularity.

I got ahold of the numbers one time and did the deep dive. There was a seven week stretch of that winter in Dubuque that would have been the equivalent of an average winter in International Falls Minnesota.

Terry Swails has been all over eastern Iowa, then left the state, and now has returned as he gets close to retirement age. An Iowa City native and huge Hawk fan, I want to say he was a classmate of future Chicago Bear Jay Hilgenberg.

My wife was born in September of 1966. That's easy math to figure out how old she would have been in January of 1979. She has told me about the snowplow/snowmobile dilemma so I will have to take her word for it.

That winter was my first as a paper boy and was nearly my last. And back then you also had to go out and collect door to door unless the customer paid through the office.

Of course April of 1973 was a pretty legendary blizzard as well......

Northside Hawk,
Terry Swails actually lives in East Dubuque now. He recently renovated an old church and turned it into an Airbnb just outside of Galena, IL. I met with him a couple months ago regarding marketing it. Really cool space.
Heavenly Church! Message 4 Summer Specials! in galena Illinois, Illinois, United States - Airbnb

 

[Northside Hawk]

I've been to Boulder multiple times in all four seasons and I have to say Iowa City ain't living up to even 1% of the fun you can have in that place And I love Iowa City.

Been to Colorado four times but never Boulder. But that could change if my niece (the who once dated Hawk PWO Kordell Stillmunkes) ends up marrying her boyfriend who lives there.

As you my have guessed, I love the mining towns like Cripple Creek, Leadville, Minturn, Alma, and Durango. Love the Royal Gorge area as well.

Here's a helpful hint. When buying snacks in Durango, make sure the bag is open before ascending Wolf Creek Pass. Or the 4,000 ft change in elevation will open the bag for you. With Funyuns flying all over the vehicle

 

[Fryowa]

Been to Colorado four times but never Boulder. But that could change if my niece (the who once dated Hawk PWO Kordell Stillmunkes) ends up marrying her boyfriend who lives there.

As you my have guessed, I love the mining towns like Cripple Creek, Leadville, Minturn, Alma, and Durango. Love the Royal Gorge area as well.

Here's a helpful hint. When buying snacks in Durango, make sure the bag is open before ascending Wolf Creek Pass. Or the 4,000 ft change in elevation will open the bag for you. With Funyuns flying all over the vehicle

Never had a bag pop but my buddy and I had two pringles cans explode almost simultaneously back in the early 2000s. They standing up vertical in a box and not only scared us to death, but they ended up like a couple of those confetti poppers. Little pieces of chips everywhere. I don’t remember what flavor they were, but the car smelled like it the whole trip.

 

[Northside Hawk]

Never had a bag pop but my buddy and I had two pringles cans explode almost simultaneously back in the early 2000s. They standing up vertical in a box and not only scared us to death, but they ended up like a couple of those confetti poppers. Little pieces of chips everywhere. I don’t remember what flavor they were, but the car smelled like it the whole trip.

Our summer adventure this year is same as last. Castle Rock Lake near Necedah Wisconsin (about 40 miles north of the Dells). Neighbor has a brother who let's us use his cabin. It's gorgeous, sleeps twelve, and has a full bar/rec room.

We will still get in our share of fishing, boating, golfing, kayaking, and eating supper at Ishnala in Lake Delton. Otherr popular destinations are Shipwreck and Dirty Turtle, both accessible by boat and home to amazing pizza.

 

[#1DieHardHawk]

Our summer adventure this year is same as last. Castle Rock Lake near Necedah Wisconsin (about 40 miles north of the Dells). Neighbor has a brother who let's us use his cabin. It's gorgeous, sleeps twelve, and has a full bar/rec room.

We will still get in our share of fishing, boating, golfing, kayaking, and eating supper at Ishnala in Lake Delton. Otherr popular destinations are Shipwreck and Dirty Turtle, both accessible by boat and home to amazing pizza.

Have you ever been to "House on the Rock?" That's one of those out of the way tourist attractions that's pretty remarkable, and the history is interesting.