This Team Is Enjoyable To Watch.

[MelroseHawkins]

Anybody else notice this, or that it just feels a little different than the previous years. They just seem more enjoyable to watch play.

I think the addition of Toussaint and how he plays has a lot to do with it. He's a firecracker off the bench that is only going to get better as goes forward. His shot may not be there consistently at this point, but I have no doubt that will come with experience. But, he brings that quickness on D and a feistiness. He plays with an edge.

Frederick brings a nice game with his shot and defense. His shot is only going to get better as the years goes on.

And Garza!! How much fun has he been to watch. The old school post play with great moves. Putting the team on his back at times. He has become a leader, and leading by example. Sometimes it feels as though no team will be able to stop him. He has just been a joy to watch grow this year. That inside game coupled with the outside game is awesome.

 

[1hawkeye1]

Recently they have been. But I do remember turning the TV off when they were getting gutted by DePaul.

 

[MelroseHawkins]

Recently they have been. But I do remember turning the TV off when they were getting gutted by DePaul.

Luckily, DePaul may not end up being a bad loss at the end of the season. They look to be a very formidable team. Thank goodness.

 

[MisterLucky]

If Toussaint develops an outside shot, look out. He will go down as one of the better PG in Iowa history.

 

[NikeHawk21]

I think one of the enjoyable things about this team is guys have kind of settled into their roles. They seem to play hard and really want to win. I think newcomers Toussaint and Fredrick seem to just have that winners mentality.

Another thing worth mentioning is, right, wrong, or indifferent, Iowa fans had their frustrations with both Cook and Moss. Both were labeled to be lower IQ b-ball players, and I certainly think you can make an argument that that was true at times. Both Toussaint and Fredrick seems to be pretty cerebral players out there.

Lastly, I think our offense flows so much smoother with Garza having the space to operate inside, which wasn’t always the case with Cook around.

 

[1hawkeye1]

If Toussaint develops an outside shot, look out. He will go down as one of the better PG in Iowa history.

Couldn't agree more.

 

[Hawkfnntn]

Very fun team. Having a dominant big guy that is unselfish is a huge building block to have. That bounce pass he made in the lane to CJF was great. The vision awareness/willingness to make it is great to see. If/when JBo shuts it down I worry. Unless CM and Joe T can consistently hit open jumpers we may start to struggle in that department. Sure CJ can take em but he's just one man. For this team to hit their ceiling they'll need to have good outside shooting to compliment Garza.
I'm really glad to see the lack of TOs. In past yrs we've been on the sloppier side of things in that department and to a degree with our uptempo style it's not the biggest thing to have 10 or so TOs a game. But you get closer to 15 plus and it can really mess you up.

 

[MelroseHawkins]

I think one of the enjoyable things about this team is guys have kind of settled into their roles. They seem to play hard and really want to win. I think newcomers Toussaint and Fredrick seem to just have that winners mentality.

Another thing worth mentioning is, right, wrong, or indifferent, Iowa fans had their frustrations with both Cook and Moss. Both were labeled to be lower IQ b-ball players, and I certainly think you can make an argument that that was true at times. Both Toussaint and Fredrick seems to be pretty cerebral players out there.

Lastly, I think our offense flows so much smoother with Garza having the space to operate inside, which wasn’t always the case with Cook around.

You touched on something that I've been thinking and wanting to say, but do not want to harp on players, even ex-players. But, I can't hold my tongue anymore. I almost started a thread just on it. I think Cook kind of handcufffed Iowa the past few years, kind of like the Alfonso Soriono contract handcuffed the Cubs for several years. Cook was an athletic player and contributed, but his game was limited and I think teams keyed on it.

I think his defense was suspect and he didn't rebound as well as he could have because of technique and not blocking out. On the offensive end, his game was limited to 6 ft around the hoop with no mid-range game. I truly believe this really inhibited Iowa.

This Iowa team seems to have a better balance on offense which may be a harder guard for opposing teams, especially if 2-3 are hitting the outside shot. Garza's opening it up for the perimeter guys, and the perimeter guys are opening it up for Garza.

 

[revkev73]

There is a sense of "freedom" on the team without Cook and Moss.

Not that they were bad players or bad people, but they consumed a large part of the energy and the shots available. Both were borderline "black holes" where the ball went to never been seen again. Perhaps this was a coaching focus, more than an issue of selfishness. They were two of our more athletic players, but this focus tended to suck the creativity and flexibility out of the team, especially when playing teams that had the talent to shut down Cook and Moss.

The team is fun to watch, agree, with some future potential yet to be unleashed.

Also Garza had stepped up to be a physical and vocal leader, which has often been lacking.

Toussaint is something Iowa hasn't had under Fran.

 

[MelroseHawkins]

There is a sense of "freedom" on the team without Cook and Moss.

Not that they were bad players or bad people, but they consumed a large part of the energy and the shots available. Both were borderline "black holes" where the ball went to never been seen again. Perhaps this was a coaching focus, more than an issue of selfishness. They were two of our more athletic players, but this focus tended to suck the creativity and flexibility out of the team, especially when playing teams that had the talent to shut down Cook and Moss.

The team is fun to watch, agree, with some future potential yet to be unleashed.

Also Garza had stepped up to be a physical and vocal leader, which has often been lacking.

Toussaint is something Iowa hasn't had under Fran.

Agree with pretty much all you say, but, I don't know if I'd throw Moss in there. I think he'd add a lot to this team, but, he has moved on and good luck to him.

 

[revkev73]

Agree with pretty much all you say, but, I don't know if I'd throw Moss in there. I think he'd add a lot to this team, but, he has moved on and good luck to him.

Concur, any idea how he is doing?

 

[MelroseHawkins]

Concur, any idea how he is doing?

He was tearing it up in earlier games. He battled some kind of injury very early on. He's a 3 pt threat that Kansas really wanted.

 

[Hawkfnntn]

Agree with pretty much all you say, but, I don't know if I'd throw Moss in there. I think he'd add a lot to this team, but, he has moved on and good luck to him.

Yeah down the stretch in games Moss often wasn't even on the floor a lot. I'd like to see the breakdown of when he played his mins. It was pretty sporadic. But yeah I liked Moss. Felt he was a dang good talent that just wasn't used right.

 

[Ree4]

I agree with everything that's been said on here so far. In addition, I'd like to see Connor get more credit on here than he currently is. He doesn't put up a lot of stats, but if you watch him he is our coach on the floor. He knows what everyone should be doing out there on offense and defense. I feel like he's our "glue" guy. Our ability to feed the ball to the post has greatly improved this year too it seems, I feel like last year half the time we tried to get it down low to Cook or Garza we'd turn it over.

 

[revkev73]

He was tearing it up in earlier games. He battled some kind of injury very early on. He's a 3 pt threat that Kansas really wanted.

Good for him...he isn't afraid to shoot!

 

[MelroseHawkins]

I agree with everything that's been said on here so far. In addition, I'd like to see Connor get more credit on here than he currently is. He doesn't put up a lot of stats, but if you watch him he is our coach on the floor. He knows what everyone should be doing out there on offense and defense. I feel like he's our "glue" guy. Our ability to feed the ball to the post has greatly improved this year too it seems, I feel like last year half the time we tried to get it down low to Cook or Garza we'd turn it over.

I agree. He's definitely coming into his own and figuring out his role. He has that mid range fade-away shot. His shots and consistency are only going to get better with time. He understands the game and now the speed of the game is not a problem for him. The last couple games I've commented to my wife during the game "Connor's having a really good game.", so I've definitely noticed. People that understand the game will notice the intangibles he brings to the team. Yea, he may not score 10pts a game, but he may dish out 6 assists and hold an opposing player down 10pts from their average. In that case, a player is contributing 22-28 pt's a game to the team net scoring. Anything scored is even more of a bonus.

 

[MelroseHawkins]

There also seems to be more of a positive attitude or vibe on the team. There is a sense of togetherness.

Now, if they can just get the defense in the top 50!!!!

 

[Ree4]

I will say that it wouldn't surprise me if ISU won tomorrow and I won't be upset if they do, I want to see us a least keep it close so we have a shot at the end. It would surprise me if we got blown out though.

 

[NikeHawk21]

He was tearing it up in earlier games. He battled some kind of injury very early on. He's a 3 pt threat that Kansas really wanted.

Yeah down the stretch in games Moss often wasn't even on the floor a lot. I'd like to see the breakdown of when he played his mins. It was pretty sporadic. But yeah I liked Moss. Felt he was a dang good talent that just wasn't used right.

Moss is actually becoming more one dimensional on Kansas. He only attempts 1 2pt shot per game compared to 4 3s. Last year on Iowa he attempted 4.6 2pt attempts per game.

He’s averaging 8.1 points per game.

He might end up getting a deep tournament run or even final four out of the deal, which would be great for him. If he was looking for an expanded role, he hasn’t gotten it. I’d absolutely take him on Iowa right now, you can never have enough shooters, but I think it’s fair to say it’s possible CJF would have cut into his minutes.

 

[Knight78]

Very fun team. Having a dominant big guy that is unselfish is a huge building block to have. That bounce pass he made in the lane to CJF was great. The vision awareness/willingness to make it is great to see. If/when JBo shuts it down I worry. Unless CM and Joe T can consistently hit open jumpers we may start to struggle in that department. Sure CJ can take em but he's just one man. For this team to hit their ceiling they'll need to have good outside shooting to compliment Garza.
I'm really glad to see the lack of TOs. In past yrs we've been on the sloppier side of things in that department and to a degree with our uptempo style it's not the biggest thing to have 10 or so TOs a game. But you get closer to 15 plus and it can really mess you up.

I believe CM at this time is shooting 30% from 3pt range. That's a huge improvement over last year. With CJ, JoeW and CM, we have a nice nucleus of outside shooters. (BTW, CJ is shooting a mind-boggling 52% from 3 pt)

I agree with the lack of TOs; it really helps with offensive rhythm. And we've played some decent competition.