This team is who we thought they were

mopkins said:
Going into the season I thought they were a marginal bubble team with peaks and valleys. Turns out they were exactly that

Looking back, I think what ultimately ended up killing Iowa were those early season non conference games. They were too green and Fran had no idea what his team/rotation would look like. Its the biggest problem with losing so many senior starters...you cant know how all the new pieces fit until you get into the season. The young guys also had no idea how to play defense. Look back now at some of these losses:

vs Seton Hall - gave up 91 points. Uhl 25 minutes, Bohannon 19 minutes, Moss 2 minutes, Pemsl 6 minutes.
vs Memphis - gave up 100 points. Uhl 26 minutes, Moss 2 minutes
vs ND - gave up 92 points, first game without Cook
vs Omaha - gave up 98 points, no Cook

In those 4 losses Iowa averaged 85.5 points per game and still lost all 4. 85 points should be enough to win every NCAA game.
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Good post and interesting numbers. We were a completely different team back then with two of our worst players as starters and our best players being absolutely lost on defense.
 
This team actually exceeded my expectations. I was not expecting an NCAA tournament run but we got one. I was expecting an NIT invitation, but not as one of the 4 number 1 seeds.

This team out performed any serious expectations. The Hawks were expected to finish 8th or worse by many but ended up tied for 5th. a break here or there and one could argue a top 4 finish.

Would I rather see the Hawks with a ticket to the Dance? Absolutely .. but this is a better finish than I expected.

Just my $,02 .. .. GO HAWKS!!!
 
they exceeded my preseason expectations but winning 4 in a row got a lot of us thinking NCAA tournament. The worst thing you can give a fan is hope.
 
lightning1 said:
I won't. I'm not doing any complaining about last nights loss. It didn't surprise me. Inconsistent is what young teams typically are. I'm not expecting much out of next year's team either.
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This team finished tied for 5th in the B1G, when you said we would be "lucky" to finish above 9th place. I don't feel we got lucky at all this year. There were peaks and valley's and inconsistencies that like you said are displayed by young teams.

I fully expect being around the same spot or maybe better next year in the B1G (4-7th place). MSU will be good, so will Minnesota, Northwestern, Maryland should be better as well. Wisconsin and Purdue will drop off some with the losses they will have. Indiana could be a wildcard depending on who will coach them. Yet Iowa will be right in that mix, but with a much better non conference this year to boost them easily into the NCAA. Finishing 5th-7th in the B1G again with a good non conference will be much like Michigan, jNW or MSU around the 7-8 seed.
 
For what preseason predictions are worth, I was predicting about16-18 wins and an NIT appearance. So yeah, I'd say this team is basically what I expected, but on the better end of my expectations.

Guess I didn't really expect them to be right on the cusp of an NCAA bid, although most years, the bubble is a little stronger than it was this year.
 
deanvogs said:
This team finished tied for 5th in the B1G, when you said we would be "lucky" to finish above 9th place. I don't feel we got lucky at all this year. There were peaks and valley's and inconsistencies that like you said are displayed by young teams.

I fully expect being around the same spot or maybe better next year in the B1G (4-7th place). MSU will be good, so will Minnesota, Northwestern, Maryland should be better as well. Wisconsin and Purdue will drop off some with the losses they will have. Indiana could be a wildcard depending on who will coach them. Yet Iowa will be right in that mix, but with a much better non conference this year to boost them easily into the NCAA. Finishing 5th-7th in the B1G again with a good non conference will be much like Michigan, jNW or MSU around the 7-8 seed.
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11 or 12 other BIG teams are young, return most of their entire rosters and will improve as well. I'd say a 4-7th place finish is realistic. It's hard to say what the BIG will be next year. Very unpredictable.
 
lightning1 said:
11 or 12 other BIG teams are young, return most of their entire rosters and will improve as well. I'd say a 4-7th place finish is realistic. It's hard to say what the BIG will be next year. Very unpredictable.
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Agreed, and they will be a NCAA team next year. You are learning Lightning, just agree with my predictions and you will turn out being right. ;)
 
Next year is all about the non conference. Do good enough to all but guarantee an NCAA spot, then play the conference schedule for seeding.
 
deanvogs said:
This team finished tied for 5th in the B1G, when you said we would be "lucky" to finish above 9th place. I don't feel we got lucky at all this year. There were peaks and valley's and inconsistencies that like you said are displayed by young teams.

I fully expect being around the same spot or maybe better next year in the B1G (4-7th place). MSU will be good, so will Minnesota, Northwestern, Maryland should be better as well. Wisconsin and Purdue will drop off some with the losses they will have. Indiana could be a wildcard depending on who will coach them. Yet Iowa will be right in that mix, but with a much better non conference this year to boost them easily into the NCAA. Finishing 5th-7th in the B1G again with a good non conference will be much like Michigan, jNW or MSU around the 7-8 seed.
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Agree on Purdue. Saying Wisky to drop has been proven to be a bad bet over time. Michigan with Beilein will be a pivotal year for them.
 
HawkGold said:
Agree on Purdue. Saying Wisky to drop has been proven to be a bad bet over time. Michigan with Beilein will be a pivotal year for them.
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It was a bad bet when they had a Hall of Fame coach. I don't think Garrrrrrrr is gonna be a HOF coach.
 
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