Thoughts, Observations, Notes from Iowa’s Victory Against Green Bay

[MelroseHawkins]

This has been my primary complaint about Iowa basketball for the last 3 years. The uncontested 3s just drive me nuts.

I can only attribute it to laziness or stupidity. You never saw this happen against the teams led on defense by Uthoff, White, Clemmons, Woodbury, etc. Now...it happens all the time. Its almost as if Cook and Bohannon got to college and senior leader Peter Jok told them that defense doesn't mean anything, and they still believe that.

Seriously, on a few occasions he guard brought the ball down the court and they didn't really run any offense or cuts. he looked around then just decided to shoot over our guy without even a pass. That should not happen.

 

[RobHowe]

Bad matchup for Iowa?????? It was freaking Green Bay Phoenix for krist sakes! What the hell do they think it's going to be like in the BIG.

I wrote it was a tough matchup against a team filled with a bunch of wings that were driving against the man to man. That's why Iowa went zone and played various zones for most of the game.

Iowa plays a more traditional lineup with big men and they used it to score 93 points. It's tougher for those big guys to guard smaller wing players though. That's why the zone was a better defense.

But, hey, you basketball savants have it figured out.

 

[MelroseHawkins]

I wrote it was a tough matchup against a team filled with a bunch of wings that were driving against the man to man. That's why Iowa went zone and played various zones for most of the game.

Iowa plays a more traditional lineup with big men and they used it to score 93 points. It's tougher for those big guys to guard smaller wing players though. That's why the zone was a better defense.

But, hey, you basketball savants have it figured out.

Fair enough. Valid point. But, shouldn't a BIG 10 caliber team be able to athletically be better than a Green Bay? I mean if your saying you have matchup problems against an average Horizon conference opponent, kind of alarming, IMO. I mean, WHERE IS THE BAR?

 

[NikeHawk21]

Pretty much any team that has a few athletic guards that can penetrate will be a “bad matchup” for Iowa in man to man. Pretty much every team in the country has a few athletic guards who can penetrate. Therefore Iowa will play a lot of zone this year.

 

[NikeHawk21]

I wrote it was a tough matchup against a team filled with a bunch of wings that were driving against the man to man. That's why Iowa went zone and played various zones for most of the game.

Iowa plays a more traditional lineup with big men and they used it to score 93 points. It's tougher for those big guys to guard smaller wing players though. That's why the zone was a better defense.

But, hey, you basketball savants have it figured out.

Seems a little harsh Rob. I think it’s a fair point. In reality most teams we play this year will be a “bad matchup” for us in man to man. That’s just the way this roster is set up. That’s why we will play a ton of zone most likely.

 

[Northside Hawk]

Fair enough. Valid point. But, shouldn't a BIG 10 caliber team be able to athletically be better than a Green Bay? I mean if your saying you have matchup problems against an average Horizon conference opponent, kind of alarming, IMO. I mean, WHERE IS THE BAR?

Kevin Mackey says hello.

His 1986 Cleveland State team that dismantled Big Ten's Indiana in the opening round of the NCAA'S was stacked with athletes down to the eleventh man. Indiana had no idea what they were getting into.

 

[RobHowe]

Fair enough. Valid point. But, shouldn't a BIG 10 caliber team be able to athletically be better than a Green Bay? I mean if your saying you have matchup problems against an average Horizon conference opponent, kind of alarming, IMO. I mean, WHERE IS THE BAR?

If you read what I wrote in its entirety, I said time will tell if this is a foreshadowing of another tough year. I never thought this would be a team that came out of the shoot and just rolled. As bad as it was last year, it was going to take some time to gel and develop, especially on defense.

Zone is the way to go with this team. Fran is still having trouble coming to grips with that. But I think he's coming around.

I'm willing to let the season play out and see where it goes. This team has some nice pieces. We'll see if they come together.

Or, people can sound the alarm and panic about the season before it's played. That's just not for me.

 

[STILLBUSTER]

If you read what I wrote in its entirety, I said time will tell if this is a foreshadowing of another tough year. I never thought this would be a team that came out of the shoot and just rolled. As bad as it was last year, it was going to take some time to gel and develop, especially on defense.

Zone is the way to go with this team. Fran is still having trouble coming to grips with that. But I think he's coming around.

I'm willing to let the season play out and see where it goes. This team has some nice pieces. We'll see if they come together.

Or, people can sound the alarm and panic about the season before it's played. That's just not for me.

Absolutely! Zone has been the way to go for a few years. That and running the damn offense inside-out. When you consistently miss on your #1 pg recruit and have to resort to 2's to play the point, meanwhile, doing pretty decent with your 4 & 5 recruiting, it's rather foolish to keep trying to be a perimeter oriented, up and down team.

I've been screaming it for a long time - this entire staffs' bio is mid-major guards. It's no surprise they didn't have a clue how to build a team from the inside-out, even though that's where the primary talent has been. I haven't seen a single live second but from game threads and stat-tracker, hopefully these first 2 games are indications that Fran finally gets how to adapt to his personnel strengths.

Now, if we can just get him to reel in the frickin' incoherent lineups and discombobulated substitutions, he might actually start earning his P-5 paycheck. I'll guarantee you you'll see better results and it will be just as entertaining as run-n-gun, raining 3's.

Savant, out.

 

[MelroseHawkins]

Choosing to go to a zone is fine.

Having to go to a zone to put away an average Horizon League basketball team is a whole other situation.

 

[N8theGr8]

Choosing to go to a zone is fine.

Having to go to a zone to put away an average Horizon League basketball team is a whole other situation.

The real problem is the fact that we can ONLY play zone. Which means that other teams will prepare to bust it. You have to have a contingency plan to throw other teams off. I think we have the guys to run a decent combination defense with Wieskamp, Baer, and Dailey. Perhaps Connor and Cook could help out too? Every team needs to find a way to stymie runs against their preferred base defense though.

I still think we can, but haven't yet. Perhaps this weekend will give us a preview?