Initially, I would note that Iowa should've won that game by double digits. Where has the offense gone? Where's the defensive effort? While we aren't moving the ball to get good looks offensively, our defense is lagging off their shooters at the perimeter, giving them great looks to stay in the game.
With all that said, even without Iowa's best effort, Iowa was still up and in control of the game with a few minutes remaining. That is when Iowa brought it up quickly and passed the ball to Jok who had a wide open look at a 3, and nobody was getting many wide open looks yesterday. But instead of taking the open 3 and potentially stretching a 3 point lead to 6, and likely causing OSU to have to intentionally foul for the rest of the way (which would've given Iowa so free offensive scoring opportunities on a night where they were actually hitting their free throws), Jok held the ball and waited for both teams to get up and set. Jok then passed the ball to Gesell, who ran down the clock, and then drove to the hoop, throwing up a prayer that got blocked as the shot clock expired. OSU then came down and hit a game-tying 3.
I understand that Iowa has had some success taking the air out of the ball in the waning minutes; but yesterday, the game was too close to have that strategy. And it came back to bite Iowa in a big way. Instead of being up at least 3 and maybe 4-6 after that sequence, the game was tied and OSU had all the momentum.
This is not an attack on Jok personally, as he has been one of the few bright spots in this month of February. Rather, it is an attack on the mentality of this Iowa team. They need to have that killer instinct to put their opponent away...no more of this take the air out of the ball stuff unless we have a hefty lead.
I for one am thankful that February is over, and hope that Iowa can turn the page and get their mojo back for March. If not, we'll all be playing the "what could have been" game for the next 7 months.
With all that said, even without Iowa's best effort, Iowa was still up and in control of the game with a few minutes remaining. That is when Iowa brought it up quickly and passed the ball to Jok who had a wide open look at a 3, and nobody was getting many wide open looks yesterday. But instead of taking the open 3 and potentially stretching a 3 point lead to 6, and likely causing OSU to have to intentionally foul for the rest of the way (which would've given Iowa so free offensive scoring opportunities on a night where they were actually hitting their free throws), Jok held the ball and waited for both teams to get up and set. Jok then passed the ball to Gesell, who ran down the clock, and then drove to the hoop, throwing up a prayer that got blocked as the shot clock expired. OSU then came down and hit a game-tying 3.
I understand that Iowa has had some success taking the air out of the ball in the waning minutes; but yesterday, the game was too close to have that strategy. And it came back to bite Iowa in a big way. Instead of being up at least 3 and maybe 4-6 after that sequence, the game was tied and OSU had all the momentum.
This is not an attack on Jok personally, as he has been one of the few bright spots in this month of February. Rather, it is an attack on the mentality of this Iowa team. They need to have that killer instinct to put their opponent away...no more of this take the air out of the ball stuff unless we have a hefty lead.
I for one am thankful that February is over, and hope that Iowa can turn the page and get their mojo back for March. If not, we'll all be playing the "what could have been" game for the next 7 months.
