Uncertainty Surrounds '24-25 Iowa Hoops Season

[BigD]

Evan though we just missed out on the Big Dance we actually looked better than I first thought we would. Chemistry is so important to the success to a team. I had two different impressions at diffrerent times during the year. “Damn we suck” and “Damn we are young and have shown signs of greatness.”

Consistency and inconsistency is what will set those two observations apart this next year. Which one will prevail?

 

[Teddy]

Evan though we just missed out on the Big Dance we actually looked better than I first thought we would. Chemistry is so important to the success to a team. I had two different impressions at diffrerent times during the year. “Damn we suck” and “Damn we are young and have shown signs of greatness.”

Consistency and inconsistency is what will set those two observations apart this next year. Which one will prevail?

The signs of greatness will be more prevalent. The Iowa boys have their first year-round training program. Owen and Ladji are going to get bigger and stronger. All of the freshmen will be doing the same. Plenty of time to work on their games. I am optimistic.

 

[PCHawk]

I don’t know guys. The way we played three of the last four games, I was left just shaking my head.

Freeman is the type that can dominate but he just needs to quit getting into foul trouble. Sanford can shoot, and Harding and Dix showed moments of greatness but needs to be a little more consistent.

What we are missing is another muscle guy in the post to help freeman out. A Reggie Evans type of guy. I thought someone had pointed out earlier this year that we have that type of player coming in. That would be very helpful if true.

One recruiting service has Tadjo is the number 1 rebounder in the class. In order to earn that praise you would have to be pretty good you would think.

 

[PCHawk]

It always feels like Fran is getting off to a slow start in B1G play. Every year, it is like he has to overcome a 0-2, 0-3 start. I actually need to do the homework, to see if that is actually true, but man, it feels that way.

I agree. Maybe Garza's senior year we started 2-0 in the two early Big 10 games and I don't remember. But other than that, I'm almost certain we have always started with at least 1 loss there and mostly 2 it seems like. How many years have they been doing the schedule like that now?

 

[Northside Hawk]

The Big Ten is really down in men's basketball. For that matter men's college basketball is down as well, U Conn and the 71 dwarfs would aptly describe the just completed tournament. When Northwestern and Nebraska are tourney teams and Ohio State and Michigan aren't tells you a lot. USC and UCLA begin competition in the Big Ten this fall and neither were in the tourney. So is the state of men's college basketball.

Iowa and Fran will find it difficult to get much out of the transfer portal to fill the void. The really good experienced portal players are going to drift off to teams like Kansas. Fran went to the portal to get centers that had 1 year of eligibility left, but Krike was not much help in conference play. He might be wiser to go through the portal for players that will be juniors this fall and gain them some experience. The pool of players with the covid year will be through the system after the 2024/2025 season ends and Iowa will catch up age wise. I think you have to write off the 2024/2025 season as a year to develop players.

Nebraska(!) is probably the early conference favorite for next year.

Purdue and Illinois runs notwithstanding, that should tell you something about how far this league has fallen.

 

[HuckFinn]

I could not believe what I was seeing in the Purdue/UConn game! The UConn perimeter defense was stifling. Like beyond anything I have seen. In fact, UC did not have to do much to control the paint, since Zach pretty much had to shoot and hope, because there was nobody open to receive passes from inside. No three’s told the story. And, near zero assists.

Then I thought about the Carolina/Iowa game. Very similar. In both cases, the scheme could really only be successfully performed by great Athletes. And, they could shoot as well.

Seems to me that these two games were indicative of the teams that stayed the dance the longest and eventually prevailed. They played exceptional defense which consistently wore down their opponents and allowed their offenses to do enough.

More than ever, Fran must change with the times and prepare his defense to help win games. Yeah, I know we have always been critical of Fran’s D. But this year’s Dance was a defensive show case. Maybe I was just blind to that fact in the past.

 

[Teddy]

I could not believe what I was seeing in the Purdue/UConn game! The UConn perimeter defense was stifling. Like beyond anything I have seen. In fact, UC did not have to do much to control the paint, since Zach pretty much had to shoot and hope, because there was nobody open to receive passes from inside. No three’s told the story. And, near zero assists.

Then I thought about the Carolina/Iowa game. Very similar. In both cases, the scheme could really only be successfully performed by great Athletes. And, they could shoot as well.

Seems to me that these two games were indicative of the teams that stayed the dance the longest and eventually prevailed. They played exceptional defense which consistently wore down their opponents and allowed their offenses to do enough.

More than ever, Fran must change with the times and prepare his defense to help win games. Yeah, I know we have always been critical of Fran’s D. But this year’s Dance was a defensive show case. Maybe I was just blind to that fact in the past.

Setting the bar at National Championship team might have be just a tad too high.

You know they run the pressing and trapping defense well. This season there's a big shot blocker guarding the rim. Hopefully O Freeman is up to that task. He has good timing. I also think that makes the offense sharper 'cuz everyone has to improve floor awareness. I could see Dix and Hardy being very quick to the first guy to touch the ball inside the court boundary. A bunch of guys that could play the middle.

With any luck in the portal, these guys could make it to the Sweet 16.

 

[BigD]

One recruiting service has Tadjo is the number 1 rebounder in the class. In order to earn that praise you would have to be pretty good you would think.

Well that is encouraging.

 

[BigD]

The signs of greatness will be more prevalent. The Iowa boys have their first year-round training program. Owen and Ladji are going to get bigger and stronger. All of the freshmen will be doing the same. Plenty of time to work on their games. I am optimistic.

I hope you are right.

 

[eyekwah]

Iowa really didn't have a 6th man or bench. All you have to do is look at the season stats for this team. Here is a link: Iowa men's season stats 2023/2024. There is not a lot of points coming back if you review the individual scoring, Sandfort, Dix, and Freeman add up to 35.9 per game. Harding, Pry Sandfort, and Dembele add to a total of 7.9 per game. Defense will still be weak. Fran needs to find juniors in the portal that can rebound and play some defense.

 

[kicker22]

Setting the bar at National Championship team might have be just a tad too high.

You know they run the pressing and trapping defense well. This season there's a big shot blocker guarding the rim. Hopefully O Freeman is up to that task. He has good timing. I also think that makes the offense sharper 'cuz everyone has to improve floor awareness. I could see Dix and Hardy being very quick to the first guy to touch the ball inside the court boundary. A bunch of guys that could play the middle.

With any luck in the portal, these guys could make it to the Sweet 16.

I love the optimism I really do, but we've yet to make a Sweet 16 under Fran's leadership. I like the roster and possibilities, but we've had better rosters with more complete bench's come up short under Fran. Hope I'm wrong and would love to eat crow, but I remain skeptical and feel we're a bubble team at best. We're going to need a lot of help in the portal and not sure we have the bank to do so.

 

[Teddy]

I love the optimism I really do, but we've yet to make a Sweet 16 under Fran's leadership. I like the roster and possibilities, but we've had better rosters with more complete bench's come up short under Fran. Hope I'm wrong and would love to eat crow, but I remain skeptical and feel we're a bubble team at best. We're going to need a lot of help in the portal and not sure we have the bank to do so.

It hasn't been for lack of talent. My take on McC's weakness is the inability to get the team ready for big games, and especially late in season. Iowa had more talent than Oregon but came out clueless and without purpose or urgency. Iowa had far more talent than that 14 seed that beat us the next year (might have those mixed up).

Other big games, like the BTT same thing. We are either upset in the first game or need a big come back to win what should be a pretty easy first game and are burned out in the next game.

Having said that we really are just Iowa, the Big Ten's basketball pissing post. Small school, little recent notable success, not much NIL, not very diverse, shitty weather, aging facilities and an aging fan base. Iowa's not a shiny gig. Now we usually go to the NCAA, occasionally miss and win around 20 games. Every change in the social and athletic cultures in the last 30 years has worked against Iowa. Not so much a "woe is me" thing as a set of facts that make's Iowa's road a little steeper. Too big to be an underdog story and too unimportant for BB treatment.

Statistically most coaching changes fail in college especially in MBB. It's a quarter century since the last Sweet 16. We should be mindful that we are doing OK and probably cannot do much better on a regular basis.​

 

[NorthKCHawk]

When do we feel comfortable that we have no more transfers and the core of the team (sans TP) is back? Not until May 1st?????

While kids are not supposed to be contacted unless they put their name in, we all know how that goes. There could be behind the scenes discussions with some of our starters going on. Let's hope the fact that no one else has entered means they plan to stick. But, I sure wish May 1 would get here soon.

 

[Will C]

There are some quite small schools who have really good basketball teams. Our size is no excuse in my view.

 

[InGoodCo]

There are some quite small schools who have really good basketball teams. Our size is no excuse in my view.

Nothing to do with our size, it's that Iowa doesn't have fans, so there for, they don't have a robust NIL to attract players because no one donates to our Swarm. Iowa has to go after smaller school players in the portal and can't keep their best players because they can't afford them after they get good. This is what the sport is now. Nothing will change unless Iowa fans suddenly decide they want to help fund our NIL - it sucks, but basically, Iowa has pretty shitty support for their program, therefore, the product on the court will suffer because of that. Iowa's staff, who's won plenty and had exciting players to, has to get creative in order to field a team that can compete against teams who have millions of dollars at their disposal to attract talent. Plus, players don't want to come and play to a building that is 1/3rd full. Big, small, doesn't matter - if no one cares about Iowa basketball, Iowa basketball will never be at the level of a school that has fans that do.

 

[thedukeofearl]

C

I could not believe what I was seeing in the Purdue/UConn game! The UConn perimeter defense was stifling. Like beyond anything I have seen. In fact, UC did not have to do much to control the paint, since Zach pretty much had to shoot and hope, because there was nobody open to receive passes from inside. No three’s told the story. And, near zero assists.

Then I thought about the Carolina/Iowa game. Very similar. In both cases, the scheme could really only be successfully performed by great Athletes. And, they could shoot as well.

Seems to me that these two games were indicative of the teams that stayed the dance the longest and eventually prevailed. They played exceptional defense which consistently wore down their opponents and allowed their offenses to do enough.

More than ever, Fran must change with the times and prepare his defense to help win games. Yeah, I know we have always been critical of Fran’s D. But this year’s Dance was a defensive show case. Maybe I was just blind to that fact in the past.

In the SC game we missed several shots at the rim over and over that would have made a difference

If Caitlin had simply had solid screens set and she could have taken several more somewhat uncontested
shots, there would have been a difference in the outcome

Caitlin was simply exhausted after having the Croatian Witch hounding her every second on the court

Nika Mühl:

Zagreb, Croatia / III. Gimnazija Zagreb

SC was simply the best team in America but we had our chance, came as close as a team can come
with one SUPER STAR, the best ever

 

[Teddy]

I hope you are right.

Well, going for us, I am usually right. Going against us, I'm addicted to Hawkeye Heroin so my usual sense of objectivity isn't at work on this topic.

 

[InGoodCo]

 

[BigD]

Well, going for us, I am usually right. Going against us, I'm addicted to Hawkeye Heroin so my usual sense of objectivity isn't at work on this topic.

Lol, that makes two of us………… hold on while In tap on my blood vessels between my hand and elbow to get them to swell up for my next fix. That would be for this fall. If Lester can produce a top 80 offense I can see a legitimate shot at the playoffs. The bad news is it might be our last chance. Even though a lot of money is directed toward the football team in comparison to the money directed toward the basketball team, we should have once again a very very good defense that will keep us in most games.

Then the exodus after next year. Eligibility, the portal and NIL will take a significant toll on Iowa football on the defensive side of the program. Wild speculation on my part but that is why I just guessed that Kirk may throw in the towel and ride off into the sunset with his hundred plus millions of dollars.

 

[Teddy]

Lol, that makes two of us………… hold on while In tap on my blood vessels between my hand and elbow to get them to swell up for my next fix. That would be for this fall. If Lester can produce a top 80 offense I can see a legitimate shot at the playoffs. The bad news is it might be our last chance. Even though a lot of money is directed toward the football team in comparison to the money directed toward the basketball team, we should have once again a very very good defense that will keep us in most games.

Then the exodus after next year. Eligibility, the portal and NIL will take a significant toll on Iowa football on the defensive side of the program. Wild speculation on my part but that is why I just guessed that Kirk may throw in the towel and ride off into the sunset with his hundred plus millions of dollars.

I believe that will happen when KF retires. His history is all we have to sell recruits. NIL will be the death of football at places. Ten win seasons are nice and I'm not fired up for a new coach.

I do optimistically see the QB problem. Hill will be deep bench and Cado and Marco will have a collective good season. Kaleb Brown thrives in the offenses. Two other receivers will emerge as steady go to receivers that can get some YAC.