Watched the Iowa-Alabama game again - observations

[storminspank]

Couple big moments in the game, but I think the biggest series was early in the second half when May scored 7 consecutive points. He made the cut, go the pass and made the layup. Then he took the ball coast to coast for the layup. Then he buried a long 3 pointer. That really got Iowa going.

Also, Cartwright played much much much better in this game. Very impressed by his play in the game. His 3 ball to put Iowa up 10 was a dagger.

Applaud Iowa in their ability to beat the press. They made it look pretty easy most of the time.

This was the first game this season where I can say that Iowa actually looked like they belonged on the court, as a unit.

I thought McCabe did an excellent job of finding ways to get to the line. Kudos to him.

You can tell that Matt's left hand is really bugging him. He is messing with it all the time during dead ball situations.

I was really surprised with what Alabama had for bigs that they refused to feed them. Iowa's interior D was suspect and the Tide couldn't buy a bucket from outside.

I was disappointed in Brommer's play.

Cully was ok for most of the game, but the charge he picked up with Iowa up 8 was very very silly. Iowa needed to work the clock, instead it allowed Alabama to get back into it. Don't think Coach McCaffery was too happy w him either, as he was pulled right away.

Iowa's bigs shuffled their feet a lot. They really need to work on their footwork. A lot of walks by them.

Marble did a lot of little things that impressed me, as well. He has a high ceiling and he has already shown us some glimpses this year of what he can do.

Archie needs to shoot a lot of free throws after practices.

The zone D that Iowa falls back into after the press was extremely effective. Iowa talks well and moves well in it.

The offense that Iowa runs might run into some snags down the road against a zone D. I'm sure they'll mix it up when they see zone, but their base set doesn't look like it will work well against zone.

A terrific win against a team with a lot of athletes on it. A good win against a high major. Unexpected, but great to see.

 

[TecmoSuperHawk]

Nice breakdown Spank. I thought May played poorly against Xavier so glad to see he was crucial to the win on Saturday.

I love how Iowa mixes it up on D, switching between man, zone, a couple variations of a press and is not predicatable on what they are going to run. Such a contrast from the Lick era. Our offense is probably going to be a work in progress all year, but the defense can keep us in games and it seems that was the case on Saturday.

Hawks are a 1 point favorite against LBSU today (2:30 CT). LBSU was picked 3rd in the Big West according to Lindy's. Would be nice to win 2 of 3 down there in the Virgin Islands. Go Hawks!

 

[sdol]

From what I've seen, and I haven't seen all that much, just parts of a few games, but it seems that the offense is better with Cartwright running the show. Brommer does not look good, I'd rather see Archie in there - as long as he's not shooting free throws...

 

[tweeterhawk]

Couple big moments in the game, but I think the biggest series was early in the second half when May scored 7 consecutive points. He made the cut, go the pass and made the layup. Then he took the ball coast to coast for the layup. Then he buried a long 3 pointer. That really got Iowa going.

Also, Cartwright played much much much better in this game. Very impressed by his play in the game. His 3 ball to put Iowa up 10 was a dagger.

Applaud Iowa in their ability to beat the press. They made it look pretty easy most of the time.

This was the first game this season where I can say that Iowa actually looked like they belonged on the court, as a unit.

I thought McCabe did an excellent job of finding ways to get to the line. Kudos to him.

You can tell that Matt's left hand is really bugging him. He is messing with it all the time during dead ball situations.

I was really surprised with what Alabama had for bigs that they refused to feed them. Iowa's interior D was suspect and the Tide couldn't buy a bucket from outside.

I was disappointed in Brommer's play.

Cully was ok for most of the game, but the charge he picked up with Iowa up 8 was very very silly. Iowa needed to work the clock, instead it allowed Alabama to get back into it. Don't think Coach McCaffery was too happy w him either, as he was pulled right away.

Iowa's bigs shuffled their feet a lot. They really need to work on their footwork. A lot of walks by them.

Marble did a lot of little things that impressed me, as well. He has a high ceiling and he has already shown us some glimpses this year of what he can do.

Archie needs to shoot a lot of free throws after practices.

The zone D that Iowa falls back into after the press was extremely effective. Iowa talks well and moves well in it.

The offense that Iowa runs might run into some snags down the road against a zone D. I'm sure they'll mix it up when they see zone, but their base set doesn't look like it will work well against zone.

A terrific win against a team with a lot of athletes on it. A good win against a high major. Unexpected, but great to see.

Great breakdown, Spank. Was out on the soccer field most of the weekend and didn't see any of the games. Going to try to watch this afternoon's on the Web.

Highlighted several points above that seem to be a major step forward from the teams of the previous regime. Looking forward to Fran Time.

 

[rodg12]

Couple questions for those that watched it since I wasn't able to...

Who were the starters? Cully, Gatens, May, Basabe, Cole?

How long until Cartwright unseats Cully as the starter?

How did Basabe look?

 

[kadoering1]

I also felt the refs in both games were atrocious, especially on charge calls. I think it was gatens that had a nice drive and looked like an easy and 1 call. They called a charge and it wasn't even close to one.

 

[DodgerHawki]

To answer your questions...

Couple questions for those that watched it since I wasn't able to...

Who were the starters? Cully, Gatens, May, Basabe, Cole?

How long until Cartwright unseats Cully as the starter?

How did Basabe look?

Payne, Gatens, May, Basabe, Cole have been starters.

Not sure that it matters if Cartwright "unseats" Payne. Cartwright played 22 minutes to Payne's 19 against Xavier and Payne played 24 to Cartwright's 19 against Alabama. They will need both guys all year. Cartwright brings needed elements to the position (ability to penetrate, overall footspeed) but playing him 30+ minutes a game would probably over-expose him against good teams. For Payne to be effective, he needs to start making open shots. He's not ever going to be electric going to the basket, but he can be solid if he makes open 3's.

Basabe looks as you might expect. There's ability and athleticism there, but learning things like playing D without fouling and recognizing where he can get his shot will be a year-long thing.

In the two games on the island, Fran looks committed to playing 9-10 guys, then sticking with the group that gives him the best chance to win. McCabe was having success against Alabama, so he let him play 26 minutes.

 

[DodgerHawki]

Agree...

Couple big moments in the game, but I think the biggest series was early in the second half when May scored 7 consecutive points. He made the cut, go the pass and made the layup. Then he took the ball coast to coast for the layup. Then he buried a long 3 pointer. That really got Iowa going.

Also, Cartwright played much much much better in this game. Very impressed by his play in the game. His 3 ball to put Iowa up 10 was a dagger.

Applaud Iowa in their ability to beat the press. They made it look pretty easy most of the time.

This was the first game this season where I can say that Iowa actually looked like they belonged on the court, as a unit.

I thought McCabe did an excellent job of finding ways to get to the line. Kudos to him.

You can tell that Matt's left hand is really bugging him. He is messing with it all the time during dead ball situations.

I was really surprised with what Alabama had for bigs that they refused to feed them. Iowa's interior D was suspect and the Tide couldn't buy a bucket from outside.

I was disappointed in Brommer's play.

Cully was ok for most of the game, but the charge he picked up with Iowa up 8 was very very silly. Iowa needed to work the clock, instead it allowed Alabama to get back into it. Don't think Coach McCaffery was too happy w him either, as he was pulled right away.

Iowa's bigs shuffled their feet a lot. They really need to work on their footwork. A lot of walks by them.

Marble did a lot of little things that impressed me, as well. He has a high ceiling and he has already shown us some glimpses this year of what he can do.

Archie needs to shoot a lot of free throws after practices.

The zone D that Iowa falls back into after the press was extremely effective. Iowa talks well and moves well in it.

The offense that Iowa runs might run into some snags down the road against a zone D. I'm sure they'll mix it up when they see zone, but their base set doesn't look like it will work well against zone.

A terrific win against a team with a lot of athletes on it. A good win against a high major. Unexpected, but great to see.

That game was just begging for one player or team to make 2-3 good offensive possessions in a row. May was the first to do it, and gave Iowa control of the game.
Archie will never be much offensively, but he's tall and can move and seems to understand how to play position defense. A guy like that can play spot minutes and be helpful.
Cartwright was tremendous. Good ability to milk the clock on that 3, before using the dribble to give himself space and make the shot.
Brommer is an enigma. He's athletic enough and he has some skills, but his basketball IQ just is not very good, period. 2+ years in and he can't play defense without fouling and the layup he missed was as open as an Iowa guy was all game. Teams simply don't get very many uncontested layups in a major college basketball game, and you cannot miss them.
From seeing Iowa in a few games it looks like Fran's philosophy is to do whatever is necessary to give the team the best chance to win. Duh, but he's not locked into a particular philosophy that precludes him from playing zone against a bad-shooting team or playing bench guys down the stretch.

 

[storminspank]

I also felt the refs in both games were atrocious, especially on charge calls. I think it was gatens that had a nice drive and looked like an easy and 1 call. They called a charge and it wasn't even close to one.

I agree. The refs haven't cost either team the win in either of the games Iowa has played, but, my God, they are bad. At least the Bama game, they let the tick tack fouls go a little better than the Xavier game.

Basabe got two quick fouls in the Bama game where he was barely touching the guy down low who was posting up. Then he had to come out.

That Gatens drive, with Iowa up 6, should have definitely counted and Matt should have been going to the line for an And 1.

 

[storminspank]

Re: Agree...

From seeing Iowa in a few games it looks like Fran's philosophy is to do whatever is necessary to give the team the best chance to win. Duh, but he's not locked into a particular philosophy that precludes him from playing zone against a bad-shooting team or playing bench guys down the stretch.

Refreshing, isn't it?