chucktownhawk
Well-Known Member
Defense wins games, period and Lily. We cannot forget Lily
We are who we thought we are.
- Thread starter Hawkfnntn
- Start date
WindsorHawk
Well-Known Member
If offense only can win 6 out of 7 all season...as it has thus far...then I can live with offense and less than stellar defense all season. That’s just me.
Personally I believe it comes down to rebounding if your goin to lose that battle by 15 then mathematically you are giving your opponents more.shots and thus potentially at a 40 % or so clip shooting .. thats around 12/15 plus points a game your losing. To make up that difference you need to make more 3s and Fts and at a higher % than the club your playing. Change the equation and it will be easier to win.
ssckelley
Well-Known Member
I can't believe I'm saying this to you but this year I want MORE!
WindsorHawk
Well-Known Member
lol That’s 23-4 or 24-3 and regular season champs, 1 seed in BTT, 1 seed in NCAA Tournament and possible National Championship.
WindsorHawk
Well-Known Member
See Purdue game.
WindsorHawk
Well-Known Member
Last night’s game moved us from 82 to 62 defensively...still 1st on offense.
ssckelley
Well-Known Member
I know, out of the remaining games Rutgers is the one that worries me the most. I actually do think Iowa is capable of running the table in the Big Ten. I know they won't, they will lose a couple. But it takes a disaster at the 3 point and free throw line, like the Gonzaga game, to lose.
Northside Hawk
Well-Known Member
If we make a Loyola type tournament run perhaps Lily can become our Sister Jean.
Scott Leclair
Well-Known Member
what are the odds a player who averages single points per game. Is 2-10 in 3pt shooting for the year, Goes 8-9 from 3 point range for the game. 4-4 in OT. Not very high at all. I personally don’t care about a Big Ten title. Getting to the sweet 16 or higher is the most important
STILLBUSTER
Well-Known Member
Granted, small sample size but, based on the last 3 games, the odds seem to be growing quickly against Iowa. Gonzaga came in averaging somewhere around 3-4 3's / game and goes 13 / 26. Minnesota comes in avg around 8 3's / game and makes 17, including Johnson, who, as you noted was shooting 20% and goes for 89% against Iowa.
None of this is surprising. Few, if any, teams are going to match up with the Hawks size and length, so, of course they are going to be launching 3's all game. Compound that with, for pretty much all of eternity, Iowa's defensive woes - especially against the 3 - have been common knowledge. There is a library full of box scores where Iowa was the slump-buster for the other team "finding their stroke".
Knowing that Iowa isn't going to magically improve it's defense - again, especially against the 3 - this is a year where we really need that "luck" factor to be better than it usually is - where we get "lucky" that the other team is missing shots. Historically, Iowa has ranked very bad in this Ken-Pom metric - over the last 5 seasons, avg Luck ranking is 212th of 357 teams (includes a high of 63rd in 2019). So far in 2020-21, Hawks are coming in at 273rd. Ugh!
Bottom line - Iowa's Achilles heel is nothing new this year. The recipe for living up to this year's potential has always been offense and outscoring others, knowing the other team is going to get high 70's / low 80's.
That's what makes last night and Gonzaga all the more frustrating. Not that we give up the 3 ... it's that they make theirs and the Hawks don't - both at an unGodly clip. You just can't have Jo-Bo and Joe-Vies going 3 for 14 (Minny) and 3-13 (Zaga) and expect to win, when the other team shoots 40+% from 3.
Northside Hawk
Well-Known Member
So looking ahead who on the Northwestern team is due to break out of a shooting funk?
Don't even want to fathom losing that one, but they're 2-0 in the league.
I've probably posted a dozen times on KenPom's "luck". Iowa was in the bottom 10% four of the first eight years Fran was here.
A lot of it had to do with losing close games, which usually comes from critical defensive breakdowns.
Fran through 2018 was 22-49 in games decided by six points or less, a number which has improved since then.
STILLBUSTER
Well-Known Member
Quick glance at their stats ... NW is already a good 3-pt shooting team - 42.7%. Audage is due - has shot the most 3's (34) at only 24% - but the others are shooting over 50%!
Overall, tho, they don't seem to shoot that many - 25 / game vs Hawks at 29 / game.
Game in Iowa City, let's say Audage get's his but I think the others revert to avg. I also think Jo-Bo and Jo-Vies bounce back to their avg (cum 34%). Still, I think this is a game to let Garza go for 40 to burn possession clock and Hawks win handily 88 - 75.
Not looking forward to the Rutgers - Maryland trips.
chucktownhawk
Well-Known Member
We haven't changed at all. All American in the middle, every team collapses on, and we go cold outside. Perimeter defense lacks quickness and intensity. Rebounds are atrocious, lack of strength and boxing out. Bottom line it's never easy, but to be towards the top you better bring it and play like you want to win.
