What are your expectations for the NW game?

I think Iowa will come out flat and turn it over several times. NW will force us to shoot from the outside and we will be off our shot.

I say NW is leading by at least 20 during the 2nd half. Lick gets the kids to keep playing and we close the gap to 8pts. Iowa loses. NW 64 Iowa 56.
 
And Iowa isn't bad and playing this game on the road?

I don't understand how any Iowa fan can say they expect a road win because the other team is "bad".

They can win on the road as proven at Indiana (they are worse than NW) but I along with probably everyone else didn't expect it, so even though I think they can win and will be cheering for them, I don't expect them to leave with a win.


NW is quickly falling into Iowa/PSU/Indiana levels of bad. They were a nice story early in the year, but they've fallen off very quickly.
 
I see NW believing the have the faintest of hopes of making the NCAA tourney. They realize that they play four of the worst basketball teams not only in conference but in the nation. They play teams with the following RPI; 188, 197, 213 and 347. Surprisingly Iowa is the best of the four teams (according to RPI) that NW will play in the remainder of their regular season schedule.

If they sweep those four games they will finish at 21-10 (9-9) and squarely on the bubble.

I see us playing hard for about 7 minutes and then the wheels simply fall off. We lose by double digits and the game isn't competitive outside of the first 7 minutes.
 
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I expect Matt's ankle to be healed up.
I expect the team to be rested, as well.
I expect Iowa to play a clean game on the road.

I expect Iowa to win a close one.
 
Shurna will be at least 2nd team all conference. Crawford will be Frosh of the Year.
NW is not playing great defense the last few weeks,tho.

NW came into CHA and played flat as a pancake,allowing the Hawks to get a lot of clean looks from the arc ,and they had their best shooting nite of the year (12 of 24 from 3, 11 of 22 from 2)...what are the odds that will happen again? If we play well,it will be a close game...if not, we will lose by ten or more. Iowa 59 NW 57...Iowa now playing the NW-spoiler role...will dent NW's NIT hopes.
 
Hightower/Valentine reffing again = close game, with an Iowa loss.

Anybody else reffing the game = Iowa wins by 5.

My new theory (go with me on this one) is that we can blame this entire season, and the last decade, on the fact that Ed Hightower is conspiring against us.

Hey, the blame has to go somewhere, and I'm giving it to Eddie.
 
Hightower/Valentine reffing again = close game, with an Iowa loss.

Anybody else reffing the game = Iowa wins by 5.

My new theory (go with me on this one) is that we can blame this entire season, and the last decade, on the fact that Ed Hightower is conspiring against us.

Hey, the blame has to go somewhere, and I'm giving it to Eddie.

You sound like a Cryin' Illini fan.
 
I see two evenly athletically matched teams like last time so it should be a good game. It will be a difficult game for Iowa because it is a road game.

Both teams will look stellar on defense and offense because they will match up so well against each other. Neither team will have an opposing player that will be able to break down their player at will and take the ball to the basket whenever they want like with players on the more talented teams.

The NW/Iowa series is going to be a terrific series in the future because of the equality of the players. Going to get some close games between these two teams. The style of play is similar...both play possession ball, the defense will be excellent, lots of 3-point shooting although Iowa will go inside because they can against NW. This is one of those games where Iowa will be able to go inside because we match up so evenly against NW.

And it will be one of those interesting unusual games in college hoops where we will see 10 white guys on the floor play most of the game (except when Cole is in). We just don't see this in college bb these days. With the style of play both teams play it is kind of like going back in a time machine to the 50's. All that is missing is the uniforms. Wouldn't it be fun if both teams wore throwback uniforms from the 50's. The game would make national news! Maybe I will send Barta an email and mention this...

Cheerleaders could dress up like they did in the 50's...wouldn't this be fun!
No shot clock!

Northwestern starts 3 black players and Iowa starts 2. My quick math tells me it is 50% white guys.

I watched OSU/Michigan State game this weekend and both teams played ball possession game and OSU ran 90% of their sets by setting a high pick/roll with Turner. This is how basketball is played in the Big Ten right now, the difference between Iowa and the better teams is they make more of their shots.
 
I see NW believing the have the faintest of hopes of making the NCAA tourney. They realize that they play four of the worst basketball teams not only in conference but in the nation. They play teams with the following RPI; 188, 197, 213 and 347. Surprisingly Iowa is the best of the four teams (according to RPI) that NW will play in the remainder of their regular season schedule.

If they sweep those four games they will finish at 21-10 (9-9) and squarely on the bubble.

I see us playing hard for about 7 minutes and then the wheels simply fall off. We lose by double digits and the game isn't competitive outside of the first 7 minutes.
Well, considering they (NW) just lost to one of those 4 teams (Penn State) at home, I don't see them winning all 4 of their remaining regular season games. Penn State has been competitive and NW (at home) is probably their only winnable game remaining (they have Ohio State at home, Michigan State on the road, and Purdue at home in their other games). I could be wrong there - they may still have another upset in them.

That said, I think Iowa struggles at NW. I think the Hawks come out with some energy, but they better go inside early so they can open up the outside. It would be nice to see Shurna get in foul trouble. I think NW will play more 1-3-1 than last time and Iowa will need Wink to hit from the outside again. Iowa may surprise, but I don't see it.
 
Reportedly,Shurna left the Kohl Center with his foot encased in a boot after he sprained it yesterday...he kept playing so I doubt it will take him out, but he might be gimpy...every little bit helps!
 
Northwestern starts 3 black players and Iowa starts 2. My quick math tells me it is 50% white guys.

I watched OSU/Michigan State game this weekend and both teams played ball possession game and OSU ran 90% of their sets by setting a high pick/roll with Turner. This is how basketball is played in the Big Ten right now, the difference between Iowa and the better teams is they make more of their shots.


Do you really think that shooting % is the only difference between Iowa and the top half of the Big10?
 
What do I expect to see from this team? Might as well ask me what Wednesday night's powerball numbers are going to be..

But given the 9 days off, we should be very well rested. That's actually a long layoff though.. Any rust? Will we come out flat due to the long stretch without a game? That worries me, and I would actually probably feel a little better if it had only been 4-5 days since the last game.

This team hasn't played particularly well on the road, so I don't expect much of a change in that regard.

That said, I am not all that impressed with NW either, and we seemed to actually handle them pretty easily in Iowa City, so I like our chances to win this game. 50/50. It will all come down to the shooting. We shot very well the first time around, and I don't remember NW exactly lighting us up from 3. Just as long as it's not the exact reverse, we have a good shot.

I expect a fairly ugly, low-scoring game in the 50's. Should be very close. Flip a coin for the winner.
 
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If Penn State can beat NW on the road, so can Iowa.

I have a bad feeling the Wildkitties get payback this trip. I fear we'll be out of sync after the time off and the treys will be missing the mark. Unless Shurna's twisted ankle tightens up these next two days (possible, I suppose) I expect him to be 100 percent and the Hawks without an answer.
 
So, if Iowa can pull off the victory, would that be considered a good win?

I would say that any conference road win is at least respectable. Northwestern seems to be fading, so I'm not sure if it's as good as it was a few weeks ago, but it would be as good as this team has had.

Either way, I'll take it.
 
If Penn State can beat NW on the road, so can Iowa.
Agreed. However, Penn State also just won at Michigan and we ... didn't. That said, I agree that we can win at NW. I just think it will be a tough game for us. I hope I am very wrong (like I have been before).
 
This entire thread speaks volumes of how far we have slipped. Hoping players are hurt to give us an advantage over a team that has been the doormat of the conference for years....sad.
 

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