iowamike21
Well-Known Member
If Iowa had only managed to beat a weak Nebraska team IN Iowa City, the Hawkeyes, right now, would be all alone in 6th place in the Big Ten with a 6-6 record. That's how close Fran is with the worst defensive basketball team I've seen at Iowa in the last 50 years. And that includes the Dick Schultz era, of course.
How a group of young men on D-1 scholarships can repeatedly stand around and watch as opponents drive and dish and slam is beyond me. I maintain this is the softest group of players I've seen at Iowa. There are a couple of individual exceptions, sure, but as a team...wow...
This basketball team plays defense like the football team did at Minnesota in 2010, the "effort" that Adrian Clayborn described as resulting from a general "loss of the will to win."
So the challenge for Fran is to figure out how to instill a killer instinct into a basketball team whose personality is about as vicious as that of Paris Hilton's puppy. It begins, of course, with getting into a defensive stance and moving your feet, refusing to let your man go, no matter what. Haven't seen much of that. A little communication wouldn't hurt, either.
In fact, I remember a few practices back in the day when the basketball was banished. It was all defense, all physical, all foot speed and quickness drills.
And as an aside, is it me, or has Devyn Marble disappeared since he was moved out of the PG spot? That seemed an odd move at the time, and it isn't appearing any better now. So maybe move Devyn back to the PG for the rest of the year and give somebody else an opportunity. The current PG simply isn't getting it done in any area of the game.
It seems clear that Iowa can't outscore anybody, so if the Hawkeyes expect to win some more games this year, it would seem it's time to start playing defense every second for 40 minutes. But don't believe me. Ask Tom Izzo and Thad Motta.
How a group of young men on D-1 scholarships can repeatedly stand around and watch as opponents drive and dish and slam is beyond me. I maintain this is the softest group of players I've seen at Iowa. There are a couple of individual exceptions, sure, but as a team...wow...
This basketball team plays defense like the football team did at Minnesota in 2010, the "effort" that Adrian Clayborn described as resulting from a general "loss of the will to win."
So the challenge for Fran is to figure out how to instill a killer instinct into a basketball team whose personality is about as vicious as that of Paris Hilton's puppy. It begins, of course, with getting into a defensive stance and moving your feet, refusing to let your man go, no matter what. Haven't seen much of that. A little communication wouldn't hurt, either.
In fact, I remember a few practices back in the day when the basketball was banished. It was all defense, all physical, all foot speed and quickness drills.
And as an aside, is it me, or has Devyn Marble disappeared since he was moved out of the PG spot? That seemed an odd move at the time, and it isn't appearing any better now. So maybe move Devyn back to the PG for the rest of the year and give somebody else an opportunity. The current PG simply isn't getting it done in any area of the game.
It seems clear that Iowa can't outscore anybody, so if the Hawkeyes expect to win some more games this year, it would seem it's time to start playing defense every second for 40 minutes. But don't believe me. Ask Tom Izzo and Thad Motta.
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