Who bodies up the opponent's bruising big man next year?

tweeterhawk

tweeterhawk

Well-Known Member
As much as Iowa progressed last year, there were two glaring weaknesses -- being able to shoot even moderately well night in and night out, and controlling a handful of opposing "bigs" who dominated in the paint. I'm not recalling names, but surely you'll remember who I'm talking about -- tall, strong, bulky centers who could bounce Iowa players out of the way and score at will.

Gabe came as close as anyone on last year's team to be able to match up with those centers, but he's gone. Woody simply doesn't have the body and particularly the strength in his legs and hips to take on those kind of "bruisers." Gabe was able to provide enough relief minutes to keep Woody from fouling out halfway through the game. But if Woody is the sold man patrolling the paint, he could be sitting for long periods in 2015-16.

I think the shooting will be better next year along with the perimeter and full-court defense, and perhaps that takes some of the pressure off Woody.

But who does Iowa have next year to match up against the powerful big men?
 
tweeterhawk said:
As much as Iowa progressed last year, there were two glaring weaknesses -- being able to shoot even moderately well night in and night out, and controlling a handful of opposing "bigs" who dominated in the paint. I'm not recalling names, but surely you'll remember who I'm talking about -- tall, strong, bulky centers who could bounce Iowa players out of the way and score at will.

Gabe came as close as anyone on last year's team to be able to match up with those centers, but he's gone. Woody simply doesn't have the body and particularly the strength in his legs and hips to take on those kind of "bruisers." Gabe was able to provide enough relief minutes to keep Woody from fouling out halfway through the game. But if Woody is the sold man patrolling the paint, he could be sitting for long periods in 2015-16.

I think the shooting will be better next year along with the perimeter and full-court defense, and perhaps that takes some of the pressure off Woody.

But who does Iowa have next year to match up against the powerful big men?
Click to expand...

Woody was the best defender in the post last season and will be next season. He is the equivalent of the defensive captain positioning people in the defensive sets.
 
tweeterhawk said:
As much as Iowa progressed last year, there were two glaring weaknesses -- being able to shoot even moderately well night in and night out, and controlling a handful of opposing "bigs" who dominated in the paint. I'm not recalling names, but surely you'll remember who I'm talking about -- tall, strong, bulky centers who could bounce Iowa players out of the way and score at will.

Gabe came as close as anyone on last year's team to be able to match up with those centers, but he's gone. Woody simply doesn't have the body and particularly the strength in his legs and hips to take on those kind of "bruisers." Gabe was able to provide enough relief minutes to keep Woody from fouling out halfway through the game. But if Woody is the sold man patrolling the paint, he could be sitting for long periods in 2015-16.

I think the shooting will be better next year along with the perimeter and full-court defense, and perhaps that takes some of the pressure off Woody.

But who does Iowa have next year to match up against the powerful big men?
Click to expand...

Gabe generally struggled whenever Iowa went up against teams with quality big men. He looks great when he just get by with his athleticism against smaller guys, but easily gets out of position against good big guys. Not sure what you were watching last year.
 
Woodbury's strength is his defense. Not that worried about him there. Now on the other end of the floor..................
 
Hopefully one of the new guys coming in can play the tough d. They don't need to be real tall. 6'7" and up will work if they have lower body strength and know how to use it to move bigger bodies out of position.
 
MiniMoeHawk said:
Woody was the best defender in the post last season and will be next season. He is the equivalent of the defensive captain positioning people in the defensive sets.
Click to expand...

Yikes, I hope not. His constant hedging and inability to execute it without a stupid foul 25' out top or recover back to position with any athleticism was a huge defensive liability.

Please, Fran, let Woody stay home in your defensive sets.:eek:
 
STILLBUSTER said:
Yikes, I hope not. His constant hedging and inability to execute it without a stupid foul 25' out top or recover back to position with any athleticism was a huge defensive liability.

Please, Fran, let Woody stay home in your defensive sets.:eek:
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Fran mentioned it several times last year in post game press conferences...Yes, Woody had some silly fouls but the defense as a whole was better with him in the game. I would think that his hedging is coming directly from what Fran is wanting him to do.
 
How many powerful bruising big men will we even face next season? This board's IQ gets ridiculously low in the off season.
 
InGoodCo said:
How many powerful bruising big men will we even face next season? This board's IQ gets ridiculously low in the off season.
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Hammonds and Haas, Thorne of Ill(6'11'',270lbs) Bryant of IU, Olah of NW, ....not many as last year but still some biggies.
 
1hawkeye1 said:
Woodbury's strength is his defense. Not that worried about him there. Now on the other end of the floor..................
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Woody's wide shoulders and space eating body get him rebounds.
He's got to learn NOT to get unnecessary, or foolish fouls.

When Iowa is playing a BIG team, Woody needs to be available.
Be Smart Wood........
 
InGoodCo said:
How many powerful bruising big men will we even face next season? This board's IQ gets ridiculously low in the off season.
Click to expand...

Exactly what I was thinking.

And Gabe being better at defending bigs than Woody is one of the more obviously inaccurate things I've seen posted on here.

We might be screwed when we play Purdue but that's two games out of 30.
 
HawkIstate said:
Woody's wide shoulders and space eating body get him rebounds.
He's got to learn NOT to get unnecessary, or foolish fouls.

When Iowa is playing a BIG team, Woody needs to be available.
Be Smart Wood........
Click to expand...

I think Woodys foul problems are more of a myth than reality anymore.

He was bad at picking them up his first year but it's not been that bad recently. Your going to pick up some fouls playing center, it just comes with the territory.

I'm am thinking that they may have to eas up on the way they defend screens though. That aggressive hedge is good for at least one unnecessary foul a game if not more.
 
RocknRollface said:
I think Woodys foul problems are more of a myth than reality anymore.

He was bad at picking them up his first year but it's not been that bad recently. Your going to pick up some fouls playing center, it just comes with the territory.

I'm am thinking that they may have to eas up on the way they defend screens though. That aggressive hedge is good for at least one unnecessary foul a game if not more.
Click to expand...

But when the hedge works (which is most of the time) it really disrupts the opponent's offense. So are they really unnecessary fouls?
 
the hedge is being done purposely, effectively, and works but people on this site lose their minds about it.
 
We've had to hedge in the past because our guards were bad at getting through screens quickly. With some bigger, more athletic guards in this class maybe the coach's will take another look at this strategy.
 
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