Will Cupcake Feast Doom Hawkeyes?

Much like last year when we needed to have a softer schedule early to build some confidence in Mike, Woody and Sappy I think there's some positives in getting Jok some extra minutes, allowing Mike to come back at a slower pace, getting JU worked into the closing group before a game is on the line, and getting Gabe and Woody more minutes then we might otherwise see.

Frankly I expected Iowa to come off the Europe trip much sharper given the amount of experience we have returning and the extra work we were able to get in. Before the season I would have been in the let's get a tougher schedule group. As of now I'm pretty convinced we didn't hurt ourselves and because of the competition for minutes we didn't get sloppy for half a game, instead we actually continued to play well and with good effort when the top ten were on the floor.

In the long run I think this benefits us and is better for team chemistry.
 
I always wondered why teams play those bottom RPI D1 teams. Why wouldn't they just schedule D2 teams so their RPI isn't affected?
 
We could potentially play 5 top 50 RPI teams in the non con. Isn't that quite a bit? You can't say we have a terrible schedule just because our 1st 5 games suck.
 
Jok and Uthoff needed these games. Fran needed these games to get a feel for the rotation in game situations. There will be plenty of opportunities for us to stress during games about the bad officiating, etc. in the very near future.
 
hawkinn3 said:
Big Ten is tough as usual and I expect us to be in the range of an 8-9 seed this year so this won't matter. BUT, I could easily see us losing a couple close games and being a bubble team in which case our horrendous sos would doom us.
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Don't be ridiculous. Sure, our strength of schedule is pretty poor four games into the season. How is it going to be on Selection Sunday, after we've played maybe 20 games against tournament-caliber teams?
 
bcl20 said:
We didn't destroy Nebraska-Omaha.
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Which is a very good reason to start off with cupcakes. Is UNO better than expected or did they catch us unprepared and little lazy? Both? You put a better team on the floor with the Hawkeyes that night and we may already be sitting in the one loss column. As it is we found ourselves in a fight, maybe had a little scare, and hopefully learned a valuable lesson while still picking up the win rather than getting tagged with an RPI-draining home loss. Every team has to have a first REAL test at some point. With the quality that we'll face in the upcoming tourney I'm fine with the way the schedule shaped up this season. And every season really needs to be looked at in a vacuum. If we're in a lesser pre-season tourney next year a similar first five may not cut it.
 
DowsHawk1 said:
Much like last year when we needed to have a softer schedule early to build some confidence in Mike, Woody and Sappy I think there's some positives in getting Jok some extra minutes, allowing Mike to come back at a slower pace, getting JU worked into the closing group...
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I realize you can still make the "quality of competition" argument, but I think the amount of playing time that the bench has gotten during this stretch is going to serve us very well down the road.
 
1hawkeye1 said:
I always wondered why teams play those bottom RPI D1 teams. Why wouldn't they just schedule D2 teams so their RPI isn't affected?
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Isn't it kind of a wash if you beat them? I was under the impression that the only real damage was in losing to them.
 
I believe it was, while not necessarily essential, good for the newcomers to gain the experience to feel comfortable, took about a game for Uthoff and around 5 games for Peter, and he seems to have found his touch, looking comfortable and becoming more aggressive. Uthoff is a natural and will be a nightmare for the opponent meshing with whoever he is on the floor with. With so much talent available and so many combinations, experimentation was absolutely necessary. Fran had to know which groups of players would excel in different situations. Experimentation and Experience, learning to feel comfortable with each other on the court trumps everything else, especially with a Killer schedule approaching. I think the remainder of the nonconference wil more than even things out. The UNO game was a bonus, we came close to losing that one. That was a solid test. We will be alright.

This is our second time playing Xavier in a holiday tournament. We played them in the Virgin Islands Paradise Jam, I believe, Fran's first season.....

This time we emerge victorious. I almost feel sorry for the gangbanging Musketeers.....

That reminds me, I shall be venturing to the Uni Dome to watch the Dowling Catholics engage the Xavier team from Cedar Rapids Friday night with my brother, Jerry and the two Sams......

:rolleyes:
 
You can't run a marathon if you sprint the first mile.

Our pre-season last year was patsy as well, and IMO, had we won one of those four league games in which we blew leads in, and, not lost at Nebraska, we would have made the dance.


We'll be better this year and we'll be dancing.
 
The only harm from the weak comp would have been if Iowa had lost. Instead, they did what they were supposed to do and pummeled them. When they were challenged, they found a way to pull away when it mattered.

That there has been zero harm done to Iowa's "rep" is proving out through them slowly inching up the rankings. Voters and press are more impressed with Iowa's consecutive 100+ outputs / 50 point beat-downs, than they are worried about who they played.

As for "battle testing" the players ... not necessary. Again, they did what they should have done and dominated inferior opponents. They get that these few games are virtually extra practices to grease the gears and make sure things fit. With the exception of UNO, they didn't get sloppy, they didn't play down to competition, they focused on their game and developing Iowa.

More importantly, the heavy depth and blow outs will help to delay the wear and tear, which will pay dividends in March. On that note, the only thing that will "doom" the Hawks is a serious injury to Marble, White, Woody, Gesell or Uthoff.
 
Doom was a poor choice of words. Lighting rod, yes...poor choice, yes.

Five of Iowa's next seven games will likely come against teams ranked currently in the KenPom Top 50
 
The combined record of Iowa's 3 opponents so far is 6-6, might not be as bad as originally thought. Even UNC-Wilmington is 2-2 so far this season.
 
ssckelley said:
The combined record of Iowa's 3 opponents so far is 6-6, might not be as bad as originally thought. Even UNC-Wilmington is 2-2 so far this season.
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UNC-Wilimington and UNO have both moved way up in the KenPom rankings from over 300 to the 230 range. UMES is going to be a very bad team this year, but it's very possible neither UNC-Wilmington or UNO will be that bad, plus Abilene-Christian won't even count against our RPI.
 
hawkfan33 said:
UNC-Wilimington and UNO have both moved way up in the KenPom rankings from over 300 to the 230 range. UMES is going to be a very bad team this year, but it's very possible neither UNC-Wilmington or UNO will be that bad, plus Abilene-Christian won't even count against our RPI.
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You will notice the record I mentioned does not include them or the non D1 opponents the other 3 teams have played against. UMES looks like they will be bad but every win they pick up is huge for Iowa's RPI since 50% of the RPI score is the opponents record.
 
hawkfan33 said:
UNC-Wilimington and UNO have both moved way up in the KenPom rankings from over 300 to the 230 range. UMES is going to be a very bad team this year, but it's very possible neither UNC-Wilmington or UNO will be that bad, plus Abilene-Christian won't even count against our RPI.
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Right now UNO and UNC Wilimington are playing higher ranked teams on the road, even if they lose they probably move up. I guess if they did well in their conference they could maintain a low 200, but if they don't they will plummet back down to the bottom.

And if Iowa has to depend on these teams to help their Ken Pom numbers down the road
that probably means something else went very wrong during the year.

Losing at ISU would help Iowa's numbers more than beating these pastries if simply for the fact that is a true road game against what is probably going to be a top 20 team at the time.
 
fsanford said:
Right now UNO and UNC Wilimington are playing higher ranked teams on the road, even if they lose they probably move up. I guess if they did well in their conference they could maintain a low 200, but if they don't they will plummet back down to the bottom.

And if Iowa has to depend on these teams to help their Ken Pom numbers down the road
that probably means something else went very wrong during the year.

Losing at ISU would help Iowa's numbers more than beating these pastries if simply for the fact that is a true road game against what is probably going to be a top 20 team at the time.
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KenPom isn't the RPI bud, just playing a better team doesn't make your ranking go up.

Learn the game.
 
Seth53 said:
You can't run a marathon if you sprint the first mile.

Our pre-season last year was patsy as well, and IMO, had we won one of those four league games in which we blew leads in, and, not lost at Nebraska, we would have made the dance.


We'll be better this year and we'll be dancing.
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And if last years team had just won 10 more games, they would have been a 6 seed. Does my logic work?
 
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