Jan Jensen Coaching Philosophy

[onlyTheObvious]

She will need to have decent records and hype fairly early or the NIL money will likely dry up quickly.

That’s how men’s basketball works and now it’s also how the women’s game works.

She deserves the chance

 

[HawksRule73]

The defense looked better this last year because our defensive rebounding improved tremendously. When you can limit teams to only one shot on most possessions, your D will always look better. Obviously SC was the outlier, but I don't know that there was much more we could have done there.

 

[eyesofhawk]

When you run and score at the rate a team like Iowa does, it is natural you will also give up a lot of points.

So there isn't anything wrong with the defense of Fran's teams? Points isn't the only measure of defense

 

[littlez]

So there isn't anything wrong with the defense of Fran's teams? Points isn't the only measure of defense

Who said that?

 

[Obviously Oblivious]

I would be shocked if there's any kind of material drop-off in Iowa WBB quality and overall competitiveness. Jan is a great coach and an even better person and the Iowa players adore her IMO. She will just pick up where Lisa left off and work hard to keep the program ascending.

 

[eyesofhawk]

Who said that?

Nobody. Maybe I've just misinterpreted, given that the point had already been raised and refuted earlier in the thread.

Again, an opponent may score 80 instead of 70 in a higher possession game. But also in a high possession game, they may only score 74, if playing against better defense.

The fact that Iowa has played higher possession games does nothing to change the fact that there is plenty room for defensive growth in the program under Jensen

 

[littlez]

Nobody. Maybe I've just misinterpreted, given that the point had already been raised and refuted earlier in the thread.

Again, an opponent may score 80 instead of 70 in a higher possession game. But also in a high possession game, they may only score 74, if playing against better defense.

The fact that Iowa has played higher possession games does nothing to change the fact that there is plenty room for defensive growth in the program under Jensen

Look, you’re right we’ve not been a great defensive team under Bluder. But we’ve been incredibly effective and efficient offensively under her. Is there room for growth? Of course. Would I prefer we remain a team that beats our opponents up the floor consistently and maybe isn’t as great defensively but is really good on offense? Yes. And we had the 2 best years of Iowa basketball ever the last 2 years. So we must be ok on defense.

 

[ChiPackHawk]

Nobody. Maybe I've just misinterpreted, given that the point had already been raised and refuted earlier in the thread.

Again, an opponent may score 80 instead of 70 in a higher possession game. But also in a high possession game, they may only score 74, if playing against better defense.

The fact that Iowa has played higher possession games does nothing to change the fact that there is plenty room for defensive growth in the program under Jensen

The difference between winning 90 - 75 and 55 - 40 is one team will be considered an offense based team and the other a defense oriented team. My original point was very simple, if you score a lot and score fast there will be far more possessions, for both teams. Of course your defensive rating will suffer. If Iowa played at a more methodical pace and overly value each possession, the opinion on their defensive abilities might be completely different. It would also be a boring watch.

 

[Beattheohiostate]

I’d say it is definitely a philosophy, but for no reason, other than a feeling, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Coach Jensen a little bit more defensive focused… With that said, this last Iowa team did much better on defense than they did in years prior.

I think the only real issues Iowa has had on defense were against teams that were much taller than they were. And there's only so much you can do about that. When you play the fast style that Iowa does, classic defense sometimes suffers. But when the Hawkeyes had to play half-court defense, they certainly did it well, in most cases. Lack of height is the only real thing that caused Iowa problems and, again, nobody can do anything about that . . . except recruit some height for the next season.

The narrative that the Iowa women were not very good on defense is just that . . . a narrative, and a false one at that. When you score 85-90-100 points, the other team has a lot of chances to score too. I think Iowa was 34-4 last season, and I don't think it's because they didn't play defense. LOL

 

[eyesofhawk]

The difference between winning 90 - 75 and 55 - 40 is one team will be considered an offense based team and the other a defense oriented team. My original point was very simple, if you score a lot and score fast there will be far more possessions, for both teams. Of course your defensive rating will suffer. If Iowa played at a more methodical pace and overly value each possession, the opinion on their defensive abilities might be completely different. It would also be a boring watch.

Yes, I get it.

And my counterpoint, for the fourth time now, is very simple. Even in higher possession games, there there can be varying levels of effectiveness when it comes to defense.

Again, by your logic, nobody would have any problems with Fran's defense. But we all know that Fran's teams, regardless of number of possessions, are terrible at defense. And over the years, Lisa's teams have shared a lot of the defensive deficiencies that Fran's teams have had

 

[hawkirugged17]

 

[cmhawks99]

Who said that?

His point is of course high tempo teams give up more points, but they DID concertedly put effort into improving the D, and it was noticeable.

 

[cmhawks99]

The defense looked better this last year because our defensive rebounding improved tremendously. When you can limit teams to only one shot on most possessions, your D will always look better. Obviously SC was the outlier, but I don't know that there was much more we could have done there.

Excellent point….we lost Monica and Warnock and yet became a decidedly better rebounding team….go figure 🤷‍♂️

 

[ChiPackHawk]

Yes, I get it.

And my counterpoint, for the fourth time now, is very simple. Even in higher possession games, there there can be varying levels of effectiveness when it comes to defense.

Again, by your logic, nobody would have any problems with Fran's defense. But we all know that Fran's teams, regardless of number of possessions, are terrible at defense. And over the years, Lisa's teams have shared a lot of the defensive deficiencies that Fran's teams have had

Saying "nobody" is a black and white type reference. I never said that. I do believe that some teams push it so much and try to speed other teams up that defense is not the focal point of their game. Get them to rush and play faster than than normal. Plus, realistically it is pretty hard to be dominant at both ends. Maybe you can name a few teams that regularly score in the 90's who are considered high end defensively?

 

[herkyhawk00]

Had heard an interesting story about Jensen about a year ago. Iowa was playing in March Madness and Jensen received a call from Minnesota to gauge her interest in the job. Due to scheduling, Jensen chose to meet with MN officials early in the morning. As she was heading to the meeting and walking down the hotel hallway, she ran into Goetz. Over small talk Goetz asked what she was doing. Jensen didn’t want to lie and informed her what she was doing. Apparently Goetz put the full court press on her wanting to keep her at Iowa and they had an immediate sit down with officials at Iowa. 🤷‍♂️

 

[cmhawks99]

Saying "nobody" is a black and white type reference. I never said that. I do believe that some teams push it so much and try to speed other teams up that defense is not the focal point of their game. Get them to rush and play faster than than normal. Plus, realistically it is pretty hard to be dominant at both ends. Maybe you can name a few teams that regularly score in the 90's who are considered high end defensively?

Not to speak for him, but thinking I’ve got a good gauge on what he is saying…. or at least I certainly have a good gauge on what I’m seeing and saying.

Just like in men’s basketball, defense becomes more and more important the deeper you get into the tournament.

I don’t remember the numbers, though somebody else surely does, but I’m not sure a team has ever won the men’s national championship without having a defensive efficiency number somewhere in the top 50s give or take….

Gonzaga has had an epic run for almost 20 years & is an offensive team and they have never played particularly great defense, Creighton is another team, similar in make up…. They both play better defense than the Iowa Hawkeyes men’s team, but…. I would compare these Iowa women to teams like Creighton and Gonzaga men…

They play elite offense but very average defense @ best. Now We played way better defense this year and we are going to have to continue to get better on defense. Nothing more nothing less….


As I said in an earlier post, LB & Jan have done a good job in molding what they want to do offensively to fit what they are willing to do defensively, and I’m sure that’s because they realize they had to play better defense than they had been.

No dig, no big conspiracy and no hate on these girls. With that said surely most of you know for much of her career Lisa has faded heat for not playing good enough defense just like Fran has 🤷‍♂️

This isn’t a new thought here….

We ONLY made it to the NC game because of our improved rebounding and defense in my opinion. This team this year was better than last year, but…..so was the field in my mind.

 

[hawkirugged17]

 

[amahawk]

I wonder if coach Jensen will try to create a stronger interior game with more and bigger bigs?

 

[eyesofhawk]

I think the only real issues Iowa has had on defense were against teams that were much taller than they were. And there's only so much you can do about that. When you play the fast style that Iowa does, classic defense sometimes suffers. But when the Hawkeyes had to play half-court defense, they certainly did it well, in most cases. Lack of height is the only real thing that caused Iowa problems and, again, nobody can do anything about that . . . except recruit some height for the next season.

The narrative that the Iowa women were not very good on defense is just that . . . a narrative, and a false one at that. When you score 85-90-100 points, the other team has a lot of chances to score too. I think Iowa was 34-4 last season, and I don't think it's because they didn't play defense. LOL

Some of you guys are acting as if Bluder has been attacked. Lisa would tell you, herself, that over 24 years, defense was not part of the personality of her teams. There is room for defensive growth in the program, under Jensen, and that is not an opinion or an attack on Lisa.

And since it keeps getting brought up, yes it is possible to play good defense with shorter/less athletic players. For example, in the S. Carolina game, I can recall Iowa fronting Cardosa with absolutely zero ball pressure on the passer. Quite predictably, the result was an easy catch and layup for Cardosa. These are mistakes that good defensive teams just don't make. It's about fundamental principles and details being drilled into the team from day one, so it becomes who they are. Another example is the lack of physicality to fight for every inch of real estate. Against a player like Cardosa, you have to be physical and do your work early to keep her from getting too deep. And you can't help off of her or she will get easy putbacks. Which puts pressure on the perimeter players to contain the ball. Containing the ball is also what allows rebounding position to be maintained as a team. And in general, lack of containing the ball will break a defense down in every way possible. The drilling of containing the ball, and holding players accountable for containing the ball, just hasn't been who Iowa was under Bluder. Again, that's not to judge. Because who Iowa has been, which included the ability to excel on offense, has been very respectable.

But to say that shorter/less athletic teams can't play good defense just isn't true. How do think Loyola made the final four? How did Wisconsin beat the undefeated Kentucky team in the final four? They did so by playing darn good defense

 

[herkhatescy]

Had heard an interesting story about Jensen about a year ago. Iowa was playing in March Madness and Jensen received a call from Minnesota to gauge her interest in the job. Due to scheduling, Jensen chose to meet with MN officials early in the morning. As she was heading to the meeting and walking down the hotel hallway, she ran into Goetz. Over small talk Goetz asked what she was doing. Jensen didn’t want to lie and informed her what she was doing. Apparently Goetz put the full court press on her wanting to keep her at Iowa and they had an immediate sit down with officials at Iowa. 🤷‍♂️

Must have been when they named her Associate Head Coach.

 

[Hawk_4shur]

Lisa's team were 185-52 (78%) over the last 7 years, including 94-31 in B1G games (77%) which means they held the opponent to less than Iowa scored 78% of the time, or 77% in B1G games, which is the objective. I'd say the defense has been pretty good.

It's different when talking about Fran. He's 72-66 in the B1G over the last 7 years (52%) despite being one of the highest scoring offensive teams in the conference. Defense is big problem because they can't overcome it with offense.

You don't simply decide to be better on defense. You have to devote more practice time to it and possibly make personnel changes. We don't know the impact that would mean for the women's team.

 

[ZachJump]

No idea what Jan will do…but you all do realize that Jan was very offense focused when she played?

 

[wneff]

Must have been when they named her Associate Head Coach.

She was named associate head coach 20 years ago.

Jan Jensen

hawkeyesports.com

 

[littlez]

Lisa's team were 185-52 (78%) over the last 7 years, including 94-31 in B1G games (77%) which means they held the opponent to less than Iowa scored 78% of the time, or 77% in B1G games, which is the objective. I'd say the defense has been pretty good.

It's different when talking about Fran. He's 72-66 in the B1G over the last 7 years (52%) despite being one of the highest scoring offensive teams in the conference. Defense is big problem because they can't overcome it with offense.

You don't simply decide to be better on defense. You have to devote more practice time to it and possibly make personnel changes. We don't know the impact that would mean for the women's team.

Thank you. @eyesofhawk trying to compare Loyola who was playing games in the 50's and maybe 60's to us is laughable. As is Wisconsin. Both of those teams totally limit possessions, unlike Iowa. Limiting possessions and slowing the game down is comparable to Kirk, which is fine, but that is not what Bluder and company did or wanted to do, especially w/a once in a lifetime player like Clark. We scored over 90 or 100 points how many times this year? When that happens you aren't holding the other team in the 60's unless you're UCLA of the John Wooden era.

 

[ft254]

Jan will definitely have to incorporate some defense into the program, whether it's from her or an assistant

Iowa's defense hasn't been that bad. It's been assumed to be. Teams don't advance to the NC game with poor defense.

 

[hawkod]

Iowa's defense hasn't been that bad. It's been assumed to be. Teams don't advance to the NC game with poor defense.

Leading the nation in scoring helps.

 

[Hawk_4shur]

Jan will definitely have to incorporate some defense into the program, whether it's from her or an assistant

See the attached.


https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/seasons/women/2024-ratings.html


This site computes an estimate of points allowed per 100 possessions.

Iowa ranked #26.

In 2022-23 they were 46th.
In 2021-22 they were 90th.
In 2020-21 they were 217th

Pretty good improvement over 4 years.

 

[eyesofhawk]

Thank you. @eyesofhawk trying to compare Loyola who was playing games in the 50's and maybe 60's to us is laughable. As is Wisconsin. Both of those teams totally limit possessions, unlike Iowa. Limiting possessions and slowing the game down is comparable to Kirk, which is fine, but that is not what Bluder and company did or wanted to do, especially w/a once in a lifetime player like Clark. We scored over 90 or 100 points how many times this year? When that happens you aren't holding the other team in the 60's unless you're UCLA of the John Wooden era.

I didn't compare Loyola or Wisconsin to Iowa. I used them as examples to refute the claim that shorter/less athletic teams can't do anything defensively against taller/more athletic teams.

Using winning percentage to prove the effectiveness of a defense is an even worse argument than using number of possessions. With a better defense, Iowa most certainly would have had a better winning percentage. Yes, there can be some trade-off between defense and offense. But it doesn't have to be drastic. You can have a more balanced program that includes better defense without having to sacrifice too much offense. I can tell you for a fact that some of those losses over the years would have been wins with even a below average D.

Number of possessions is only a small part of the conversation. Does a team actually play good fundamental defense or not? For a long time, Wisconsin clearly has. For a long time, Iowa football clearly has. For a long time, Iowa men's basketball clearly has not. Any team can limit possessions. But not every team has made the final four like Loyola. Running the clock down can keep a game close for a while. But it can also make it really hard for less talented teams, like Loyola, by having to find ways to score late in the shot clock. Simply, Loyola got to the final four by playing dominant defense.

The possessions argument has been made in this thread several times now. I just got off work early and have all day. So we can keep going around in circles if that is your intent

 

[eyesofhawk]

Iowa's defense hasn't been that bad. It's been assumed to be. Teams don't advance to the NC game with poor defense.

What about the other 22 years? This angle has already been covered in the thread.

Any season or two can be cherry picked. But what Bluder's program was is much more accurately described when all 24 years are taken into account.

And over 24 years, Iowa can best be described as having been an offensive program. There isn't any denying that.

Iowa has been an offensive program to the extreme. And in my opinion, it would be a good idea to become at least somewhat more balanced, by adding some more and better defense to the program. I don't see how people are reacting so sensitively to this

 

[shikreto]

Couple of updates from Jan's press conference:

• She might run a full-court press next year. Recognized that it wasn't Bluder's style but it's certainly Raina's.
• Also confirmed that Abby and Raina are staying. Not so sure about Jenni.
• Bluder has agreed to take on an advisory role.
• Confirmed that Lucy Olsen is sticking with the Hawks -- said by the end of the convo, things were "great" with both Lucy and her parents.
• Wasn't as specific about incoming freshmen but mentioned that current players are in touch with them. Thanked all the recruits and parents for being super gracious, overall sounded pretty positive even if not specific. Said it was an intense stretch of many hours on the phone -- one of the most intense and gratifying days of her life...
• Everyone's heading out on big recruiting trips Friday

 

[hawkirugged17]

 

[eyesofhawk]

See the attached.


https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/seasons/women/2024-ratings.html


This site computes an estimate of points allowed per 100 possessions.

Iowa ranked #26.

In 2022-23 they were 46th.
In 2021-22 they were 90th.
In 2020-21 they were 217th

Pretty good improvement over 4 years.

Good info.

I think there were a few reasons why Iowa did put a bit more attention on defense the past couple seasons. And it showed.

But part of what goes into those numbers is the fact that Iowa had one of the best college players of all-time, which allowed the offense to be more efficient, which forced the opponents' offense to take the ball out of the net more often, and get less easy baskets.

Nonetheless, let's hope Jan can build upon the recent uptick in D

 

[BVHawkeye]

She did say in her press conference that she loves offense. Also, she is open to full court pressing.

 

[nu2u]

I like her inclination to install a FC press for two reasons: will tend to bleed the shot clock (and hopefully lead to more forced turnovers); and will expand the rotation/player participation (a blind spot for Bluder IMO).

 

[herkhatescy]

I liked the full court press mention. There were times last year that I thought they should have used it.

 

[GunnerHawk]

Excellent point….we lost Monica and Warnock and yet became a decidedly better rebounding team….go figure 🤷‍♂️

Hannah and Affolter were very good on the boards. Both tireless workers.