2 Negatives

[HawkeyesSports]

1) Iowa does a horrible job getting off a good play when they hold for the last shot. They need to start their drive to the basket or play sooner (not at 8 second mark) and need to get the ball out of Mike G's hands. How many times do we see Mike end up taking a horrible shot as the clock runs out? If he can't drive and dish then he needs to get rid of the ball earlier and run a play.

2) Great game back and forth all half and the crowd rises to their feet twice. Iowa's b-ball crowd has a lot of work to do.

 

[broth87]

Very poor defensive effort first half. Not mentally sharp. Giving up 2 wife open 3s off of baseline out of bounds, bids not running the floor with urgency and establishing early on the defensive end, too much getting buried under screens and not getting a hand in on perimeter shots. Davis has gotten in jok's had and is physically beating on him. Refs are letting him do it. Someone has to rattle his cage with a good hard screen and knock that shit off. Same with swanigan. He's trying to be overly physical with uthoff and he's getting away with it. Guys gotta play through it and be sharper, play with more urgency, and establish done of their own physical presence.

 

[SotaHawk87]

Your number 1 has been a problem for the last few years.. It's weird, but not the worst thing that could happen!

 

[FlintTown]

You guys are reaching.

 

[N8dogg99]

If Purdue is making there shots at the end, it becomes a game. Terrible end game play; 5 second call, lane violation, Jok's wide open miss, countless missed free throws by our guards (yet our center can't miss?) They played a heck of a game and still persevered; but that just left a little sour taste in my mouth.

 

[EpenesaEpenesa]

Ice cream too cold as well??

 

[backinblack23]

1- has been a problem and I'm ok with us not converting that much cause I would guess 95% of the time the other team gets nothing but a full court prayer. While some other teams get cute and let the other teams get a chance.

2- Thats how it's been since I can remember so it will never change until Carver is remodeled or we somehow reseat the student section.

 

[Bulldogs1974]

I do wonder why we don't put the ball in uthoffs hands as the at the end of halves of games. Sapp couldn't be worse.
I also swear that we don't realize the clock continues to run before halftime and the clock stops at the end of the second half.

 

[DenverTurtle]

Boo Hoo We're 7-0 and have swept BOTH MSU and Purdue, plus a win over Michigan.

Take that, be happy. Thank these players for playing their hearts out and showing they're a team to compete with anybody! (Not just some bubble team)

 

[hawkcub]

1. Pretty much the last thing I worry about.
2. Crowd sounded alright but not great on TV. Always been an issue at CHA. Carver kind of reminds me Michigan Stadium. It should be louder just isn't.

 

[WinOneThisCentury]

These issues just mean we haven't played our best basketball yet...we still have work to do. Think about that for a moment...top 5, 7-0 in the B10 and we still can get better and more consistent. Honestly, if a big is guarding Uthoff at the end of the game, I'd love to see the ball in his hands on the outside...he showed again today he can get his shot, drive and score, or create for someone else. I'm surprised that hasn't happened in the end of game scenarios, but I'll let Fran make those decisions...he seems to know what he's doing and why.

 

[IronFist1776]

Mother of Pearl! C'mon guys! It's just constructive criticism and even better, it's true! Its not like the OP is being a jerk. Yes, its nice to know that we can win when we don't play a good full game but if some of those mistakes aren't addressed, they're guaranteed to continue and who knows how it'll impact us. Thank God Woody can hit his FT's.

 

[ft254]

1) Iowa does a horrible job getting off a good play when they hold for the last shot. They need to start their drive to the basket or play sooner (not at 8 second mark) and need to get the ball out of Mike G's hands. How many times do we see Mike end up taking a horrible shot as the clock runs out? If he can't drive and dish then he needs to get rid of the ball earlier and run a play.

2) Great game back and forth all half and the crowd rises to their feet twice. Iowa's b-ball crowd has a lot of work to do.

I see it with all teams. Why don't they start at 12 or 15 seconds? It hardly ever works.

 

[IAGuy]

 

[ROCKY MOUNTAIN HAWK]

Our crowd was bad today. Same as usual I guess.

 

[IronFist1776]

But you cared enough to recruit Ron Swanson's help......

 

[PhantomFlyer]

1) I'd prefer to see the ball in AC's hands when we are playing for one shot. This is especially the case if AC isn't being guarded by the opposing team's PG. AC is stronger and is able to fight through traffic and get a better shot than MG. In those last second situations the refs tend to swallow their whistles and let a lot more contact happen. I'd either let AC go last shot or start moving the ball toward the bucket, or another player (Jok or Uthoff) much sooner.

 

[HawkLogic]

1) I'd prefer to see the ball in AC's hands when we are playing for one shot. This is especially the case if AC isn't being guarded by the opposing team's PG. AC is stronger and is able to fight through traffic and get a better shot than MG. In those last second situations the refs tend to swallow their whistles and let a lot more contact happen. I'd either let AC go last shot or start moving the ball toward the bucket, or another player (Jok or Uthoff) much sooner.

Uthoff was out with 2 fouls to end 1st half, but I agree the evidence is in. Gesell must be shooting 15% on season when he holds ball to run out the shot clock. Meanwhile a Uthoff 3pt attempt from NBA distance is probably 50% eFG.

 

[Keeker16]

Totally agree with number 1. There was a stretch last year when we had four games in a row where we were holding for the last shot and ended up turning it over and the other team got points...so I guess we have actually improved since now we are just missing the shot.

 

[broth87]

Uthoff was out of the game. That double stack on the block has been a very effective play and we've seen several different designs from that set but most are either too free uthoff or jok. Purdue massively overplayed it and then got away with a foul on woody's slip to the rim. I like the set and I like Mike triggering but if Mike is the one taking the shot something went very wrong because it's not at all a play for him.

 

[Scott559]

As the season progresses I would like to see the ball in JU's hands much more when the shot clock get's under 10 seconds, So many more options available IMO. We know he can shoot, Drive and dish, If they double him I like his chances of finding an open teammate. Plus I trust him at the FT line.

 

[luvmyhawks]

Our crowd was bad today. Same as usual I guess.

I thought the crowd was good. It was loud in my house anyway. Of course, I did get a new sound system and tv for Christmas. There were a few times I thought they could be louder, but all in all I thought the crowd was good.

 

[youflog1hawk]

My two negitives:
1 not enough shots of cheerleaders.
2 fran was able to avoid a technical foul. (Now we won't be able to complain about his rash temperament) darn!

 

[HoustonREDHawk]

My two negitives:
1 not enough shots of cheerleaders.
2 fran was able to avoid a technical foul. (Now we won't be able to complain aout his rash temperament) darn!

Considering we just beat another ranked team, I think your analysis is much more on target.

 

[WAHawkeye]

1. Inconsistent from the line.
2. Inbounding the ball under the opponent's basket.

 

[SSG T]

Our crowd was bad today. Same as usual I guess.

Mike said it was the best home environment in his 4 years. That is both good and bad.

 

[TKingpin]

Yeah, in-bounding against the other team's full-court press is a WAY bigger problem IMHO. Man, we don't do well with that. Other teams are bound to pick up on that in future games, I am betting. We just run around without setting a pick for each other ...? WTF? Crazy. Set a pick to get a guard open. Then when the double team goes after the guard the screen-setter should be open.

I am sure Fran was infinitely more ticked off about those wide-open 3s we gave up off of the in-bounds on defense than our lack of execution at the end of the half. No one even tried to flash out on the guys. Someone had a serious mental lapse on those. My 10-year old even screamed, "oh no!" when they got the ball that wide-open. Easy 3 points. TV did not show Fran's reaction, and since my son was watching ... that was probably a good choice by the production crew.

 

[WORTHYWISH]

Mike said it was the best home environment in his 4 years. That is both good and bad.

Yes, they were loud at times and very very quiet a majority of the time.

 

[cleotishaywood]

When Fran gets done filtering through this post, he will address all these issues at the next practice.

 

[iowaguy88]

Yeah, in-bounding against the other team's full-court press is a WAY bigger problem IMHO. Man, we don't do well with that. Other teams are bound to pick up on that in future games, I am betting. We just run around without setting a pick for each other ...? WTF? Crazy. Set a pick to get a guard open. Then when the double team goes after the guard the screen-setter should be open.

I am sure Fran was infinitely more ticked off about those wide-open 3s we gave up off of the in-bounds on defense than our lack of execution at the end of the half. No one even tried to flash out on the guys. Someone had a serious mental lapse on those. My 10-year old even screamed, "oh no!" when they got the ball that wide-open. Easy 3 points. TV did not show Fran's reaction, and since my son was watching ... that was probably a good choice by the production crew.

This. It's hard to find many negatives when you're ranked #3. We would have for sure beaten ISU if we could inbound the ball and may be ranked #1 right now.

MG and Clemmons just run around and try to get open, there are no screens or anything to get them open and our other two players don't move from mid court when the inbound passer is having trouble. We either need a better design or inbound the ball much quicker so teams don't have a chance to set up a full court press.
Seems really nit picky, but we could lose a game in March because of this. We lost to ISU because of this, and yesterday showed we're still not any better at handling a full court press.

 

[NashvilleHawk]

First team in a long time, where it feels like we actually have a 3-point defense.

 

[HoustonREDHawk]

Uthoff was out of the game. That double stack on the block has been a very effective play and we've seen several different designs from that set but most are either too free uthoff or jok. Purdue massively overplayed it and then got away with a foul on woody's slip to the rim. I like the set and I like Mike triggering but if Mike is the one taking the shot something went very wrong because it's not at all a play for him.

This is a good observation broth87, and a very good example of why Gesell often gets left holding the bag, when something doesn't work. I think he actually made a good, but risky pass to Woody, but the zebras decided not to call the contact that kept Woody from having a likely layup. Fran certainly wasn't happy with the no call, and was letting the officials know about it.

It has gotten better in the last few games, but I still don't like the way Iowa milks the clock with leads. Fran basically has Gesell dribbling out front with absolutely no movement by the other four until there are less than 10 sec left on the clock. If the end of clock movement by the other players doesn't work immediately, Mike is usually left with an off balance outside shot or a contested drive to the basket. That is not Mike's strength, but it really isn't his choice.

 

[StatisticsLie]

Love how the people who watch on TV remark about the crowd... As someone who was actually there and going by quotes from MG and Jok, the crowd was good. Can't help you if you are too poor to get a sound system in the house to actually hear the crowd but it got loud. Were there quiet moments? Of course, we played lackluster ball for a while and that doesn't get crowds going. When Jok and MG are saying it was a great crowd and the loudest they've heard, you obviously need better speakers.

 

[mazda1]

Since we're now the #3 team in the land with just a little help from the message boards we can get to where most of all Hawk internet fans saw us at the start of the year.....all alone at #1.

Since that illustrates just how ridiculous this conversation is I'm one who would like to see JU come get the ball with about 12 seconds left and trust him to find the open man when he's doubled. If he has to put something up I'd guess he's going to be able to create a half decent look and/or make an NBA type shot.