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22-8 and breaking down remaining schedule

When you beat a bunch of cupcakes it gives you false hope.

I still think we can get 17 wins if we hold serve at home against the leagues worst teams.
ALRIGHT!!! A big 17 win season!!! Woohoo!!! This program has been and remains garbage.
 

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We really need a win against Utah State, which is a pretty decent team, to restore our confidence, both the players and the fans.
 
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The loss at ISU was shocking. It was surprising how fast the Cyclones put together a good team and how bad the Hawkeyes looked in that game. A win needed badly tonight.
 
I am not sure how the rest of the season will unfold, but I like the team we saw last night pushing the ball and tempo vs. the half-court offense. Granted, Utah State isn't on par with the top half of the B1G, but Iowa looks more comfortable in scramble situations and creates some match-up problems given their versatility.

Iowa's d really had Utah State confused after they figured out how to stop the screen and roll and guard the 3.
 
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We need to win the next 2 cupcakes and then somehow get to 10-10 in the conference. If we can do that, we will make the NCAA's. Our resume is very poor so I don't think a losing record in conference will get us into the NCAA's. Can we get 10 wins out of Minnesota, Rutgers, Nebby, PSU, Wisky, Northwestern and Maryland?
 
We need to win the next 2 cupcakes and then somehow get to 10-10 in the conference. If we can do that, we will make the NCAA's. Our resume is very poor so I don't think a losing record in conference will get us into the NCAA's. Can we get 10 wins out of Minnesota, Rutgers, Nebby, PSU, Wisky, Northwestern and Maryland?
Agree, probably need to go .500 in the league. Noncon with too many really, really bad teams. B1G is not bad at the top, but unremarkable in the middle of the league.
 
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Agree, probably need to go .500 in the league. Noncon with too many really, really bad teams. B1G is not bad at the top, but unremarkable in the middle of the league.
I agree, I think 10-10 would be huge. That would get us 20 wins. It’s just how many of those wins would be resume builders? I think we can knock off a MSU or OSU at home but can we consistently beat a RU or NU on the road.
 
So far things are going as i predicted.

big game Monday against Maryland. Need a win badly.
I think the next 6 games are the opportunity to gain traction. I believe we need 5 of the next 6 to end up being a 500 or better conference team. This is where we start to see if Keegan is really ready for the NBA or not in my opinion. Can’t have isu type games in this stretch.
 
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The easier schedule has prepared this team for the B1G challenge. I believe they are ready. Teams like Utah St and Western Illinois presented enough of a challenge to push this team to play hard and bear down when they need to. Fran will likely shorten the rotation now and those subs will have confidence and will be ready to play their roles. I am looking forward to it.
 
The easier schedule has prepared this team for the B1G challenge. I believe they are ready. Teams like Utah St and Western Illinois presented enough of a challenge to push this team to play hard and bear down when they need to. Fran will likely shorten the rotation now and those subs will have confidence and will be ready to play their roles. I am looking forward to it.
We'll see if shortening the rotation is a good thing. It could be depending on how Fran does it, but I don't have high hopes. If shortening the rotation means even less Perkins, Kris and either or Joe/Ulis them it's going to be a long big ten season.
 
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The easier schedule has prepared this team for the B1G challenge. I believe they are ready. Teams like Utah St and Western Illinois presented enough of a challenge to push this team to play hard and bear down when they need to. Fran will likely shorten the rotation now and those subs will have confidence and will be ready to play their roles. I am looking forward to it.
When it comes to shortening the rotation.....what are your thoughts on where Sandfort fits in that rotation...and does Connor's apparent aggravation of his ankle affect PS's minutes?

I have been impressed with PS...more so for his all around game and defense than I thought I would be. He seems better and more ready to go than I anticipated. I guess at this point I think his limited minutes have just been due to a numbers issue....and IF Connor is sidelined, maybe PS gets some of those minutes. He and Perkins would be my guess to fill those shoes.
 
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I suspect the rotation we are employing now, excluding the guys that get in at the end of blowouts, is the one McCaffery will be using all along, barring injuries or fouls. I don't see Sandfort, Perkins, or Ulis sitting entire games. In fact, if Ogundele gets healthy, he might even see some floor time in certain situations. That makes eleven including Connor. McCaffery has continually expressed confidence in all of them and I expect all of them to play. How much is uncertain and will be determined by the game situation.
 
When it comes to shortening the rotation.....what are your thoughts on where Sandfort fits in that rotation...and does Connor's apparent aggravation of his ankle affect PS's minutes?

I have been impressed with PS...more so for his all around game and defense than I thought I would be. He seems better and more ready to go than I anticipated. I guess at this point I think his limited minutes have just been due to a numbers issue....and IF Connor is sidelined, maybe PS gets some of those minutes. He and Perkins would be my guess to fill those shoes.
I think Coach has been grooming Sandfort to have a bigger role. He had some jitters vs Purdue and Illinois which affected his accuracy. He has been playing with much more confidence lately and I think Fran sees him as that reliable scorer off the bench. If he continues to impress he is going to play a lot of minutes. If healthy I think JBo and Connor get a lot of the "crunch time" minutes because coach simply trusts them.
 
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I suspect the rotation we are employing now, excluding the guys that get in at the end of blowouts, is the one McCaffery will be using all along, barring injuries or fouls. I don't see Sandfort, Perkins, or Ulis sitting entire games. In fact, if Ogundele gets healthy, he might even see some floor time in certain situations. That makes eleven including Connor. McCaffery has continually expressed confidence in all of them and I expect all of them to play. How much is uncertain and will be determined by the game situation.
If Perkins and Ulis (and to some degree Sandfort, due to his ability to shoot over people) are not logging at least moderate minutes (e.g. 15-18 per game), we are in trouble.
 
I think Coach has been grooming Sandfort to have a bigger role. He had some jitters vs Purdue and Illinois which affected his accuracy. He has been playing with much more confidence lately and I think Fran sees him as that reliable scorer off the bench. If he continues to impress he is going to play a lot of minutes. If healthy I think JBo and Connor get a lot of the "crunch time" minutes because coach simply trusts them.
I have loved watching him block a couple of outside shots.....he also appears to be a decent defender.
 
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I think McCaffery view Sandfort primarily as a shooter. In the most recent games that he didn't play double digit minutes, he went 0 for 9 (0-6 from three) from the floor. To be fair, I think he needs to apply the same standards to JBo.
 
https://barttorvik.com/conf.php?conf=B10

Skimmed this thread to see if this had already been posted, but this page has some strength of schedule calculations for each B1G team.

As of right now, Iowa is calculated to have the easiest remaining B1G schedule. Our conference SOS is rated 12th overall once you factor in the first two teams we played.
Add to that the Big 10 does not appear to be as good as it has been the last few years. This is the year to rebuild.
 
https://barttorvik.com/conf.php?conf=B10

Skimmed this thread to see if this had already been posted, but this page has some strength of schedule calculations for each B1G team.

As of right now, Iowa is calculated to have the easiest remaining B1G schedule. Our conference SOS is rated 12th overall once you factor in the first two teams we played.
I'll take that projected record of 21-10
 
I realize that it's likely someone else has already asked this, but is this the latest into the basketball season that the football and men's basketball teams have the same record? Some of you appear to have the time to figure out such things.
Additional fun fact: WBB is 6-3 with four cancelled/postponed games in which they would have been favored.
 
https://barttorvik.com/conf.php?conf=B10

Skimmed this thread to see if this had already been posted, but this page has some strength of schedule calculations for each B1G team.

As of right now, Iowa is calculated to have the easiest remaining B1G schedule. Our conference SOS is rated 12th overall once you factor in the first two teams we played.
Hard to believe. We play the three conference favorites, Michigan, Illinois and Purdue, and the current media darling, Minnesota, twice. Plus we play Wisconsin, Ohio St. and Rutgers in our one meeting on their floors. Even if you discount the fact that we already played the two favorites once, it's still a pretty daunting remaining schedule.
 
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I'll take that projected record of 21-10
I hope they can get to that. I’ll put myself on record as saying that 10-10 in conference play will put them at severe risk of missing the tournament.

Coaches talk about focusing on what they control. Well you can’t control the conference schedule, but you can control the non con. Fran’s scheduling has put Iowa in a position where they have to win 11 as projected here to feel even OK.

I will not be happy if we waste a lottery pick because we decided to play chicken. Producing NBA players and playing on the biggest stages is how you take the next step in recruiting.
 
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Hard to believe. We play the three conference favorites, Michigan, Illinois and Purdue, and the current media darling, Minnesota, twice. Plus we play Wisconsin, Ohio St. and Rutgers in our one meeting on their floors. Even if you discount the fact that we already played the two favorites once, it's still a pretty daunting remaining schedule.
And people still worry about our strength of schedule. Michigan is struggling this year and I’m never sold on Minnesota. I think the game at Wisconsin is a big chance for us to steal a win. Hopefully JBo has one more trick in his hat.
 
It'd be a nice win but I wouldn't call it a must win....
I pretty much agree with this.....it is not a MUST WIN at this point....it is important. It would be a good measure of where we are at....but technically I would not consider it a must win so much as I would call in an important win if we can get it.
 
I pretty much agree with this.....it is not a MUST WIN at this point....it is important. It would be a good measure of where we are at....but technically I would not consider it a must win so much as I would call in an important win if we can get it.

Starting 0-2 in Big 10 on our home court. It's not acceptable!
 
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Hard to believe. We play the three conference favorites, Michigan, Illinois and Purdue, and the current media darling, Minnesota, twice. Plus we play Wisconsin, Ohio St. and Rutgers in our one meeting on their floors. Even if you discount the fact that we already played the two favorites once, it's still a pretty daunting remaining schedule.
The conference games, outside of Nebraska, are all difficult. But the mere fact that Iowa has already played Purdue and Illinois means the remaining schedule will be "easier." It's all relative of course, as even Iowa's schedule is not easy. It's just less difficult going forward than playing at Purdue and Illinois at home.

If I'm mapping out a way for Iowa to get to 10-10 in conference, here's how it would go:

Win the home games against Maryland, Indiana, PSU, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern. Barttorvik has Iowa at least 62% chance to win in all those games (Indiana being the lowest confidence game.
Beyond that, find a way to win 1-2 of the home games against Michigan, Purdue, Michigan State. Torvik has Iowa a slight favorite in 2 of them, but they are basically tossups.
Have to win at Nebraska. Beyond that, a number of the road games Iowa is either a slight favorite or underdog (Wisconsin, Rutgers, Minnesota, Penn State, Maryland).
Then there are a few road games where Iowa is a decided underdog (Illinois, Michigan, Ohio State). Winning any of them would be gravy.

So win the 6 home games where Iowa is a decided favorite.
Win at Nebraska.
Then a number of toss-up type games (I count 8 of them). If Iowa can win 4 of those or more, they are in very good shape.
 
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