All it takes in March Madness is for the super star to have just one off shooting outing and the run ends.
Achilles Heel for both men and women
- Thread starter texas twister
- Start date
Welcome to basketball. If Giannis has an off-night the Bucks are likely not going to succeed. Repeat for almost every good basketball team out there. Some of the blue bloods may have really good secondary options, but they still struggle if their star has a bad night/goes down with injury.
Pro ball is not a good example. The play-offs are not 1 and done. Yes, even the blue bloods have problems, just much less of a problem because of the overall level of talent. Iowa's men and women are very dependant upon one player.
The point is that basketball at almost every level is star-oriented. Teams very rarely win titles without stars. I'm glad each of the men and women's teams have one.
The true Achilles Heel is they both just can’t defend at a high enough level to make a serious postseason run in the NCAA. They don’t crowd the space of their opponents often enough. I think there is a foot speed issue on both rosters.
Agree with Bearhawk. The physicality and athleticism other teams possess at 2-3 positions is vastly superior to Iowa's and that is enough to tip the scale. TCU physically dominated Iowa on both ends. It wasn't due to lack of effort, just bigger, stronger, faster players on the TCU roster.
Teams like TCU are a terrible match up problem for us. Just being a realist.
Agree. Unfortunately Iowa will have to beat a TCU type roster to make the Sweet 16. Somehow Purdue and Wisconsin can play the more physical teams and fare much better than Iowa. It is puzzling to me why Fran's teams always talk about having a chip on their shoulders but seldom play like it. Outside of Ulis, Perkins, and Bowen, the rest of the team looked intimidated from the opening tip.
Agreed. I noticed this immediately, in the first few minutes. Our players were just overwhelmed physically. I also noticed that Iowa got back into the game with a quicker lineup - when Ulis and Bowen were in the game. Thought we needed that lineup out there more than it was.
Nothing but respect for how hard Rebraca plays but it's on Fran for not developing this kid to be more productive. It's great that Rebraca bulked up but he didn't get taller and gives up too much size in the post as we saw against TCU. He needs to catch it and make his move or kick it back out. His three ball fakes and 360 degree pivots won't work against decent teams. I hoped he would develop a step back 6-10 foot shot but that does not appear to be in the arsenal and his FT shooting remains suspect.
My point is that Rebraca is going to get abused in the post and will be on the bench with 2 fouls if Fran continues to play him at the 5. The 4 spot isn't much better as whoever Fran slots in there is going to be overmatched physically. Fran has 10 fouls and two bigger bodies with Josh and Mulvey so let's see what they can do. Neither will get better sitting on the bench and we need both to contribute.
My point is that Rebraca is going to get abused in the post and will be on the bench with 2 fouls if Fran continues to play him at the 5. The 4 spot isn't much better as whoever Fran slots in there is going to be overmatched physically. Fran has 10 fouls and two bigger bodies with Josh and Mulvey so let's see what they can do. Neither will get better sitting on the bench and we need both to contribute.
This is Iowa sports in general - we catch a superstar or two every few years that provides a chance at something special. But, the hurdle is always the supporting cast, which is never at the level needed to compensate for the superstar being human.
Spot on, Fran can be frustrating with his lineups. Very clear that Big O should have been playing at the 5 and I would have used Rebraca at the 4. We got killed on the boards and 2nd chance points.
Watching Nunge last night against Gonzaga is the
player we are missing.
Fran didn’t replace him and we are going to get abused unless we start playing Big O and Mulvey more!
Don't disagree so much....I've been one of a few that have been behind Big O from the get-go, to give him some rope, he has skills and some very impressive summer workout highlights and a very nice stroke. He is a big fella and love what he's been doing to date this season especially in this last tourney.
That low post ditch to Kris against Clemson was as pretty of a lead ditch that I have seen all season long from anyone, let alone from a guy who is 6'10" tall and 260...the timing and the way he delivered it takes a lot of skill. The assist reminded me of a play that Trevion Williams would have made when he was at PU who was an excellent assist big. I also like how Josh defends the rim and goes straight up with the arms and big body and really had an impact when he was in there on the TCU dribble drives to the rim. He also does not back down on the low post D dig, and bigs cannot back down on him for better low post position....he is a wall with that and it works.
And Fran see this.....he is a very intelligent coach. I like how he is easing Josh into the match ups and allowing him to play to his strengths and gain confidence with each game he plays and the more PT he gets....
Point is...give these coaches and this new roster some time to figure it out. We got a long way to go but I am very optimistic about this team.....and I said this in another post. As of today, after a lot of great BB has been played against a lot of great teams for everyone......this is NO fluke we are at the top of conference in scoring.....you still have to put the ball through the hoop.
If you can't be optimistic about that stat on 11/28....then I can't help you.
Offense
Index Team G W-L PTS AVG/G
1 Iowa 36 26-10 2995 83.2
2 Purdue 37 29-8 2936 79.4
3 Illinois 33 23-10 2456 74.4
4 Nebraska 32 10-22 2345 73.3
5 Northwestern 31 15-16 2262 73.0
6 Ohio State 32 20-12 2329 72.8
7 Michigan 34 19-15 2470 72.6
8 Michigan State 36 23-13 2601 72.3
9 Maryland 32 15-17 2270 70.9
10 Indiana 35 21-14 2478 70.8
11 Wisconsin 33 25-8 2308 69.9
12 Rutgers 32 18-14 2192 68.5
13 Minnesota 30 13-17 2010 67.0
14 Penn State 31 14-17 2003 64.6
They went back to it in the second half with not near as good results. Some of this just needs to be flushed and forgotten. Some of it is more improvement needed. It's part of the process of a season for a basketball team. TCU lost to Northwestern State and beat Arkansas Pine Bluff by 1 point, so they have been trying to figure things out all season. They started to do so against Iowa.
The reality is that against teams with a pulse Iowa will need Perkins and Murray to play well. Those 2 were very good against Seton Hall and Iowa won easily. They were mixed/not that good against Clemson and Iowa had some other guys step up and Iowa won a close game. They were not good against TCU and Iowa got blasted. We can look at lineups and try to figure out what to do differently, but really it comes down to Murray and Perkins playing better. That's the deal for the best players on the team. The other guys need to figure out how to help them be effective and some of it is just them playing better. Teams are going to continue to give Perkins jumpers until he proves he can make some. Teams will continue to body Murray close to the hoop all year. I would guess he will become better finishing near the rim, he's a good player.
I'd agree with that,.. and would offer your Northwestern State loss as further support for the theory.
