Big 10 season viewing-self preparation

[Jumpshot00]

I've watched Hawkeye basketball a long time. It tends to be the sport/team that stresses me out the most of all the teams I follow. As many posters have commented on- lots of things to like about the team, but a roller coaster season is very possible with all the youth. 8-10 wins is a realistic expectation in conference, and there is also the possibility of exceeding it and getting to 11-12 wins. I also realize a key injury or two and/or some bad luck could make it a 4/5 win team. So in my attempt to lower anxiety and simply enjoy the season I am trying to anticipate all the things that might make me drink more, throw things, swear, or turn off the game. I know they may be coming and I want get ready to deal with them.
J. Bohannon - Like a lot of things about him, but I can see a high turnover number. He seems to like to try to thread the needle a little too often and sometimes you can see he is going to make a pass that isn't there but he forces it. This is what you get with a freshman so I have to know its coming.
Jok- he is going to miss a ton of shots. Mostly because he is going to take a ton. I love watching him shoot and I think when it is all said and done Hawkeye fans will remember him to be the best shooter/scorer they have seen, but on any given night he could score 15 points in 5 minutes, or end up 3-19.
Wagner- Love his strength and athletic ability, but I know he i going to miss too many point blank shots. He will be close, but what we have seen so far there may be more misses that we would like.
Pemsl-You can throw Wagner and probably Cook in this category. Missing Free Throws. They will all likely get to the line a lot and not convert. I hope I am wrong, but I am simply preparing myself to be satisfied with hitting 1 out of 2.
Baer/Fran's rotations- Baer isn't great at any one thing in particular, but playing hard all the time makes him and exciting and productive player. He will get lots of minutes, which leads me to my real issue-Fran's combinations. On this team the 11th/12th guys are probably as good and work as hard and "deserve/earn" minutes as much as maybe the 7th/8th guys. I hope this doesn't lead to Fran playing all sorts of different combinations where it hurts things like offensive flow and defensive communication. I can see a line-up that includes Williams, Ellingson, Baer, Wager and whoever else on the court and just getting in a stretch of no offense. Each of these guys can be productive but sometimes Fran's combos leave me wondering what he is thinking.

Anyway, I am ready for the conference season and am doing my best to mentally prepare.

 

[DanL53]

I'll add a few consternations that may cause me grief, some that I know I'll be screaming about all season.

Jok) I'm already tired of watching Big Ten coaches tell their guys to play Whack-A-Jok and the season hasn't even started. The grabbing, holding, bumping thing is supposed to be something the refs are calling this year. Which only means they promised something that again they won't deliver. I worry more because Jok is not entirely indestructible, in fact far from it, and as you say if he goes down so does the season.

Freshmen get no love) Speaking of officials, it's been my observation over the years that players get the close calls often based on some secret seniority system. Not a good thing considering how many young guys we will play.

Freshmen in general) Down year, and pretty light schedule, all great for a young group but I guarantee our young guys are about to see something they never knew would be so hard. Can they handle a whole season? Single game troubles, a few more turnovers, I can handle. But I am concerned that the "freshman wall" could be very real for us.

Those are my biggies, and two we can't do much about. But I still believe that if things go right we can reach that 11-7 season I want so much, even the 12-6 season LovedwatchingLester has envisioned. No reason to hope not. It's like asking the prettiest girl out on a date...all she can say is yes or no, what does it hurt to try?

 

[Jumpshot00]

Good points DanL. Based on that I guess I better add that if Fran feels his players are being disrespected by officials we should all prepare for Coach Sperew or Coach Dillard coaching a game or two.

 

[ZumaHawk]

So far there are some good concerns from you guys. The one that absolutely bugs me is when we get the ball on an out of bounds play under the hoop and JoBo takes it out of bounds down there. Sometimes he gets completely smothered and struggles.......as did Gesell last season.

 

[hawksense]

I don't want Pete to go down. He is our most valued player. I also feel that this group wouldn't fold the tents if he did go down. We possess the depth to overcome, partially, a loss of that magnitude. Example: we lost Cook.

Some of our shortcomings are built-in, as has been referred. We get no love from the refs, although perhaps at home. Higher profile freshies at certain schools will get more of a pass. Get used to it. We're Iowa. Jok will get abused, so someone is going to have to provide cover fire. JorBo or Cook or Moss. Someone lying in the weeds.

It's why I say 8 wins. People get tired of our conspiracy theories about being a Hawk fan, until they've been one for 30 years. We've seen it all. Even as far as broadcasting games on the B1G network, of which we are a part.

All we can do is show the league how worthy we are as a team with our effort and future that we can't be denied. Even though we will, to a degree.