Whether by necessity or by design, Coach Fran played 10-12 players consistently throughout the season. Early on, it was just a way to see what combinations of players worked or who was playing well against a certain team on a particular night. The upshot is, the Hawks developed an unbelievablel amount of depth. Towards the end of the season, we were seeing substitutions where there was usually little or no drop off when players came off the bench. With the exception of a few players, everyone made solid contributions. This playing experience for a young team is going to pay off big time in the next couple of years in terms of depth, conditioning and an effort to play all-out "Fran-Ball".
Compare Iowa's rotation to a team like Minnesota. In the Gopher's loss to Michigan in the B1G Tourney, two Gopher starters played the entire 40 minutes and another played 39. That's fine until you have an injury or a guy's having an off night, and then you get beat.
Compare Iowa's rotation to a team like Minnesota. In the Gopher's loss to Michigan in the B1G Tourney, two Gopher starters played the entire 40 minutes and another played 39. That's fine until you have an injury or a guy's having an off night, and then you get beat.
