And?Nearly impossible to win at Illinois the way the games are officiated there.
And?Nearly impossible to win at Illinois the way the games are officiated there.
And someone penciled that in as a loss and likely will be a loss no matter how they play.And?
Not necessarily so. I'm in my '70's and I stopped paying attention to him long ago.It's amazing to me that anyone pays any attention to Lunardi.
Is it the 50+ crowd?
That’s a brutal away schedule. How did we get 4 home and 8 away quad 1 games! (Big, I know). People complaining about our pre conference schedule are clueless.
I know he’s been banged up but I sure thought Tadjo would be part of the rotation. On the other hand, in the one game he’s played in he got 4 fouls in 5 minutes, so maybe he needs more work than thought.I will eat some crow on Mulvey. Was fairly critical last few years. He has improved and seems to be a savvy, efficient big. He deserves some minutes over Brauns and Dembele.
We should also lean into Tadjo too, way more upside.
Personally, I think Iowa gets in, comfortably.
I still think they get in, but a little less comfortable now due to the injury bug that’s hit us this year.I don't know about comfortably, I want to see how Sandfort progresses from his injury, but I think Iowa will be in.
Isn’t that largely a function of away games carrying more Quad weight? We have 9 home games that are Q2/Q3/Q4.
I kind of expected them to be near the bottom of the B1G. They still might, but the additions of Thelwell and Traore have been positive, particularly on the defensive side of things. Having Dembele in the starting lineup needs to change. I think Fran kind of agrees in principle seeing as how his minutes are trending down while Thelwell's are trending up. Hopefully that continues. A healthy Traore should back up Peyton/Dembele and Mulvey should back up Freeman. I think if Fran does these things then Iowa can have a decent season. Sandfort Jr and Braun should not be consuming minutes from Traore and Mulvey.I thought this team would be much further along than they are returning Dix, Freeman and Sandfort. A buzzer beater at home over NW and again getting clobbered on the boards doesn’t give a lot of hope. We need Traore back quickly but this team desperately needs some athleticism on the front line.
I've said this before but it bears repeating. Bracketologists are like weather men. They can be wrong right up to the moment when they get things right. Bragging about how accurate they are is a joke. Most anyone that truly follows the sport can pretty much predict who should be in and can ballpark their seed.Lunardi is a dope.
I really can't believe this dude still has a gig doing this.
"Plus, saying we're going to "surprise the country" means we're going to be a top 20 type team." Where did you get this idea? I can find nowhere else on the internet where the phrase "surprise the country" as it relates to basketball means a top 20 finish. This is literally your perception of its meaning and is being used as a cudgel because you disagree with another posters position. Words have meaning and the meaning you attribute to these words is completely subjective and unsupported by rational thought. Heck it could mean they beat Iowa State by 30. Just saying.Is last year "awhile" or is finishing 7th in a 14 team league and missing the tourney your idea of "consistently overachieving"?
If you're projected 9th and finish 7th and miss the tourney (MSU was seeded 8th in the B1G tourney but made the NCAA), is that really overachieving in your mind? Really?
I mean ...Fran has averaged a 7th place finish in this league over the course of his career. I guess the good news is that now he only has to finish 9th in order to be considered "overachieving."
So he's got that going for him .... which is nice.
Plus, saying we're going to "surprise the country" means we're going to be a top 20 type team. It's one thing to claim you're going to finish 9th instead of 16th in the B1G, and quite another to claim you're going to be a NCAA 5 seed or better. That second claim needs a little more factual support than, "trust me, bro."
He could go nowhere else in P4 and start. In fact I'm not sure he'd play at all at this point.I think McCaffery sees something in Dembele that he just really hasn't displayed during the games. He seems very hesitant to take shots and he just hasn't been effective on the boards. You have to wonder how much longer he will start. In fact, I don't usually make these predictions, but I wouldn't be surprised if Dembele enters the portal at the end of the year.
It is what it is. Seems a lot to me:
“Quad 1” wins are the headliners on any resume. The quadrant includes home games against teams in the top 30 of NET, neutral-site games against the top 50 and road games against the top 75.
Just gotta get healthy.
* Dix seems back after his wrist issue
* Payton (wrist) still does not look right
* Traore (ankle) & Koch (undisclosed)--we sure could use them
Many of the shots have not been bad choices. The injury can be influencing his decision making however, if he’s trying to be impactful in other ways if he doesn’t feel good about his shot that day.I really don't think Payton's issue is his wrist. He's forcing things and making bad decisions.
I think Fran is just hoping the light switches on for Dembele.As long as Fran starts Dembele and plays him starter minutes and then subs in Even Brauns to give Freeman breaks, Iowa is going to remain outside any list that includes teams that have a chance to make the NCAA tournament and I'm not even sure that Freeman, Harding, Dix, or Payton can make up for Iowa's lack of rebounding or Frans insane substitution patterns.
Fran is already moving away from him. He's averaged 15 mins over the last 3 games. Changing starting lineups is anathema to him. I think he prints out a whole season's worth and doesn't want to waste the paper. That's why Dembele is still there.I think Fran is just hoping the light switches on for Dembele.
Physically he looks the part. 6-8 255. Nobody else on the roster is built like that. He's frustrating to watch no doubt. Plays soft and tentative...
Maybe if the light doesn't turn on in the next couple weeks Fran moves away from him.
I just think he wants to give his "up side" as much of a chance as possible.
When Traore is healthy he takes Dembele's minutes if that light doesn't switch on.
I mean, there’s several examples of Fran changing his starting lineup. Just last year with Dix and Freeman for example.Fran is already moving away from him. He's averaged 15 mins over the last 3 games. Changing starting lineups is anathema to him. I think he prints out a whole season's worth and doesn't want to waste the paper. That's why Dembele is still there.
Fair. I just think he's giving Dembele a extremely long leash because he's a guy with obvious upside and like I said, nobody else on the roster has that frame.Fran is already moving away from him. He's averaged 15 mins over the last 3 games. Changing starting lineups is anathema to him. I think he prints out a whole season's worth and doesn't want to waste the paper. That's why Dembele is still there.
I don't like Traore at the 3 vs the 4, but the difference is minimal. The beneficiary of Dembele's reduced minutes so far has been Thelwell who had seen a commensurate rise as Fran has utilized the 3 guard lineup that I hope continues to be utilized more and more. Iowa needs rebound and defensive help down low and Traore is better than Pryce at that so I'd have him backing up Payton/Dix down there.I mean, there’s several examples of Fran changing his starting lineup. Just last year with Dix and Freeman for example.
At the moment as you said Dembele isn’t getting starter minutes. I think if/when Traore gets healthy he’s possibly on track to supplant him, or possibly Pryce would be a better option at the 4 - imo Traore might be a better fit at the 3.
Many of the shots have not been bad choices. The injury can be influencing his decision making however, if he’s trying to be impactful in other ways if he doesn’t feel good about his shot that day.
I think he’s a lot more squared up with most of his shots than you think. He’s got an extremely quick release.He chucks up shots without getting squared up lots of times early in the shot clock. Not great decisions from a senior.
Another reason why at least getting a split to start with the NW win while we’re down 2 key reserves was big.We better get healthy to be included in that 20