is our defense that bad or do we have bad luck? Rutgers can’t hit shots and loses to Penn State. Ohio State struggling to score at NW.
Defense or bad luck
- Thread starter ChuckBarkley
- Start date
Confidence is a wonderful thing!! Rutgers had it vs Iowa due to the ability to be more athletic and physical during the game.
Our defense is atrocious. In 42 years of following the Hawks, the last two seasons’ teams have been the worst! Iowa players play with their hands down when defending a shooter, that zone always leaves someone in one of the corners open and Fran hasn’t been able to figure out how plug the hole. In addition, opponents get into our players shorts when defending us. We don’t have the kind of athletes to do that.
OSU has one fg in the first 10 minutes of their game with NW. They scored 90 against us, ummmm.
Drives me crazy watching the Hawks play with their hands at their sides instead of in the possible passing lanes to deflect or steal a ball. Fran’s D sucks.
When a player averaging 2 ppg gets 30.........
Iowa D is sh!tty. But it's just average, garden variety sh!tty this year.
Last year was atrocious, 240+ in D efficiency rankings. Currently on kenpom they're 134. That's bad. And it's been dropping some recently. But it's clearly far ahead of last year.
Last year was atrocious, 240+ in D efficiency rankings. Currently on kenpom they're 134. That's bad. And it's been dropping some recently. But it's clearly far ahead of last year.
We are incapable of playing man to man defensive due to our lack of athleticism. We have attempted to disguise our deficiencies by sticking with zones this year, and it has worked OK at times. We still cannot defend quick perimeter players.
Imo
Teams that face Iowa know we dont defend very well and become loose
Meaning they have ultra confidence that every shot will go in
Even on our home court
Teams that face Iowa know we dont defend very well and become loose
Meaning they have ultra confidence that every shot will go in
Even on our home court
Fran doesn't know how to coach defense and the iowa hasn't been shooting for crap (other than Jbo's heroics) the last several games.
There is a reason opposing players have career games against Iowa, often times unknown players. There is a reason Iowa gives up season high scoring totals to opponents. That reason is bad defense. Although greatly improved, we are still last in the B10, the worst P5 team in the country, and getting worse as the season progresses. I wish it wasn't so, but it is.
It looks like Iowa will be the only at large team with an AdjD of 100+. So the defense is bad relative to other good teams.
One thing is certain though. Wisky has multiple threats from deep and Happ will not foul out tomorrow as opposed to our first meeting with them. Shut it down on the perimeter and move on defense and who knows? If our shooting picks up, well, we may be able to hang with them.
Watch the top shooter on a girls 5a b-ball team. They will stand there and drain 3’s all day long in warm-ups.
Watch Iowa’s defense. They have an astounding number of shots where there is no defender is within 6 feet when the shot is started. See the connection.
Some people mistake running past the shooter after he has shot the ball as trying hard on defense. It’s not.
After 2 years of teams constantly breaking season scoring records, it’s mind-boggling people still believe it’s bad luck.
That doesn’t even take into account the confidence teams get after numerous dunks, layups and uncontested shots to compound the problem.
Frankly, this team just has a lot of poor defenders and below avg athletes. Not a lot Fran can do. We just need to hope the offense gets rolling again. Despite the defense, this team can do good things.
Watch Iowa’s defense. They have an astounding number of shots where there is no defender is within 6 feet when the shot is started. See the connection.
Some people mistake running past the shooter after he has shot the ball as trying hard on defense. It’s not.
After 2 years of teams constantly breaking season scoring records, it’s mind-boggling people still believe it’s bad luck.
That doesn’t even take into account the confidence teams get after numerous dunks, layups and uncontested shots to compound the problem.
Frankly, this team just has a lot of poor defenders and below avg athletes. Not a lot Fran can do. We just need to hope the offense gets rolling again. Despite the defense, this team can do good things.
I don't think it's solely a lack of athleticism, based on finally getting to watch a full game against Rutgers..........
Whoever posted this earlier deserves the credit, but this is what Iowa's sucky defense looks like against teams with the shot clock running down.......
Ahrens from OSU has scored 16 total points in the 4 games since Iowa. Harper Jr. for Rutgers will never score 27 again (unless against Iowa) but it's bad luck? Iowa is a fundamentally bad defensive team there can be 0 debate about that at this point. Time and time again Iowa can't do simple things like identify shooters and get where they need to be in rotations. When does the "commitment to defense" Fran talked about incessantly after last season kick in?
Iowa is like 134 and the next closest is Illinois at like 50 something. Iowa is damn near 60-70 lower than the next team. That’s your answer and our lack of athletes doesn’t help.
Bad defense. Luck is a last second 3 pointer glancing of the high corner of the backboard and going in.
We were unlucky to have Kaleb Wesson suspended after the Iowa game. Without Wesson, OSU is the worst team in the B1G, and Iowa would not have had to focus on defending the middle as much.
BUT, Iowa does not play good defense. It is better than last year, but we still don't know how to take opposing players out of their rhythm and keep them from getting shots from their favorite spots. Fran changes defenses fairly well, but guys need to get after it, especially if we are playing man defenses.
BUT, Iowa does not play good defense. It is better than last year, but we still don't know how to take opposing players out of their rhythm and keep them from getting shots from their favorite spots. Fran changes defenses fairly well, but guys need to get after it, especially if we are playing man defenses.
So where was the sage coaching from our veteran staff to say "Hey somebody guard that kid". I agree it was a fluke but it's not like it was Carson Edwards that torched the D. I would think somebody wearing an Iowa jersey can D up on a freshman role player. Also think it was telling that Harper was talking all the smack after the Iowa win yet he made good on his "revenge" promise in IC. Pride seems lost on this team.
Rutgers didn't make a shot until 4:42 had already passed in the first half, OSU missed their first 7 3s and didn't make one until 8 minutes had passed in the game. Both those teams got off to horrible shooting starts and Iowa didn't take advantage of it.
A good defense is an attitude that makes it difficult
for the other team to score. Our Hawks need to be
aware of not leaving opponents open shots and
must keep their hands and feet moving. Defense
must be something the players take pride in and
try to shut the other team down.
for the other team to score. Our Hawks need to be
aware of not leaving opponents open shots and
must keep their hands and feet moving. Defense
must be something the players take pride in and
try to shut the other team down.
It ends up being a combination of both. It's easy to be confident and hit outside shots when you have made layups and dunks. Part of defense is making the opponent uncomfortable and shoot shots under pressure. Iowa just doesn't do that. Teams are free and easy when playing against Iowa. When so many teams have their best success of the year against Iowa, it's not an accident.
Confidence also builds into also. Both Rutgers and OSU had some possessions where they did hit tough shots as the shot clock was ticking down when Iowa did play good defense. Stuff like that can just build/destroy confidence as well.
It's not that Iowa can't play good defense. They actually have on several occasions for entire games and during stretches of games. It's that they can't sustain that, and then it just becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
It's not that Iowa can't play good defense. They actually have on several occasions for entire games and during stretches of games. It's that they can't sustain that, and then it just becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
I think the Iowa offense is somewhat to blame. Much like these spread no-huddle offenses in football, Iowa wants to play fast, we get the ball back down the court after an opponent make pretty fast, sometimes we try to set up a play and run motion offense, sometimes we just take the first half-way good look we get without even probing inside. My point is, one way to play defense is to run a methodical offense, use the shot clock, make the other team work on the defensive end. We're comfortable playing at a FRANatic pace, but that's going to naturally open up looks for easy baskets for both teams.
There's multiple factors that go into play into Iowa's defensive numbers. But to me when you play fast, and you're not scoring, missing open looks, missing front ends of one-and-one's, turning the ball over, etc, you're asking ALOT of the defense to make stop after stop.
There's multiple factors that go into play into Iowa's defensive numbers. But to me when you play fast, and you're not scoring, missing open looks, missing front ends of one-and-one's, turning the ball over, etc, you're asking ALOT of the defense to make stop after stop.
Our opponent 3% is actually not that bad. We're 6th in the conference at .323.
Contrary to conventional wisdom, I think our problem is the bigs. Cook and Garza are both offensive minded bigs. Both can be huge liabilities on defense. Both let guards blow right past them and neither is a rim protector. They average .6 and .5 blocks per game respectively. Not great numbers. Baer doubles them at 1.1 blocks.
Our poor interior defense forces our guards to come into the paint to help. This allows easy corner kickouts for wide open shots
Contrary to conventional wisdom, I think our problem is the bigs. Cook and Garza are both offensive minded bigs. Both can be huge liabilities on defense. Both let guards blow right past them and neither is a rim protector. They average .6 and .5 blocks per game respectively. Not great numbers. Baer doubles them at 1.1 blocks.
Our poor interior defense forces our guards to come into the paint to help. This allows easy corner kickouts for wide open shots
I'm with you on almost all of this. But Iowa is not the worst P5 defensive team. I think that dishonor goes to cal of the powerful pac 12. They are currently at 321 for adjusted D on kenpom. That even significantly surpasses Iowa's ineptitude of last year.
It's a combination. Individually Iowa lacks good defenders. Of the 8-9 guys who play in the rotation, I would call only Baer for certain, and perhaps Dailey and Wieskamp, above-average defenders. Kriener has moments, but fouls way too much the more minutes he plays.
Iowa has moments when they defend okay to good as a team, but they have to do everything right and with a lot of effort to do so. Keeping that up for 40 minutes proves difficult. Making the NCAA tournament this year is a bounce back. If Iowa wants to be more than that as a program, they will have to defend better. This year is an improvement over last year, but the defense has gone from historically bad to merely worst in the conference.
Pace is a factor, if only by how Iowa plays they end up opening up the game a bit for the opponent. Iowa has the second-most possessions per game in the league (only Illinois has more). If you look at the teams with the most possessions per game in college hoops, it's dominated by teams from the the MEAC, SWAC, ASun, etc. North Carolina is the only power team in the top 10 in pace and UNC has historically played very fast. That is for good reason. When you have better players than 99% of your opponents, it is in your best interest to have more possessions. Duke is 15th in pace, also makes sense.
It's a philosophical discussion, and historically Iowa fans have fond memories of playing fast and pressing all the time from the Davis years. The modern game has changed. Teams have more than 1-2 ball-handlers on the floor. If you don't have great athletes and far superior athletes to your opponent, pressing is not a good idea. I applaud Fran for how he uses his 3/4 court pressure. He wants turnovers, but generally he's not doing it to speed the game up, he's doing it to slow down the opponent and help his half-court defense. When it works, the opponent is taking 7-9 seconds to get across half-court, then if Iowa can defend the first 2 options in zone defense, now the offense is under 10 seconds on the shot clock and in a position where they are forcing up a shot.
If that's the case when do we get our luck? These one point wins against teams we ought to beat by 10+ points is sad. A win yes but a sad one.
We have one of the worst defense in D1 basketball. I love JB but he's also one of the worst defensive point guards I've ever seen. Just fact.
He's a great shooter who is at an athletic deficit relative to the guy he's playing against nearly all the time.
Iowa's defense is that bad. I made the point a several games ago. Iowa does not make anybody uncomfortable. Everybody knows 5 minutes or so into the game that just by playing solid, not forcing anything, rhythm jumpers are a guarantee, and for guys with playmaking skills, there is no fear of attacking the basket.
It always seems like Iowa is a slump-buster for players/teams struggling shooting the ball. It's because Iowa simply doesn't scare anybody. And part of it is almost every possession somebody on Iowa relaxes, if not at some point defensively, then at the end of the possession in regards to rebounding. All you have to do is run your stuff, limit turnovers, and play with effort and chances are Iowa will give you a really good shot at a W.
Conversely, it feels like Iowa has to do everything right just to get a decent look. So every shot Iowa takes feels stressed. Everything Iowa does is hard. Bohannon makes hard shots. JW, now that teams have a bunch of film, his scoring opportunities are always very well-contested. Cook can't do anything anymore. On down the roster.
That said, Nebby made everything down the stretch. Refs definitely favored their effort, which is par for the course. There is just something about Iowa under Fran. It seems like benefit of the doubt almost never goes Iowa's way. I'm not even sure it should, frankly. I can hardly remember even one game under Fran where I felt like Iowa outworked their opponent. Ever. That said, energy while they were winning was good. Body language, good. Belief in their zone was evident. Guys seemed to enjoy competing on the defensive end, led, actually, often by Cook. First half of the season Cook seemed determined to be a good-to-great defensive player. God that seems like ages ago.
Anyways, that's what a Senior Day should be like. Guys literally fighting tooth and nail to the very end.
It always seems like Iowa is a slump-buster for players/teams struggling shooting the ball. It's because Iowa simply doesn't scare anybody. And part of it is almost every possession somebody on Iowa relaxes, if not at some point defensively, then at the end of the possession in regards to rebounding. All you have to do is run your stuff, limit turnovers, and play with effort and chances are Iowa will give you a really good shot at a W.
Conversely, it feels like Iowa has to do everything right just to get a decent look. So every shot Iowa takes feels stressed. Everything Iowa does is hard. Bohannon makes hard shots. JW, now that teams have a bunch of film, his scoring opportunities are always very well-contested. Cook can't do anything anymore. On down the roster.
That said, Nebby made everything down the stretch. Refs definitely favored their effort, which is par for the course. There is just something about Iowa under Fran. It seems like benefit of the doubt almost never goes Iowa's way. I'm not even sure it should, frankly. I can hardly remember even one game under Fran where I felt like Iowa outworked their opponent. Ever. That said, energy while they were winning was good. Body language, good. Belief in their zone was evident. Guys seemed to enjoy competing on the defensive end, led, actually, often by Cook. First half of the season Cook seemed determined to be a good-to-great defensive player. God that seems like ages ago.
Anyways, that's what a Senior Day should be like. Guys literally fighting tooth and nail to the very end.
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