Factors to watch in the Caymans

[HeRKeYHoPeFuL]

I've been getting acquainted with how Iowa's statistical profile from the first 3 games. There are certainly some things that jump out, although it could be due to just a small sample size, so here are a list of things I'll be watching in our matchups in the Caribbean!

vs Louisiana Lafayette

1. Rebounding.
We're currently top 10 in offensive rebounding percentage. However, we also give up a lot of offensive rebounds. Louisiana Lafayette actually has a similar profile (#14 in offensive rebounding). Do we show a concerted effort to limit that part of their game or is defensive rebounding an area that is likely to plague us all year?

2. Free Throws.
We've killed our inferior opponents by getting to the line early and often. ULL already is one of the worst teams in terms of allowing free throws. Can we get them into foul trouble and outshoot them from the line to put the game away early? They are also a worse free throw shooting team than us so far - does this continue?

3. PACE!
We're one of the faster teams, but ULL actually allows the quickest possessions in NCAA when they are on defense. I haven't had a chance to see if that is because they are giving up transition looks (where we excel). Hopefully we get a bunch of easy shots early in the shot clock before their defense sets up.

 

[DanL53]

Excellent breakdown and made for a really good pregame summary.

 

[HeRKeYHoPeFuL]

Welp...

1. Rebounding
Allowed 10 offensive rebounds. Some unlucky from long rebounds off late clock 3 pointers, but still too many.

2. Free throws
This appears to be something that we'll see all year - we were able to get to the stripe a ton in the 2nd half. I think we just played a terrible half with little effort in the first half to keep us from really taking advantage (I believe they committed 7 first half fouls to 16 in the 2nd half). Had we gotten them into foul trouble in the first half, I think we win that game.

3. Pace
Second highest pace so far this year, but a lot of that was achieved in the 2nd half when we were forcing things and drawing fouls. I would say we didn't accomplish what we would have liked to see.


Biggest take aways:
Poor communication - our bigs didn't know when doubles were coming, which caused several turnovers and runouts the other way.

Poor back line defense - too many over the top passes succeeded against our 3/4 court press. We need to understand that we want to let them throw the long passes.

 

[HeRKeYHoPeFuL]

vs South Dakota State

1. Shooting
This one obviously could be used every game, as frequently when you shoot better than the other team, you win. However, looking at the stats, it appears Iowa should have a BIG advantage in this department, as we're a well above average team in terms of shooting percentage, and SDST is a below average unit.

2. Offensive Rebounding
This will be a strength on strength battle. We're gathering a ton of our own misses, ranking in the Top 25 nationally in offensive rebounding rate. South Dakota State makes it a priority to end possessions with a defensive rebound -- ranking in the Top 35 in defensive rebounding rate. Who wins this battle? Do the Hawks get extra chances to show their superior shooting?

4. Turnovers
The Hawks got a little sideways yesterday, committing 10 first half turnovers. If we can improve on that (which the SDST defense is pretty average at creating TOs), we should be able to build and exploit a possession advantage to help mitigate Key #1 if we have another off day.

 

[HeRKeYHoPeFuL]

And we struggled in all three areas identified.

Shooting - we did shoot a higher percentage than them (50.9 to 44.3), but allowed 50% from 3 (10/20).

Offensive Rebounding - we did alright (9 offensive rebounds), but then turned around and allowed 10.

Turnovers - 15. Too many. We need to bring that number down (and especially not let it happen down 1 with 10 seconds to go in the half!!!!!!)