This is from today (Wednesday) to preview the game against Augustana, SD. They are the #1 team preseason in D2, so a good challenge on Friday night for Iowa. Little connection in this game, their top scorer is Daniel Jansen, who played AAU with Woody and Mike.
Q. Fran, when you look at the Division II schools that you want to come in and work on some things against, it doesn't appear to be that kind of team that is just going to let you work, I guess. They're a pretty good team. What are your thoughts about facing a team like this?
FRAN McCAFFERY: I think there's two ways to look at exhibition games. You can look at it, where you're playing somebody that you know you're going to beat and play everybody and work on some things, and you can play somebody who won 31 games who's experienced and has really talented players and they're going to challenge you in a different way.
So clearly that's what this game is.
We have arguably the toughest schedule we've played in a long time, so this, I think, would better prepare us for what we're going to face in the ensuing weeks and not a game that we're just going to rotate everybody in and not really see where our deficiencies are and how good we can be.
Q. Was that strategy for this game?
FRAN McCAFFERY: Yeah.
Q. What's the next step for you, Fran, from the first exhibition to the next one in this process?
FRAN McCAFFERY: Well, obviously we played the other night, and there were some good things in that game. There were some things that weren't so good. It's part of it. Go back and get to work, and then you're working on the collective situation and then also the individual situation, how can we improve certain players and get them to -- especially the young guys, to understand a little bit better what we're doing, so that we've been working on that. Hopefully we'll be better than we were last week and each week following, because we've got tough games right off the bat that we're playing.
Q. Are you starting to see some of that consistency that you hoped you'd see?
FRAN McCAFFERY: A little bit. You know, I want more consistency than what we're getting, but it's better.
Q. Is there more inconsistency on offense or defense, or is it both?
FRAN McCAFFERY: Probably defense. And that's not uncommon, because the sophistication of what people are running against us at this level, and especially when you're experienced like Augustana in particular, when you have upperclassmen, they're going to execute their offense and they're going to run their counters, and that's what makes young players struggle sometimes. They can get back and they can get in their stance, and then all of a sudden things start happening quickly, and then the ball moves side to side, and then your instincts kick in, and then we want to run and then you've got to remember what you're doing on offense, what are we running, we're running plays, we're running motion and so forth. So there's a lot that hits you very quickly, especially when you play our style.
Sometimes it looks helter-skelter, but it's not. It's actually very organized, and they know that. We're just playing fast.
But Augustana plays fast, too, and I like that.
Q. You mentioned you needed a 10-man rotation. Is that getting clearer now who's going to be --
FRAN McCAFFERY: You know, it might take a little longer to get there. Eventually, I think, to get through a season, you need a 10-man rotation typically. A lot of teams have gotten through with eight, seven, you know, if you stay healthy and stay out of foul trouble most of the time, but I'm just a firm believer in you kind of need 10. That's the way I've always done it.
We clearly have many candidates for that. I would say it's a little bit clearer this week than it was last week, and hopefully it will get even more clear. You're looking for that separation, certain guys just separate themselves from some other people, and we're still in the situation where on any given days three or four guys look really good, three or four guys look like they're a little bit lost, and then it changes, and that's difficult sometimes.
Q. What's your thoughts on the rule change and how you guys handled that, especially the freedom of movement?
FRAN McCAFFERY: I didn't notice a big deal the other night. I mean, it was -- obviously there were 10 fouls called quickly. I think that was more a mindset that they came in and they wanted to be physical, and the fouls ended up evening out over the course of the game. So I don't know probably until we get into it how much that's going to change. We just get our guys to move their feet and try to keep their hands off people because that's going to be a foul no matter what. Your secondary defenders have to get there quicker, get their feet outside that circle. It's a much bigger arc.
But other than that, it's pretty much the same game. I didn't feel the shortened shot clock really changed anything all that much. There may be a game where it does. It didn't seem to affect us the other night, either team.
Q. Fran, when you look at the Division II schools that you want to come in and work on some things against, it doesn't appear to be that kind of team that is just going to let you work, I guess. They're a pretty good team. What are your thoughts about facing a team like this?
FRAN McCAFFERY: I think there's two ways to look at exhibition games. You can look at it, where you're playing somebody that you know you're going to beat and play everybody and work on some things, and you can play somebody who won 31 games who's experienced and has really talented players and they're going to challenge you in a different way.
So clearly that's what this game is.
We have arguably the toughest schedule we've played in a long time, so this, I think, would better prepare us for what we're going to face in the ensuing weeks and not a game that we're just going to rotate everybody in and not really see where our deficiencies are and how good we can be.
Q. Was that strategy for this game?
FRAN McCAFFERY: Yeah.
Q. What's the next step for you, Fran, from the first exhibition to the next one in this process?
FRAN McCAFFERY: Well, obviously we played the other night, and there were some good things in that game. There were some things that weren't so good. It's part of it. Go back and get to work, and then you're working on the collective situation and then also the individual situation, how can we improve certain players and get them to -- especially the young guys, to understand a little bit better what we're doing, so that we've been working on that. Hopefully we'll be better than we were last week and each week following, because we've got tough games right off the bat that we're playing.
Q. Are you starting to see some of that consistency that you hoped you'd see?
FRAN McCAFFERY: A little bit. You know, I want more consistency than what we're getting, but it's better.
Q. Is there more inconsistency on offense or defense, or is it both?
FRAN McCAFFERY: Probably defense. And that's not uncommon, because the sophistication of what people are running against us at this level, and especially when you're experienced like Augustana in particular, when you have upperclassmen, they're going to execute their offense and they're going to run their counters, and that's what makes young players struggle sometimes. They can get back and they can get in their stance, and then all of a sudden things start happening quickly, and then the ball moves side to side, and then your instincts kick in, and then we want to run and then you've got to remember what you're doing on offense, what are we running, we're running plays, we're running motion and so forth. So there's a lot that hits you very quickly, especially when you play our style.
Sometimes it looks helter-skelter, but it's not. It's actually very organized, and they know that. We're just playing fast.
But Augustana plays fast, too, and I like that.
Q. You mentioned you needed a 10-man rotation. Is that getting clearer now who's going to be --
FRAN McCAFFERY: You know, it might take a little longer to get there. Eventually, I think, to get through a season, you need a 10-man rotation typically. A lot of teams have gotten through with eight, seven, you know, if you stay healthy and stay out of foul trouble most of the time, but I'm just a firm believer in you kind of need 10. That's the way I've always done it.
We clearly have many candidates for that. I would say it's a little bit clearer this week than it was last week, and hopefully it will get even more clear. You're looking for that separation, certain guys just separate themselves from some other people, and we're still in the situation where on any given days three or four guys look really good, three or four guys look like they're a little bit lost, and then it changes, and that's difficult sometimes.
Q. What's your thoughts on the rule change and how you guys handled that, especially the freedom of movement?
FRAN McCAFFERY: I didn't notice a big deal the other night. I mean, it was -- obviously there were 10 fouls called quickly. I think that was more a mindset that they came in and they wanted to be physical, and the fouls ended up evening out over the course of the game. So I don't know probably until we get into it how much that's going to change. We just get our guys to move their feet and try to keep their hands off people because that's going to be a foul no matter what. Your secondary defenders have to get there quicker, get their feet outside that circle. It's a much bigger arc.
But other than that, it's pretty much the same game. I didn't feel the shortened shot clock really changed anything all that much. There may be a game where it does. It didn't seem to affect us the other night, either team.
