Half of the seniors' 48 career losses? All decided by 5 pts or less

[hawkifann]

YIKES! That is not a good stat.

I hate to say it, but in tight games, Fran has to use his time-outs more wisely and also just burn one to relax the players. I hate to say it, when its on the line, they tense up and their shooting motions look horrible. Just need to relax and knock it down, Routine.

I am hoping they can maybe change their luck and win 2-3 tight games!

I think this becomes an interesting stat when there's a significant deviation from 50-50 over a large sample size - and especially so when the deviation is also significantly different than the overall record. One season, one conference season or one stretch of games can be pretty anecdotal. Flip a coin 8 times and you might get a 6-2 or 2-6 result. Taken over a much larger sample size, you'd expect basic luck to pull towards the middle. Going through a 9-24 stretch does speak to some deficiencies, just as 24-9 is more than just being attributable to some good luck. On top of that, this group went 9-24 over a period of time when they were going roughly 20-11 every season and making post-season tournaments.

 

[Hawk_4shur]

Last Friday

Well, yeah, but ... besides that one.

 

[HawkRugged17]

Well, Notre Dame didn't call a timeout at the end of their game against SFA, their athletic PG threw up an airball, they missed the rebound, and they still won on a tip in by a guy who didn't have a bucket in the game until then. It happens.

 

[hoffmkr]

We will miss senior Uthoff big time...rest of the senior group, meh.

I'd argue with you that Woody will be the most missed. He made more plays in the last 5 minutes of games this year. Offensive rebound against Indiana for a second shot. Made basket against Temple and other key rebounds. Iowa also doesn't have a body on the roster to replace him.

Unfortunately, Uthoff was not a takeover scorer in last 5 minutes of games and too often forced shots that were not his strength. Uthoff is be the best #2 option player I can remember at Iowa but did not excel when he TRIED to take over a game. Letting shots come to him in the offense was his most efficient.

Unfortunately, Fran too often focused his end of game offense on Gesell going one on one and trying to create something versus getting a good look out of motion and screening.

 

[ZumaHawk]

I would have been more supportive of the argument that close losses can be viewed in a positive light 6 years ago when the program was in shambles.
In the last 2-3 years, though, it looks more like failure to come through in the clutch.[/QUOTE

Without a doubt .... some of those losses will be looked at by Fran. But wow, even some of the Blue Bloods get beat by just a few points. Still a loss, in the clutch unless you're a really good team then it doesn't look so bad? Hmmm