Hate To Say It But...

[IowasLaw]

Iowa is actually a better team WITHOUT Patrick McCaffery on the floor.

I get that he was one of the highest rated recruits in the McCaffery era (4**** rated the 15th best forward in the nation), but his out of control style and reluctance to pass the ball may outweigh his 12 points and 5 rebounds per game.

Since Patrick voluntarily left the team following an abysmal 3 game losing streak where it looked like the Hawks had no shot at making the tourney, they have been on fire. Reeling off 3 straight Big 10 wins without Patrick has put them right back in contention. If the Hawks win their next two games (both very winnable, at home against Maryland and Northwestern), it's going to be hard to justify benching someone in favor of putting Patrick back into the starting lineup. It could disrupt the team's new found chemistry.

 

[Bulldogs1974]

I'm not going to agree with that what I'm sure we'll see in this thread is people that thought perkins insertion was some sort of revelation but playing better without pmac is not.

 

[elipse]

2023 just starting and we already have a candidate for dumbest post of the year. Congrats!

 

[EZ2BJZ]

Iowa is actually a better team WITHOUT Patrick McCaffery on the floor.

I get that he was one of the highest rated recruits in the McCaffery era (4**** rated the 15th best forward in the nation), but his out of control style and reluctance to pass the ball may outweigh his 12 points and 5 rebounds per game.

Since Patrick voluntarily left the team following an abysmal 3 game losing streak where it looked like the Hawks had no shot at making the tourney, they have been on fire. Reeling off 3 straight Big 10 wins without Patrick has put them right back in contention. If the Hawks win their next two games (both very winnable, at home against Maryland and Northwestern), it's going to be hard to justify benching someone in favor of putting Patrick back into the starting lineup. It could disrupt the team's new found chemistry.

I think it’s a lot more nuanced than that.

Btw, do you ever have anything positive to post?

 

[jonesy5960]

The team is obviusly playing better the last three games. The biggest difference is the play of Sandfort who's minutes are way up and he's been a huge contributor in the three wins. Since Pmac's absence Sandfort, Cmac, and Dix have all seen their minutes increase and all have played well.

 

[slipHawk]

Sandfort not going 0 for 19 might help a little bit too

 

[Incredible Hawk]

I had this conversation this morning. At the very least, it's going to be awfully hard to justify Pmac getting his normal 25-30 minutes considering how the guys have come together during his absence.

 

[IamHawkeye]

2023 just starting and we already have a candidate for dumbest post of the year. Congrats!

He's busy chopping up cabbage

 

[BustingNarratives]

Disagree. PMac has played well this year and I'm hoping he is back soon ... and we get T-Perk and Uhlis rolling going in to the final stretch.

 

[Georgia_Hawk]

I'm not going to agree with that what I'm sure we'll see in this thread is people that thought perkins insertion was some sort of revelation but playing better without pmac is not.

can we get some punctuation, please?

 

[blhawk]

I've thought pmac was better suited for coming off bench for awhile now mostly because of his conditioning. When he's on and hitting his shots it makes up for his lackluster defense and physicality and he's an asset. When he's off and/or forcing things I'd rather have someone else out there. Kinda like jbo. I do think having more shots to take has helped PS get his feel back in his absence.

But I also think they have been playing for him too, he does seem to be really well liked by his teammates and just a good kid in general. Im glad he won't feel pressure to hurry back with how the team is playing

 

[ssckelley]

The recent winning streak is more about Sandfort getting hot than PMac not being on the court.

 

[perryhawk]

2023 just starting and we already have a candidate for dumbest post of the year. Congrats!

Yep.....and it might just hold up for the rest of the year.

 

[jonesy5960]

The recent winning streak is more about Sandfort getting hot than PMac not being on the court.

The question then becomes, with Sandfort, Cmac and Dix all playing well, where would Pmac's minutes come from, particularly if they keep winning?

 

[perryhawk]

The question then becomes, with Sandfort, Cmac and Dix all playing well, where would Pmac's minutes come from, particularly if they keep winning?

I think that's pretty easy.....he gives some minutes in relief of Kris, Payton, and Rebraca. Comes off the bench and gets about 5 minutes on about 4 different substitutions and he gets somewhere between 16 and 23 minutes a game...good for him and good for the team.

 

[hawkeyeinmo]

I guess it’s Patrick’s fault that for two weeks Sandfort couldn’t hit water if he jumped out of a boat.

 

[BirdistheWord]

Interesting puzzle for Fran. In the end, its about minutes, but PMac will play slightly fewer minutes with guys like Sandfort and Dix playing well. Kris rarely sits, so not much to bite off there. I don't see PMac filling Rebraca's role much.

There are a ton of lineup combinations.

Rebraca: Flat minutes (Mulvey earned himself 3-5 min per game vs bigger centers)
Kris: Flat
Saucy: Slightly down (22-23 from 27)
Sandfort: Increased to point of now core 25m+ player
CMac: Flat
PMac: Once he returns, probably down 3-5 min per game?
Ulis: Flat to slightly down - currently 22 per, ideally about 20
Bowen: Minutes have been declining, but would like to see him at 12-14
Dix: Probably 15+ min (up from about 11 per)

 

[Rudolph]

The team is better when Sandfort makes shots. When they limit turnovers and second chance points. When they play for each other and stay together and connected.

That last point is, arguably, somewhat a function of rallying together as a response to what PMac is going through.

 

[kceasthawk]

I've thought pmac was better suited for coming off bench for awhile now mostly because of his conditioning. When he's on and hitting his shots it makes up for his lackluster defense and physicality and he's an asset. When he's off and/or forcing things I'd rather have someone else out there. Kinda like jbo. I do think having more shots to take has helped PS get his feel back in his absence.

But I also think they have been playing for him too, he does seem to be really well liked by his teammates and just a good kid in general. Im glad he won't feel pressure to hurry back with how the team is playing

Well said........

 

[kceasthawk]

Interesting puzzle for Fran. In the end, its about minutes, but PMac will play slightly fewer minutes with guys like Sandfort and Dix playing well. Kris rarely sits, so not much to bite off there. I don't see PMac filling Rebraca's role much.

There are a ton of lineup combinations.

Rebraca: Flat minutes (Mulvey earned himself 3-5 min per game vs bigger centers)
Kris: Flat
Saucy: Slightly down (22-23 from 27)
Sandfort: Increased to point of now core 25m+ player
CMac: Flat
PMac: Once he returns, probably down 3-5 min per game?
Ulis: Flat to slightly down - currently 22 per, ideally about 20
Bowen: Minutes have been declining, but would like to see him at 12-14
Dix: Probably 15+ min (up from about 11 per)

Have to have some minutes in there for Mulvey as well. Ready or not we'll need at least something like we saw from him last night for Rebraca to survive the B1G post play. I'd like to see if he can build off his decent play from last night, and give us 6-8 minutes a game of post play.

 

[Chewback]

2023 just starting and we already have a candidate for dumbest post of the year. Congrats!

OP is always a relentless contender.

 

[Chewback]

I guess it’s Patrick’s fault that for two weeks Sandfort couldn’t hit water if he jumped out of a boat.

Yep. Clang! Clang! Clang! Ad infinitum.

 

[Chewback]

Yep.....and it might just hold up for the rest of the year.

Eh, possibly, but I predict he will outdo himself before long.

 

[Chewback]

I think that's pretty easy.....he gives some minutes in relief of Kris, Payton, and Rebraca. Comes off the bench and gets about 5 minutes on about 4 different substitutions and he gets somewhere between 16 and 23 minutes a game...good for him and good for the team.

Yeah we need that. Kris played the entire 45 minutes against Michigan. He's in incredible athlete but even he is going to wear down if he has to play every minute of every game.

 

[43Beels]

I see PMAC coming in off the bench to give KM a spell. Give a good a 5-8 min playing hard and ease back in

 

[LaQuintaHawkeye]

Iowa is actually a better team WITHOUT Patrick McCaffery on the floor.

 

[mro1978]

If Pat gets healthy he'll be very much needed. Kris can't continue to play every single minute and expect to play at a high level come mid Feb.

 

[Hawkfan_08]

Do you understand what your thyroid does?

 

[amahawk]

I would like to see him play for a few minutes each game. It would ease him back into the game and give Kris a few minutes of rest. His health and well being is the most important thing.

 

[CookyMonster]

2023 just starting and we already have a candidate for dumbest post of the year. Congrats!

Still better than jon rothstein tweets

 

[twindman]

I think when Sandfort started downhill, some (most?) of it was he was rushing his shots. I remember several games where he was out at the line by himself and Ulis and Perkins would drive in to trouble and never even look at Sandfort. Connor did this a few times too. It was like they were shunning him. That would effect your thinking and cause you to jack up a shot whenever you touched the ball.
EDIT: Probably because PS was hot, but Dix actually looked for Sandfort against Michigan.

 

[MAXIMUSHAWKEYE]

The question then becomes, with Sandfort, Cmac and Dix all playing well, where would Pmac's minutes come from, particularly if they keep winning?

Not to mention where do Ulis and Perkins minutes come from. Dix has played very well.

 

[Bearhawk0505]

I advocated for Connor to be starting over Patrick early in the season and caught some blowback on here from several people. I do think Pmac will be a nice addition(hopefully off bench) when he is back.

 

[Capital1Hawk]

Iowa is actually a better team WITHOUT Patrick McCaffery on the floor.

I get that he was one of the highest rated recruits in the McCaffery era (4**** rated the 15th best forward in the nation), but his out of control style and reluctance to pass the ball may outweigh his 12 points and 5 rebounds per game.

Since Patrick voluntarily left the team following an abysmal 3 game losing streak where it looked like the Hawks had no shot at making the tourney, they have been on fire. Reeling off 3 straight Big 10 wins without Patrick has put them right back in contention. If the Hawks win their next two games (both very winnable, at home against Maryland and Northwestern), it's going to be hard to justify benching someone in favor of putting Patrick back into the starting lineup. It could disrupt the team's new found chemistry.

If Patrick wasn't lazy then I would like him more. For now he's an average team player. I hate watching him dribble drive to turnovers and lazy defense or going after rebounds/loose balls. Man up

 

[Hawk_4shur]

If Patrick wasn't lazy then I would like him more. For now he's an average team player. I hate watching him dribble drive to turnovers and lazy defense or going after rebounds/loose balls. Man up

Lazy?

 

[TheTruthTheWholeTruth]

Iowa is actually a better team WITHOUT Patrick McCaffery on the floor.

I get that he was one of the highest rated recruits in the McCaffery era (4**** rated the 15th best forward in the nation), but his out of control style and reluctance to pass the ball may outweigh his 12 points and 5 rebounds per game.

Since Patrick voluntarily left the team following an abysmal 3 game losing streak where it looked like the Hawks had no shot at making the tourney, they have been on fire. Reeling off 3 straight Big 10 wins without Patrick has put them right back in contention. If the Hawks win their next two games (both very winnable, at home against Maryland and Northwestern), it's going to be hard to justify benching someone in favor of putting Patrick back into the starting lineup. It could disrupt the team's new found chemistry.

You don’t “hate to say it.” Everyone and their dog knows that you hate the McCaffery family.

 

[BirdistheWord]

Have to have some minutes in there for Mulvey as well. Ready or not we'll need at least something like we saw from him last night for Rebraca to survive the B1G post play. I'd like to see if he can build off his decent play from last night, and give us 6-8 minutes a game of post play.

I did mention him within my Rebraca comments. He did well, earned some spot minutes against certain centers going forward. I still like Ogundele as an option as well, if he can get healthy.

 

[BirdistheWord]

If Patrick wasn't lazy then I would like him more. For now he's an average team player. I hate watching him dribble drive to turnovers and lazy defense or going after rebounds/loose balls. Man up

For much of the season Fran did not have many options. Kris was out for a stretch. Peyton was awful. Dix, Bowen were still getting their feet wet. Shortest bench I can remember under FM. Fast forward to PMac returning and there are a lot more options. Even if his return is delayed, the team is evolving. Options at the 1-2-3 have been crucial. The play of Sandfort and Dix gives us a ton of hope at the 2/3.

I am hoping Ulis and Saucy are not dealing with any meaningful injuries.

 

[ssckelley]

The question then becomes, with Sandfort, Cmac and Dix all playing well, where would Pmac's minutes come from, particularly if they keep winning?

Looks like we will soon find out.

 

[RocknRollface]

I see PMAC coming in off the bench to give KM a spell. Give a good a 5-8 min playing hard and ease back in

Agree, if he comes back this year he needs to back Kris up at the 4 and start rebounding.

The 1-3 has enough players splitting time.