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Hawkeye Women’s BBall Season 2021-2022

I was just going to post this. In the video Tomi and Logan say "hey from the seniors." Monika (also a senior) appears later in the video, but not with Tomi and Logan in the "hey from the seniors" part.

This could be an indication that Monika plans to use her extra season, while Tomi and Logan don't. Or it could mean nothing at all. Just thought it was interesting to note.
I thought that was interesting too. I know someone said in here they thought Monika was gonna stay another year so now this makes me think that she really is.
 
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I remember at the beginning of last year Lisa made the comment about the possibility of being able to have Monika around for 5 years. She was all exited of the thought. So who knows, I suppose a lot will depend on how well Sharon, Addison, and A.J. develops. If she would come back for her fifth year we would be loaded in the front court with Hannah, and Jada going the team in 2022.
 
2021-2022 FULL SCHEDULE



The teams I most want revenge against: OSU, Indiana, and Northwestern. Faced them each twice last season and came away with six heartbreaking losses.

BTN singled us out as having a "tough closing stretch," having to face Michigan twice, Maryland, Indiana, and Rutgers.
 
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2021-2022 FULL SCHEDULE



The teams I most want revenge against: OSU, Indiana, and Northwestern. Faced them each twice last season and came away with six heartbreaking losses.

BTN singled us out as having a "tough closing stretch," having to face Michigan twice, Maryland, Indiana, and Rutgers.
Yeah, that is a particularly brutal end stretch. The good news is that we get to build towards those games for the entire season, and they will be a great litmus test for March.
 
That Big Ten Schedule is going to be tough, then the Big Tournament, if all goes well they should be ready for a deep run into the NCAA Tournament! I HOPE.
 
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The closing stretch is definitely going to be brutal
The flipside to that is right now they likely would be favored in the first eight conference games heading into the first IU game. Doesn't mean they won't stumble one or more times. Of course, Maryland only lost one conference game last year and IU two, so not much margin for error.
 
My guess:
1) Maryland
2)Indiana
3)Iowa and Michigan
 
I realize that I probably cannot begin to understand all of the factors the conference has to take into account when putting together the schedule. I can see one that they clearly don't, which I wish they would.
I don't get season tickets to either men's or women's basketball, but go to as many as I reasonably can and pretty much see all of the rest on TV/streaming.*
So, I am currently going through the schedules seeing for which games I might want to get tickets.
Between January 27 and February 10, the men and women each play five games. And, they are played on the same five days (4 of which are weeknights). Makes it very challenging to be a fan of both teams.
That's my beef.

*Men's non conference home schedule may be one of the weakest ever.
 
2021-2022 FULL SCHEDULE



The teams I most want revenge against: OSU, Indiana, and Northwestern. Faced them each twice last season and came away with six heartbreaking losses.

BTN singled us out as having a "tough closing stretch," having to face Michigan twice, Maryland, Indiana, and Rutgers.
This will be a Top 10 Strength of Schedule at the end season.
 
I realize that I probably cannot begin to understand all of the factors the conference has to take into account when putting together the schedule. I can see one that they clearly don't, which I wish they would.
I don't get season tickets to either men's or women's basketball, but go to as many as I reasonably can and pretty much see all of the rest on TV/streaming.*
So, I am currently going through the schedules seeing for which games I might want to get tickets.
Between January 27 and February 10, the men and women each play five games. And, they are played on the same five days (4 of which are weeknights). Makes it very challenging to be a fan of both teams.
That's my beef.

*Men's non conference home schedule may be one of the weakest ever.
I have women's season tickets, if both are at home. You lose your seat to a men's ticket holder, but so far you are allowed to stay for the men's game free if seats are available. Which for non conference games there will be
 
Thought I'd post this for discussion since it will affect the conference to a certain degree. Katie Geralds had already been tapped to replace Versyp after this season before the abuse allegations against Versyp were made public, so it's probably best for everyone in the long run that Versyp moves on now.

 
Thought I'd post this for discussion since it will affect the conference to a certain degree. Katie Geralds had already been tapped to replace Versyp after this season before the abuse allegations against Versyp were made public, so it's probably best for everyone in the long run that Versyp moves on now.

Purdue WBB is a mess right now. They were one of the worst teams in the conference last year, and lost several of the best players on that team to transfer in the off-season. The allegations have only made that situation worse.

I agree that Versyp leaving is probably for the best. It should at least allow the players and remaining coaches to focus on basketball instead of the allegations. I was also never a huge fan of the coach plus coach in waiting arrangement. It seemed too prone to issues if Versyp and Gearlds disagreed about something.

I still think Purdue is going to be one of the worst teams in the conference. On paper the team looks worse than last year's team. The teams that finished just in front of them (Minnesota, Nebraska, and Penn State) all look like they should be as good or better than last year.

Wisconsin and Illinois are the only teams I think they might finish ahead of. Wisconsin will probably be worse than last year and seems to be just at the start of another rebuild. Fahey is in her 5th season now at Illinois, and frankly I'm not sure Illinois is much better now than when she started. Her record in conference play is 6-64.
 
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For those who subscribe to The Athletic, there was an in-depth article posted about Iowa this morning. A decent chunk of it focused on what Iowa needs to do to improve its defense and how Clark's summer with USA basketball improved her game. There was also some good discussion on the roster. A few takeaways:

One of the big conclusions of the article is that if Iowa's defense can improve just a little, that might be enough to make the team elite with how good the offense is.

Coach Bluder is considering using Sydney Affolter as the backup 1, but hasn't made a final decision yet.

Kylie Feuerbach was brought in for depth, defense, and offensive rebounding. It seems fairly clear she's going to have a decent role with the team.

Both O'Grady and Ediger are listed as posts, but the article mentions they can contribute on the perimeter (presumably as a 4).

https://theathletic.com/2826162/202...iowa-arent-sneaking-up-on-anyone-this-season/
 
For those who subscribe to The Athletic, there was an in-depth article posted about Iowa this morning. A decent chunk of it focused on what Iowa needs to do to improve its defense and how Clark's summer with USA basketball improved her game. There was also some good discussion on the roster. A few takeaways:

One of the big conclusions of the article is that if Iowa's defense can improve just a little, that might be enough to make the team elite with how good the offense is.

Coach Bluder is considering using Sydney Affolter as the backup 1, but hasn't made a final decision yet.

Kylie Feuerbach was brought in for depth, defense, and offensive rebounding. It seems fairly clear she's going to have a decent role with the team.

Both O'Grady and Ediger are listed as posts, but the article mentions they can contribute on the perimeter (presumably as a 4).

https://theathletic.com/2826162/202...iowa-arent-sneaking-up-on-anyone-this-season/
I'm so excited at the prospect of what a little more depth at the 1 through 4 could do for us, particularly on defense! Our guard/forward rotation had tightened so much by the end of the season that only Tomi was getting substantial minutes. (I consider Sharon/Monika at the 5 as a separate entity since that rotation operated pretty independently from the other positions, which are more interchangeable in our offense.) It's not that our conditioning was *bad,* per say, but it seemed the tight rotation left us pretty gassed by the ends of games. Where this really hurt us, at times, was our inability to get crucial stops and/or close out possessions by securing defensive rebounds.
 
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I'm so excited at the prospect of what a little more depth at the 1 through 4 could do for us, particularly on defense! Our guard/forward rotation had tightened so much by the end of the season that only Tomi was getting substantial minutes. (I consider Sharon/Monika at the 5 as a separate entity since that rotation operated pretty independently from the other positions, which are more interchangeable in our offense.) It's not that our conditioning was *bad,* per say, but it seemed the tight rotation left us pretty gassed by the ends of games. Where this really hurt us, at times, was our inability to get crucial stops and/or close out possessions by securing defensive rebounds.
The rotation at 1 and 4 seem like the biggest rotation questions we have going into the season.

I feel comfortable saying Marshall, Martin, Feuerbach, and Taiwo will play the vast majority of minutes at the 2 and 3. But does one or more of them also shift over to 1 when Clark is out, or does Affolter win the job?

We also have plenty of options at backup 4. Any of Cook, Wetering, O'Grady, or Ediger could theoretically fill the role. But can any of them do it well enough to keep Warnock out for long periods? She might be the 2nd most important player on the team behind Clark. If one of those options can't make a similar impact, it will be hard to keep Warnock off the floor even if tired.
 
saw an article that Goodman tore her ACL.... don’t we have a couple decent freshman post players coming in? Big loss for the team either way..... injuries suck
 
This is about the worst possible time for Goodman to have an ACL injury. She was already going to face tough competition for the backup 5 spot. Now she'll be out a while, and might not play completely like herself for the first few months she's back from the injury.

The good news for Iowa is that we have plenty of depth at the 5. O'Grady or Ediger should be able to play backup minutes there without much issue. That's one of the benefits of having a deeper roster than we've had in a while.
 
Bluder's transcript from B1G Media Day

LISA BLUDER: Good morning. It's good to be here. I have to tell you, it was very strange walking into the building this morning in October versus in March. But it feels good to be here. We're hoping obviously for a long stay in March.

I know it's sounding like a worn out statement because I think we're all saying the same thing, but Big Ten women's basketball is better than ever.

Our conference has so much to be excited about coming off of the success of last year. I honestly believe it's easier to be in the Sweet 16 than it is to win the Big Ten Championship. As evidenced from last year, four teams from the Big Ten being in the Sweet 16 and seven All-Americans returning this year.

Of course, at Iowa the excitement is at an all-time high. Season tickets are at an all-time high. Our fan base is ready to come back to Carver-Hawkeye Arena, make it one of the hardest places to play in women's basketball in the country.

We have a lot to build around with all five starters returning. Of course, coming off of a Big Ten Championship appearance and a Sweet 16 appearance, all five of those women coming back, including, you may have heard of her, Caitlin Clark. We think she's one of the nation's best. Monika Czinano, who led the country in field goal percentage last year. Our supporting cast is what makes it all work, Gabbie Marshall and McKenna Warnock. I think we've had a deeper bench than we've ever had.

Q. Regarding Caitlin, how has she handled the NIL world that comes with being one of the best players in the country?
LISA BLUDER: Yeah, she had a tremendous summer. She won our third gold medal at USA Basketball. The MVP of that team. She deserves all the accolades that are coming her way. How is she handling it? Not a bit differently than what she came in as a freshman. You would not know there's any more pressure on her by the way she acts in practice or around the team. The NIL is something, yeah, that she's dealing with. I think she has a great supportive team around her to help her with that situation. We're proud of the fact that one of our players is so sought after for the NIL. We think that's a tremendous thing for our program. In Iowa we always say there's no pro sports. The Iowa Hawkeyes are a big deal. When you're a big deal, you get attendance. Two years ago we were the ninth best attended team in the United States. Also it gives you opportunities for things that will help you with the NIL.

Q. You talked about Monika, the way she's played the last couple years. Who is going to back her up now with Sharon Goodman being injured?
LISA BLUDER: Sharon Goodman, that was a big loss. In our first practice this year, she unfortunately went down with an ACL tear. Sharon was playing great. Last year she shot 55% from the field, she was a tremendous backup to Monika because she was so strong. She was playing at a better level this year, this summer, than last year. So her game had really improved. I was really expecting big things from Sharon. Obviously with her now gone for the year, we'll be moving Addi O'Grady, who is a freshman, but is our tallest player on our roster at 6'4". From Denver, Colorado, had a great career there. She'll be moving into that backup position for Monika.

Q. Lisa, Gustafson, Doyle, Clark, teams across the country would love to have those three names at all in their programs. How do you attract those type of players that makes Iowa such a force every year?
LISA BLUDER: I think there's a lot of things. I think we have an incredible winning tradition with our basketball program. People want to play for people that win. They also want to play in front of a crowd. Our attendance is tremendous. They're loud and they're enthusiastic, and they make it a great home-court advantage for us. Our players graduate. That's exciting for the women. But also I think it's the culture of our program. I think when they come on campus, they feel how much this team cares about each other. Our culture is as strong as it's ever been. I think that is what attracting people to our program. Also the stability of our coaching staff. We are the longest serving coaching staff in the Big Ten. I think parents respect the stability of that.
 
The Hawks never go very long without an ACL tear :(

Seems like it, but I think it's been awhile. There was a period a few years ago that it was a yearly thing. Maybe I'm wrong and someone can tell us the last time, I just cannot remember.
 
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Seems like it, but I think it's been awhile. There was a period a few years ago that it was a yearly thing. Maybe I'm wrong and someone can tell us the last time, I just cannot remember.
The last one I remember was Kate Martin three years ago, but that was in an all-star game following her senior year in high school rather than at Iowa. Tania Davis was the last one while a Hawkeye in 2017. There was a time maybe a decade ago where it seemed like one every year. I thought they made some changes in their S&C routine after that, but there is no way to eliminate them completely.
 
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Not sure but I think Tania had 2 ACL tears.
 
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