On the radio show, Bluder said that at least 12k tickets have been sold already for Sunday.
Hawkeye Women’s BBall Season 2021-2022
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As mentioned previously, if we beat Rutgers we should secure no worse than a 4 seed in the BTT. If that happens, our most likely opponent in the quarterfinals are:
as a #4 Seed: Indiana or Maryland (it will depend on who loses their matchup Friday)
or
as a #1 or #2 Seed: Northwestern, Purdue, Michigan State, Penn State, or Minnesota.
Unsurprisingly, the 4 seed gives us a much more difficult quarterfinal opponent, but Northwestern stands out from the group of teams we could play as a 1 or 2 seed. The good news is that would mean we beat Michigan. The bad news is a third game against Northwestern likely wouldn't improve our resume much, but would likely be another brutal slugfest that we could easily lose.
as a #4 Seed: Indiana or Maryland (it will depend on who loses their matchup Friday)
or
as a #1 or #2 Seed: Northwestern, Purdue, Michigan State, Penn State, or Minnesota.
Unsurprisingly, the 4 seed gives us a much more difficult quarterfinal opponent, but Northwestern stands out from the group of teams we could play as a 1 or 2 seed. The good news is that would mean we beat Michigan. The bad news is a third game against Northwestern likely wouldn't improve our resume much, but would likely be another brutal slugfest that we could easily lose.
Finished the season 8-1 on the road in conference play. Crazy good, even though it reflects that the home schedule was far tougher than the road schedule.
Paige had a Dr.’s appt. Today. I assume she was cleared, but I don’t know. It will be a while before we know how ready she is to play at a high level.
OK, Charlie Creme now has Iowa a 5 seed and play IUPUI again:
Women's Bracketology: Which teams join South Carolina on the top line?
Will the ACC, Big Ten or SEC put double-digit teams in the 2025 NCAA tourney? The projection begins with 1-seeds South Carolina, UConn, USC and UCLA.
www.espn.com
She had 33 out of a possible 36 games her senior season. There were streaks of 4, then 15, then 14 in a row, broken up by games where she had either 8 or 9 rebounds. Great achievements all around.
The 2022-23 team will have the most depth of any Iowa team in recent history. Stuelke is a 4 in Iowa's system backing up Warnock & brings a different skill set which is good to have. The front court is loaded overall, a redshirt is definitely possible for one of younger players who don't have the Covid year option. I just hope they all stick around. Gabbie is one of the teams best defenders, shoots a good %, and brings experience which is valuable, and plays well off Clark so I don't see her not starting barring injury.
PG - Clark, Martin/Feuerbach, McCabe
SG - Marshall, McCabe/Feuerbach
3G - Martin, Feuerbach, Affolter, Wetering
F - Warnock, Stuelke, Ediger, Gyamfi
C - Czinano, O'Grady/Goodman, Ediger, Gyamfi
Gabbie's inability to create her own shot limits what she can do. Gabbie should start early in the season because of her experience but unless she learns to create for herself, I think McCabe has the potential to overtake her. McCabe is a complete player. I agree she is an excellent defender and 3 point shooter. But I think have Gabbie and McCabe split time (maybe 50/50 even) gives Iowa the best chance to win. McCabe can score in bunches and Gabbie can come in for defensive energy. Even though she shoots at a high percentage, she doesn't look for her shot and has passed up open threes. I saw at least three if not more times just last night that Gabbie was hesitant to shoot. Her defense alone does not warrant her role in the starting lineup. But her experience will keep her in the starting lineup to open the season. I think by the time we open BIG play, McCabe will be playing the majority of minutes at the 2 even if Gabbie is the starter.
The talent of this class is so high, I don't know know that Bluder would want to burn a redshirt. Of the class, Gyamfi would be the most likely candidate just due to the depth at the 4/5.
I agree Stuelke is well suited for the four, but she has the ability to play the 3-5 IMHO.
We have the most depth, but we still don't have a true backup PG and I still hope Bluder looks to the portal for a PG specifically.
Taylor McCabe isn't a complete player at this point, in the future perhaps but she needs develop a more aspects of her game. Don't get me wrong, she is a nice player & will have a role on next years team. I was fine with Gabbie passing up a shot or two at Rutgers, she was having an off night & moved the ball to get a better shot since she wasn't as confident. With Caitlin on the floor & how close the game was it was a good decision too.
Hannah can play other positions but with the depth at the 3 & 5 I'd be surprised if the coaches have her focus on anything but the 4 her first year since she is already better at the 4 than who is backing up Warnock right now. The incoming FR are good, but I'd be shocked if any of them average over 10-12 minutes a game come conference play.
I have seen Gabbie get open for two pointers, and I have also seen her miss some, but she also gets plenty of threes off each game imho, but has struggled lately with making them. Her D will keep her in the lineup.
Seems clear to me Coaches have been working with Marshall on driving and pulling up off of close outs.
Can we not be prematurely benching our starters when this season isn't even over and we haven't even seen the new freshmen play 1 minute of college ball? Geez...
She is averaging almost 2 less shots per game and has seemed hesistant to shoot all year. I get passing up shots for better shooters, but shooters need to shoot. And if you're in a slump, you don't get out of it by not shooting.
She kept shooting last night although she was 2 for 8 I recall and the only shot she made was when she drove and stopped and popped and scored in the second half.
Since Gabbie hurt her shoulder against OSU she hasn't been shooting well. Don't know if its still hurting her or if its mental, but we need her to start knocking down those 3's again.
Sunday would be a perfect time for her shot to come back
I don't think there's anything wrong with projecting lineups. That's what this board is for. I've seen enough of McCabe to know she is a great player and my point is I think it will be hard to keep her from breaking the starting lineup at some point next season.
That is not to say that Gabbie doesn't have the chance to improve. Like any other fan, my desire is for the team to maximize its potential and win as many games as possible. And the offense is much more effective when there is balance and multiple players that create their own shot.
Yes. I love her when she's on. She dismantled Rutgers a couple times. Last year in the tournament and once in her freshman year. I just want to see the same level of intensity night in and night out.
Same with Kate. I want her attacking/cutting to the basket and shooting threes when she's open. Gabbie and Kate are both different players when they're playing confident but I haven't seen it, at least offensively as of late.
I don't think the sample size is large enough to make this kind of claim. In her first 3 games back, she shot a combined 4-8 from three, including going 2 for 4 at Indiana. It's just these last two games where she hit a cold streak -- totally normal for all shooters.
I believe in Gabbie. Sometimes not as aggressive as I would like but we only have one ball to shoot! Clark is Clark. Monica shoots 66% and McKenna has been shooting well since returning. Somebody needs to play defense according to a few posters here!
Maryland beat Indiana which means if we lose on Sunday we’ll most likely be playing Indiana as they’d be the #5 seed
Maryland beat Indiana in a close game 67 - 64. Looks like Owusu didn't play for Maryland.
If Iowa beats Michigan on Sunday, we should thank Illinois for cancelling the games against Maryland, Michigan and Iowa then later decided to make up the Iowa game but not the other two, making them unable to catch up with Iowa in the final standings.
If Iowa beats Michigan on Sunday, we should thank Illinois for cancelling the games against Maryland, Michigan and Iowa then later decided to make up the Iowa game but not the other two, making them unable to catch up with Iowa in the final standings.
I'm just not a big fan of Kate being a starter. She's had back to back goose eggs in the scoring column. Yes does the little things, sometimes but she also is undersized and turns the ball over. Her production is fine for a bench player but she shouldn't automatically be penciled is a starter with a bunch of minutes next year. I'm probably in the minority here and I know the coaches absolutely love her but she is playing out of position.
Kate's not perfect but if we had had anyone else on our current roster guarding Grace Berger, we wouldn't have won the second Indiana game.
I got so frustrated at Kate Thursday night that if I was the coach I would have benched her and slid McKenna over to her spot and put O'Grady in McKenna's place. She did get benched in the 3rd quarter after a couple turnovers. We could have used the extra size since we gave up 17 offensive rebounds.
Something I've been thinking about lately is this team compared to the Elite 8 team. Not sure if this will be controversial, but I think I'd take Clark, Czinano, and Warnock as a trio over any 3 players on the Elite 8 team. Gustafson was the gold standard of efficiency, but against elite post defenders, her impact could be muted somewhat. Teams have sometimes given Clark problems, but it's hard to take away both her scoring and passing. Doyle wasn't nearly the offensive threat as a junior that she was as a senior.
But when I compare the starting lineups as a whole, I think it's fairly easy to take the Elite 8 squad. That lineup was just really well balanced. Strengths and weaknesses complimented each other. They had multiple ball handlers. The whole lineup averaged 9+ points per game, and any of them could score 15 in a game if needed.
As others have mentioned, Kate and Gabbie are glaring weaknesses in the current lineup. Gabbie shoots well and is probably our best defender, but she isn't elite at it. She also isn't a great ball handler, isn't good at creating her own shot, contributes almost nothing on the glass, and sometimes disappears completely from the offense. Kate isn't bad at anything, but she's also not particularly good at anything either. I think she gives great effort, and she has improved, but she wouldn't have started on that Elite 8 squad.
I'm worried that to truly compete for an Elite 8 or Final 4, we will need more, or at least different, production from the 2 and 3 spots. I'm also worried that Kate and Gabbie are about as good as they're going to get. So where does that boosted production come from?
I don't think any 2 or 3 on the current roster is likely to beat them out (unless Affolter grows a lot). I would still be shocked if McCabe displaces either of them. A transfer seems unlikely. I'm still intrigued by Warnock at the 3 and O'Grady at the 4 for a time, but so far the coaches don't appear to have even considered that.
But when I compare the starting lineups as a whole, I think it's fairly easy to take the Elite 8 squad. That lineup was just really well balanced. Strengths and weaknesses complimented each other. They had multiple ball handlers. The whole lineup averaged 9+ points per game, and any of them could score 15 in a game if needed.
As others have mentioned, Kate and Gabbie are glaring weaknesses in the current lineup. Gabbie shoots well and is probably our best defender, but she isn't elite at it. She also isn't a great ball handler, isn't good at creating her own shot, contributes almost nothing on the glass, and sometimes disappears completely from the offense. Kate isn't bad at anything, but she's also not particularly good at anything either. I think she gives great effort, and she has improved, but she wouldn't have started on that Elite 8 squad.
I'm worried that to truly compete for an Elite 8 or Final 4, we will need more, or at least different, production from the 2 and 3 spots. I'm also worried that Kate and Gabbie are about as good as they're going to get. So where does that boosted production come from?
I don't think any 2 or 3 on the current roster is likely to beat them out (unless Affolter grows a lot). I would still be shocked if McCabe displaces either of them. A transfer seems unlikely. I'm still intrigued by Warnock at the 3 and O'Grady at the 4 for a time, but so far the coaches don't appear to have even considered that.
McCabe's overall game might be better, but I think she would have to be elite before Lisa would displace a senior with a freshman. I mean she had Logan backing up the 4 & 5 up until she hurt her ankle. McCabe will get minutes but my guess would be 10 - 15 per game except for injuries.
McCabe is McKenzie Meyer 2.0. If she can be even an average defender she will be tough to keep off the floor.
@BraydonRoberts5 as good as Czinano is she is not in the same league as Megan Gustafson. Czinano is a scorer only. Megan was a complete post. She was an elite rebounder and solid post defender and most of the time was good for 20 points a game. Megan's off games were still double doubles most of the time. Megan's been able to stick around the league despite being undersized and not having three point range consistently. Czinano might have a nice career overseas but she doesn't have a chance at getting to the WNBA.
That's where I'm at. I haven't watched enough of McCabe's game to fully evaluate it yet, but I think she'd have to be a clear upgrade to displace Gabbie. Same with Affolter. I'm intrigued by her defense and rebounding, but she'll have to clearly be better than Kate to displace her. I think it's unlikely Coach Bluder replaces either.
I wasn't trying to say Czinano was better than Gustafson. For as good as Czinano has been, Gustafson was the far better player, in large part because her defense and rebounding were miles better than Czinano's. I was saying that I would take Clark, Czinano, and Warnock as a trio over Gustafson, junior year Doyle, and one of Meyer/Stewart/Davis.
My mention of Gustafson was to say that I think I'd take Clark > Gustafson when comparing the two teams. I think it's harder for teams to stop Clark than it was for teams with elite post defense to stop Gustafson.
I agree Braydon. Imagine if we had Caitlin on that Elite 8 team? We'd have been talking about a final 4 team.
Taylor McCabe will get minutes & contribute next year but not start for the reasons you stated as well as getting stronger, better with the ball, & defending. She'll be great coming of the bench bringing energy & a deadly long range shot.
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