Forgive me for jumping way ahead here, but re: next season: We lose Gabby, Kate, Molly, and likely Caitlin, so has to be seen as a "rebuilding year". We have a decent core returning, and by mid-season I'll predict we'll see Ava starting at 5, Hannah at 4, Syd/Kylie at 3/4, TMac at 2/1, and hopefully Guyton at PG1. That lineup looks to be a good paint team, but doesn't boast many outside shooters. TMac might be our leading scorer, but if Mallegni produces, she could be that 2nd shooter. It's a different approach for Bluder from the past few years, but she's done this before. It'll be a good team, maybe 20-ish wins, and mid to upper B1G. Biggest issue is the huge gap at PG, and who can step into that role. I admit to a fantasy that Olivia Miles will portal to the Hawks, and keep them in contention for final 4 status.
Hawkeye Women’s BBall Season 2023-2024
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anon_salmfilsntd0b
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I suspect Jada will also get minutes and she likes to shoot. Idk if Syd will ever figure out her 3 pt shot but Kylie must absolutely become a reliable shooter. She can do it, things need to click tho. I think KJE will also get minutes out of necessity. She will have a year of experience over Guyton (who is currently sitting on a knee injury — if it’s serious she may not play again til fall). Kyle H said she is rather athletic once, I don’t think Bluder is too worried about her height tbh.
Wouldnt be surprised if the following 10 gobble up all the minutes next season:
1 - KJE / Guyton
2 - Feuerbach / McCabe
3 - Affolter / Mallegni
4 - Stuelke / Gyamfi
5 - Heiden / Goodman
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If I have my numbers right, Iowa is 30-3 in last 33 games against BIG teams:
2021-22: won last 4 RS games + 3 BTT games
2022-23: 15-3 + 3 BTT games
2023-24: 5-0
Quite a run.
2021-22: won last 4 RS games + 3 BTT games
2022-23: 15-3 + 3 BTT games
2023-24: 5-0
Quite a run.
By the way Tangela Smith was the acting head coach for Northwestern and got a win at Wisconsin tonight.
Saw earlier that both Stremlow and Mallegni are on the short list for WI Gatorade POY. Heiden is apparently back and healthy, but it seems impossible to find vid on any of these players. Suggestions? Also haven't heard an update on Guyton's MRI.
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anon_salmfilsntd0b
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Syd has had two double digit games in a row (10 and 14) and tonight had 2 treys and 6 rebounds. Do we think she will nab that starting position?
ETA: Damn she actually had a double double at Rutgers. 10 rebounds.
ETA: Damn she actually had a double double at Rutgers. 10 rebounds.
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I’d say she’s certainly earned it. Sometimes it’s nice having a player like her come off the bench who can immediately impact the game though. I could see Bluder keeping the same starting 5 we’ve seen to keep things consistent while increasing Sydney’s minutes, but it also wouldn’t surprise me to see her start. At this point I would put her in over Davis.
It’s hard to say if not starting frustrates her or just motivates her when she comes in to make a positive impact on the game. I’d say the latter but I’m not Sydney. If it were me I’d care more about playing time than I would starting but that’s just me. Earning a starting spot can be a real motivator for some. Some players revel in coming in first off the bench in that capacity, maybe because the pressure is a little less for them at the start of the game than it is the starting 5? She could definitely be an X factor for us come tournament time though. I love her hustle and grit!
Bluder does sometimes seem a bit fixated on her starters. But I'm guessing Syd's minutes are similar to Molly's, and Coach has the enviable option to play either of them depending on opponents. And hey, maybe Syd wants that 6th-player award.
Before this season; many of us postulated that despite losing Warnock and Czinano, this team had a chance to be a better squad, mostly based on depth, better D and rebounding. We're now about halfway through the season, and the evidence is accumulating. So were we right? At this point, I'm leaning toward yes, it's a more complete team with fewer weaknesses. But does that translate to another deep run in the NCAA?
I'll believe it more after Saturday against Indiana. Iowa has not faced a team with a dominant center for a while now. That is until Mackenzie Holmes, 6-3 AA center for the Hoosiers. They will feed her relentlessly and try to get Hannah and Sharon in quick foul trouble. If Iowa wins this game, they will truly be a team of destiny.
I also suggested early on that this team could be better despite the loss of 2 starters. Hannah has my vote for most improved player but you could certainly nominate 3 or 4 others. Martin really is the glue on this team and she's having a terrific season so far. Gabby is finally finding her shot just when we needed it the most. When I watch Molly I can tell her confidence has grown so much. She looks like someone having the time of her life after transferring. It helps to have the best women's player in the world with Clark but our bench is what impresses me the most. Affolter, McCabe & Feuerbach would be starters on any other Big 10 team.
So yes, this team can make another deep run in March. The only bump in the road I can see is a night where the 3's aren't falling. Foul trouble shouldn't be as big a concern as last year.
The leader in the clubhouse for Iowa WBB hyperbole of the year.
Does our program and fanbase think of Indiana as a rivalry game? This is just my opinion, but it feels like more of a one-sided thing on their part born out of recent resentments:
-'21-'22 season: Indiana is salty they went 0-3 against us, including losing the BTT championship game and getting demolished at home on their senior day. This was also the season where tons of games were cancelled/postponed when programs didn't have enough eligible players to play games due to covid and injuries. All of the reporting suggested that Indiana tried to resist the Big Ten in rescheduling the game in Iowa City. Holmes was still working her way back from injury. You could argue that it ultimately cost Indiana the chance to grab a share of the regular season conference title.
-'22-'23 season: Salty about the way they lost to us in the regular season finale in Iowa City. This started a downfall where they choked in the postseason.
They have obviously been one of the top programs in the conference the past few seasons. But I personally just think of them as a quality program we respectfully want to beat. As opposed to the hate that comes with a true rival lol. For me that is Maryland.
Curious to hear thoughts on this!
I think Indiana is a rivalry right now. I am really looking forward to Saturday night.
About the Affolter talk above, she will 100% be starting and staring next year. She excels in any uber stat: third on the team in win shares (Clark, Martin), third in WS/40 (Clark, Hannah). 2nd in Box plus/minus. 2nd lowest turnover rate. She is above average at basically everything but 3 point shooting. She is shooting 67% inside the arc.
She will excel next year.
About the Affolter talk above, she will 100% be starting and staring next year. She excels in any uber stat: third on the team in win shares (Clark, Martin), third in WS/40 (Clark, Hannah). 2nd in Box plus/minus. 2nd lowest turnover rate. She is above average at basically everything but 3 point shooting. She is shooting 67% inside the arc.
She will excel next year.
I am still salty about the 2019 loss at IU late in the season that cost Iowa the Big Ten regular season championship. So perhaps it is a bit of a rivalry.
Moren's remarks are an upgrade to the press conference after last year's defeat on "The Shot". Then it looked like she was forced to eat 6 raw lemons prior to appearing, plus forced to impersonate Dawn Staley when it came to giving the other team any credit.
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anon_salmfilsntd0b
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I was and still am one of those who thinks that this team has the potential to have a higher ceiling than last year's. I've been an Affolter + Feuerbach fan for awhile but I was also much higher on O'Grady than most people and have been really disappointed to see her disappear. That still stings when thinking about this season's potential.
This is all to say that IDK that I think this team is actually better than last year's yet. We have played better than expected against talented bigs, which is certainly a vulnerability for us, but we haven't been tested in B1G play yet. We do have a better record and that's not nothing but we also didn't play UConn, NC State. We have played some teams better this year than we did last year tho and that matters as well -- UNI, Drake, Purdue, etc. come to mind.
Funny related note -- my partner watches every game with me but he is by no means emotionally invested. He doesn't know much about WBB (or other sports) but has been along for this ride with me going back to Gustafson's senior season. He's by no means a "fan" but he will admit this team has always been entertaining. He had a lot of respect for Czinano. He would often say "People don't talk about Monika enough" as though he was the first person to say it lol. And he of course remarked more than once that he doubted our ability to replace her. Anyway, last night I was preparing for the game and we had the following conversation:
Him: Who do you play tonight?
Me: Purdue.
Him: Oh, they're not good are they?
Me: They're not bad. They played us well last year twice, and they beat Ohio State. They made the NCAA tournament.
Him: Oh. You'll beat them.
Me: I wouldn't be so sure....
Him: You beat them last year, you'll beat them this year.
Me: Do you think we're better this year than last year?
Him: Definitely. You don't?
After the game, I couldn't help but think....maybe we are?
Even if Iowa fans don't consider Indiana our true rival, I think the media has made it so. We've essentially been their kryptonite the last couple seasons...and really kind of ruined both of them for them lol. Indiana fans certainly want to beat us probably more than they do any other team.
Even when they were the best B1G team by rankings and the eye-test, Iowa still got all the attention and still managed to beat them. The "but Holmes was injured" crowd really had a hard time taking the buzzer-beater L last year. Of course they still tweet about it being a "bullshit" 3 lol.
I also think most Maryland fans consider us a rival now. There's a popular MD fan account on Twitter for example (@Terptalkwbb) that tweeted "IDC what we're ranked as long as we win Feb 3" early this season. I saw another say they generally want every B1G team to win except Iowa lol. It's been tough for them to watch their storied program generally trend down the last couple seasons (even if they ended it really strong last year, I do think the big picture trendlines are going in the wrong direction).
I agree with @undersized_post tho that I don't have anywhere near the animosity toward IU that I do toward MD/OSU.
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I'm with AMAYS on this one: I don't think any of the 3 would start for Indiana. Sydney could start for anyone else, although I think she's a great 6th player with her skill set. Kylie has talent, and maybe that would blossom with more minutes, but I think she'd start for fewer teams than McCabe. Taylor's rebounding, defense and ball handling are all visibly better than last year.
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And their only real peer in the last three years is our opponent Saturday night. Indiana is really the only team in the B1G thats been right there with the lady Hawks all three years. I think we are 5-1 against them in the last six, but this will be a huge game for the pole position in the B1G....
They've really been Iowa's only peer in the league from a consistency standpoint the last three years, so hell yes, this is a rivalry. You can tell they sure think it is.....
I think this year's team is better than last year's team. In the regular season last year Iowa was too Clark and Czinano dependent. If teams could take one of them away, Iowa was in trouble. Martin wasn't a capable 3rd scorer last year. Marshall was in her slump. Warnock's offense was largely dependent on others getting her the ball in good spots.
This year, the team is more Clark dependent, but also less dependent on a single second scorer. Stuelke is a solid #2 option in many games, and benefits from her scoring not being solely reliant on post-ups. Martin is a much better scoring option this year. Marshall has been hot and cold, but when hot has provided the same dynamic as last post-season. Affolter has become a sneaky good scorer. Davis has her moments.
Over a large sample, I think this team is harder to beat because the odds of Clark having a really off night or of stopping all of Iowa's second and third scoring options is lower.
That said, we also need to acknowledge Iowa had good fortune in last year's post-season run. Marshall had a career game against Maryland in the BTT. Ohio State was a great matchup for Iowa last year. Iowa came very close to losing to Georgia in the second round. Colorado and Louisville were lower seed teams and better matchups than Iowa could've faced. South Carolina never adjusted to the junk defense.
It's entirely possible this team is better overall and yet will have worse post-season outcomes.
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anon_salmfilsntd0b
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I strongly agree with your MC point. I’ve said this a bit actually — Clarks’s dependence on Czinano got us into a lot of trouble, esp when she could be neutralized (as she was fairly often, like by players from MD, IU, NCS, UConn). We were able to beat Louisville despite Czinano only taking 2 shots bc our role players started producing like never before.
Our guard play is also certainly much deeper and well rounded than last year. We now have 5 guards who can drive to the basket. Martin, Affolter, Stuelke rebound better than Czinano / as well as Warnock. Warnock’s steady hand at the perimeter will continue to be missed but her TOs / defensive vulnerabilities won’t.
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Monika set not one but TWO fantastic screens. The second one got Clark open of course. But the first one was good enough to make Holmes help a step towards McKenna which ultimately gave Clark even more spacing coming off the second.
As far as Garzon hopping in the middle of nowhere waiving her arms -- rofl. lmao.
Tomorrow night?? Yikes!!! There is a projected 10 inches of snow tomorrow in Eastern Iowa.
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Nebraska 56-48 Illinois (Jan 11, 2024) Box Score - ESPN
Box score for the Nebraska Cornhuskers vs. Illinois Fighting Illini NCAAW game from January 11, 2024 on ESPN. Includes all points, rebounds and steals stats.
Illinois continues to disappoint. They sit at 6-8. Are we still super impressed with Shauna Greene? What is going on….
Really....after last year they seemed poised to make a big jump.Nebraska 56-48 Illinois (Jan 11, 2024) Box Score - ESPN
Box score for the Nebraska Cornhuskers vs. Illinois Fighting Illini NCAAW game from January 11, 2024 on ESPN. Includes all points, rebounds and steals stats.www.espn.com
Illinois continues to disappoint. They sit at 6-8. Are we still super impressed with Shauna Greene? What is going on….
Sophomore slump is real, even for coaches. Minnesota and Michigan State better watch out next year.
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anon_salmfilsntd0b
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They actually ended last year on a bad note. They were a play-in team for the NCAAT and played terribly — like really, really bad. I tuned in and mentioned here that I couldn’t believe we lost to them. I remember someone apologizing for them on here — their center I think was injured for that game — I feel a bit vindicated now lol.
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anon_salmfilsntd0b
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The interviewer refers to Iowa and Indiana as the two elite teams in the league.
Easy to forget they were regular season champs, we were BTT champs.
Easier to forget we have 3 B1G titles over the last two seasons to their one.
Illinois is having a rough year, but they're also 0-5 in games decided by 6 points or less. Two more losses are by 8 and 11. If you flip 3 of those games they're 9-5 and I think the perception of their season is much different. To an extent they're victims of bad luck.
Aaliyah Guyton out w/ ACL injury. So won't be able to even begin playing in 2024, so likely in a limited role starting in Jan/Feb '25. She would have been the presumed/anticipated starter at point by then. My guess is Bluder will use McCabe and KJE for awhile, and Stremlow will hopefully grow into that role. Coach doesn't normally start freshmen unless they're Caitlin. I suppose there's an outside chance of finding a PG in the portal, but there's the roster issue. However, they would have had to figure that out anyway if CC returned.
If we're a better team, it's because we are a deeper team; Kylie is back, Martin is playing better, etc. But the biggest change I've seen is that this squad plays visibly better D, and is a far better rebounding team. It also just looks like a harder playing, grittier group. Methinks Syd is is the inspiration there.
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anon_salmfilsntd0b
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Our 3 pt shooting is looking a lot better. Just checked our stats:
Clark: 39.9%
Stuelke: 50%
Martin: 34%
Affolter: 30.4%
Marshall: 32.9%
McCabe: 42.3%
Feuerbach: 30%
Davis: 34.5%
Not quite elite but definitely trending in the right direction. All our shooters above 30 is a welcome site.
Clark: 39.9%
Stuelke: 50%
Martin: 34%
Affolter: 30.4%
Marshall: 32.9%
McCabe: 42.3%
Feuerbach: 30%
Davis: 34.5%
Not quite elite but definitely trending in the right direction. All our shooters above 30 is a welcome site.
Interesting day! Some upsets and anticipated changes in the rankings. I can't see Colorado jumping Iowa in the polls, So I'm guessing SC, Iowa, Colorado, then either NC State OR USC as 1-4. (I'm guessing USC) Then 5 would be the other, with KState as the #6. Uconn will rise, and perhaps Louisville. But lots of parity among 2-10 or so, so gotta believe there's nothing permanent about any of those rankings. RE: NCAA seeding, it doesn't help that Va Tech lost, but it DOES help that KState won, and that Iowa St may be ranked after this week.
I still don't think Iowa will win out, but I'm def rethinking my prediction (just two weeks ago) that we'd lose 3 more games in the reg season.
Huge game coming up with OSU, but as of now Hawks have the inside track for the B1G title, and a #1 (or at least #2) NCAA seeding. For that, I look more toward the NET rankings, and esp the top 16 committee. How 'bout now, Shimmy?
I still don't think Iowa will win out, but I'm def rethinking my prediction (just two weeks ago) that we'd lose 3 more games in the reg season.
Huge game coming up with OSU, but as of now Hawks have the inside track for the B1G title, and a #1 (or at least #2) NCAA seeding. For that, I look more toward the NET rankings, and esp the top 16 committee. How 'bout now, Shimmy?
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Really nice video about Kate
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