Hawkeye Women’s BBall Season 2023-2024
- Thread starter huntermmm
- Start date
Pretty cool. Right in the middle was a cameo by Ava. Super!
So, what do we think of Goodman starting over O'Grady at the 5? I trust our coaches to do what is best. Having both as viable options will be important to team success.
They will have their work cut out for them in the next three games in a major way. A preview of our next three opponents' centers:
Virginia Tech: Elizabeth Kitley, 6'6'', preseason 1st team AA, 27 points (12-17 shooting) with 11 rebounds and 2 blocks last night
UNI: Grace Bofelli, MVC Preseason POY
Kansas State: Ayoka Lee, 6'6'', 2nd team AA in 2021-22, holds the single game NCAA scoring record of 61 points
They will have their work cut out for them in the next three games in a major way. A preview of our next three opponents' centers:
Virginia Tech: Elizabeth Kitley, 6'6'', preseason 1st team AA, 27 points (12-17 shooting) with 11 rebounds and 2 blocks last night
UNI: Grace Bofelli, MVC Preseason POY
Kansas State: Ayoka Lee, 6'6'', 2nd team AA in 2021-22, holds the single game NCAA scoring record of 61 points
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From what I have watched this season so far, I have been more impressed with Goodman at the 5. But competition has been pretty soft. Thursday night will be telling.
More than last year, but they'll be tough at season's end.
We stumbled a little early last year as well, and this year our non con is loaded with marquee matchups, so could be....
I wouldn't quite call it loaded.... We've taken some flack for the relative weakness of our schedule actually. VA Tech is really our only marquee game. K State will be a good game for sure but it won't draw the eyes or coverage of VA Tech. Iowa State, UNI, Drake eat up a lot of real estate on that schedule and they're typical lose-lose for us. A Win is expected, a Loss (which can never be ruled out when these kids play each other) will really hurt. Iowa State having a rebuilding year will hurt our SoS....but if we get to play NC in the Gulf Coast tourney, that will be a boon to it.
You have to wonder how long we'll keep all the Iowa schools on the schedule. Does Addie Deal really want to play those 3 school all 3 years? I get that it can mean a lot of homegrown kids, but if we're trying to recruit more elite kids, they want to fill their schedules with Top 25 P5 schools. I get not wanting to play LSU, UConn, South Carolina this year again, but there are plenty more high-profile schools that we match up well with, which we probably could have made room for on the calendar.
I really don't think non-conference schedules move the needle much for players. LSU was a popular destination for recruits and transfers in the last year or so. The Tigers played a garbage non-conference schedule last year, and overall it's probably worse than Iowa's again this year.
All good points. But Mulkey has recruiting prowess that Bluder has never had. Hopefully the PAC additions help if it is an issue for anyone.
I was impressed with Goodman in the Clarke game and I thought “Let her start in the next.” I was glad she got the assignment and I was pleasantly surprised with her performance. Ogrady also has shown promising signs of improvement…tho I’m sure I’m not alone in missing Mon when the ball rims out from a close-in layup.
But overall I think I’m liking Bluder taking a tandem approach to the post. I’ve been pretty impressed with both of their ability to run the floor tbh — somehow O’Grady seems almost as automatic as Stuelke when catching a long pass on the run. One plus to early and frequent substitutions is that it allows them both to play harder and faster. Even if neither is a star, having both be tall, strong and experienced helps us avoid a drop in productivity if either is benched or injured.
Though neither will dominate the likes of Lee, Kitley or Holmes, fresh legs from shared minutes may help them stay productive longer and help us keep the pace up. I don’t know that any of those stars have a comparable back-up (though I could be wrong) and that may be a small advantage for us, especially if Lee, Holmes, or anyone else still struggle with injuries.
There’s been a lot of talk about how Affolter and Stuelke will help us play even faster but it seems O’Grady and Goodman will aide in that as well.
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I've bee trying to say this for a while, people seem to have forgotten how good she looked during the covid year. Monica ate up minutes, but Goodman looked at home coming in. She is strong, physical, and wants to post up. Monica had better hands, but Sharons hands are good. Monica hd better post moves and was more accurate further out, but Goodman might become a better rim protector and rebounder (Not sure shes there yet). I thing Ogrady brings better defense, better range, seems to be physical on defense but finesse on offense. Bluder favors offense, so I think they went with Ogrady because she is starting to do a better job of fighting for post position and definitely has fewer problems handling Clarks passes. The thing I'm hoping is that both Goodman/Ogrady continue to get minutes and that the Light goes on for Addie as well.
I wouldn't make too much of that change. My guess is we'll see several adjustments throughout the season re: whether Addy or Sharon gets the start. I think we'll see that by year's end, their minutes and production will be comparable. I sense Bluder's frustration that she's not really getting the play she'd like from either. Compared to Monica, both are a little slow, and have trouble making difficult shots under duress. But if you look at this year's paint players, with Hannah at the 4 I think we're a rather different team, but in some ways a better one. But you're right, we'll see how our 5's match up against quality bigs soon enough.
Here's my Virginia Tech preview. Tech's Elizabeth Kitley will be a big test on Goodman and O'Grady's effectiveness at the 5. If Georgia Amoore gets hot from 3, she could be a problem. Tech also has a couple starting transfers from Michigan State and Minnesota.
Side note: I really enjoy the thumbnail photo of Kitley stuffing Angel Reese.
https://iowa.rivals.com/news/preview-iowa-wbb-vs-no-8-virginia-tech
Side note: I really enjoy the thumbnail photo of Kitley stuffing Angel Reese.
https://iowa.rivals.com/news/preview-iowa-wbb-vs-no-8-virginia-tech
How many minutes did ogrady play against sc last year? I think both of the SC bigs were kitty caliber. They didn't look to shoot the fade away for sure, but they were more physical than kitley from what I've seen
Small sample size, but from what I've seen, if they decide to block out they should be very competitive with Liz on the boards. We are just gonna have to live with her making the fade away here and there. The only player you could double from is possibly the 4 as all 3 va tech guards are good from 3
Will be interesting to see how posting against Kitley goes.. I think I slightly prefer Sharon's chances to put the ball up with other hand while using body and off arm to shield from getting blocked
She played 10 minutes vs. South Carolina. That's why I think this game will be interesting. Both O'Grady and Goodman have experience, but neither has had to do it for 15-20 minutes each against elite competition.
Stuelke should have the advantage at the 4, I think we might have an advantage at the 3. The match ups should be interesting. Iowa success might very well be the play of Syd and Hannah and Kate. In the press conference Georgia commented that they got to see some of Iowa both in Seattle and Dallas, and that the way she manipulates that floor that you see live that don't show up on TV. I got the feeling that they know more about Iowa than what we usually see from teams we don't play every year.
I don't think steals are a proxy for good defense, but I will say I would expect a good defender to not be glaringly bad at steals.
Ekh averaged 0.9 steals per 40 last year. Marshall (2.2), Clark, (1.7), Martin (1.2), and Davis (1.6) were all well ahead of that.
Virginia Tech was actually really bad at generating steals last year. That could be a big difference in the game. If Iowa isn't throwing the ball away, it might not have a ton of turnovers.
There were none last year. Talent is too dispersed. Ten years ago all the talent went to one of 10 schools. Not the case anymore.
I looked back at last season and they started out 5-3 (Losses to KSU, UConn and NC State).
Then they went on a 26-3 run. (One hell of a run all the way to the finals). 7th loss was NC Game.
This year's first 8 games are not AS daunting but tonight should be a great test for the Hawks and they do play KSU again but in Iowa City this time. I could see a 7-1 or 8-0 start.....but I don't think any BT team is getting through the conference schedule unbeaten. Looking forward to seeing them tonight!
Then they went on a 26-3 run. (One hell of a run all the way to the finals). 7th loss was NC Game.
This year's first 8 games are not AS daunting but tonight should be a great test for the Hawks and they do play KSU again but in Iowa City this time. I could see a 7-1 or 8-0 start.....but I don't think any BT team is getting through the conference schedule unbeaten. Looking forward to seeing them tonight!
Why does the headline story of GIA titled “Iowa WBB vs No. 8 Virginia Tech” display a picture of Angel Reese? Admins or AI confused?
Source? Would be great not to have to get another subscription. I don't know why ESPN would allow Fox to also broadcast.
That's exactly the reason I picked it. She's getting stuffed by Virginia Tech's star.
Just wanted to @ myself and point out that we're only midway through game 2 and I have already been proven very wrong about the above statement lol.
To be fair it's pretty baffling that the coaches trusted O'Grady against South Carolina last year in the Final Four, but she can't find the floor tonight with Goodman struggling.
