Hawks flying under the radar

[C/Seahawk]

CBS continues to completely overlook Iowa...a couple days after they release their top 100 player list which omits Uthoff, they released their rankings of all D1 teams within the past 24hrs and the Hawks come in at 44.

Sure there will be folks that consider this a blessing, and I'm sure the staff will use this as motivation, but I can't help but think this ranking is really low when its all said and done. Despite losing White and Gabe, we return a lot, have an experienced backcourt and a potential first team All-B1G player in Uthoff.

Only a month away from the start of the season, can't wait to see how this plays out.

 

[Servbot24]

Eh. I can see us anywhere from 25-45. We'll be better than other teams in the 40s, but thanks to our competition we may not have the record to prove it.

 

[HawkAttackDial911]

That's still in the dance.

 

[perryhawk]

Just my gut take but I do think this team will be much better than this prediction. It appears to me that Fran is smartly keeping his normal level of promotion tempered because he knows he's holding a really strong hand and hopes to catch some opponents off guard early.

 

[TankHawk]

I consider this a blessing.

 

[whathawk]

Reasons why they will be better than predicted;

Senior and experienced guards; Gesell, Sapp and Jok. At crunch time their experience will win games, offensively and defensively, even when they are outmatched physically. Jok is also in better physical shape this year, controlling his asthma, and will not fade in the second half like he did last year.

Rule changes benefit Franball; shorter shot clock, backcourt timeouts and post defense changes all benefit the kind of players that Fran recruits and the schemes he runs. The experience of running the 3/4 press with long players and shorter shot clock will be a big advantage.

Athletic newcomers stepping up in February and March; I am going to bet on Wagner, Jones and Fleming to get playing time early and then step up their game in the last half of the conference schedule. But who knows who will emerge out of that group.

The reasons they might not; I hope I am wrong but I don't think Woody will have a breakout senior season because 1) refs just don't like him and he does have a bad rep and 2) when he does get more minutes he fouls more when he gets winded and 3) knowing that he is the only true center opposing coaches will pound it down low to get him in foul trouble. Fran wants him to be the core of the defense but he could end up being just an important role player.

Jok, Uthoff and Uhl will have to consistently step up their offensive game and Gesell will have to consistently be the offensive catalyst. The shorter shot clock means they cannot afford to spend time passing it around the horn waiting for someone else to take the shot, all of them have to have confidence that they can create shots.

 

[mazda1]

In close games I like the fact that we have an established go to guy in JU. He also is more prone to dish it then when doubled then Dev did. When he does we have the potential to have better one on one options on the floor than we have in past seasons and probably better 3 point potential as well.

My concern is rebounding. Everyone's going to have to step up their game in this area. Uhl, Jok, Woody, and JU all need to give more focus on the defensive boards. Offensively we'll miss GO and AW on the glass. There's no one as gifted in this area on the team and second chance points will be less this season. Uhl will likely lead in offensive boards.
Our 3/4 court defense may not be as tough or as long without Whitey. Hutton and Williams hopefully make me eat my words on this.

We have good potential, but until we see the results on the floor I can understand why outsiders have us picked in this range.

 

[SSG T]

That's still in the dance.

Not necessarily. What is there, 32 conferences? And most of the conference winners aren't in the top 25-30, probably around 6-8 would be ahead of Iowa, That means they'd have to be in the top 30 or so at large teams. Ranked around 44 would not be a certainty in getting in.

FWIW, I think they'll get in and easily, my only point is that being 44 doesn't mean it's a given.

 

[goodbyebobby]

Come January this team will fully be on everybodys radar.

 

[DanL53]

CBS Radar must be broken. Or.

A team that finished 25th, 28th and 19th the last three years according to KenPom is going to drop to 44th although four starters are returning? Aaron White must have been a lottery pick! No, I've got it, Olaseni was 18 minutes per game of amazing! Or was it Oglesby?

The problem is CBS probably doesn't know that Uthoff and Uhl have put on about 15-20 pounds of lean meat muscle since last season and appear primed and ready to move up to the four and five spots when needed. The problem is CBS probably doesn't realize that we had two centers last year, and one could have played many more minutes if needed. That one, Adam Woodbury, will be a senior.

The problem is CBS probably doesn't know Jok is in the best shape of his life. The problem probably is:

CBS doesn't understand the value of two experienced senior point guards.
That Uhl was a promising freshman and looked really good this past summer.
That the eight newbies, including Ellingson and Baer, have exhibited much more talent than their high school rankings indicated.
That Uthoff is looking better than ever.

CBS Radar stinks. Just thank the Heavens CBS isn't guarding our air space from enemy missiles. In fact, thank our lucky stars that CBS isn't responsible for detecting rogue asteroids heading to Earth. I can just imagine the guys at CBS trying to find studs in walls to hang up pictures....nail holes everywhere. Be glad they don't practice dentistry or many a good tooth would be wrongly pulled.

At the Worldwide Guessers Convention, Alchemists, Astrologists, Taro Card Readers, they all bust a gut laughing when CBS shows up!!!

But, when all is said and done, Iowa will once again be a surprise team. Not surprising, of course.

 

[CanadaHawk]

Reasons why they will be better than predicted;

Senior and experienced guards; Gesell, Sapp and Jok. At crunch time their experience will win games, offensively and defensively, even when they are outmatched physically. Jok is also in better physical shape this year, controlling his asthma, and will not fade in the second half like he did last year.

Rule changes benefit Franball; shorter shot clock, backcourt timeouts and post defense changes all benefit the kind of players that Fran recruits and the schemes he runs. The experience of running the 3/4 press with long players and shorter shot clock will be a big advantage.

Athletic newcomers stepping up in February and March; I am going to bet on Wagner, Jones and Fleming to get playing time early and then step up their game in the last half of the conference schedule. But who knows who will emerge out of that group.

The reasons they might not; I hope I am wrong but I don't think Woody will have a breakout senior season because 1) refs just don't like him and he does have a bad rep and 2) when he does get more minutes he fouls more when he gets winded and 3) knowing that he is the only true center opposing coaches will pound it down low to get him in foul trouble. Fran wants him to be the core of the defense but he could end up being just an important role player.

Jok, Uthoff and Uhl will have to consistently step up their offensive game and Gesell will have to consistently be the offensive catalyst. The shorter shot clock means they cannot afford to spend time passing it around the horn waiting for someone else to take the shot, all of them have to have confidence that they can create shots.

If all we have to worry about is us having 1 true center, then I think we're in pretty good shape. WI did pretty well with just one last year.

 

[HoustonREDHawk]

If all we have to worry about is us having 1 true center, then I think we're in pretty good shape. WI did pretty well with just one last year.

I think 44 is a little low, but in a reasonable range of where the Hawks will finish. I would much rather they be ranked low than high to start the season.

I believe that post defense and rebounding are going to be the key, especially finishing defensive sets with a rebound. Uhl and/or Jones are going to have to take up the slack for losing White and Gabe. Woody needs to give Iowa a good 25 min or so of solid position defense. I am not worried about the offense, which has the potential to be better than last year, with the increased number of shooters and athleticism.

 

[hawksense]

Why worry about what others think this early in the season?

I think that we have enough questions to answer that we're not a certain upper level finisher in the conference. I have faith that we can get there, but let's start the season first and see what's what. Then, we may be able to strut our stuff a little.

 

[CanadaHawk]

In close games I like the fact that we have an established go to guy in JU. He also is more prone to dish it then when doubled then Dev did. When he does we have the potential to have better one on one options on the floor than we have in past seasons and probably better 3 point potential as well.

My concern is rebounding. Everyone's going to have to step up their game in this area. Uhl, Jok, Woody, and JU all need to give more focus on the defensive boards. Offensively we'll miss GO and AW on the glass. There's no one as gifted in this area on the team and second chance points will be less this season. Uhl will likely lead in offensive boards.
Our 3/4 court defense may not be as tough or as long without Whitey. Hutton and Williams hopefully make me eat my words on this.

We have good potential, but until we see the results on the floor I can understand why outsiders have us picked in this range.

If Uthoff can gain some consistent aggression as a scorer, he has the potential to be a better go to guy than a White or Marble because of his versatility.

Agree that the major concern is rebounding. Uhl could shore us up on rebounds and defense but this is mainly potential.

 

[GnarlyBoy]

BTN writers/analysts combined opinion has Hawks 9th in the league. Don't see the selection committee taking 9 teams from the BIG even if 9th team is rated #40. Hope they're all wrong. Hey, this ain't LAmes - it's still football season!

 

[Lone Clone]

It's an outstanding place to be at this point, IMHO. Entirely meaningless except for the fact that it doesn't put pressure on the team.

 

[goodbyebobby]

BTN writers/analysts combined opinion has Hawks 9th in the league. Don't see the selection committee taking 9 teams from the BIG even if 9th team is rated #40. Hope they're all wrong. Hey, this ain't LAmes - it's still football season!

The Big Ten Network staff combined think we finish ninth? Seriously? That is stunning, no sarcasm either.

 

[jerbob36]

I think a great finish for us would be 6th. I don't see us finishing higher than that. The league is just that good.
Maryland
MSU
Indiana
Wisconsin
Purdue
Iowa/Michigan

 

[ryno99]

Eh. I can see us anywhere from 25-45. We'll be better than other teams in the 40s, but thanks to our competition we may not have the record to prove it.

Good point. Also think it has to do with the little offseason hype in recruiting Iowa has failed to do last few years. No big name transfers or high level recruits on national radar. You get those types of players then perception will be positive for your team going into the season with some hype with experienced or impact players. Iowa has the starters but after that the drop-off is pretty big and didn't create a single peep on national radar.

 

[Ollie4ISU]

That doesn't seem completely unreasonable as a starting point. Losing Aaron White, I think, is a really, really big deal. He was the heart and soul of the program for a long time. He is not easy to replace. The loss of Olesani is a big deal too. I think Woodbury has been over-rated for years, I don't see any indication that he is going to be able to make a marked improvement over last year and I don't see anyone on Iowa's roster to back him up. Uthoff is a player, he is going to have to step up and carry this team. There is a good to perhaps very good nucleus returning. It remains to be seen how some of the new guys develop.