Looks like Addy will be getting Logan's minutes tonight as Cook is in a boot.
Iowa women vs Northwestern
- Thread starter DougERot
- Start date
Pretty sloppy for the 1st quarter but we have the lead, so I'll take it. Iowa got into the bonus so maybe we can get NW into foul trouble. Team is too slow to react. As always too much standing around and a lot of missed bunnies.
Iowa up 2 at the half but it's been ugly. Too many turnovers and a lot of them are unforced. Poor rebounding to close the half.
Disappointed in their 3 point shooting so far this year. A lot of open looks but just not falling.
It's the rebounding more than anything that is hurting us. It's teams loaded with speedy, athletic guards and small forwards that have always given this team trouble on the glass.
Imagine if someone decides to play some interior D? How many times will Wisconsin throw the ball over the top for an easy bucket before we make an adjustment?🤔
Sadly I think the women are going to have a very disappointing season
Can we send Feuerbach back to Ames. I thought she was really going to help this team out, but I haven't seen anything that impresses me out of her yet. But than I haven't seen anything from anybody that really impressed me so far. The only thing their good at is shooting free throws and turning the ball over.
Hopefully they can have a strong finish like last season. But I fear this may be a lost season. The Big Ten is a relatively unathletic conference, and Iowa is a bottom 3-4 team in the league in terms of athleticism. I had hoped that Feuerbach would help, but the transfer has yet to find a positive role.
This team will be lucky to make the NIT this year. And it's not due to a lack of talent. It's a lack of court awareness and an inability to rebound or take care of the ball.
I have not been a fan of this offense. It worked last year, but this year the team has not shown they can execute it effectively against any team that actually plays defense. There's often very little off the ball movement and communication has been a major issue.
The three point shooting woes baffle me. Need to square up and shoot. And REALLY need to release the ball sooner. So many times a player holds the ball for 2 seconds and the defense closes and then there's no shot. Players have to square up and shoot when the ball hits their hands.
I adore Martin but she was completely lost tonight and probably should have spent more time on the bench as her head was not in this game.
Unless major changes are made on offense and the team puts more effort into rebounding and taking care of the ball, we're not making the tourney.
I have not been a fan of this offense. It worked last year, but this year the team has not shown they can execute it effectively against any team that actually plays defense. There's often very little off the ball movement and communication has been a major issue.
The three point shooting woes baffle me. Need to square up and shoot. And REALLY need to release the ball sooner. So many times a player holds the ball for 2 seconds and the defense closes and then there's no shot. Players have to square up and shoot when the ball hits their hands.
I adore Martin but she was completely lost tonight and probably should have spent more time on the bench as her head was not in this game.
Unless major changes are made on offense and the team puts more effort into rebounding and taking care of the ball, we're not making the tourney.
Really? Admittedly I haven’t seen a ton but it doesn’t seem like she doesn’t get enough of a chance to do much and she seems to contribute.
I think the frustration is she has not been a scoring threat. She is a facilitator and rebounder but has not shot well so far this season.
I don't think it's her. I think it's the system. I've hated it since Bluder instilled it. The players are constantly double teamed because there's barely any off the ball movement and when they are open, they hesitate even when the nearest defender is two feet away. We got to the Elite Eight playing a triangle offense. The read and react worked last year but this year players are slow to read and even slower to react.
Both the men's and women's teams have been painful to watch. But with the men's team at least we can say we lost two NBA players. We returned our entire starting lineup with the women and have played much worse than we did last year.
I'm not ready to right them off just yet. I just don't get the regression in their three point shooting. Warnock seems to be the only real consistent threat. Caitlin has open looks but lately she's been making only 2 or 3 out of double digit attempts which usually lead to long rebounds and no second chance points. I pray that next year Hannah is ready to play because her athleticism will hopefully make a huge difference in the interior.
With the exception of tonight, Martin has played well. Gabby is not aggressive enough. Her and Tomi are both guilty of being hesitant.
I see a repeat of the same half court pass to open shooter on the perimeter. Defender is two feet away. Player squares but doesn't shoot and then dribbles and passes when the defender closes.
Gabby and Tomi both need to either pull the trigger before the defender closes or dribble and shoot a jumper.
If they can't figure out how to do that by now, then Bluder needs to bench them or change the offensive system to something that the players understand. Clearly the players are confused.
Gabby is the best stop and pop shooter and Martin is the best cutter on the team. Bluder has to find a way to get them involved that plays to their strengths. Maybe everything works in practice playing against Iowa's pretty weak defense but against any other opponent with a heartbeat we're getting beat.
The warning signs have been there all season. And the bigger issues like turnovers and rebounding have been ongoing for several seasons. Bluder needs to figure out how to fix this team or hang up her whistle.
I have not seen much from Martin all year. Marshall seems to have lost all confidence in her shot.
A few things. Last year's team was right on the bubble until a real hot stretch toward the end of the year which they rode to 2nd in the BTT and second weekend of the NCAA tournament. Kudos to them. But no one is overlooking them this year, and teams are much better prepared for Clark. Throw in the COVID pauses and the injuries and some bad luck in close games and you have a struggling team. Bluder has righted the ship before, she will have to do so again. But the same issues that were there last year are still there. They can't defend well, don't get loose balls and/or rebound. They just aren't very quick compared to good opponents. They got on a run where they just outscored teams last year, but it's not working this year.
They're afraid to shoot. They're afraid to miss. Unfortunately that can happen with a super scorer on the team. No hesitation in her shot!
... Thankfully!
Again, there are others here who have seen more of this team this year than I have, but when I've watched, it appears at times there's almost a sense of disinterest (I'm sure they're interested in playing), or an almost total lack of cohesiveness.
As we all know, the defense, rebounding, and ball protection (in differing order depending on the night) are the issues.
As we all know, the defense, rebounding, and ball protection (in differing order depending on the night) are the issues.
I hear what you are saying Larry. When things aren't going well, it can appear that a team isn't playing hard. It's akin to when a baseball team is struggling to score runs, it can appear that they don't care.
I would lean on Bluder's track record in getting her teams to play together. Iowa looked somewhat similar last year until they hit their hot streak. They have good players on the team who care. They aren't playing very well right now. Hope they get it fixed.
Above all I think they need to reduce TO's.....I knew it wasn't going to be a good night when our first two possessions were TO's. Very careless w/ the ball - even when they're up big....
Clark isn't playing at the same level she was last year either which doesn't help.
Clark isn't playing at the same level she was last year either which doesn't help.
Pardon me for saying so, but I think Clark is one of the most overrated athletes I've seen in decades. She is almost always evaluated based on her reputation rather than her performance. Sure, she scores a lot of points, but what's her shooting percentage? And she's often a turnover machine. Sorry, but I just don't see the greatness. Not even close. But it could just be me.
Clark is trying to do more this year as a facilitator as opposed to just carrying the team on her back. Last year she played coast to coast almost every possession. This year she is trying to run the offense.
As a result, her numbers are down. She also tries to force stuff sometimes when it's not there or if it there, the other players aren't ready. There's a general lack of urgency and lack of communication.
This team might be better served moving Gabby back to the point and letting Clark play the two and see if that frees her up to score.
She's definitely not an overrated athlete. She has a few triple-doubles this year to prove it and she can make insane moves playing one on one.
As I've stated many times, I feel the talent around her is being misused. Gabby needs to be shooting 10 times a game. Kate needs to be cutting through the lane as often as possible. We need to work the inside out which means not letting Monica be double and triple teamed in the post while others stand around liked stunned deer. I think the players are confused. They're trying too hard to make the right read and in turn are not reacting.
Sometimes too much freedom is no freedom at all. I think Bluder needs to simplify the offense or redesign it to use mostly set plays so everyone knows their responsibility. And if players hesitate, call a timeout and make personnel adjustments. And coach the players on the sideline.
Bluder is very vocal coaching from the sideline on defense but not so much on offense, save for when there is an out of bounds play. And she can't be afraid to call a timeout. While they're nice at the end of the game if it's close, they're wasted at the end of the game if we're down double digits or close to it.
One practice a week the players should don knee and elbow pads and practice rebounding and loose ball drills because there's no hustle at all in that department.
While there's still time to turn around this season, I've seen very little game to game that leads me to believe that any changes will be made. This team is the WBB version of the football team. Offense looks great for moments but most of the time you know what's going to happen and can see the TO or missed shot before it happens. Defense plays hard most of the time but has lapses for a stretch/series.
Unfortunately, it's becoming unwatchable despite having some really good players. I turned off the game last night in the 3rd quarter because it was just sad to see the same mistakes over and over.
The team is also really missing Sharon Goodman who was such a great rebounding and defensive presence off the bench. I'd hate for her to lose a year of eligibility for a few games in a season but every time I see her walking on the sideline a big part of me wishes she was in uniform and ready to check in at the next timeout.
I agree that Gabbie needs to shoot more. I think we need to set more plays for her shooting a 3 as well as McKenna. I also agree that they need to change their offense up a little bit by simply just making it more structured because there are some players that look lost at times and I feel having them embrace a role will do them well.
In Makenzie Meyer's junior season, she was averaging 5.1 3-point attempts per game. Now I know Gabbie's not the shooter Melissa Dixon was but she was averaging 7.7 3-point attempts per game her junior season. So far, Gabbie is only averaging 4.1 3-point attempts per game.
Conversely, ISU doesn't seem to be missing her at all. That said, I think it's nice to have taller guards. The year Creighton took us out of the NCAA tournament they had 3 good 5'10" guards and kind of swamped us.
Yeah, but in today's game the good teams are recruiting guards as tall as our posts, and they are athletic.
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