Is the late season swoon a systemic conditioning issue

[87alum87]

I know the team put in more work on strength during the off-season. I do think that extra strength made a difference during the first half of the season.

But does anyone have any insight concerning ongoing conditioning efforts during the season. The shots are short, the feet are half a step slow getting in front of a man, and failing to get back on defense ahead of a fast break happens frequently. Our guys just look tired. And, this is not new or uncharacteristic of just this group of young men in Hawkeye uniforms.

How does Rutgers, or Illinois, or Purdue, or any of the other teams on the upswing condition in-season, compared to the Hawkeyes?

 

[EpenesaEpenesa]

I think it’s part of it. I also think the way games down the stretch are being officiated is a part of it. I don’t think anyone would consider Iowa a physical team, but the way the Big 10 allows teams to grab/hold on the perimeter down the final weeks kills Iowa and the way they want to play particularly. Rutgers and Ohio state played murder ball on the perimeter defensively and it was allowed. I’d do the same against Iowa if it’s now being allowed. Obviously It’s not the full reason for Iowa not playing well, but it’s a factor

 

[Crazy Hawk]

I had a coach once tell another player when said player complained to said coach about the other team pushing him.....without missing a beat the coach said "then push them back!"

Iowa has played the poor us card for awhile and it now shows. With that teams are using that against them and they are able to get inside not only the players heads but the coaches as well.

 

[Ronman]

How long has it been since the B1G won a national title? Seems as though as the season progresses, the refs allow more and more of this "hands on" style of ball. Maybe that is what's hurting us as a conference come tournament time.

 

[billshawks]

2000 Mich St, I think was the last time.

 

[Cydkar]

2000 Mich St, I think was the last time.

No comment.

 

[blhawk]

No comment.

Nice input from the big Kansas conference. They've had 1 in the last 30 yrs. Wanna compare final fours in the last 20 years? Yeah, no comment

 

[RocknRollface]

How long has it been since the B1G won a national title? Seems as though as the season progresses, the refs allow more and more of this "hands on" style of ball. Maybe that is what's hurting us as a conference come tournament time.

I think theres something to that.

For whatever reason the refs just cave in the second half of the season and allow allot more physicality in this conference.

Then it isn't allowed in the tournament.

 

[Ihawkhoops]

I think the # of posters in this forum who think the refs are out to "get" Iowa is a telltale signal of a disconnected fan base. Iowa can't get separation offensively so while I agree Bohannon getting pin balled around should elicit more whistles than it has, poor officiating is not responsible for Iowa's lethargic offense.

Fran tells us incessantly he is an offense first coach so to quote the old Wendy's commercial "Where's the Beef?" The offense shouldn't be AWOL for 1.5 months if we have all these tremendous shooters and multi-position guys. We know Iowa's D is suspect at best and honestly I can live with that IF Fran has some offensive horsepower on the floor to offset bad D. Of late we have seen bad O and D.

 

[BlackNGoldBleeder]

Nice input from the big Kansas conference. They've had 1 in the last 30 yrs. Wanna compare final fours in the last 20 years? Yeah, no comment

I'm guessing he's referring to the Elite 8 game ISU lost to MSU that year. Many Clone fans feel they got screwed over.

 

[2432Hawk]

I think if you go back and look at the middle stretch of the BigTen where we actually fared quite well other than the loss at MN, I think we burned a lot of fuel during that stretch of games... Garza was working back from ankle injury so his minutes were just starting to pickup but then cook had knee and ankle issue that limited his time and games.... Joe's back has been an issue for a couple weeks as well. I think we spent a lot of energy overcoming those hurdles at beginning to middle of BigTen season, and now it is catching up to us a bit.

I also feel we got into that stretch where the pressure of getting to the 4 seed put some extra pressure on guys and our shooting since has been off. I think after last week the guys just need to flush it and get back to playing together on both ends of the floor. Last couple games our passing has been poor, and defensively it is over helping that's getting us again. Stop helping off the shooters when the guy is driving into a tough contested shot at the basket. Or helping at the rim when you should be boxing your man out on the weak side. Seems we're seeing more high ball screen action to take advantage of Bohannon / Garza which is why we're also seeing a lot more of Connor when we're not in zone.

 

[HawkIDrummer]

I think it's more of a strength issue. I mentioned after JBo was on fire near the end of those games...that he must be in good shape. Shooters sometimes lose their legs late, but he was still in a groove.

Rutgers did a pretty good job of revealing the lack of physical strength on IOWA's squad

 

[CuttyDoesIt]

I'm guessing he's referring to the Elite 8 game ISU lost to MSU that year. Many Clone fans feel they got screwed over.

Shocking

 

[Rifler]

In conference scouting reports become more accurate late in the season...

 

[CuttyDoesIt]

Teams make adjustments based on the first match up. Iowa doesnt do it as well

 

[Ihawkhoops]

I think it's more of a strength issue. I mentioned after JBo was on fire near the end of those games...that he must be in good shape. Shooters sometimes lose their legs late, but he was still in a groove.

Rutgers did a pretty good job of revealing the lack of physical strength on IOWA's squad

Good points but as a guy whose only skill in basketball was shooting I know I enjoyed the lazy defender / defense much more than the "in your face, deny the ball, and crowd you" defender. Having to run all over just to maybe get a clean look isn't optimal. Bohannon, more than anybody else, works his ass off handling pressure as PG not to mention trying to get shots off. He has a quick release and doesn't need much space but you couldn't slide a piece of paper between him and his defender the past 6-8 games.

 

[BlackNGoldBleeder]

Shocking

Lol.

 

[gachawk]

Nice input from the big Kansas conference. They've had 1 in the last 30 yrs. Wanna compare final fours in the last 20 years? Yeah, no comment

The Big 12 has been a joke for the last few years and it is a joke again this year.

I know the team put in more work on strength during the off-season. I do think that extra strength made a difference during the first half of the season.

But does anyone have any insight concerning ongoing conditioning efforts during the season. The shots are short, the feet are half a step slow getting in front of a man, and failing to get back on defense ahead of a fast break happens frequently. Our guys just look tired. And, this is not new or uncharacteristic of just this group of young men in Hawkeye uniforms.

How does Rutgers, or Illinois, or Purdue, or any of the other teams on the upswing condition in-season, compared to the Hawkeyes?

Illinois like Iowa is 5-3 in the second half of the B!G. Rutgers is 3-5. I don't see any major upswing in those two teams. Purdue -s 7-1 but they are among the elite of the conference right now.

 

[Whinny]

"Murder ball" may help a team climb up in the standings of the B1G late in the season, but it will be a killer in the Big Dance and NIT. That kind of bullyball will just draw whistles in the national tourneys.

 

[Pepperman]

I'm guessing he's referring to the Elite 8 game ISU lost to MSU that year. Many Clone fans feel they got screwed over.

Shocking

1) They *DID* get screwed over. But that stuff happens when you play an Izzo team in the state of Michigan.

2) While I get the joke about how it is "shocking", us Iowa fans would be screaming bloody murder for at least 19 more years had it happened to us.

Bottom line - plenty of times to make fun of Iowa State, but that 2000 team of theirs was loaded and they did get screwed in that game. I don't think this is how Iowa fans need to poke fun, but that's just me. It would be like ISU football fans making fun of our Rose Bowl blowout in 2015 - while I'm sure some of them did, they show their idiocy most in those times.

 

[BlackNGoldBleeder]

1) They *DID* get screwed over. But that stuff happens when you play an Izzo team in the state of Michigan.

2) While I get the joke about how it is "shocking", us Iowa fans would be screaming bloody murder for at least 19 more years had it happened to us.

Bottom line - plenty of times to make fun of Iowa State, but that 2000 team of theirs was loaded and they did get screwed in that game. I don't think this is how Iowa fans need to poke fun, but that's just me. It would be like ISU football fans making fun of our Rose Bowl blowout in 2015 - while I'm sure some of them did, they show their idiocy most in those times.

I didn't watch the game, just remember fans upset. I think the humor is that Iowa State fans complain about the refs nearly every game, although Iowa fans are starting to as well.

 

[Pepperman]

I didn't watch the game, just remember fans upset. I think the humor is that Iowa State fans complain about the refs nearly every game, although Iowa fans are starting to as well.

Oh trust me, I got the joke (as stated before). I can't stand the Iowa "internet fan" mentality of how the refs are screwing Iowa. One major difference I see is the crowd at Carver isn't full of boos after every whistle. It seems to be a prerequisite to be in attendance at Hilton, however (BOOOO!).

 

[BlackNGoldBleeder]

Oh trust me, I got the joke (as stated before). I can't stand the Iowa "internet fan" mentality of how the refs are screwing Iowa. One major difference I see is the crowd at Carver isn't full of boos after every whistle. It seems to be a prerequisite to be in attendance at Hilton, however (BOOOO!).

Yep. "Every yard, for I...S...Boooooooooooo!"

 

[SotaHawk87]

One of my buddies coaches at Utah State so I asked him.. I’m connecting some dots here that might very well be inaccurate. I remember this from my playing days in college as well depending on injuries but essentially what he said was..

This time of years practices are shortened up, less guys participating, less time doing conditioning, etc etc.. Way more walk through, game prep, “taking care of guys bodies”.. For Iowa I wonder if that’s the case and if so if that where and when they lose their focus? Less time spent on things they probably had to spent a lot more time on earlier on the season? If they aren’t going full on defensive work does that play a part into the bad habits that have returned? Not sure but it made me think..

 

[L. Wade Childress]

Are there any teams outside the top 10 that DONT have a late year slide? Everyone used to say February, now we expanded it to “late year” since Fran went 5-2 in February this year and it doesn’t fit your argument.

I would guess that most teams outside of the elite encounter a bad stretch some time after Feb 1.

 

[MepoDawg#]

Teams make adjustments based on the first match up. Iowa doesnt do it as well

I don’t buy the scouting report excuse against Iowa. They are no different than they have been the last 2-3 years. I think it’s mostly the style of play allowed.

 

[michael.nelson311]

The difference in comparing the two is consistency. Iowa is CONSISTENTLY having late year fads and drops WITH the same coach(s) that should tell you where the problem is by simple process of elimination. Or was that too "easy"

 

[L. Wade Childress]

No, they aren’t

The difference in comparing the two is consistency. Iowa is CONSISTENTLY having late year fads and drops WITH the same coach(s) that should tell you where the problem is by simple process of elimination. Or was that too "easy"

 

[CuttyDoesIt]

I don’t buy the scouting report excuse against Iowa. They are no different than they have been the last 2-3 years. I think it’s mostly the style of play allowed.

I think there is a lot more nuance to scouting then that.

 

[anon_wic6m41528ao4]

The difference in comparing the two is consistency. Iowa is CONSISTENTLY having late year fads and drops WITH the same coach(s) that should tell you where the problem is by simple process of elimination. Or was that too "easy"

They've had two collapses in fran's tenure.
This may end up being the third but too early to tell. "consistent[]" is hyperbole

 

[HawkIDrummer]

I don’t buy the scouting report excuse against Iowa. They are no different than they have been the last 2-3 years. I think it’s mostly the style of play allowed.

This.

Every team gets scouted...every team does scouting. It's part of the game.

 

[Bearhawk0505]

We are not athletic for a big ten roster. No need to over analyze things.

 

[Buffalo43]

Conditioning these kids are kids

 

[Buffalo43]

I would challenge the coaches mental conditioning

 

[HawkIDrummer]

Conditioning these kids are kids

And they're playing against other kids, so it's relative. Some teams are better conditioned than others.

 

[CO_hawk]

Pretty simple. Name the guys that are meeting or exceeding expectations.

Weiskamp
Baer

 

[HawkIDrummer]

Pretty simple. Name the guys that are meeting or exceeding expectations.

Weiskamp
Baer

I'd say Kriener has had a surprisingly good season. He's delivered more than expected a number of times.

 

[Pepperman]

Pretty simple. Name the guys that are meeting or exceeding expectations.

Weiskamp
Baer

I think we can safely add JBo to this list. He's not perfect, but he's been our man more often than not. Especially if we are talking about the month of February?

 

[Ronman]

For Iowa I wonder if that’s the case and if so if that where and when they lose their focus? Less time spent on things they probably had to spent a lot more time on earlier on the season?

If anything, to me it looks as though they have tired legs. Slower on D, shots falling short, etc. Maybe they aren't cutting back on the physical activity enough.

Back in the dark ages, when my team looked a step slow, instead of having a normal practice, the coach would give us a "fun" day, where we would just goof around and not drill so hard. Might lighten our spirits too. This team looks like they're playing awfully tight.

 

[Biggus Blockus]

I think it's very simple. Other teams have adjusted how they play defense and have greater athleticism on the perimeter than Iowa. Other teams have figured out how to attack Iowa's zone, again taking advantage of the perimeter game to get wide open looks.