It's the Northwestern loss from last year all over again.

[DanL53]

Same panic. Probably the same posters.

We were slightly beat up and certainly all out exhausted. I know that and no I'm not going to explain why, just, believe it or not.

It's too bad, we almost gutted out one more win before catching some time off. The loss hurts from the top down.

I wish as much as anyone that we could be celebrating 12-2, but also know that any sane fan would have accepted 11-3 without a second thought if offered that option before the season started.

 

[djwoody]

Iowa is still in great shape, but it's a troubling loss. The defense has been awful during this stretch. And offensively with the exception of Jok has been questioning itself. The guys are over-thinking things and not reacting. The week off is badly needed.

 

[Suterman]

We were in great shape before last nights game, we aren't now. We have 4 extremely tough games left and no margin for error. The January Hawkeyes would win all 4, the February Hawkeyes could lose all 4 if they don't figure it out.

 

[Chicityhawkfan]

I was at that northwestern game last year and last night did have a similar feel. I think the big difference is that leading up to that northwestern game they were still playing good basketball. This year the last 3 games have been a struggle at best.

I agree that I would have signed up for 11-3 in a heartbeat. What's frustrating to everyone is that we know we can play better. We've seen it. We've dominated great teams.

I really hope that it's just fatigue and the week off will do everyone well. I hope to see the crisp offensive flow we saw in January. I know a lot of times good defense can be the best offense, but for this group I think it's the opposite. When we got up big on teams early it completely took people out of their games. They started forcing things they wouldn't normally force and it made our defense look better than it probably was.

I trust that this senior laden team will not fold. Call me crazy, but I expect to see the same type of basketball I saw in January from this group again before the season is over.

 

[Hawk_4shur]

This is almost so "normal" that it is to be expected. Somehow the football team avoided it until the Rose Bowl.

February is the "dog days" of the basketball season. It is really hard to sustain excellence for a long period of time. They started the season as world beaters and that created a level of "expected normal performance" for the coaches, players and especially fans. It's not just Iowa - we see it everywhere in sports all the time. (Let's see if the GS Warriors can break the pattern and stay as an incredibly high level of performance.)

Now, they get a nice break and only two road trips left (and no more difficult trips like PSU). The team is going to be refreshed and pi$$ed about their performance. I think we will see a different team next week.

 

[EpenesaEpenesa]

Iowa's in much better shape at this stage than when they dropped the NW game last year. 4 game season left to win the Big 10. No reason to panic. The Penn State game isn't defining this team. I think they'll get themselves right again and finish strong going into the postseason. It's in them, we've seen it all year.

 

[IaHawk44]

Same panic. Probably the same posters.

We were slightly beat up and certainly all out exhausted. I know that and no I'm not going to explain why, just, believe it or not.

It's too bad, we almost gutted out one more win before catching some time off. The loss hurts from the top down.

I wish as much as anyone that we could be celebrating 12-2, but also know that any sane fan would have accepted 11-3 without a second thought if offered that option before the season started.

I fully expected the distinct possibility of losing at Penn State. They beat Indiana pretty good there too, so this loss shouldn't come as a huge shock. Also consider the revenge factor from the 73 - 49 win here, Penn State had a lot to prove and they deserve credit for the win last night.

We missed some shots last night and a couple times the ball literally bounced in Penn State's favor. But we had a chance to win until Penn State went up by four on a free throw with 7 seconds remaining. So considering those factors and that Penn State played very well I don't see this loss being as bad as some on here think it is.

We're still in great shape to win the B1G and I was glad to see Dom take another step in the right direction. Baer played well too, he made a couple mistakes but his energy is still a positive. Mike's shot is off but the staff will watch the film and work with him to improve his shooting form.

We're a solid, experienced team and I'm certainly looking forward to the rest of the season - the seniors still have a lot to prove - and that includes showing what they are capable of come tournament time.

 

[RocknRollface]

The obvious difference is this team is allot better than last years team.

Last years team was unranked. This was supposed to be the #1 team in the conference and #4 overall.

No reason to panic (other than the freethrows) but this is a much bigger failure.

 

[bravehawks1]

This is almost so "normal" that it is to be expected. Somehow the football team avoided it until the Rose Bowl.

February is the "dog days" of the basketball season. It is really hard to sustain excellence for a long period of time. They started the season as world beaters and that created a level of "expected normal performance" for the coaches, players and especially fans. It's not just Iowa - we see it everywhere in sports all the time. (Let's see if the GS Warriors can break the pattern and stay as an incredibly high level of performance.)

Now, they get a nice break and only two road trips left (and no more difficult trips like PSU). The team is going to be refreshed and pi$$ed about their performance. I think we will see a different team next week.

But Jok said they were pi$$ed after Indiana and would come out with energy. In fact, the opposite has occurred, they looked less than excited to be playing. Hopefully, they do get it figured out. If the PSU game is the start of something bad, this team will be talked about nationally in as negative manner as they were positively too three weeks.

Go Hawks!

 

[DanL53]

But Jok said they were pi$$ed after Indiana and would come out with energy. In fact, the opposite has occurred, they looked less than excited to be playing. Hopefully, they do get it figured out. If the PSU game is the start of something bad, this team will be talked about nationally in as negative manner as they were positively too three weeks.

Go Hawks!

Players say a lot of things publicly. And sometimes they really believe it. And nobody needs to make an excuse for a 20-6 team, but I and several others were saying before the game that the team looked tired recently. And they were.

Regardless, for the "Why!?!?!?" crowd, starting Wednesday of next week we'll see if the team gets their mojo back.