It's time for an upgrade Fran.

[HawksAndChiefs24]

and lets make sure we add on the record..after going 3-5 to start the season,,,we finish (16-10) with great wins over ISU, Mich, Purdue, Maryland & Wisconsin..(3 of NCAA Sweet 16 Teams)..

the problem with young teams on defense are matchups from one opponent to another..young teams struggle with it..yet they did improve which led to their overall results. I would think with the addition of Garza & Nunge..another summer of seasoning..we will see a much better defense this fall.

We have terrific assistants who have done a great job with a young team.

This is a very good point as well. I think once we get Garza & Nunge down low it will help with the guards not having to crash down. They are so much longer than what we have now. Our defense was significantly better with Woody down there and I don't think it is debatable. Our scheme requires a true big man. Ideally one that is more athletic than Woody which all 4 we will have are... significantly.

 

[hawk-i bob]

I dont see garza having much impact next year. In fact, i would be a bit surprised if he doesn't RS

well lets hope he does better than MVC level

I'm basing my opinion on actual facts & physical capability (not a bit surprised). Garza gives Fran something he doesnt have..an interior presence on defense..as well as a rebounder. You dont win the awards he has coming out of Washington DC & offers from the like of LVille and redshirt.

Not saying he wins B1G Freshman of the Year but will have an immediate impact especially on defense, rebounding & hitting a decent % of free throws.

So what brings you to suggest he wont have an impact? or maybe its just a guess?

 

[hawk-i bob]

This is a very good point as well. I think once we get Garza & Nunge down low it will help with the guards not having to crash down. They are so much longer than what we have now. Our defense was significantly better with Woody down there and I don't think it is debatable. Our scheme requires a true big man. Ideally one that is more athletic than Woody which all 4 we will have are... significantly.

Garza is a tough headed player...he doesnt & wont back down...as with most freshman (learning curve) but this kid is one tough cookie. Just me but I like the possibilites of Garza/Kriener as a duo 5.

Nunge is a Uthoff type on offense..not sure how he will do on defense..but a 6'11" kid who can shoot is always a good thing.

 

[ScoutRefugee]

I'd take Wagemester as a defensive assistant in a heart beat.

 

[DanL53]

Let's start with the facts.

Defense and rebounding need to improve. So do our free throw shooting and ball handling (turnovers). Offensively I think we'd all agree we're going to be in good shape.

Fair enough?

Now, the question, or accusation, is raised that our staff doesn't coach defense. Let's go to Kenpom for a history of the last seven years, defensive efficiency:

58, 206, 25, 77, 33, 30, 122.

Who was our center in McCaffery's second year? What happened when we brought in a space eater like Woody? Four years, good defense. That's minus the infamous collapse as in January of that year our DE was in the low 30's. (The collapse was on the defensive end, if folks recall). So why the leap all the way up to 122?

Sure as he!! aint because of the coaches.

We have a big space eater coming in, and some talent that were freshmen on the team, and a shot blocker is nice but a shot changer, denier, is pretty dang good as well.

I could go on about the upcoming improved rebounding, and freshmen getting better at free throws...but, I'll just stop with this little bit as mostly I wanted to dispel another myth, that McCaffery and Staff don't coach defense.

 

[Hawk_4shur]

With Dr. Tom, it almost seemed like they let the other team score so we could the ball back and score, then set up the press. Sometimes it feels that way with this team.

More experience and strength will help this team a lot in the coming years, but I don't seem them ever being a strong defensive team without a shot blocker near the rim.

 

[hexumhawk]

Yes. I said it. The lack of Defense in so many situations during his tenure calls for a change.

He needs to upgrade one of his assistants to somebody with a defensive Wizardry background.

Yes, I know all of the current assistants are good people and solid assistants. But something needs to change.

Love our free flowing offense but agree.

You cant win consistantly if you dont teach defense and toughness. He has 3 years from me to get to the sweet 16. That is 10 total years so plenty of time to get it done.

 

[ScoutRefugee]

Let's start with the facts.

Defense and rebounding need to improve. So do our free throw shooting and ball handling (turnovers). Offensively I think we'd all agree we're going to be in good shape.

Fair enough?

Now, the question, or accusation, is raised that our staff doesn't coach defense. Let's go to Kenpom for a history of the last seven years, defensive efficiency:

58, 206, 25, 77, 33, 30, 122.

Who was our center in McCaffery's second year? What happened when we brought in a space eater like Woody? Four years, good defense. That's minus the infamous collapse as in January of that year our DE was in the low 30's. (The collapse was on the defensive end, if folks recall). So why the leap all the way up to 122?

Sure as he!! aint because of the coaches.

We have a big space eater coming in, and some talent that were freshmen on the team, and a shot blocker is nice but a shot changer, denier, is pretty dang good as well.

I could go on about the upcoming improved rebounding, and freshmen getting better at free throws...but, I'll just stop with this little bit as mostly I wanted to dispel another myth, that McCaffery and Staff don't coach defense.

You might want to attribute those defensive numbers to Woody but you'd be wrong. Those defensive numbers directly reflect 4 guards/wings that were quick and athletic enough to play defense. Marble, May, Clemmons, Gesell.
Number of made 3pt shots allowed in 2012-13 (with those 4 on the perimeter) was 98th in the country.
With the current guards/wings with very limited athleticism, we are 304th.
What I would like to see (that I believe will confirm my theory) is the number of defensive possessions played man vs zone in 2012 and this season. My bet is we played a LOT more zone with this year's team than with the 2012 team that saw a FR starter at PG and another FR guard play 16 mins per game.
Dropping numbers without context doesn't make you knowledgeable.

 

[Bjornjarnleggr]

with Iowa's length they should not play any defense except the Syracuse zone. Period , Fran having this team play man to man was gross incompetence . You have to play to the skills of your team and man to man defense half of Iowa's roster cant play at a consistent winning level .

 

[Bjornjarnleggr]

you can't coach foot speed or leaping ability.

that's what zones are for , but I guess that isn't sexy enough , much better to play with style and get gashed with penetration and dishes .

 

[ScoutRefugee]

Lets look at the Sweet 16 and see how many of those teams are in the top 50 in points allowed defense.
WV - 46
Michigan - 42
Oregon - 39
Arizona - 36
Florida - 34
Rhode Island - 32
South Carolina - 30
Baylor - 19
Wisconsin - 10
Gonzaga - 5
That's 10 of the 16 teams. 2 more are just outside.
Purdue - 56
Butler - 67
Then of course there are the 4 remaining teams that have so much 4 and 5* talent they don't care much about defense. UCLA, Kansas, UNC and Kentucky. None of them are in the top 100 but Iowa will not likely ever be one of the programs that get 6 or 7 top 50 players on a roster at the same time.

 

[SSG T]

And again, this idea that Fran can't coach defense or that Iowa has never been good on defense during his time here needs to end. He's been here 7 years. They have been good/great on defense 5 of the 7. They have been mediocre once and bad once.

The biggest reasoning this year is that they were an extremely young team and the only starting upper classman wasn't exactly known for great defense. It looked to me like a lot of their problem was the communication on defense. They seemed to not communicate switches, and off the ball movement very well. The close outs on threes are an example of that, that is (to a large extent) merely a matter of not identifying the shooter in time...that's communication. Same with the number of times the bigs get caught watching, then aren't in position to help when a helpside defender is needed. That's communication. That will all get better.

 

[ScoutRefugee]

And again, this idea that Fran can't coach defense or that Iowa has never been good on defense during his time here needs to end. He's been here 7 years. They have been good/great on defense 5 of the 7. They have been mediocre once and bad once.

The biggest reasoning this year is that they were an extremely young team and the only starting upper classman wasn't exactly known for great defense. It looked to me like a lot of their problem was the communication on defense. They seemed to not communicate switches, and off the ball movement very well. The close outs on threes are an example of that, that is (to a large extent) merely a matter of not identifying the shooter in time...that's communication. Same with the number of times the bigs get caught watching, then aren't in position to help when a helpside defender is needed. That's communication. That will all get better.

In some regards you are correct. Coaches don't coach defense as much as they recruit good defensive players. A good coach can make some defensive adjustments during games to take some things away from the other team. If you want to be a good defensive team, you have to start with the right pieces. I think the real question here is, do we have the right pieces? I don't see any guard/wing on this team that's a good on ball defender. I think that's a problem that can't be overcome with experience. You can only do so much as a team, to overcome poor perimeter defense.

 

[iahawkeyes17]

Yes. I said it. The lack of Defense in so many situations during his tenure calls for a change.

He needs to upgrade one of his assistants to somebody with a defensive Wizardry background.

Yes, I know all of the current assistants are good people and solid assistants. But something needs to change.

So all those who believe it's time for Fran to go. Please enlighten me on Iowa is going to get who will be an upgrade or that Iowa would have a REASONABLE chance at getting.

With Iowa's style of play we see higher scoring games. But heck look at Lickliter and his style we can go back to those low scoring games if defense is what you want. Alford's team played D but they choked so many times on the offensive end too.

 

[ScoutRefugee]

So all those who believe it's time for Fran to go. Please enlighten me on Iowa is going to get who will be an upgrade or that Iowa would have a REASONABLE chance at getting.

With Iowa's style of play we see higher scoring games. But heck look at Lickliter and his style we can go back to those low scoring games if defense is what you want. Alford's team played D but they choked so many times on the offensive end too.

That's not what he said. He wants Fran to get an assistant that specializes in good defensive basketball.

 

[DodgerHawki]

Lets look at the Sweet 16 and see how many of those teams are in the top 50 in points allowed defense.
WV - 46
Michigan - 42
Oregon - 39
Arizona - 36
Florida - 34
Rhode Island - 32
South Carolina - 30
Baylor - 19
Wisconsin - 10
Gonzaga - 5
That's 10 of the 16 teams. 2 more are just outside.
Purdue - 56
Butler - 67
Then of course there are the 4 remaining teams that have so much 4 and 5* talent they don't care much about defense. UCLA, Kansas, UNC and Kentucky. None of them are in the top 100 but Iowa will not likely ever be one of the programs that get 6 or 7 top 50 players on a roster at the same time.

Scout, PPG is not a great measure of defense. It's a measure, but doesn't take into account how fast a team plays. North Carolina is 19th in the country in defensive efficiency (the amount of points a team allows per 100 possessions). Kansas is 25th in the country in defensive efficiency. Kentucky is 7th, UCLA is 77th. Purdue is 16th in defensive efficiency. Michigan is 77th in defensive efficiency. The reason Michigan allows fewer points per game is they play slower games with fewer possessions. Purdue is a better defensive team. A study was done this year or last on the Final 4 teams from the past decade, and something like zero of them had defensive efficiency worse than 30th in the country.

 

[hoffmkr]

Too much is being made of the poor defense this year.
Defense comes down to 2 major points
1) Talent. Most players are either offensively or defensively focused. Unfortunately, the three players who were some of the best defenders were liabilities on offense and limited minutes in Uhl, Wagner and Williams. The rest of the roster needs to develop their defensive skills which comes with being underclassmen.
2) Cohesion. Average defensive players can play strong defense as a team by communicating and knowing where each other are going to be and their responsibilities. When you have Freshman and Sophomores new to the system, it takes time for them to know assignments and understand each other. This naturally improves over time.

Consistently you hear about GREAT freshman coming into college who score lots of points as a 4 or 5 star but need to work on their defense. This year we had a GREAT CLASS who together need to work on their defense. However, they have demonstrated a high desire to improve and work hard. Expect drastic improvements in this next year.

 

[DodgerHawki]

Let's start with the facts.

Defense and rebounding need to improve. So do our free throw shooting and ball handling (turnovers). Offensively I think we'd all agree we're going to be in good shape.

Fair enough?

Now, the question, or accusation, is raised that our staff doesn't coach defense. Let's go to Kenpom for a history of the last seven years, defensive efficiency:

58, 206, 25, 77, 33, 30, 122.

Who was our center in McCaffery's second year? What happened when we brought in a space eater like Woody? Four years, good defense. That's minus the infamous collapse as in January of that year our DE was in the low 30's. (The collapse was on the defensive end, if folks recall). So why the leap all the way up to 122?

Sure as he!! aint because of the coaches.

We have a big space eater coming in, and some talent that were freshmen on the team, and a shot blocker is nice but a shot changer, denier, is pretty dang good as well.

I could go on about the upcoming improved rebounding, and freshmen getting better at free throws...but, I'll just stop with this little bit as mostly I wanted to dispel another myth, that McCaffery and Staff don't coach defense.

Thanks Dan for the data. Iowa is never going to be among the leaders in point per game, as Iowa plays a faster pace, and with more possessions comes more points allowed. People need to remember defensive efficiency. And Fran has shown his teams can play defense if given the personnel and experience. No rim protector this year hurt. Woodbury didn't block shots, but having a 7-foot guy (and for a few years both he and Olaseni) helped a lot.

The roster next year and beyond is shaping up to be better on defense. Roster of mostly (sans Bohannon) of taller guys with long arms. If the team brings a commitment to defense into the off-season and next year the improvement could be significant. With Iowa's offensive versatility, the team just needs to be decent (in the 50-60 range in KenPom defensive efficiency) to be really good instead of mediocre/bad like it was this year (122).

 

[ScoutRefugee]

Scout, PPG is not a great measure of defense. It's a measure, but doesn't take into account how fast a team plays. North Carolina is 19th in the country in defensive efficiency (the amount of points a team allows per 100 possessions). Kansas is 25th in the country in defensive efficiency. Kentucky is 7th, UCLA is 77th. Purdue is 16th in defensive efficiency. Michigan is 77th in defensive efficiency. The reason Michigan allows fewer points per game is they play slower games with fewer possessions. Purdue is a better defensive team. A study was done this year or last on the Final 4 teams from the past decade, and something like zero of them had defensive efficiency worse than 30th in the country.

Agreed. The point stands either way because the 2 are somewhat related.

 

[HoustonREDHawk]

Let's start with the facts.

Defense and rebounding need to improve. So do our free throw shooting and ball handling (turnovers). Offensively I think we'd all agree we're going to be in good shape.

Fair enough?

Now, the question, or accusation, is raised that our staff doesn't coach defense. Let's go to Kenpom for a history of the last seven years, defensive efficiency:

58, 206, 25, 77, 33, 30, 122.

Who was our center in McCaffery's second year? What happened when we brought in a space eater like Woody? Four years, good defense. That's minus the infamous collapse as in January of that year our DE was in the low 30's. (The collapse was on the defensive end, if folks recall). So why the leap all the way up to 122?

Sure as he!! aint because of the coaches.

We have a big space eater coming in, and some talent that were freshmen on the team, and a shot blocker is nice but a shot changer, denier, is pretty dang good as well.

I could go on about the upcoming improved rebounding, and freshmen getting better at free throws...but, I'll just stop with this little bit as mostly I wanted to dispel another myth, that McCaffery and Staff don't coach defense.

Good info and I agree with most of your post, except I believe that the perimeter defense for the prior 4 years (Gesell and Sapp) had as much to do with the difference in defensive efficiency as the center. I think that our interior defense will improve a lot over the next couple of years with the incoming class and more experience for this freshman class. I am not so sure about the perimeter defense improving much, because most of our guards have physical limitations.

 

[kceasthawk]

That high hedge on the pick is killing us. One extra pass and it's a lay up or we foul.

Have to admit, I've never understood having your post guy hedge a guard 25 feet from the basket and then try to get back to guard his man on the block. Backside help has to really be on top of it, and were certainly not there yet.

 

[DanL53]

Good info and I agree with most of your post, except I believe that the perimeter defense for the prior 4 years (Gesell and Sapp) had as much to do with the difference in defensive efficiency as the center. I think that our interior defense will improve a lot over the next couple of years with the incoming class and more experience for this freshman class. I am not so sure about the perimeter defense improving much, because most of our guards have physical limitations.

I can see that point. We do need a guy we can put on the point guard. Someone, or two, better work hard to be better defenders or the whole team better get better at the various zones. But that change from season two to season three gives me encouragement that we can get better.

 

[Hawkeyegrad2006]

KenPom has Iowa ranked pretty well in Defensive efficiency (based on points per 100 possessions) from 2013-2016: 2013: 25; 2014: 77; 2015: 33; 2016; 30------2017: 122, which could certainly be a freshman thing but I think it's more of a guard and wing foot speed problem coupled with lack of a true, bona-fide big man clogging the lane.

But damn, the "eye test" sure tells me that Fran's teams have always been lacking defensively.

Could be a pace of play thing (fast generally) that throws me off...

 

[K OKeefe]

The three reasons why we lost to TCU today

1. We made only 8 out of 19 free throws.
So we missed out on 11 points at the charity stripe.

2.We had 17 turnovers which led to TCU getting easy pts.
TCU had only 9 turnovers.

3.We had a non effective defense which leaked badly.
Too many bunnies for TCU under the bucket.

Bottom Line: All of these weaknesses can be addressed
during the off season. With mostly freshmen and sophs
we will get better. Thanks Hawks for an exciting season.

I agree that the FT percentage and TO can be improved upon, but without a defensive philosophy change Iowa can only improve minimally. One of the biggest problems the Hawkeyes face defensively is their lack of quickness at too many positions. J Bo is very shifty and I have come to like him offensively, but his lack of quickness really hinders his ability to play defense. The quickness of the TCU PG allowed him to beat J Bo off of the dribble and then the post defenders to pinch and help, which then allowed for the dish.

Another issue that hinders the Hawkeyes on the defensive end of the floor would be some players appear to disinterested or apathetic to playing solid defense. A change in defensive philosophy would help this team tremendously, but I am not convinced that Coach is going to make that change.

 

[Hawkeyegrad2006]

Anybody know how Connor and Garza project out defensively?

 

[omahawki]

Michigan loses their starting PG, 2G, and Wing....I would argue that the PG has carried them a good part of the season. Their 2 bigs are pretty good.

8 players on current roster are Frosh or Soph. and Wagner looks to be an NBA lottery pick and is just a Soph. I agree Walton was a great PG.

 

[K OKeefe]

Wagner looks to be an NBA lottery pick and is just a Soph.

Iowa's Ahmad Wagner looks like an NBA lottery pick? What part of his game leads you to think that? Is it his 4.6 pts/gm, 3.4 rpg, or maybe the 1.4 apg? 6'7" tweener?

 

[omahawki]

Iowa's Ahmad Wagner looks like an NBA lottery pick? What part of his game leads you to think that? Is it his 4.6 pts/gm, 3.4 rpg, or maybe the 1.4 apg? 6'7" tweener?[/QUOTE

read the post we were discussing a young Michigan team. 6'11" Wagner from Michigan

 

[K OKeefe]

Got it, thanks. The German Wagner is a beast totally agree possible lottery pick.