I've seen enough
- Thread starter Bro D
- Start date
Yeah, I thought it was pretty obvious to everyone now that this is a more well rounded team than last year.
This team has a significantly higher ceiling but it will likely end up about the same because of the lack of attention given to defense.
Yeah, I think this is clearly a better team in almost every respect than last year.
guess I’m a little more optimistic defensively than usual as well.
That will get you in trouble lol.
We've seen small bursts of high energy defense before but it comes and goes depending on the mood of the players.
Should be better rebounding and shot blocking at least.
Outrebounded by 8. Their Center off the bench really hurt us, though I thought Freeman was pretty solid as well. The front line of Krikke, Sandfort and Pat are going to get clobbered most nights on the boards. Think Fran doesn’t really care which is why we’re going to push the ball at every opportunity. I’d still like to see 5 rebounds from Pat vs 2 at 6-9 but I think we know it’s not happening.
I was VERY encouraged when I attended the last home game but I tempered my enthusiasm as I knew what was coming. First half was one hell of an entertaining game. Second had Creighton had that run of 3s and were up by 17 i just thought...ok, how will our guys react. Truly an A+ on now giving up and had a real good shot to get it to 2 with under a minute left. Creighton is going to win a BUNCH of games. I just hope our guys are not satisfied keeping it close with Creighton on the road....lots of tough tests ahead of them in the next 2 to 4 weeks.
Go Hawks!
Go Hawks!
I'd like to see Brauns get a few minutes here and there when Iowa is struggling to rebound and defend.
There was a two minute stretch middle second half where the game got away because Krikke was gassed and wasn't able to play any semblance of defense against that back up center.
That’s what’s maddening about a lot of frans teams, they typically have pretty good depth, but somehow they can’t keep the defensive energy high. Should be fairly easy when playing 10-12 guys. You’re right, its the mood of the players…shouldn’t be left up to them, the coach should be demanding it
Yes, 1 elite 8 in last 5 years or 2-3 sweet 16's in Fran's 14 years would say the teams Fran produces are competitive in NCAA tourney. Instead after 14 years of zilch, a lot of us fans see Fran teams as D.O.A. as soon as NCAA tourney starts. That doesn't mean Fran gets fired...just means don't expect much in ncaa tourney and I would say an Elite8 is nearly impossible.
I was impressed with the young talent.....Give Fran credit Freeman, Harding, Dembele looks like a good class and
renting Krikke for a year as opposed to getting nothing in portal was also a good move.
Giving up 92 points----that unfortunately indicates we aren't going to have good enough defense to make a run in NCAA tourney. Expecting Fran to address defensive issues is like expecting Kirk Ferentz to implement the spread offense.
Good point. Iowa didn't have a physical answer for Creighton back up center King who was 5-6 from field and 5 rebounds in 12 minutes.. I see PMAC was able to get 2 rebounds in 30 minutes so we did have a 6'9 guy out on floor.
I thought the defense was fine for 30 minutes last night. The problem was the first 10 minutes of the half Creighton came out with some new sets to counter what we were doing on ball screens and it had everyone confused and scrambling. Fran had to use the 2 TOs to chew ass and explain what they were doing and where the help defense needed to come from. After that, I thought they played it a lot better. That's just what happens when you play against one of the best offenses in the country--the only team in the Big Ten that has as good of an offense as Creighton is Purdue (and Iowa) so I'm honestly not too worried about it. Bowen in particular was very good defensively last night--which is why he is playing. He also pushes the tempo really well in transition. Not as flashy as Brock, but he's doing some little things well--just needs to take better shots IMO.
Obviously haven't seen a ton of this team yet but I've watched every game so far. I think they're a bubble type of team from what I've seen. Prior to the season I would have said NIT at best.
They have a lot of young players but those young players have looked very good so far. Not just last night where they really looked good in a hostile environment. They have, at times, looked better than the starters.
My biggest concern with this team is point guard play. Bowen still makes a lot of the same mistakes he did as a freshman and hasn't really shown an ability to hit open 3s that he's going to need to knock down. Dix has been very up and down as well. If Bowen, Dix, and Harding can elevate their game as the season goes on, we will make the tourney.
The other key is the defense. I felt that we played VERY good defense against Creighton in the first half. In the second half, I think it was a combination of fatigue and Creighton getting really hot from deep that led to the defensive issues. Fran also left the starters in there way too long when they were dead tired.
I'm very encouraged by what I've seen by this team so far this season.
They have a lot of young players but those young players have looked very good so far. Not just last night where they really looked good in a hostile environment. They have, at times, looked better than the starters.
My biggest concern with this team is point guard play. Bowen still makes a lot of the same mistakes he did as a freshman and hasn't really shown an ability to hit open 3s that he's going to need to knock down. Dix has been very up and down as well. If Bowen, Dix, and Harding can elevate their game as the season goes on, we will make the tourney.
The other key is the defense. I felt that we played VERY good defense against Creighton in the first half. In the second half, I think it was a combination of fatigue and Creighton getting really hot from deep that led to the defensive issues. Fran also left the starters in there way too long when they were dead tired.
I'm very encouraged by what I've seen by this team so far this season.
Yeah, that intentional foul was one of the lamest things I've ever seen.
He had recovered in position to defend and was apparently so lacking in confidence in his own ability to defend a guy his height he just gave up.
The offensive player had his back to the basket for fck sake.
I don't see a bubble team. I see an 8 - 12 seed currently and potentially higher if the freshman show some growth.
I hope you're right. I've probably rated them a bit lower than I normally would because of the youth in that second squad. I know how difficult it is for freshman in the Big Ten season. If they can play with the moxie they showed on the road at Creighton and not make the typical freshman mistakes, you are definitely right.
Creighton is the 8 team in the country, obviously early in the season but they're a 2-3 seed. We played them very tough in as hostile environment we're going to play in all year. With no injuries and the Freshmen keep improving this is easily a 6-8 seed in the tournament. Big Ten is not very good again this year, besides Purdue, Sparty again rated way to high to start the season. We're a top 6 team in the league this year if we play to our capabilities.
Agreed, the Big Ten is very condensed after Purdue. There's a lot of teams that have potential to be pretty good but have had slow starts. I think outside of Michigan and Purdue, Iowa may be the team that's looked the most impressive so far this year. I know I'm biased, but I don't know if that's really a hot take either.
Until Fran really buys into defense and rebounding results will be the same if the Hawks make the ncaa tournament with a 1st or 2nd round exit. Still need upgrade at the pg posistion
I'd love to see this. Better sub patterns instead of wholesale line changes and this team could make the tourney. PMac at 6'9" offers no defense or rebounding. He is better served off the bench. Every time the camera is on him he just looks exhausted.
I saw promise in the defense. The game was tied at half. And we only lost by 8 to the #8 team in the country ON THEIR FLOOR with a sold out crowd of 17,352.
And what about that Iowa D?
Iowa forced 12 turnovers (Iowa had just 7 turnovers)
Iowa had 6 blocks and 7 steals
We did get outrebounded 38-30 (and allowed 9 CU offensive rebounds) but only gave up 9 second chance points on those 9 offensive rebounds.
CU is an elite offensive team; don't forget that. They are gonna score on everyone.
@Bro D is right, imo.
I think the perimeter on the ball defense is trending to be better.. still have my reservations about interior defense but hoping rotations get figured out with Dembele or Freeman getting more minutes, or rotated in differently. Enjoying the depth though, that's for sure!
my god, I wanna see more of Ladji (14 minutes) and Owen (14 minutes), that's for sure.
Ladji has a sweet shooting stroke, too. He was 2-2 from 3 for 8 pts, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 0 turnovers
Owen was 4-7 from the field for 8 pts, 3 blocks, 1 rebound, 0 turnovers
That's basically my attitude. The team will be competitive. They will score points. They will win games. They will finish in the upper division of the conference. They will lose a batch of games against good teams because they can't keep them out of the 90's or 100's on the scoreboard. They will (probably) make the NCAA Tournament. They will (probably) lose in the first or second round.
In other words, pretty typical Fran season. Nothing necessarily wrong with that. He shouldn't be fired for it. But until I see his teams consistently defend, I'm convinced that this is also the ceiling.
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We have 6 newcomers. I think the overseas trip really helped.
And Fran had them ready last night.
I think you guys are over reacting to one game. Iowa is going to struggle with athletic frontcourts this year. Creighton just doesn't have an athletic front court. Iowa actually matches up real well with Creighton. I was really only impressed with 3 Creighton players. Their PG and PF weren't impressive to me. Patrick, Payton and Krikke are going to struggle against more athletic teams. Maybe Fran can adjust but I just don't trust him to because those 3 guys are good at the end of the floor Fran cares about most.
Saw some good things. Liked Freeman, Demblee is raw. Kricke can shoot. Fran has depth but that always doesn’t work in his favor because of his substitutions. Didn’t see enough of Payton. Patrick has no desire to rebound or play defense. Have to figure out PG. Perkins gambles too much on defense. It always amazes me how many dunks and layups the other team gets compared to us. Reflection of bad defense. Team looks familiar.
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