Joe T needs more PT--Fran wake up call

[Ihawkhoops]

Toussaint 14 points in 20 minutes. CJ and JW 10 combined points playing 31 and 34 minutes respectively and Evelyn with 8 points in 21 minutes. Fran has pushed a lot of the right buttons this year, but his utilization of Joe T lately has been prescriptive and that is being kind. The 2nd leading scorer was 6th in PT while CJ and JW were flat out bad. Joe T made as many 3's as JW and CJ combined and was playing with confidence...something neither CJ or JW has had in a month.

I will live with the occasional Joe T turnover to have a guy on the floor who is going to match the intensity of Garza and Connor who can penetrate, dish, score or get to the line (he is money from the line). Neither CJ or JW have the handles or quicks to take anybody off the bounce and it shows. Fran needs to stop the charity minutes for JW...his poor play is hurting the team. Feel things out in the first half go with the guys who came to play in the second half.

 

[trippnschmidt]

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[TheCDiggity]

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[Pepperman]

Don't forget about the defensive end of the court. Toussaint is very good at frustrating the other team's best guard. For example, Winston at MSU.

 

[General Tso]

agreed

 

[Mccusk34]

Does anyone else notice how Fran treats Joe? When Joe gets substituted, Fran won't even look at him. Other guys come out Fran talks to them, slaps them on the back. Joe makes 1 mistake and he is benched. BE and even JW are allowed to a much longer rope, but aren't playing well enough to justify that rope. Is this just how Fran treats freshmen?

 

[perryhawk]

Does anyone else notice how Fran treats Joe? When Joe gets substituted, Fran won't even look at him. Other guys come out Fran talks to them, slaps them on the back. Joe makes 1 mistake and he is benched. BE and even JW are allowed to a much longer rope, but aren't playing well enough to justify that rope. Is this just how Fran treats freshmen?

I think that those things that we see on the bench/game interaction, are just the surface of what is actually being done in that coach/teacher relationship. Clearly, Fran knows what he is doing both in terms of developing PG's AND with how to handle individual players based on their learning style etc.

I have zero inside information so my "assumption" is as follows. Fran, who is noted for being a great one on one coach and great at player relationships, has most likely talked at length with Joe T in that way. One on one with great clarity and sincerity. He has most likely built Joe T's confidence and expressed his belief in Joe while telling him......(something like this) turnovers, they are the deadly sin and if I teach you anything this year I need to ingrain in you the limiting of TOs. You are the quarterback of the team, you have immense talent in the form of quickness and when you learn how to consistently control it you will be a difference maker for us. I KNOW that the freshman year is the toughest in terms of learning and dealing with the challenges of college and B10 basketball.....so, I will take you out when I see turnovers that I know you can avoid and are the situations that are exactly what we have talked about. I won't say anything to you because you know why you are coming out. When you come out I want you to just go sit on the bench and think about how and why that happened so that you can avoid it next time. You are the future, so we have to develop you now.

 

[hexumhawk]

He has obviously had some major problems with turning the ball over and some bad FROSH mistakes. Even with that, he needs to get more minutes as he gives us athleticism that we otherwise dont have especially on the defensive end.

 

[Stormn Norman]

I don’t feel JT mistakes have warranted the lack of PT in comp to his production.. He at least tries to pressure the D with more than shooting up jump shots.. Joe W isn’t giving Iowa much at all right now.. I’d have Joe W coming off the bench come big 10 tourney time I’m sure Fran may get a call from his folks but you gotta produce. Maybe coming off the bench will ease some pressure on him.. I guess CJ gets a pass as he is coming off some injuries.. BE and RK would get a few more minutes..

 

[perryhawk]

I think the other factor (yes I would like to see Joe T get more minutes) is that Bakari has experience.....and in highly contested games that are very intense....as a coach you should know to lean on that experience.

We can all second guess Fran on the playing time he gives Joe T vs Bakari....but Fran does know what he is doing...he see's them in practice, etc.

 

[littlez]

Most coaches tend to go w/what makes them comfortable. Joe was pretty solid the other night but it's pretty clear Fran values Evelyn or Conor at the end of game as he wants their experience. The run late in the Illini game came with Evelyn. I'm not saying it's right or wrong, but at this point in the season I'd say it's not changing. With the defense Evelyn and Joe T bring there are times I wouldn't mind seeing the 2 of them in there together, especially with the way Weiskamp is playing on both ends of the floor. I know he's trying to let Joe get his confidence back but damn, he's been bad at both ends of the floor for 5-6 games now. Let's just hope he can get his mojo back and Touissant can keep bringing the energy and we can at least knock off the Illini this week!

 

[L. Wade Childress]

Got down 9 to start the half until Joe T came out.

Almost won without him playing.

makes sense that people think he didn’t play enough.

 

[owenhawk]

Does anyone else notice how Fran treats Joe? When Joe gets substituted, Fran won't even look at him. Other guys come out Fran talks to them, slaps them on the back. Joe makes 1 mistake and he is benched. BE and even JW are allowed to a much longer rope, but aren't playing well enough to justify that rope. Is this just how Fran treats freshmen?

You are trying too hard.

 

[perryhawk]

Got down 9 to start the half until Joe T came out. Almost won without him playing.

That pretty well says it......Joe T will get there. We all see how much talent he has....and we should all see how far he has come under Fran's coaching. This last game against Illinois I thought he was really REALLY good. His improvement seems very obvious.....but what L. Wade posts tells you what Fran knows.

 

[mazda1]

Joe T has made tremendous strides during this season. From Game 1 to now he’s a totally different player. I love his D, he’s clutch at the free throw line, definitely is an energizer, and his quickness adds another dimension to our offensive attack.

He’s still making some freshman mistakes and Bakari brings value in his experience and has many of the same assets if not the same natural ability. He’s been there and seems to be less mistake prone in key times.

I don’t see the need to choose one side or the other. They are both getting minutes and are both helping the team. Playing both neither has hit the wall this year and I’m not sure the same can be said for CJF and Joe W. They’ve logged a lot of minutes when healthy and that could be a factor in their play these last few games.

I’m going to choose to enjoy our Nat’l player of the year these last games of the season and dream about what we could be next year. It’s good to be a Hawkeye and I’m delighted to see the fight all these guys show every game.

 

[mtdew_fever]

Toussaint 14 points in 20 minutes. CJ and JW 10 combined points playing 31 and 34 minutes respectively and Evelyn with 8 points in 21 minutes. Fran has pushed a lot of the right buttons this year, but his utilization of Joe T lately has been prescriptive and that is being kind. The 2nd leading scorer was 6th in PT while CJ and JW were flat out bad. Joe T made as many 3's as JW and CJ combined and was playing with confidence...something neither CJ or JW has had in a month.

I will live with the occasional Joe T turnover to have a guy on the floor who is going to match the intensity of Garza and Connor who can penetrate, dish, score or get to the line (he is money from the line). Neither CJ or JW have the handles or quicks to take anybody off the bounce and it shows. Fran needs to stop the charity minutes for JW...his poor play is hurting the team. Feel things out in the first half go with the guys who came to play in the second half.

I'll go with JW. Higher ceiling and the Hawks needs that.

 

[HawkTex]

I think the other factor (yes I would like to see Joe T get more minutes) is that Bakari has experience.....and in highly contested games that are very intense....as a coach you should know to lean on that experience.

We can all second guess Fran on the playing time he gives Joe T vs Bakari....but Fran does know what he is doing...he see's them in practice, etc.

Bakari has experience but has made some bad decisions late in games. His three overshadowed an ill advised and terrible pass that careened off the backboard that fortunately the Hawks came up with. Not sure I trust him anymore than Joe T.

 

[mtdew_fever]

Bakari has experience but has made some bad decisions late in games. His three overshadowed an ill advised and terrible pass that careened off the backboard that fortunately the Hawks came up with. Not sure I trust him anymore than Joe T.

Bakari has experience, but not in these types of games. Valpo wasnt playing for anything while he was there in March.

 

[RocknRollface]

Toussaint 14 points in 20 minutes. CJ and JW 10 combined points playing 31 and 34 minutes respectively and Evelyn with 8 points in 21 minutes. Fran has pushed a lot of the right buttons this year, but his utilization of Joe T lately has been prescriptive and that is being kind. The 2nd leading scorer was 6th in PT while CJ and JW were flat out bad. Joe T made as many 3's as JW and CJ combined and was playing with confidence...something neither CJ or JW has had in a month.

I will live with the occasional Joe T turnover to have a guy on the floor who is going to match the intensity of Garza and Connor who can penetrate, dish, score or get to the line (he is money from the line). Neither CJ or JW have the handles or quicks to take anybody off the bounce and it shows. Fran needs to stop the charity minutes for JW...his poor play is hurting the team. Feel things out in the first half go with the guys who came to play in the second half.

Opponents don't guard Joe. That allows them to clogg the lane for Garza.

Until Joe can make enough outside shots to force the opponent to guard him at the 3 line and stop the unforced TOs he probably won't play late in games.

Hes getting closer.

 

[iahawks10]

Got down 9 to start the half until Joe T came out.

Almost won without him playing.

makes sense that people think he didn’t play enough.

Are they seriously comparing Toussaint to Fredrick and Wieskamp offensively? Watch any defense played against all three of these players since the start of B1G competition and tell me you don’t see a difference.

So I understand this correctly. Fran picks on Toussaint and treats him differently? So he just starts him, what out of spite?

 

[RocknRollface]

Toussaint 14 points in 20 minutes. CJ and JW 10 combined points playing 31 and 34 minutes respectively and Evelyn with 8 points in 21 minutes. Fran has pushed a lot of the right buttons this year, but his utilization of Joe T lately has been prescriptive and that is being kind. The 2nd leading scorer was 6th in PT while CJ and JW were flat out bad. Joe T made as many 3's as JW and CJ combined and was playing with confidence...something neither CJ or JW has had in a month.

I will live with the occasional Joe T turnover to have a guy on the floor who is going to match the intensity of Garza and Connor who can penetrate, dish, score or get to the line (he is money from the line). Neither CJ or JW have the handles or quicks to take anybody off the bounce and it shows. Fran needs to stop the charity minutes for JW...his poor play is hurting the team. Feel things out in the first half go with the guys who came to play in the second half.

To compare CJs game to JoeTs is idiotic when the opponent is focusing a ton of energy to never let CJ touch the ball by holding and grabbing him all game and then literally not even attempting to defend Joe.

Daring him to shoot.

Theres a reason for that. The opponent knows the more shots Joe T takes the better off they are.

 

[iahawks10]

Frick Fran. He's a racist prick. All you half to look at is his 10 year history at Iowa. Not too much different than Ferentz actually. At least Brian seems better.

How are you still allowed to post here?

Nice WOB too.

 

[jamesvanderwulf]

If you think we give up too many offensive RBs now just take out JW and put in JT instead and see how that plays out. While JT can get to the rim that doesn't always translate into points. He is improving his shot which will really open things up for him in the future...

 

[IllQChawk]

I thought he deserved more time on the court on Sunday night, he was playing some of the best minutes he had provided all year, but he doesn't or didn't appear too upset at Fran's decision as we seem to be. He's a freshman that appears to have a fantastic upside and any minutes and or production we get from him is a bonus as far as I'm concerned. Really looking forward to having him another 3 years.
My only apprehension is Iowa is going to be really top heavy at the guard position next year.
Wieskamp, Connor, Bohannan, Fredrick, Toussaint, Ulis, & Perkins. It's a nice problem to have for the first time in Fran's tenure at Iowa, but minutes are going to be at a premium.

 

[H4wkfan4life]

Does anyone else notice how Fran treats Joe? When Joe gets substituted, Fran won't even look at him. Other guys come out Fran talks to them, slaps them on the back. Joe makes 1 mistake and he is benched. BE and even JW are allowed to a much longer rope, but aren't playing well enough to justify that rope. Is this just how Fran treats freshmen?

Maybe he feels that is the best way to deal with him? Not everyone is the same.

All I know is that when you see him on the bench, he certainly appears to be having a great time and seems to be a great teammate. He ran right over to BE to encourage at the last TO of the IL game. If he is frustrated, he does a way better job hiding it than I could .

I do hope he gets more PT though, but if he didn't in the reg season it's hard to see happening in the tourney.

 

[IllQChawk]

If you think we give up too many offensive RBs now just take out JW and put in JT instead and see how that plays out. While JT can get to the rim that doesn't always translate into points. He is improving his shot which will really open things up for him in the future...

This is kind of a faults statement....Joe for his size has the ability to follow the flight of the ball and is not only quick to the ball but can jump higher then some players much taller. According the the statistics he's the 3rd best rebounding guard we have, along with Connor and Wieskamp. I'm with most on here that wish he would get the majority of minutes between him and Evelyn, but I also understand Fran's position in that he values experience.
Both are contributing in scoring and ball handling, so in that retrospective having both or either one on the floor is a plus.

 

[Eternal Return]

Well, CJ hasn't been very good since he came back from injury. He hasn't been able to get open much compared to how he was doing before the injury. He's kind of invisible when he's on the floor right now. I haven't been focused on him while watching games, though, so I don't know if it would be good to give Joe T. more of his minutes or not. Joe did play well against Illini, though. Thought he should have gotten more minutes, but ... whatever.

 

[anon_i8nzeu2gbf0ba]

Theres a reason for that. The opponent knows the more shots Joe T takes the better off they are.

That hasn't been true for a month. And look at what Joe T did vs. Illinois. He made more threes than Joe W has hit in any game for quite some time.

It doesn't make sense for Joe W to keep starting and getting 35 minutes or so while Joe T is playing much better and gets about half that.

Illinois left Joe T open, and did you notice what he did? He hit the damn threes. Even when Joe W fires one, he's not even close. What's he hitting--about 20% over the last several games?

Right NOW, I'd take Joe T over Joe W. And BTW, most coaches realize a kid like Joe T, by this point of the season, shouldn't be viewed as a freshman any more.

BTW: When someone other than a freshman makes a dumb play, what do you call it? Does it matter less than the hackneyed "freshman mistake"? I didn't think so...

Joe T was playing and shooting with confidence vs. Illinois, and he earned more minutes than he got. Had he played even another minute or two, that two-point loss might have been reversed.

Evelyn has done a good job and made some key shots and FTs, so I wouldn't mind at all seeing both him and Joe T in late-game situations with Joe W on the bench.

 

[Ihawkhoops]

I'll go with JW. Higher ceiling and the Hawks needs that.

I would have agreed with you until the last 1.5 weeks. Confidence is huge and he has none.

 

[Ihawkhoops]

Most coaches tend to go w/what makes them comfortable. Joe was pretty solid the other night but it's pretty clear Fran values Evelyn or Conor at the end of game as he wants their experience. The run late in the Illini game came with Evelyn. I'm not saying it's right or wrong, but at this point in the season I'd say it's not changing. With the defense Evelyn and Joe T bring there are times I wouldn't mind seeing the 2 of them in there together, especially with the way Weiskamp is playing on both ends of the floor. I know he's trying to let Joe get his confidence back but damn, he's been bad at both ends of the floor for 5-6 games now. Let's just hope he can get his mojo back and Touissant can keep bringing the energy and we can at least knock off the Illini this week!

Good post. I get that Garza is the focal point and deservedly so, but at some point trying to jam post feeds into him with 2-3 guys all over him needs to be balanced with some guys attacking with the ball. Run some clear outs and see what Joe T and Evelyn can do. Worst case scenario they can kick it to Garza, CJ, JW, Connor, or Kriener for a better shot than the offense is creating during the prolonged scoring droughts.

 

[RocknRollface]

That hasn't been true for a month. And look at what Joe T did vs. Illinois. He made more threes than Joe W has hit in any game for quite some time.

It doesn't make sense for Joe W to keep starting and getting 35 minutes or so while Joe T is playing much better and gets about half that.

Illinois left Joe T open, and did you notice what he did? He hit the damn threes. Even when Joe W fires one, he's not even close. What's he hitting--about 20% over the last several games?

Right NOW, I'd take Joe T over Joe W. And BTW, most coaches realize a kid like Joe T, by this point of the season, shouldn't be viewed as a freshman any more.

BTW: When someone other than a freshman makes a dumb play, what do you call it? Does it matter less than the hackneyed "freshman mistake"? I didn't think so...

Joe T was playing and shooting with confidence vs. Illinois, and he earned more minutes than he got. Had he played even another minute or two, that two-point loss might have been reversed.

Evelyn has done a good job and made some key shots and FTs, so I wouldn't mind at all seeing both him and Joe T in late-game situations with Joe W on the bench.

So why is it opponents try to smother JW and CJ and choose to give JT about 5 or 6 feet of space?

Yeah he made two out of three 3s he took but Illinois left him unguarded every time down court.

So saying he made the threes doesn't tell the story, he capitalized on a very small percentage of available shots.

If he shot every time he was open Iowa would lose most games.

Weiskamp and CJ get two or 3 open looks all game.

If they were each able to get 20+ open looks a game Hawks would be undefeated.

 

[owenhawk]

Good post. I get that Garza is the focal point and deservedly so, but at some point trying to jam post feeds into him with 2-3 guys all over him needs to be balanced with some guys attacking with the ball. Run some clear outs and see what Joe T and Evelyn can do. Worst case scenario they can kick it to Garza, CJ, JW, Connor, or Kriener for a better shot than the offense is creating during the prolonged scoring droughts.

There is nothing wrong with feeding the post. Garza is the best player and they should be feeding him every time down if they can and forcing the defense to make a decision if they guard one-on-one or double or triple team. Where I have seen the team come up short when this happens are the other players aren’t cutting or making themselves available to Garza when the defense collapses on him. They are standing around the 3 pit line.

 

[littlez]

I'm sure if I was smart enough I could find it, but I'd really like to see the plus minus of the entire team the last 5-6 games. First of all, some of you act like it's only the last few weeks that teams are starting to play tough D on Weiskamp and Frederick. Honestly, at this point they should be scoring more. Earlier in the year Luka was not getting doubled in the post every time he touched the ball like he is now. I know he's not a great passer out of the post at this point, but they can't cover everybody when he's doubled. Most of the time it's Conor who's open or Joe T, and Conor hit a few in the Illini game, but he's still hesitant. Luka managed to drop 28 guarded by 2-3 Illini and getting mugged the whole time. So it's time for Weezy to put the big boy pants on and play through the contact. At this point in the season everyone is tired and beat up. It's not just Frederick and Weiskamp.

 

[Slim45]

I'm sure if I was smart enough I could find it, but I'd really like to see the plus minus of the entire team the last 5-6 games. First of all, some of you act like it's only the last few weeks that teams are starting to play tough D on Weiskamp and Frederick. Honestly, at this point they should be scoring more. Earlier in the year Luka was not getting doubled in the post every time he touched the ball like he is now. I know he's not a great passer out of the post at this point, but they can't cover everybody when he's doubled. Most of the time it's Conor who's open or Joe T, and Conor hit a few in the Illini game, but he's still hesitant. Luka managed to drop 28 guarded by 2-3 Illini and getting mugged the whole time. So it's time for Weezy to put the big boy pants on and play through the contact. At this point in the season everyone is tired and beat up. It's not just Frederick and Weiskamp.

You dont think its by design that its always joet or connor that are open when the other team doubles? Those 2 should really be the ones cutting to the rim when luka is doubled, especially connor with his size. If im connor and i see my man leave to double i follow him right to the rim and hope luka finds me. Cj and weezy r always being face guarded so it doesn’t do much good for them cutting in those situations because they’d just be dragging another defender to the lane.
If you watch other teams with a good big man that draws doubles and is an effective passer out of them and has solid shooters around him, the defense is constantly in scramble mode trying to get back to shooters. Kick out, pump fake a dribble or 2 and a couple extra passes and typically they find an open shot.
I think thats where iowa hurts, even if luka kicks it out its usually either connor or joet that end up with the ball and the defense doesn’t respect their shot enough to close out hard and get the defense out of position.
I also think they could utilize the high post better when luka has it down low. I think kriener especially could do damage there with them both on the floor at the same time.
Thats my very unprofessional opinion

 

[blhawk]

Does anyone else notice how Fran treats Joe? When Joe gets substituted, Fran won't even look at him. Other guys come out Fran talks to them, slaps them on the back. Joe makes 1 mistake and he is benched. BE and even JW are allowed to a much longer rope, but aren't playing well enough to justify that rope. Is this just how Fran treats freshmen?

Seemed like he treated moss similarly last yr at times. Could have great first half then sit much of second

 

[littlez]

Not disagreeing slim. Clearly when they double Luka they are going to leave Joe or Conor alone. But Luka is still doing his thing while being even more of the focus. So now Fran needs to tweak a few things to do something to get More shots for Joe and CJ. But they also need to do more. How many times has Weiskamp over the last 5-6 games gotten the ball on a hand off and taken 2 dribbles and picked it up? It’s constant. He’s not even looking to score. So what do you do?

 

[CleteyColgate]

Toussaint 14 points in 20 minutes. CJ and JW 10 combined points playing 31 and 34 minutes respectively and Evelyn with 8 points in 21 minutes. Fran has pushed a lot of the right buttons this year, but his utilization of Joe T lately has been prescriptive and that is being kind. The 2nd leading scorer was 6th in PT while CJ and JW were flat out bad. Joe T made as many 3's as JW and CJ combined and was playing with confidence...something neither CJ or JW has had in a month.

I will live with the occasional Joe T turnover to have a guy on the floor who is going to match the intensity of Garza and Connor who can penetrate, dish, score or get to the line (he is money from the line). Neither CJ or JW have the handles or quicks to take anybody off the bounce and it shows. Fran needs to stop the charity minutes for JW...his poor play is hurting the team. Feel things out in the first half go with the guys who came to play in the second half.

 

[Slim45]

Not disagreeing slim. Clearly when they double Luka they are going to leave Joe or Conor alone. But Luka is still doing his thing while being even more of the focus. So now Fran needs to tweak a few things to do something to get More shots for Joe and CJ. But they also need to do more. How many times has Weiskamp over the last 5-6 games gotten the ball on a hand off and taken 2 dribbles and picked it up? It’s constant. He’s not even looking to score. So what do you do?

Agreed. I think a piece of joew’s game that is sorely lacking is his midrange game. He’s either shooting the 3 or when he puts it on the deck he takes it all the way to the rim. Id love to see him take a few dribbles and use his shoulders to create a little space and pull up. I guarantee the defense knows thats not part of his game so once he puts the ball on the floor they really dont have to worry about defending anything but the drive.
Also i think they could start trying to utilize pick and rolls w/ garza setting screens for cj and weezy to try’n get mismatches.

 

[ChiPackHawk]

I think that those things that we see on the bench/game interaction, are just the surface of what is actually being done in that coach/teacher relationship. Clearly, Fran knows what he is doing both in terms of developing PG's AND with how to handle individual players based on their learning style etc.

I have zero inside information so my "assumption" is as follows. Fran, who is noted for being a great one on one coach and great at player relationships, has most likely talked at length with Joe T in that way. One on one with great clarity and sincerity. He has most likely built Joe T's confidence and expressed his belief in Joe while telling him......(something like this) turnovers, they are the deadly sin and if I teach you anything this year I need to ingrain in you the limiting of TOs. You are the quarterback of the team, you have immense talent in the form of quickness and when you learn how to consistently control it you will be a difference maker for us. I KNOW that the freshman year is the toughest in terms of learning and dealing with the challenges of college and B10 basketball.....so, I will take you out when I see turnovers that I know you can avoid and are the situations that are exactly what we have talked about. I won't say anything to you because you know why you are coming out. When you come out I want you to just go sit on the bench and think about how and why that happened so that you can avoid it next time. You are the future, so we have to develop you now.

Be careful with your logic of how a coach actually interacts with players. Not all the same way. Shocking.

 

[Ihawkhoops]

There is nothing wrong with feeding the post. Garza is the best player and they should be feeding him every time down if they can and forcing the defense to make a decision if they guard one-on-one or double or triple team. Where I have seen the team come up short when this happens are the other players aren’t cutting or making themselves available to Garza when the defense collapses on him. They are standing around the 3 pit line.

I agree with you but it's baffling how this team can't guys wide open looks with all the attention Garza gets. Unfortunately JW is an easy cover and is one dimensional and CJ has looked a step slow since returning from his ankle injury. Neither guy can shake anybody to create space. They basically wear a defender all game and go into turtle mode. At this point it doesn't seem to matter because neither is making even the open shots. MN shot lights out in the second half. Hopefully that wears off.