Just Enjoy this Season

[Auger]

Remember we have a lot of young kids on this team and they are currently out of their element against good competition. Virginia will likely expose us this week and strangle Jok. If your expectations are NCAA appearance this season you might just drive yourself mad all season. We have a lot of athletic talent on this team but they are likely a year or two away.

For me this season is about watching the young athletic talent grow and mold together what Iowa Basketball is going to look like from here on out. That and watch the genius that is Jok right now. If this team can grow this season and make a solid late run in the B1G tourney and the NIT I will be happy. Right now though I can't see Iowa getting 1 or 2 big non con wins and the middle of the B1G is going to be a brawl. This team will pull off some upsets in the B1G and will at times look like a top B1G team but they will also struggle to beat the lower middle B1G teams as well this year.

Don't drive yourself mad this season being overly critical of freshmen and sophmores. If this team had another JR or SR who could score 10 a game and be solid in all other areas I would have different expectations but we dont. If you want to be critical wait until the final 10 games and see how this team finishes.

 

[hawk-i bob]

I enjoy every year of iowa basketball...this year is no different.

 

[Hawkmi]

Remember we have a lot of young kids on this team and they are currently out of their element against good competition. Virginia will likely expose us this week and strangle Jok. If your expectations are NCAA appearance this season you might just drive yourself mad all season. We have a lot of athletic talent on this team but they are likely a year or two away.

For me this season is about watching the young athletic talent grow and mold together what Iowa Basketball is going to look like from here on out. That and watch the genius that is Jok right now. If this team can grow this season and make a solid late run in the B1G tourney and the NIT I will be happy. Right now though I can't see Iowa getting 1 or 2 big non con wins and the middle of the B1G is going to be a brawl. This team will pull off some upsets in the B1G and will at times look like a top B1G team but they will also struggle to beat the lower middle B1G teams as well this year.

Don't drive yourself mad this season being overly critical of freshmen and sophmores. If this team had another JR or SR who could score 10 a game and be solid in all other areas I would have different expectations but we dont. If you want to be critical wait until the final 10 games and see how this team finishes.

 

[SSG T]

I enjoy every year of iowa basketball...this year is no different.

The Lickliter years were hard. Bad and boring is a dreadful combination.

I saw a couple of Twitter conversations were even Jarryd Cole was admitting how bad and boring things were at that time. He does so in private, I talked to him a couple of times (my niece and he were good friends in HS, still talk occasionally) and he said it to me, but in public is a different matter.

 

[Curt Furence]

I really have zero expectations for this season. Scratch that. I expect some long scoring droughts when Jok is on the bench and 3 freshman are playing together. I am watching every game without a sense for whether they will win or not. (the exception being these early season cupcakes)
At least if they aren't very good this year, they will score points.

 

[hawk-i bob]

The Lickliter years were hard. Bad and boring is a dreadful combination.

I saw a couple of Twitter conversations were even Jarryd Cole was admitting how bad and boring things were at that time. He does so in private, I talked to him a couple of times (my niece and he were good friends in HS, still talk occasionally) and he said it to me, but in public is a different matter.

I've been going to Iowa BB games to one degree or other since 1965...yes there have been difficult years...Lickliter's last 2 years were the worse...because it was the first time we had a coach who was clearly over his head. Even more so than Dick Schultz.

Sure successful years are way more fun.

 

[SDHawkDoc]

There was really no justification for thinking this team was a likely NCAA tourney qualifier. If you had that as an expectation then you are setting yourself up for disappointment.
Although I find the absence of defense and rebounding frustrating, the level of offensive basketball is enough entertainment value to hold my interest.
They will lose. A lot. But, there is certainly potential there for improvement.

 

[Packer54]

I think it is too early for too much up or down prognostications BUT I don't remember many years in Iowa BB history where there has been so much potential in a 1-10 lineup. I am not saying all stars but kids with enough talent that can compete and not cringe when you see them on the court. I think this could be the very edge of an exciting time of Iowa basketball. Yes we pancaked 3 bad teams but I have seen Iowa tourney teams beat bad teams by 10-15 points. Again, let it mature and grow but right now I am not convinced this group won't win 18-20 games before the btt. We will see some swings no doubt but the good news with this depth is the a couple of them always seem to look good. Now it is who can look consistant night in and night out. Can they start to be a +75% ft shooting team, can they come up with a big stop.

I look at them now and think that they will not progress much more offensively but will defensively because Fran will start making the minutes changes on who gives him the best overall quality.

I like these guys.

 

[lovedwatchingLester]

I only slightly disagree. I think they can and will be better offensively as guys like Pemsl and Kriener get a bit more relaxed as well as Bohannon getting to the point where the game slows up enough that he picks his spots better to put up a long 3 in the offense. It was obvious to me that Pemsl hasn't played the same for a couple games. His first 2 games he had bounce and was loving playing , it was all over his face, the last 2 , not so much. When he is playing that way he will score on anyone. I'm also of the opinion there will be games where either or both, Moss and Ellingson will shoot lights out.
Defense has a lot if room to improve but there were moments in last 2 games, far fewer in the SH, game where you could see they were a bit better. This is going to take some time to get right, and even then there will be lapses. Right now it feels like a lapse when they are playing good D, but it's getting incrementally better. We will see if any carries over to the Virginia game.

 

[Hawkfan_08]

Like others have said, I am excited for every game, every year. This team will be fun to watch with their athletic ability but there will be some major growing pains with turnovers, defense, rebounding in general and I'm sure there will be some scoreless spirts.

I can't make any predictions about NCAA, NIT, or anything at all. So much time for growth, especially with good tests in the non-conference (Seton Hall, this tourney, ND, ISU, UNI) that will tell us a lot.

Side note, I really like Fran and I think he's doing a good job recruiting. He adds a level of excitement with his personality and philosophy.

 

[e720718998]

I just know that 50 is coming from Jok just who it will be against I'm not sure but that alone makes them worth watching.

 

[2432Hawk]

I only slightly disagree. I think they can and will be better offensively as guys like Pemsl and Kriener get a bit more relaxed as well as Bohannon getting to the point where the game slows up enough that he picks his spots better to put up a long 3 in the offense. It was obvious to me that Pemsl hasn't played the same for a couple games. His first 2 games he had bounce and was loving playing , it was all over his face, the last 2 , not so much. When he is playing that way he will score on anyone. I'm also of the opinion there will be games where either or both, Moss and Ellingson will shoot lights out.
Defense has a lot if room to improve but there were moments in last 2 games, far fewer in the SH, game where you could see they were a bit better. This is going to take some time to get right, and even then there will be lapses. Right now it feels like a lapse when they are playing good D, but it's getting incrementally better. We will see if any carries over to the Virginia game.

I believe Pemsl is playing with a nagging groin injury and Kriener is still limited with the ankle

 

[DanL53]

Too late for me, I already predicted 20 wins and an NCAA birth. Fortunately, I know that if I'm disappointed with our guys because they don't live up to my expectations, it will be the first time.

Frankly, I think I go through fewer disappointments during an entire season that some folks do, on the game thread, during one game! And then often we end up winning and all the complaining and player bashing turns out to look pretty dumb.

Steady, positive thinking. Of course we're young but we got a pretty good break on the schedule, we've got talent on the team and lots of it, and being a freshman these days is different from when a guy's bio said, "Joe played four sports in high school and lettered in track, baseball....", these kids mostly play year round now. It's just a matter of cleaning things up and imo that won't take a year. Fran's not going to give these guys a year.

9 wins nonconference. 11-7 Big Ten. 20 wins. NCAA invite.

So, if I turn out to be wrong and we go to the NIT, or worse and I'm not even contemplating that possibility, the only disappointment I'll have is with my evaluation skills. I'll be the one that was wrong, not the Hawkeyes.

 

[Tim Dodge Rules]

Let's see how much fun we're all having halfway thru Big 10 season when the L column is growing at a much faster rate than the W column.

 

[mazda1]

I agree the Hawks are fun to watch when they have the ball. Unfortunately the other team gets it when we score and most of the time when we don't. When the other team has it watching is torture.

 

[DavenportHawk8]

This team will be fun to watch, the bad thing is they will also be very frustrating to watch. They will have bonehead mistakes all year as the Freshman adapt to playing College ball. We have a true freshman and a sophomore as our PG, which can be difficult because they lack experience running a team.

I think you will see a vast improvement from this team. The non-conf has opened their eyes to what you have to do to win big games. We saw at the Classic that lack of hustle can burn you on both ends. Playing team defense is very important for this group to learn and also they need to be able to hit the "open" look when they get them. This team has the capability to drive the lane and kick, now we just need to make the shots.

I expected this team to be around 17-20 wins. I expected the high point to be on the bubble for NCAA and the low point missing the NIT. I think they will win some games they shouldn't win. I think they will get beat by teams with "less" than what they have. But also upset a team or two. Overall they are learning and watching the process they will get better.

 

[cleotishaywood]

We lost a ton of meaningful experience from last year! The verdict will be out until this team figures out how to mesh as a team and more importantly learn how to play team defense. We just have to hope this will happen with more experience as the season goes on. There's a lot of potential on this roster!