MBB - Post MSU thoughts...

DanHawkPella · Feb 3, 2021

Quick hitters:

Quality win against a team that played better than they have in a while (started 6/6 on 3's and had only 8 turnovers).
We had 48 first half points against an MSU team we've always struggled against in the past, although they aren't quite as physical as those past teams
Found it interesting that Izzo was seeming to whine about how physical the refs let it get in the paint. {shakes head)
We did give up too many offensive boards, but overall we really worked them over with our physicality and toughness
We had 5 turnovers against an MSU team, right after having only 8 against a very tough Illinois defense. Doing a great job taking care of the ball this season.
As mentioned in other posts, our reserves were pretty good and it's nice to see more of them. I think it will make it harder to game plan for us when we are utilizing a broader mix of players so they can't focus as much on 2 or 3 guys.
Bohannon seemed to work a bit on getting a few shots inside the arc to help offset how teams are guarding him. He'll never get more than 1 or 2 makes in there but good to see him add some variety on film for future opponents.
CJF didn't look 100% - just hoping there was no setbacks as it's critical to get him back to normal
I mentioned in the last post that we really could use Nunge to get 14-16 points in some of these games where they are taking away our other players. Garza did get 27, but good to see Nunge be a bit better on offense in this game and I hope it's a trend.
Patrick doing a good job on fitting into the game flow a bit better and picking his spots. Great fast break dunk and had some good defensive board and other things.
Keegan was solid as usual with some really good plays, some of which don't lead to points or rebounds or steals but are important nonetheless. He'll have a 20 point game before the season is over I think.
Perkins is an oddball to me - usually Fran recruits players that are either long for their position, or super skilled for their position, and ideally both. Perkins is neither long nor abnormally skilled for his position, so he doesn't fit Fran's stereotype, so I always wondered if he'd fall through the cracks a bit. But based on substitution patterns, he must be showing up in practice and now he's doing things in games too. Looks super comfortable and isn't necessarily good at any one thing, but does a lot of things well. Look forward to seeing more of him.
The more I see Ulis, the more I think he's our PG next year over Touissant. I love Joe T in situations where you need improvisation, but when you need to run halfcourt offense Ulis just looks better. Both are similarly good on the defensive end. Joe T is more electric in transition, but in the half court he seems more comfortable driving the lane then running the offense, post passing and the other things Connor does well for example. Joe T is another guy who doesn't fit Fran's mold, but at PG you can see the interest. I just don't know if it translates into the offensive efficiency Fran is looking for in his offense (ie: Top 10 in the country each season). Ulis is taller, a better shooter, and a better decision maker in the half court. That is how you get efficient offense, but Joe T clearly adds value in spots too. Will be an interesting decision next year.

A pretty critical game coming up on Thursday against OSU.

Iowa is last in the B10 in 3FG% defense. OSU is 10th in 3FG% offense, so perhaps that bodes well (Illnois is first, so....). Team's 3FG% against us may be the main statistic in predicting wins or losses.

Iowa is first in Turnover Margin, OSU is 10th. Iowa's really done a great job with turnovers, even if they don't generate a lot of them themselves.

https://bigten.org/stats.aspx?path=mbball&year=2020

scottty · Feb 3, 2021