- Tough win - need a few of those during the season when another team brings their "A" game and you aren't clicking on all cylinders
- Iowa's bench had a rough game - Murray was ok, but Nunge and Joe T were very rough, forcring our starters to really win this one for us by themselves (and they came through). Nunge had a forced 3 in transition and a couple of inside shots where he just fights himself to finish sometimes.
- PSU couldn't have had a better gameplan against Iowa, and I think we saw the limitations of our man to man in the first half. When they brought in their backup Center who was only 6'8" (so a Forward) but who could shoot 3's, they had a perfect 5 out drive and kick out offense that we struggled with. PSU was intense, pushed the ball and made it hard on post entry because the guards were getting a lot of pressure making hard to find a safe, accurate pass they could make. This resulted in a few more late shots in the shot clock than we normally have.
- The 2nd half adjustments really helped as I felt our man to man defense did a better job understanding what PSU was trying to do offensively. We were over-reacting to dribble penetration in the 1st half, making it hard to recover to shooters. It looked like our help /shell defenders stayed 1 step closer to their person on the exterior and maybe jab stepped at the driver without committing as much. Our closeouts were thus much better and they struggled on 3's the 2nd half. We did usually have our Center dedicate themselves to rim protection on the driver while the guards stayed closer to the perimeter, and thus did a decent job denying both. PSU had only 15 points for quite a while in the 2nd half, being stuck on 54 or 56 for a long stretch, and we forced a number of turnovers early in that half.
- Bohannon had a few bad defensive moments in the 1st half, but had 2 huge plays in the 2nd half. His dive on the floor and timeout saved a possible layup and a 4 point game, and we turned around and hit a 3 after the timeout, taking it to 9 points instead of 4. He then has to defend a 3 on 1 and does a GREAT job reading the ball handler as shown below. Once he sees the ball handler open up he recognizes that he's passing not shooting so he jumps the pass and then continues on to the drag shooter to deny the 3. By then his teammates are back and PSU gets nothing out of it. I thought that was one of the best defensive awareness plays I've seen in quite a long while.
- Bohannon seems to be playing as if he knows he and CJ are the 3rd scoring options on the team, and both of them are fine with it. They work the offense and as long as their defenders stay out on them, they are willing to let Garza and Wieskamp do their thing. But as soon as defenders try to cheat, they burn them. It's very unselfish play, I think, as it would be easy for those guards to force shots because they are very confident shooters.
- CJ has had some big shots lately, including some great mid-range shots that most of our players don't have in their arsenal. He is a high IQ defender even if his athleticism is very average - he makes up for it by anticipating what the offense and offensive player is trying to do and getting a one step head start on close outs. His late shot clock beater here off of a great screen by Connor was huge yesterday:
- Wieskamp was huge coming out of the 2nd half. His ability to get some shots in close helped his confidence from deep and he hit a number of good shots to pull us even. From there Garza, Bohannon and CJ brought us home. He's obviously been a big key to this winning streak, along with CJ being able to play.
- Joe W did seem to be affected a bit by the PSU physicality at different times, causing a couple of baseline turnovers I think brought on by him knowing he had to go in "strong" and having that mess up his ball handling. Also, off of those lead passes he catches near the rim, he needs to "chin" the ball rather than bring it down to his waist. He had two of those stripped yesterday and I've seen it in prior games as well. Players do this for balance but if it was under his chin it's much less likely to be knocked loose and he'll be able to finish quicker after the shot fake.
- Garza did a great job catching passes and using his footwork. There were a few catches where I was surprised he was able to maintain the catch. Hopefully Illinois will lose a few down the stretch to keep Ayo from challenging him for season awards. Iowa's winning streak right now is helping hold him off but how both teams finish will be a big key to whether Ayo can catch him. Very happy for Garza becoming Iowa's all time leading scorer - very deserving and one of the reasons he came back. Great video by the ex-Hawks also.
- Fran's commitment to Man to Man after the halftime break shouldn't be overlooked. It was the key in the 2nd half and he got his players to play it the way he wanted. I don't think it was effort in the first half, it was knowing your key's and I think that's why he was mad. Nice job - the defensive efficiency now back in the 70's where I think we need it to be. Mixed in just enough zone to keep them off balance, but PSU definitely gave us a run with their 5 out offense. Teams like Gonzaga whose Center can shoot the 3 will be problems there, so keep an eye on March matchups to see what Centers teams in our bracket have.
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