Mental Toughness

[drew_hawk]

I've always been under the general opinion that this current Iowa basketball team possesses a certain level of mental toughness that some of our former teams have implicitly lacked; I am also under the opinion that said implicit lack of mental toughness has been a principle precipitator of the dreaded "Fran Fade" that we have in someway observed over the years. Now, granted this is just one game, so I don't want to overreact. However, I feel that I had noticed a considerable lack of mental fortitude down the stretch of this particular contest; part of this, I do feel may have been partially to blame on Fran's misuse of timeouts, substitutions, and general inept game theory based coaching decisions. I hope that I am wrong, and that I am just overreacting to one very bad half, however, as a longtime Iowa baskeball fan, I currently have an uneasy feeling of ominous and impending doom; please explain to me why I am wrong.

 

[unoHawkeye]

Fran’s substitution pattern was the big head scratcher for me tonight. He refused to put anybody in the game who could change that tempo. Why was Nunge out there with Garza against Indiana’s 6’9 and smaller athletic lineup? Where were our backup point guards in Ulis and Toussaint in the second half?

 

[HawkRugged17]

 

[drew_hawk]

Fran’s substitution pattern was the big head scratcher for me tonight. He refused to put anybody in the game who could change that tempo. Why was Nunge out there with Garza against Indiana’s 6’9 and smaller athletic lineup? Where were our backup point guards in Ulis and Toussaint in the second half?

I totally agree; I was completely dumbfounded by the re-entry of Nunge down the stretch.

 

[BrewHawk]

I've always been under the general opinion that this current Iowa basketball team possesses a certain level of mental toughness that some of our former teams have implicitly lacked; I am also under the opinion that said implicit lack of mental toughness has been a principle precipitator of the dreaded "Fran Fade" that we have in someway observed over the years. Now, granted this is just one game, so I don't want to overreact. However, I feel that I had noticed a considerable lack of mental fortitude down the stretch of this particular contest; part of this, I do feel may have been partially to blame on Fran's misuse of timeouts, substitutions, and general inept game theory based coaching decisions. I hope that I am wrong, and that I am just overreacting to one very bad half, however, as a longtime Iowa baskeball fan, I currently have an uneasy feeling of ominous and impending doom; please explain to me why I am wrong.

You're not.

 

[unoHawkeye]

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Garza backing guys down from the three point line and dribbling from the top of the key is a recipe for failure. I hate to pin much on our player of the year candidate, but his offensive awareness tonight sucked

 

[SotaHawk87]

I’d start to worry if we lose 2 of our next 3.. dont like at Illinois never did even with how well we were playing. Need to beat OSU at home and repay the favor at Indy..

 

[HawkRugged17]

 

[drew_hawk]

I'll tell you what I can say with 100% confidence: you give this team to a coach K, and you've got yourself a sure-fire 1-seed, and Final Four contender.

 

[SotaHawk87]

I'll tell you what I can say with 100% confidence: you give this team to a coach K, and you've got yourself a sure-fire 1-seed, and Final Four contender.

LOLOLOLOL cause K is knocking it out of the park right now with his.. checks notes.. 8 McDonald all Americans.

 

[drew_hawk]

LOLOLOLOL cause K is knocking it out of the park right now with his.. checks notes.. 8 McDonald all Americans.

Bad choice of comparisons, I suppose; who is the best in-game college basketball coach these days?

 

[BrewHawk]

LOLOLOLOL cause K is knocking it out of the park right now with his.. checks notes.. 8 McDonald all Americans.

They'll be a lot better than us by the end of the season.

 

[SotaHawk87]

They'll be a lot better than us by the end of the season.

It took you 29 minutes but it’s official. Dumbest poster on the board.. would you like to make a bet on that??

 

[BrewHawk]

It took you 29 minutes but it’s official. Dumbest poster on the board.. would you like to make a bet on that??

Sure. I have history on my side.

 

[drew_hawk]

I suppose the real question is, will we ever be able to overcome Fran's terrible in-game coaching?

 

[HoustonREDHawk]

Fran had generally done a great job all year IMO. We had the #1 offense in the freaking country coming into the game. Tonight, we didn't have it and IU took it to us. No one, except Weesy in the first half, played well on the offensive end. We should have had an obvious advantage to use on the interior when IU's bigs got in foul trouble, but we never adjusted to their swarming help defense. Give IU some credit. Let's hope CJ's injury isn't serious.

 

[hawkosx]

I've always been under the general opinion that the current Iowa fans need a certain amount of mental toughness and not overreact.

 

[fecal particulate]

LOLOLOLOL cause K is knocking it out of the park right now with his.. checks notes.. 8 McDonald all Americans.

He buys his teams and tourney seeds. What's in your wallet?