@ Mich St

[hawk_it]

What a game coming up! Big opportunity!
This will be quite a different strategic game this time around. Several Key Match ups: If healthy, I would guess Clemmons will be on Valentine. That leaves Forbes for someone.

Who matches up against Uthoff?

 

[SDHawkDoc]

sparty should be a much improved team with valentine back in the line-up. and at home.
To steal one there would be incredible.
When was the last time the Hawks swept sparty in men's b-ball?

 

[ZumaHawk]

Watching the Michigan State/Penn State game now. Spartans are still beatable. Valentine isn't doing anything so far. Forbes on the other hand is on fire. I'm feeling better at stealing one at their house. I believe we can do it....easy no but if we compete right out of the gate it's gonna be a blast.

 

[hawk_it]

I'm sure Valentine will be cautious this game while testing his knee to see what it can do.

 

[hawkisak]

Let's get grounded in some reality. Iowa has not won at the Breslin Center since the first game after the Chris Street tragedy in 1993. Everything that can go wrong has gone wrong over the last 20+ years there. When you play in EL, you have to beat a great team and the 3 zebras too. Tom "El Chapo" Izzo, will have the crowd, team and zebras lathered up to a fever pitch. Fran needs to ensure that everyone is well stretched out before the game because they will get bent over. Expect a 15-20 point loss and the foul disparity to be 25-8, yet Iowa will have been the victim of multiple stabbings, gunshots and assaults.

It will be interesting to see how MSU acts on Thursday night. I am expecting them to show their inner Bengal...

 

[SDHawkDoc]

Watching the Michigan State/Penn State game now. Spartans are still beatable. Valentine isn't doing anything so far. Forbes on the other hand is on fire. I'm feeling better at stealing one at their house. I believe we can do it....easy no but if we compete right out of the gate it's gonna be a blast.

I don't know if valentine's play has picked up, but it looks like msu is taking them to the woodshed.

 

[HeRKeYHoPeFuL]

A win would likely set the stage for the regular season title to go through Iowa City. A loss is the most likely outcome, so barring injury, we are playing with house money.

The question becomes, how healed is Valentine. If they are committed to bringing him along slowly to work toward peaking in March and April, we may be able to finally steal one. However, I can't remember a team sweeping Michigan State recently when playing home and away.

 

[Ronman]

A win would likely set the stage for the regular season title to go through Iowa City. A loss is the most likely outcome, so barring injury, we are playing with house money.

The question becomes, how healed is Valentine. If they are committed to bringing him along slowly to work toward peaking in March and April, we may be able to finally steal one. However, I can't remember a team sweeping Michigan State recently when playing home and away.

I believe Maryland beat them twice just last season, home and away, but lost to them in the BTT.

 

[CanadaHawk]

Important factors for this game:
1) Health- Sapp and Valentine
If Sapp's healthy, I think we stay with them defensively. He did such a good job on Forbes, I think that's where he starts but may rotate some on Valentine.
2) rebounding - like vs PD, if we stay with them on the boards, we've got a chance
3) home court vs JU- yes, the game is @MSU but JU had a bad game @IA. If he leads the way, that might be an equalizer

 

[unoHawkeye]

Let's get grounded in some reality. Iowa has not won at the Breslin Center since the first game after the Chris Street tragedy in 1993. Everything that can go wrong has gone wrong over the last 20+ years there. When you plan in EL, you have to beat a great team and the 3 zebras too. Tom "El Chapo" Izzo, will have the crowd, team and zebras lathered up to a fever pitch. Fran needs to ensure that everyone is well stretched out before the game because they will get bent over. Expect a 15-20 point loss and the foul disparity to be 25-8, yet Iowa will have been the victim of multiple stabbings, gunshots and assaults.

It will be interesting to see how MSU acts on Thursday night. I am expecting them to show their inner Bengal...

I get, and to a degree, agree with your point. At the same time, I feel that Fran and this team have given ample reason for optimism. I can't personally remember a stretch that we have said "This is the first time that ____ since ____" more than we have over the past year (about positive things that is). I certainly won't be counting on a win, but won't be shocked with one either.

 

[Hawkeyestate81]

My key is not to let MSU beat you 2 times, @ Sunday vs Michigan is huge win or lose as we gotta protect the home floor.

 

[HerkyFan]

Let's get grounded in some reality. Iowa has not won at the Breslin Center since the first game after the Chris Street tragedy in 1993. Everything that can go wrong has gone wrong over the last 20+ years there. When you plan in EL, you have to beat a great team and the 3 zebras too. Tom "El Chapo" Izzo, will have the crowd, team and zebras lathered up to a fever pitch. Fran needs to ensure that everyone is well stretched out before the game because they will get bent over. Expect a 15-20 point loss and the foul disparity to be 25-8, yet Iowa will have been the victim of multiple stabbings, gunshots and assaults.

It will be interesting to see how MSU acts on Thursday night. I am expecting them to show their inner Bengal...

I think winning at MSU will take the best game from multiple Hawks and we will need one or two Spartans to be average. Mental toughness will be what it comes down to. If we have loads of it we can win. If not it will go down like many others have since 1993.

 

[thewop]

Obviously I want to win, but I'll settle for being competitive for 40 minutes. Izzo didn't take kindly to being "punked" here, and we're walking into what appears to be the "perfect storm" at MSU, given our history there, return of Valentine, coming off a recent W vs. msu, etc.

If we win this game, there will no longer be any question whether Iowa is capable of winning the B1G outright. By no means am I saying we can't win, but I won't be disappointed if we don't.

 

[anon_i8nzeu2gbf0ba]

When Iowa has to play half court defense for the first time, I'd like to see all five Iowa starters slam their palms on the floor like MSU does, stare the Spartans straight in the eyes, and let them know this will not be business as usual. Iowa has wilted in the face of the Spartan swagger and their crazy fans for over 20 years. That has to stop. And the only way to stop it is to play with more attitude than MSU...something like what the Hawks have already done in an intimidating environment in West Lafayette. Take that to East Lansing, and let's see what happens. Time to stop being bullied by Izzo and Co.

 

[SpartanJD]

MSU playing well right now.

 

[DavenportHawk8]

I just hate east lansing, we never play well there. They are a solid ball club and watching them vs the Illini has me worried. They were shooting lights out and they will probably do the same thing to Iowa.

I hope the hawks can stay close and make it a ballgame.

MSU 87
Iowa 68

I think Sparty is a dangerous team and if they got "hot" we are screwed.

 

[DanL53]

And...we're just coming off a major emotional challenge from facing our biggest rival of all time, the team we hate more than any other, Purdue. And then we had to stave off Nebraska who has passed by us because Miles has done so much better than McCaffery.

I'm looking forward to a rematch with somebody who didn't give us any trouble the first time. Hard to believe a couple weeks have passed since we last played MSU. At this rate we could play them six, seven times a season!

 

[And1Hawk]

MSU by a fairly wide margin. Izzo has this game circled and it is the only opposing gym that Fran has not won a game at yet (not including newbies Rutgers & Maryland).

Just have to come back and lock down home court.

 

[doughawk]

I'd be shocked if this senior laden team gets blown out anywhere. They were headed that way at Purdue and they fought back. I'm not saying it can't happen. Hell, I didn't think the football team could get shellacked either.
This is a very seasoned team and they have played in some tough venues in the past 3.5 years.

 

[ZumaHawk]

We have 4 seniors and if I were one of them I'd say "screw Izzo and Co." and go in there and change what has happened for too long. I think the Hawks can do it.

 

[anon_i8nzeu2gbf0ba]

Amen, ZumaHawk, amen.

 

[mazda1]

MSU will be able to spread us out with another outside threat. I expect us to struggle with their bigs. If we can't double down due to Valentine on the outside with Forbes it could be a long night for the Hawks.

Izzo started challenging his guys manhood with the Iowa post game show, you know he will get a crew he can intimidate, and if Valentine is close to himself it will be much different than in Iowa City. I expect Jarrod and Woody to be in foul trouble and Mike to get mugged.

 

[FSHawkeye87]

I would propose putting Jok on Valentine, and Clemmons on Forbes to start. Valentine can shoot and score, but IMO his best attribute is his playmaking ability for others. Focus too much on guarding Valentine, and he burns you by finding open guys. Therefore, I think it's most important to limit Forbes and Costello out of the gate. Obviously Harris is another concern off the bench unless he starts over Valentine again. But overall, if Clemmons can shut down Forbes like he did last time and Woodbury can handle Costello, I think that gives the Hawks the best opportunity to win.

 

[HoustonREDHawk]

I usually warn against unrealistic expectations, but I am not expecting MSU to dominate Iowa. They are at home with something to prove and have to be favored, but Iowa can beat Sparty. It is disappointing to see so many Hawk fans predicting a blowout.

 

[Hawkeyestate81]

I usually warn against unrealistic expectations, but I am not expecting MSU to dominate Iowa. They are at home with something to prove and have to be favored, but Iowa can beat Sparty. It is disappointing to see so many Hawk fans predicting a blowout.

Well how can you blame them? Deer in headlights for 25 years there.

 

[DanL53]

A concern I have, though I don't know why I give a crud, is the reaction of the Iowa fan base should we lose big to Michigan State. We've already had plenty of ups and downs this year haven't we?

There was the mild panic after the loss to Augustana. Remember, Uthoff can't score at the four, we'll never rebound with anyone and both Uthoff and Uhl have bulked up too much. And don't forget the, "There's something wrong with Uhl" because he wasn't getting minutes.

And since then we've had plenty of the usual ups and downs culminating in the complete Chaos of losing to Iowa State by one point in what I do grant was a disturbing manner which proved we are not perfect.

We had to dig our hopes out from dismal after that and now here we have them elevated again.

I guess I worry that like last year when we visited Wisconsin and got our rears fileted, baked, and fed to us...the same thing might be in store this trip. I'm hoping it won't but realizing it could.

And I worry about the kind of stress it puts on HR posters. Just, be prepared. This is page eight of the comic book and often the hero takes a beating on page eight...it doesn't mean the end of the world. And, who knows...we could steal this one! This is not a comic book, it is supposed to be real life.....depending on who the refs are of course.

 

[hawk_it]

I would propose putting Jok on Valentine, and Clemmons on Forbes to start. Valentine can shoot and score, but IMO his best attribute is his playmaking ability for others. Focus too much on guarding Valentine, and he burns you by finding open guys. Therefore, I think it's most important to limit Forbes and Costello out of the gate. Obviously Harris is another concern off the bench unless he starts over Valentine again. But overall, if Clemmons can shut down Forbes like he did last time and Woodbury can handle Costello, I think that gives the Hawks the best opportunity to win.

Interesting strategy putting Jok on Valentine and Clemmons on Forbes. Makes sense.

 

[EZ2BJZ]

A concern I have, though I don't know why I give a crud, is the reaction of the Iowa fan base should we lose big to Michigan State. We've already had plenty of ups and downs this year haven't we?

There was the mild panic after the loss to Augustana. Remember, Uthoff can't score at the four, we'll never rebound with anyone and both Uthoff and Uhl have bulked up too much. And don't forget the, "There's something wrong with Uhl" because he wasn't getting minutes.

And since then we've had plenty of the usual ups and downs culminating in the complete Chaos of losing to Iowa State by one point in what I do grant was a disturbing manner which proved we are not perfect.

We had to dig our hopes out from dismal after that and now here we have them elevated again.

I guess I worry that like last year when we visited Wisconsin and got our rears fileted, baked, and fed to us...the same thing might be in store this trip. I'm hoping it won't but realizing it could.

And I worry about the kind of stress it puts on HR posters. Just, be prepared. This is page eight of the comic book and often the hero takes a beating on page eight...it doesn't mean the end of the world. And, who knows...we could steal this one! This is not a comic book, it is supposed to be real life.....depending on who the refs are of course.

Yes, these boards tend to be rather bipolar from one week to the next. If Iowa does get throttled, I doubt I will stop by for a few days. What's the point? I've read it all before. Woodbury sucks, Fran can't coach, and Iowa should force Gesell to relinquish his scholarship in favor of Wes Wasphun.