More evidence that Fran is checked out!
- Thread starter Franisdaman
- Start date
Payton Sandfort:
“It felt like everybody thought the world was ending when we lost to Wisconsin. But everyone in that locker room, as a team, we stayed connected. And that’s why I’m so proud of everybody. Because you look at the outside world, I think everyone pretty much gave up on us. So the leadership, the veterans that we have in our room, I’m proud of everybody. I’m glad we’re doing it for each other.”
“It felt like everybody thought the world was ending when we lost to Wisconsin. But everyone in that locker room, as a team, we stayed connected. And that’s why I’m so proud of everybody. Because you look at the outside world, I think everyone pretty much gave up on us. So the leadership, the veterans that we have in our room, I’m proud of everybody. I’m glad we’re doing it for each other.”
Whatever you do Payton don't have this attitude BEFORE the Wisconsin is game
If Fran could actually get some athletes on the roster who can hoop to go with the tall lanky shooters, he would have a really good squad.
But they have to defend. And I mean want to defend. Defense is really about desire. There’s not a lot Fran can do from an Xs and Os standpoint, but he can demand defense by dictating minutes accordingly.
The problem is I have no faith Fran is going to be able to one) land players who fix what ails this team and two) change his philosophy/style/whatever that demands better defense and rebounding.
I agree that we need to play tougher Defense without a doubt. Nebraska beat UCLA by playing tough D. The Hawks put 97 on Nebby……..where was their tough D last night? It’s crazy how one game to the next can be different.
The Nebraska fans also probably thought the world was coming to an end when they previously lost to MSU by over 30 points but they bounced back and won 6 straight until losing to Iowa last night. It happens to just about every team. (Getting blown out by another team.) Payton's offensive skills have been missing in action until last night. Hopefully, he will go on a streak like he has in the past. Also not having Thelwell in the lineup last night really hurt Iowa's chances in beating Nebraska but they persevered and Payton got hot along with Dix who has been unbelievable these last several games with his stellar shooting.
The Indiana game coming up will be big.
The Indiana game coming up will be big.
A corner 3 specialist at 7'8". Can't jump. Will blow away from the updraft created by the pregame fire towers. Ideal fit.Freeman's replacement
Did you notice how the defensive engery picked up once shots started falling?
Same thing at Wisconsin but in reverse.
Thats on the coach and it's not a winning formula.
I loved the victory and the fight from the team. But "being hot" is not a sustainable way to win.
I see consistent defensive energy from Thelwell and Dix. They also have good fundamentals and lateral quickness to be successful. Freeman just lacks quickness. He's like a smaller weaker version of Luka at the defensive end. Sandfort lacks the lateral quickness to stay with the people he's guarding and Harding is small and has really bad fundamentals.
Even if Fran has athletes, when given a choice Fran will play the guy that provides more offense/makes the offense run better over a defensive minded player with less offensive ability. It is hard to have a good defensive team if you only have 1 or 2 guys in the lineup that are plus defenders. So a guy like JoeT who was a plus defender wasn't a good fit for Fran's system even though he ended up being a very good player elsewhere his senior year.
If Jack is going to be playing at Butler next year, Fran has a decision to make whether watching him play his Freshman year is worth pursuing a neogitiated buyout. In meantime, Fran has to do the normal things expected of a head coach, which includes recruiting.
I agree and I thought that’s what my post said.
I do agree he looks weak around the basket compared to other big ten players but in terms of lateral quickness and speed the two are totally different.
Did you see how much space he covered on the last block that got called a foul? Garza cant do things like that. If Luka had Owen's feet he'd be an NBA starter.
Owen isn't a good defender but he could be so much better.
Owen looks exhausted and lost half the time and he's playing for Fran where defense means don't do anything that could result in a foul. And considering the back up options I get it.
It's similar to how Keegan was considered a weak defender at Iowa but is now considered a good defender in the NBA.
Yeah, I'm just pointing out an example of what you said.
Wisconsin was the first game all year where I thought for 40 minutes the desire to play defense wasn’t there. What’s frustrated me this year is that they’ve haven’t sustained that for entire games - when they choose to, I think they’re actually a solid team this year on that end. And obviously you don’t make that frenzied comeback last night without locking in on defense, and they were excellent in OT.
Been one of the weirder seasons I can recall with many teams having multiple lopsided losses - particularly Ohio state. So for now I’m just chalking up Wisconsin as just one of those things for now.
Most of Owen’s flaws defensively are fixable imo - biggest issue he has is falling for the jump fake, as well as extending his arms over a player. Feel like those account for 1/3 of his fouls.
That 5th foul last night was garbage.
Owen has plenty of quickness to defend, but he needs to play smarter and do less reaching and stay closer to the basket. Several times he was defending a guard on the perimeter. Part of that is coaching.
What really concerned me about Owen yesterday is he didn’t seem like he wanted to be there. He never posted up or fought for position. No hustle and he missed several close shots he usually makes. Nothing like the freshman of the year we saw last year.
Early in the second half he took a corner 3 he probably shouldn't be taking. It led to quick runout easy layup by Nebraska where Owen had to try and sprint the full 90 feet to recover. I think Brock turned it over next possession where Owen again had to sprint 90 and back again which led to another Nebraska layup. Not what you want to see from your center.
One of the biggest things he could do is get stronger and in better shape.
He'd be fine on most teams but the tempo Iowa plays at clearly takes it out of him.
That's the scheme they are trying to play...I think.
But sometimes I can't tell if they're trying to switch or if it just happens and I'm not sure they know from possession to possession either.
It's like watching guys who are playing together for the first time every game.
Keegan was easily the best defender on the team and probably the best all around defender of the Fran era. He could guard 2-4 much better than anyone else they had. Anyone who considered him a weak defender didn't understand what they were seeing.
That was pretty much the consensus pre draft scouting report that he wasn't great at moving his feet...for a lottery pick.
Sure he was the best defender on Iowa but that doesn't mean much when you're talking lottery picks vs other lottery picks.
But again he was being coached to avoid fouls rather than stoping the ball was my point. He's a better now than in college because of coaching.
Same with Owen, there's more potential there than is being tapped.
Hey bring him out to do the Les Jepson thing during ball inbounds, once in awhile.Freeman's replacement
He doesn’t move his feet at all and is constantly standing straight up, that’s his main problem and why he can’t stay out of foul trouble. He gets himself in those bad spots where he’s jumping at fakes and extending his arms because he’s already beat to the spot from not sitting down and moving his feet. I dont really blame him because clearly we all know that end of the floor is not emphasized under Fran, but Owen's out of position most of the time from just being late.
