They have no one who can push the pace like Caitlin did or pass it like she did. It is amazing how one player, granted Caitlin is generational, can change the dynamics of a team. From an offensive standpoint, it seemed like the group was stuck in third gear all night for me. I shouldn't try to compare this group to the last few years but it is hard not to.
*****N Illinois vs Iowa Game Thread*****
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I had a hard time making the adjustment. I knew how special Caitlin was but it is a completely different team without her.
Me too. It took about a quarter [the 1st Q sucked anyway] for me to see what this team had. Jan's got a scrapy team with lots of depth. Unless I'm seeing things, this is a team that will rely on hustle and defense until the offense developes.
I thought Olsen was a little shy about asserting herself, but that will change. Stuelke too looks likes she trying to find herself in her knew role.
There is a lot of complaining about an offense that scored 91 points.
It's going to take us all a bit to adjust to life without Clark.
Were so used to her just being the glue of everything it will take some time to get used to balanced scoring and more team centered offense. I know its been weird for me to adjust so far. Once these Frosh players adjust I think we have a dangerous team come conference play
Were so used to her just being the glue of everything it will take some time to get used to balanced scoring and more team centered offense. I know its been weird for me to adjust so far. Once these Frosh players adjust I think we have a dangerous team come conference play
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I think that this will be a difficult team to scout because of its diverse weapons. Yes, teams should try to shut down Olsen, both as ball handler and scorer, but other players can do both in her stead. We also can present different looks depending on the opponent, going bigger or going faster. I liked what I saw last night. I think the team has a big upside and could get home court the first weekend of NCAAs. I can live with that this year.
Thought they played pretty well overall, and it is the first official game so be patient. I do not think NI is a bad team and they sure can shoot.
Iowa has a lot of very good players that will sort of fill the gap left by CC, but she was one time player so hard to do if not impossible. I think they will have a good year, but excited about future years with the youngsters. KF was great last night.
Iowa has a lot of very good players that will sort of fill the gap left by CC, but she was one time player so hard to do if not impossible. I think they will have a good year, but excited about future years with the youngsters. KF was great last night.
Knee surgery off season...back in next few weeks...taking it slow...
I’d be happy if she was just back for conference play. Let the freshmen grow.
We have an absolutely stacked non con schedule. Gonna need all the help we can get.
I was missing strong drives to the basket, can’t wait to see Syd back. Overall, an interesting mix. My biggest concern is how they match up physically with the higher talent teams.
That is a concern. Affolter will help with that. Mallegni looks like she can hold her own with experience. Primarily, they need some dog mentality at the 5 and an emphasis on getting to the ball with intent. Too many second opportunities for NI last night. Experience will help.
Stuelke needs to be involved, and idk if they have that figured out yet. I wonder if they opt to play the smaller lineup if Mallegni, McCabe, or Stremlow need to stay on the court.
Thankfully the college game is officiated and played more appropriately.
Looked about 80 percent full. Got loud at times. I can't imagine what Olsen and those freshman are feeling playing in front of the crowds.
I still have trouble trimming the roster to the 8 key players who will play the majority of the minutes.
- Olsen
- Feuerbach
- Affolter
- Stuelke
- O'Grady
- McCabe
- Heiden
- Mallegni
- Ediger
- Stremlow
- Levin
- Guyton
- Gyamfi
- Johnson
I'd be surprised if Stremlow doesn't end up playing important minutes, but I think it's all about who is playing with consistency, so it's all live audition until idk ... Christmas.
Iowa Citystarted to write, "I don't disagree about Stremlow, but whose minutes does she take?" But then I looked at last year's average minutes. Nine players played (almost) ten minutes or more. So Stremlow could be in that nine.
Clark 33.5
Davis 26.4
Martin 26.1
Stuelke 21.6
Affolter 21.1
Feuerbach 14.3
Goodman 12.7
McCabe 9.5
O'Grady 9.3
Gyamfi 4.6
Ediger 4.0
Johnson 3.2
On 52% field goal shooting. We shot 66.6% on two point attempts. The offense is fine, better than fine.
Strenlow was 4th on the team in minutes last night, and seems to be the backup PG. She and Mallegni are the first ones off the bench. They are seeing big minutes this year.
Strenlow only had 2 points last night, but 5 assists, 3 clocks and 2 steals fills the stat sheet.
Strenlow only had 2 points last night, but 5 assists, 3 clocks and 2 steals fills the stat sheet.
Stremlow will absolutely get minutes. She doesn't play scared and she's very active. Right now I'd expect McCabe to move to the bench when Syd comes back. Kylie is playing very well and gives the lineup more size. And I'd expect once Heiden gets used to the speed of the college game, she'll eventually start over AOG.
Just some items observed about Jan's 1st offical game with all the new faces and ONLY 1 returning starter from the Natty game.
Cons:
1) Lucy is not the best 3-pt shooter. Last season she was @ under 30% (.294). If she can get back to her '22-'23 stat of .356, then she gets more of a greenlight from 3. We have other players with higher %'s for that. She needs to work her magic around the paint (aka Read & React decision box) where her middy is effective or passing to an open player down low or a kickout 3. I suspect this is a testing period for Lucy on 3s to see how much rope she gets during the B1G games.
www.sports-reference.com
2) Heiden looks like she needs more time. I was expecting, by reports out of camp, that she had passed AOG already. However, she has the potential to become a starter.
3) Defense is a little suspect yet. Although, I believe they have the potential to be a better all-around lineup of defenders over last year.
Pros:
1) From the press conference, Jan was messing with player combos which disrupted momentum at times and why I believe the score was closer than it could have been. There's just too many new faces and throw in a new coach to boot in what they want to see and it can get less than ideal at times. What new players do in practice may not translate to the bright lights and packed fans of the court. This team is in a discovery period working different lineups to max rotation output later. They can do that now because they're so deep. This is really a positive because these are the type of games when you can test and or tweak rotations to see how they gel or not gel together. To use the men's basketball team last year, you don't want Krikke and PMac on the floor at the same time. Your goal is to plug holes in your defense, not create bigger ones. Same goes for the offense. Finding the right blend on both sides of the ball can be challenging with such a new product.
2) Syd didn't need to play so she doesn't take unnecessary chances on a possible setback early on against a much lesser team. It's better she gets back to full health by not putting undue stress on her recovery too soon. It will be interesting to see how these pieces fit together when she comes back and I suspect more experimenting will be needed. The key for Jan and crew will be how to smooth out the rough edges as much as possible that's inevitable with this many new pieces.
3) Hannah's free throws continue to improve. Without CC throwing bullseyes to Hannah, it will be interesting to see how Hannah redefines her game at a new position.
4) McCabe gets a nice near logo 3. Which is very nice to see that she doesn't need to hug the arc to knock it down.
5) AOG had a very fine game. 12 pts in 14 mins is more than I expected from her. Maybe AOG has uped her game to make it harder for Heiden to pass her right now. That's a good thing. When Heiden does pass her, she is more battle tested.
6) Stremlow is fearless. She can bring a dimension of intangibles and moxie from the bench. She defends well and had 5 assists and 3 blocks. I believe she had a near logo 3 as well. Although, from reading her high school stats, she is like Lucy and has a much higher shooting % inside the arc. A couple times in the 1st half Stremlow came in and the Hawks surged ahead with her on the court.
7) Teagan is another impressive frosh like Stremlow. Her defense is acceptable and she is going to put up double-digit points from inside or outside the arc.
She has 18 and 14 pts back to back.
8) Lucy's middyville is the lane she needs to focus on by carving it up as that's her bread and butter.
Her stat line of 19 pts, 7 assists, 4 rebs and only 3 TOs is what I expect from her game in and game out.
9) Kylie stepped up like I thought she would. This doesn't surprise me. She had one minute flashes before and then it fizzles out. It's nice to see a whole game of it from her. Let's hope she can stay dialed in. She is 7 of 14 (3 of 5 and 4 of 9) from 3 the last two games. So that's a great starting trend I believe she has in her. She is also highly disruptive on the defensive end by constantly hijacking the ball.
Her stat line of 14 pts, 9 rebs, 6 steals and 5 assists is just what the doctor ordered.
Overall, I thought this team would crush N. IL. I was expecting a ~100 to ~60 game. However, I will digress and chalk it up to Jan experimenting and picking a good time to do it now while the game is not in jeopardy. I found more positives than negatives with this game. At the end of the day, that's what counts the most.
The next game will be more of a true test of where we are with the growth of this team. It will be interesting to see how much Jan trims down the rotations or if she treats it the same as this game experimenting with 1st and 2nd tier players.
Iowa vs. Northern Illinois Full Match | 2024 Women's College Basketball, Nov 06 2024
Kylie Feuerbach and Lucy Olsen reflect on the Hawkeyes' season-opening win over Northern Illinois
Cons:
1) Lucy is not the best 3-pt shooter. Last season she was @ under 30% (.294). If she can get back to her '22-'23 stat of .356, then she gets more of a greenlight from 3. We have other players with higher %'s for that. She needs to work her magic around the paint (aka Read & React decision box) where her middy is effective or passing to an open player down low or a kickout 3. I suspect this is a testing period for Lucy on 3s to see how much rope she gets during the B1G games.
Lucy Olsen College Stats | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com
Lucy Olsen - Stats, Game Logs, Splits, and much more
www.sports-reference.com
2) Heiden looks like she needs more time. I was expecting, by reports out of camp, that she had passed AOG already. However, she has the potential to become a starter.
3) Defense is a little suspect yet. Although, I believe they have the potential to be a better all-around lineup of defenders over last year.
Pros:
1) From the press conference, Jan was messing with player combos which disrupted momentum at times and why I believe the score was closer than it could have been. There's just too many new faces and throw in a new coach to boot in what they want to see and it can get less than ideal at times. What new players do in practice may not translate to the bright lights and packed fans of the court. This team is in a discovery period working different lineups to max rotation output later. They can do that now because they're so deep. This is really a positive because these are the type of games when you can test and or tweak rotations to see how they gel or not gel together. To use the men's basketball team last year, you don't want Krikke and PMac on the floor at the same time. Your goal is to plug holes in your defense, not create bigger ones. Same goes for the offense. Finding the right blend on both sides of the ball can be challenging with such a new product.
2) Syd didn't need to play so she doesn't take unnecessary chances on a possible setback early on against a much lesser team. It's better she gets back to full health by not putting undue stress on her recovery too soon. It will be interesting to see how these pieces fit together when she comes back and I suspect more experimenting will be needed. The key for Jan and crew will be how to smooth out the rough edges as much as possible that's inevitable with this many new pieces.
3) Hannah's free throws continue to improve. Without CC throwing bullseyes to Hannah, it will be interesting to see how Hannah redefines her game at a new position.
4) McCabe gets a nice near logo 3. Which is very nice to see that she doesn't need to hug the arc to knock it down.
5) AOG had a very fine game. 12 pts in 14 mins is more than I expected from her. Maybe AOG has uped her game to make it harder for Heiden to pass her right now. That's a good thing. When Heiden does pass her, she is more battle tested.
6) Stremlow is fearless. She can bring a dimension of intangibles and moxie from the bench. She defends well and had 5 assists and 3 blocks. I believe she had a near logo 3 as well. Although, from reading her high school stats, she is like Lucy and has a much higher shooting % inside the arc. A couple times in the 1st half Stremlow came in and the Hawks surged ahead with her on the court.
7) Teagan is another impressive frosh like Stremlow. Her defense is acceptable and she is going to put up double-digit points from inside or outside the arc.
She has 18 and 14 pts back to back.
8) Lucy's middyville is the lane she needs to focus on by carving it up as that's her bread and butter.
Her stat line of 19 pts, 7 assists, 4 rebs and only 3 TOs is what I expect from her game in and game out.
9) Kylie stepped up like I thought she would. This doesn't surprise me. She had one minute flashes before and then it fizzles out. It's nice to see a whole game of it from her. Let's hope she can stay dialed in. She is 7 of 14 (3 of 5 and 4 of 9) from 3 the last two games. So that's a great starting trend I believe she has in her. She is also highly disruptive on the defensive end by constantly hijacking the ball.
Her stat line of 14 pts, 9 rebs, 6 steals and 5 assists is just what the doctor ordered.
Overall, I thought this team would crush N. IL. I was expecting a ~100 to ~60 game. However, I will digress and chalk it up to Jan experimenting and picking a good time to do it now while the game is not in jeopardy. I found more positives than negatives with this game. At the end of the day, that's what counts the most.
The next game will be more of a true test of where we are with the growth of this team. It will be interesting to see how much Jan trims down the rotations or if she treats it the same as this game experimenting with 1st and 2nd tier players.
Iowa vs. Northern Illinois Full Match | 2024 Women's College Basketball, Nov 06 2024
Kylie Feuerbach and Lucy Olsen reflect on the Hawkeyes' season-opening win over Northern Illinois
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Stuelke went to locker room. ???
I had the same thought, except I think Stremlow has earned a spot as one of 9 key players. A tough situation for Jan to find time for everyone. I see O'Grady and Heiden splitting time, then McCabe, Mallegni and Stremlow giving each of the starters a breather every quarter. Or maybe we go back to Lisa's platoon system of 5? years ago occasionally. My bigger concern is how to restructure a game for Hannah without Caitlin.
Playing time will be better balanced this year. Lucy will get the most minutes, but probably not as many as Caitlin. Lisa Bluder said that she played the starters last year as many minutes as possible because the fans came out to see them. That’s why Caitlin was in games late, even in blow outs. I doubt we see that this year.
A few thoughts:
I’ve been very impressed with Kylie. She seems much more confident than last year and she’s been shooting the 3 REALLY well. She just seems a lot more comfortable without any expectations of her handling the ball or initiating the offense. She seems like a natural at the 3 spot. And damn is she quick on defense!
AOG also looks a lot more comfortable and confident this year. I think it’s going to click for Heiden pretty soon and that the Hawks will have a very solid center duo. You can see her teammates have a lot of confidence in Heiden with the way they were trying to feed her the ball repeatedly.
With that said, I’m sure Jan is going to be tempted to use this lineup quite a bit:
Olsen
Affolter/McCabe
Feuerbach
Mallegni
Stuelke
That’s a whole lot of offensive skill for opponents to deal with. People have been comparing Mallegni to McKenna Warnock, but I think Mallegni has a more well-rounded game.
Nice to see Gyamfi get a hoop against NIU after struggling mightily in the exhibition game. She looked like her confidence was shot against Missouri Western. It’s gonna be tough for Gyamfi to earn much time if she can’t hit the 3 with consistency.
I’ve been very impressed with Kylie. She seems much more confident than last year and she’s been shooting the 3 REALLY well. She just seems a lot more comfortable without any expectations of her handling the ball or initiating the offense. She seems like a natural at the 3 spot. And damn is she quick on defense!
AOG also looks a lot more comfortable and confident this year. I think it’s going to click for Heiden pretty soon and that the Hawks will have a very solid center duo. You can see her teammates have a lot of confidence in Heiden with the way they were trying to feed her the ball repeatedly.
With that said, I’m sure Jan is going to be tempted to use this lineup quite a bit:
Olsen
Affolter/McCabe
Feuerbach
Mallegni
Stuelke
That’s a whole lot of offensive skill for opponents to deal with. People have been comparing Mallegni to McKenna Warnock, but I think Mallegni has a more well-rounded game.
Nice to see Gyamfi get a hoop against NIU after struggling mightily in the exhibition game. She looked like her confidence was shot against Missouri Western. It’s gonna be tough for Gyamfi to earn much time if she can’t hit the 3 with consistency.
The problem is as much as her dad and some others evidently think she's a 4, (this was discussed last season) and Jan trying to incorporate her there to got more from AOG and Heiden, Hannah isn't very skilled away from the basket. She can drive the lane off of a good screen, but she has limited skills as a slasher without the screens, and is not a plus shooter from either the mid range or from three. Basically she's a bit of a fish out of water outside the lane at this point.
Yep. There was talk of her playing tonight. I'd bet money you'll see her Sunday against a good VT squad. She won't be sitting out the pre conf games thats for sure.....
Ah, I basically just noted the same thing in a different thread. Hannah is definitely talented, but that might be only running the court and playing under the hoop. If Mallegni is going to keep hitting shots, Jensen almost needs to go small with both on the court.
Hopefully Hannah can show more in the next few games. She's a team leader, so it is going to be a puzzle.
Agree. Certainly something that bears watching, just how Jan balances minutes in the post between AOG/Heiden and AJE and yet will still go "small" with Hannah at the 5 and Mallengi at the 4. Matchups will be key. From what we've seen so far Mallengi may very well be the best option for a bunch of those minutes given the versatility of her overall game. Still a bunch of big Non con games before conf season will lead to some answers
Turned her ankle stepping on a players foot last play of the 1st quarter. Didn't return until start of the 2nd half.....
most of the wow plays had had Taylor involded. She pops, but also makes some dumb plays and passes to people who are not ready. The Wisconsin girls seem to hae sore sort of connection, they are paying off each other like they have been doing it for years.
If Hannah wants to play in the W it will be at the 3/4. I think she can get there, but its going to take a bit. I also think that Iowaa will need the size/experience of the true centers, so if they can get enough frowht from Hannah at the 4 and Addi/Ava at the 5 it could pay off big time at the end of the year. Gotta have the growth though.
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