Watch him around the basket. He is almost always the last to react and jump/move for a rebound. Remember the famous line from Scott Skiles about Eddy Curry and how he could be a better rebounder? Jump. This has nothing to do with him being out of shape. Some people have the instinct for rebounding, some don't.
Ogundele
- Thread starter IAHawkGrad2000
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GOOD HANDS, REBOUNDING! lol, we'll see if that comes true in the coming games, but in all of the games I've seen Josh play in, those two areas of his game is not something I'd point out as his finer qualities.
Yes on screening, yes on being a big body, but he has yet to show enough to get extended minutes. It's a long season so maybe he'll get enough playing time this year to allow Iowa to win a few games that otherwise would be a loss. Time will tell....
Aside from the 2 turnovers that's a rock solid line. I hope Josh makes a lot of people eat their words. He ate everything else.
I'm kidding!!!
He actually looks a little slimmer this year.
That's good!! He's a big dude. Getting to a healthy weight is an important step in his progression.
I guess we will have to disagree. Statistically per minute, he was the third or fourth best rebounder on the team last year. I think he’s very quick to react to the basketball and uses his body well. Most elite rebounders aren’t great jumpers, they just have wide behinds and know how to position. See Reggie Evans.
How long has it been now since Iowa was at least an OK team defensively? 7 or 8 years? Part of last season was bordering on that, but for the year overall they were still not good.
It's not as if Fran hasn't had some decent defensive teams. Either those were a fluke, or he did value D at some point.
It's the first game, folks. Exhibition game. The defense is almost always poor in this game. And it did improve as the game went on, at least until it got to the ragged stages at tge end of a massive blowout.
If it doesn't get better over the next 2-3 games, then it's time to complain. But I expect we'll see better defense.
If it doesn't get better over the next 2-3 games, then it's time to complain. But I expect we'll see better defense.
Last year according to KenPom, Iowa 80th out of 358 schools defensively. That’s top 25%.
They were pretty good towards the end of last year. Not great, but good.
I do think Fran tries to pace the defensive effort so that it peaks during the Big season. Our November/December defenses have traditionally been quite bad. While our end of the year defenses have been mostly fair to somewhat good.
Veteran teams tend to play better defense, so I do think this team will end up pretty good defensively.
I think that this is spot on.....I think that this pre conference tough schedule lends itself to the team having a sense of urgency with the defensive cohesion and effort.....better be pretty decent by that week of Duke and ISU or it will result in a painful experience.
Whenever Woody's last year was. I think he values D but he values a strong, dynamic O more and puts an emphasis on that with the players he brings in. Some Coaches value D more.
Obviously, you have to have players that have that mentality defensively as well. Woodbury, Gessell, and Clemmons did and that is why their teams were Fran's best defensively (but also not as strong on the Offensive end).
I'm one who much prefers higher scoring games and more emphasis on offense. Unfortunately, Iowa has had too much of a differential of late. Not as bad as how lopsided Kirk's teams have gotten, though. Still, I'd be OK with dropping into the high teens range for offense if they could consistently be 55-60 for D.
Right - the last half of last year, after the Perkins switch to the lineup, the defense definitely played a lot better. If they could play even at that level, this will be a very good team.
Fair enough, but using Reggie Evans as an example is not fair. His instinct and aggressiveness as a comparison to Josh is not apples to apples. And when someone plays as few minutes as Josh, and with whom he is generally playing against, a statistical comparison to a regular is not remotely valid. We will see this year. I truly hope he succeeds. Mulvey does not look like he will give any meaningful minutes this year and the team will need some from somewhere.
Josh did very well in the game. His move to the bucket was quick and decisive, leading to 3 for 3 shooting. He had 4 rbs,and only 1 foul, all in 12 minutes.
That said, the competition was non-existent. Most of Truman State's scoring was from outside. The real test for Josh will be against real bigs from Power 5 teams.
That said, the competition was non-existent. Most of Truman State's scoring was from outside. The real test for Josh will be against real bigs from Power 5 teams.
Part of the Adj of AdjD is for opponent. Meaning, the better your schedule, the "better" your defense or offense. Being 80th, as a P5 team, isn't great. They were actually slightly better the year before.
And, FTR, the 4 years of Woody/Gesell they were 24th, 77th, 34th and 30th. And his 1st year they were 56th.
I like the quick and decisive part. Really important for “bigs” to not try to out-play their skills unless they’re a freak athlete - which Josh and Mulvey certainly are not.
I didn’t get to see the game - did Mulvey look more fluid moving with his huge frame (legs)? In limited time last year I always thought he was a knee injury waiting to happen - so I wouldn’t mind a redshirt year for him if he isn’t there yet.
Hard to say. I will be rewatching the game this weekend. Mulvey didn't get much time in. I think they really have more faith in Josh O right now.
C'mon BB. Lipstick on a pig. Are you really suggesting that top 25% is a solid number when you're including schools like IUPUI and Coppin State in that universe of schools? If you want a relevant comparison of peer schools, how about the B1G? Iowa was 12th out of 14 which is a step up from the previous year when they were 13th. That's also bottom 15% and a far better gauge of how Iowa has been performing of late from a defensive perspective. They've been really consistently bad on that end for the past 6 years and 12/14 is the best they've been in that period.
In short, Fran's defense = Kirk's offense
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My reply was to Iowa not having an "OK defense". What do you consider just an "OK defense"?
I just realized that I missed last year's results. It came in at 9 in the B1G which was the best result in 6 years so I guess you could argue that 9th in the league is "OK" even if it's below average 🤔. You could also argue it's a step up from 13th which is the average for the 5 years prior. Baby steps I guess 🤷♂️
"OK" in my book is not "good". To me, "Good"would be top 50, and "Great" would be top 10. Not sure if Iowa will ever get there with their style of play or personnel, so I am hoping for something close.
This feels like one of those discussions about Iowa's defense in football. I said it's elite, being top 3 or better in efficiency in the entire country. Someone then feels compelled to tell me it's not even though they are top 3 out of 130 and number one in yards per play. So my question to them is how is top 3 out of 130 FBS teams in the country by any measure not elite? I guess it depends on what you consider elite or just "OK". 🙃
Seemed motivated enough against Purdue in the BIG Tourney. He’s not polished but doesn’t back away under the glass. Hope he can give the Hawks some strong minutes this year.
Agree totally. He has only the basic bull in the China shop post moves which won’t work against good bigs. He’s mainly to stop the bigger posts from backing our pFs under the rim and into foul trouble. Otherwise we will just go small probably.
Not sure we have a big enough sample to know how players will perform this year, especially JoshO and Mulvey. Not a good sign that they are getting very little time in exhibitions. If that doesn't change, Hawks are going to be very thin and vulnerable at 4/5.
Me too! We will need Josh O in quite a few games this year... If he was in really good shape, I think he would be a force at the 5.
In the postgame radio show, Fran had a lot of praise for Josh's play tonight.
Josh played 11 minutes tonight
Josh played 11 minutes tonight
Yep, he probably should never try to dribble in the post again
. I am fine with him getting 5-8 minutes a game just to give Rebraca and Kris rest. As long as he understands his role.I thought Josh showed me something tonight, I don't know if he has small hands or not but he's going to struggle to receive passes from his team mates. Still doesn't have any hops when rebounding but he takes up space. Mulvey appears happy with getting what minutes he gets, so it appears all good....
