Only option IMO is Dembele getting starter minutes at the 4

[Nagarunja]

I'm not quite bailing on this team yet because Fran has some options here. The only viable one in my opinion is letting Dembele get starter minutes at the 4 and Thelwell at PG. This way you at least have a semblance of physicality and rebounding on the defensive end. Continuing to play Payton at the 4 and Harding at the 1 is an embarrassment to Iowans and the university.

If Fran doesn't try something different, his legacy will be that his players didn't respect him enough to play hard for him his last year. Shameful.

 

[Garzatough85]

I'm not quite bailing on this team yet because Fran has some options here. The only viable one in my opinion is letting Dembele get starter minutes at the 4 and Thelwell at PG. This way you at least have a semblance of physicality and rebounding on the defensive end. Continuing to play Payton at the 4 and Harding at the 1 is an embarrassment to Iowans and the university.

If Fran doesn't try something different, his legacy will be that his players didn't respect him enough to play hard for him his last year. Shameful.

Assuming Dembele is the 4 and Freeman the 5
Thelwell the 1 and sandfort the 2
Who’s the starting 3?

 

[Nagarunja]

Assuming Dembele is the 4 and Freeman the 5
Thelwell the 1 and sandfort the 2
Who’s the starting 3?

Dix 2 and Peyton (or Pryce) at the 3

 

[Garzatough85]

Dix 2 and Peyton (or Pryce) at the 3

If Fran had balls he’d play young Sandfort over older bro if his D is better to make a proper point to the team!

 

[IllQChawk]

Until Payton is heathy, I'd start Freeman, Mulvey, Dix, Thelwell, and Harding. I wouldn't give Dembele any valuable minutes until he shows he's willing to rebound, play defense, and score around the basket. Play Pryce, Traore, and Tadjo, Cooper if healthy, and Kingsbury.
The season is already over with so many teams left on the schedule that are better then Iowa to play through. Let's see if Mulvey and Freeman can play together and shore up the rebounding and defense. If it doesn't work the team was toast anyway.

 

[Garzatough85]

Sadly Fran will keep trotting out the same team and effort. Keep chucking it up boys we’ll outscore ‘em at least 40% of the time!

 

[icwesthawk]

Traore needs more time and should be starting at 4, best option

 

[BirdistheWord]

Probably wild but I would lean into Tadjo at the 4. I think he has a very high ceiling. As much Freeman, Dix and Thelwell as we can get. Payton/Pryce are a bit redundant, so whoever has hot hand. Harding off bench.

 

[HawkLogic]

Sadly Fran will keep trotting out the same team and effort. Keep chucking it up boys we’ll outscore ‘em at least 40% of the time!

If anything---Fran is stubborn and he's not one to change a starting lineup unless it is his own idea---i.e. he doesn't listen to his
assistant coaches...an of course not fans.

 

[QChawks]

 

[HawkLogic]

Probably wild but I would lean into Tadjo at the 4. I think he has a very high ceiling. As much Freeman, Dix and Thelwell as we can get. Payton/Pryce are a bit redundant, so whoever has got hand. Harding off bench.

At least Tadjo has upside and has the athleticism for the position---he can't be any worse on offense inside the paint than Dembele is + Tadjo can jump, and Dembele is mostly below rim guy.

I saw a tweet where the only guy with a positive +/- for Iowa was Riley Mulvey at +9. The 2nd best was Braun at ZERO. . I know Mulvey is thought of as a joke by a lot of posters, but the guy rebounds and effects shots when he's in there. He's played better than Braun. Fran absolutely hates to play him. We have got to get bigger and quit giving up so many points inside the paint. Like the UCLA commentator McClean said---usually a team defense will give you either the paint shots or the 3pt shots, Iowa gives up both.

Fran has to change his lineups to address the defense/rebounding issue. We have enough talent that we should be middle of the pack in B1G and not losing by 25+ points on road.

 

[woolridge]

Tjado, Mulvey, and Traore should be playing all of the 4 spot minutes. I'm not sure why Fram cant see that. Dembele gives us nothing except two or three jumpers every fourth game or so. His feet are super slow, he cant jump, and his reaction time is too slow at this point in time. We could look at the plus minus of that positions performance I think it would be pretty obvious. Not sure Fram looks at the analytics

 

[Ladell-hawk]

Assuming Dembele is the 4 and Freeman the 5
Thelwell the 1 and sandfort the 2
Who’s the starting 3?

Dix is the 2, Sandfort is a 3.

 

[Ladell-hawk]

Traore needs more time and should be starting at 4, best option

Unfortunately Traore is really undersized to play before and doesn’t shoot the ball very well.

 

[CookyMonster]

It doesn't matter

 

[texas twister]

Traore needs more time and should be starting at 4, best option

He is only effective during full court press. Nothing else right now.

 

[LukaDuka]

Until Payton is heathy, I'd start Freeman, Mulvey, Dix, Thelwell, and Harding. I wouldn't give Dembele any valuable minutes until he shows he's willing to rebound, play defense, and score around the basket. Play Pryce, Traore, and Tadjo, Cooper if healthy, and Kingsbury.
The season is already over with so many teams left on the schedule that are better then Iowa to play through. Let's see if Mulvey and Freeman can play together and shore up the rebounding and defense. If it doesn't work the team was toast anyway.

Mulvey... lmao, you've lost all credibility dude.

 

[TheTruthTheWholeTruth]

Until Payton is heathy, I'd start Freeman, Mulvey, Dix, Thelwell, and Harding. I wouldn't give Dembele any valuable minutes until he shows he's willing to rebound, play defense, and score around the basket. Play Pryce, Traore, and Tadjo, Cooper if healthy, and Kingsbury.
The season is already over with so many teams left on the schedule that are better then Iowa to play through. Let's see if Mulvey and Freeman can play together and shore up the rebounding and defense. If it doesn't work the team was toast anyway.

Dembele shouldn’t get minutes because of his D but Harding should start. I know you have a bias but Harding is getting abused.

 

[IllQChawk]

Mulvey... lmao, you've lost all credibility dude.

Really, you think you have credibility, wow, just because you played the game at a country bumkin school 50 years ago. You have all the answers don't you? Yeah, right!
At least I understand that Harding is just a sophomore and has lot's to improve on his game. You take exception to everything he struggles with, but he is still better at some things then Thelwell. Harding has twice and many assists then Doug and both of them are close in every other stat with the same amount of minutes played. Not bad considering Thelwell has played 3 more years then Harding. Yes, there may by 3 inches different in height but that's not the end all that is college basketball, but It's ok if Dix get's abused by someone taller, or Thelwell, or Payton, or Pryce, almost every Iowa players at one time or another goes up against an opposing player that is 3 or more inches taller then they are. Have you been complaining about that? That would be unbecoming of you. What a turd.

 

[icwesthawk]

almost every Iowa players at one time or another goes up against an opposing player that is 3 or more inches taller then they are.

The problem is, Harding always has to go up against an opposing player that is at least 3 or more inches taller than he is

 

[intrepodor]

Assuming Dembele is the 4 and Freeman the 5
Thelwell the 1 and sandfort the 2
Who’s the starting 3?

Dix

 

[intrepodor]

Really, you think you have credibility, wow, just because you played the game at a country bumkin school 50 years ago. You have all the answers don't you? Yeah, right!
At least I understand that Harding is just a sophomore and has lot's to improve on his game. You take exception to everything he struggles with, but he is still better at some things then Thelwell. Harding has twice and many assists then Doug and both of them are close in every other stat with the same amount of minutes played. Not bad considering Thelwell has played 3 more years then Harding. Yes, there may by 3 inches different in height but that's not the end all that is college basketball, but It's ok if Dix get's abused by someone taller, or Thelwell, or Payton, or Pryce, almost every Iowa players at one time or another goes up against an opposing player that is 3 or more inches taller then they are. Have you been complaining about that? That would be unbecoming of you. What a turd.

You made a credible argument deteriorate with your last 3 words.

 

[jonesy5960]

Until Payton is heathy, I'd start Freeman, Mulvey, Dix, Thelwell, and Harding. I wouldn't give Dembele any valuable minutes until he shows he's willing to rebound, play defense, and score around the basket. Play Pryce, Traore, and Tadjo, Cooper if healthy, and Kingsbury.
The season is already over with so many teams left on the schedule that are better then Iowa to play through. Let's see if Mulvey and Freeman can play together and shore up the rebounding and defense. If it doesn't work the team was toast anyway.

This ain't rocket science. The first name that has to come up with respect to improving the defense and rebounding is Harding. Whenever Harding is in the lineup Fran is forced to go zone and this team doesn't understand how to play zone. Not only does this team not understand how to play zone, but it puts them at an even greater rebounding disadvantage. They need to stop double teaming to protect Freeman. All it does is create open looks all over the floor. If he fouls out he fouls out. They lose a lot offensively if he's out but there are probably 3 players on the bench that are as good or better on the defensive end and on the boards. This goes a long way towards solving the perimeter defense problem. Sandfort is also a defensive liability, but he rebounds at a rate similar to Freeman.

So who replaces Harding? Moving Sandfort to the 3 and adding more size down low is the only solution to improve the interior defense and rebounding. A lack of size/athleticism down low is this team's Achilles heel. I wish Fran would be flexible based on matchups. It's almost like he quits coaching after practice. When Iowa goes up against true 6'11 or 7'0 bigs who aren't 3 point threats, I'd rather see Mulvey at the 5 and Freeman at the 4. He's shown that he can do it in the short stretches he's been out there. When going against a smaller more athletic lineup, go with Tadjo or Traore. Dembele is a pretty good rebounder, but was terrible in the starting lineup and he's really slow on defense.

 

[RocknRollface]

Dembele shouldn’t get minutes because of his D but Harding should start. I know you have a bias but Harding is getting abused.

Yep, no matter who moves into the 4 spot, whether it be Mulvey, Traore, Dembele, or Tadjo the key is going to be getting Harding off the court.

He really is getting abused, most of the breakdowns start with him now because opponents have figured out how easy it is.

He is in over his head and needs to transfer down to lower level.

 

[TheTruthTheWholeTruth]

Harding would be a great mid major player. The type that would get under Iowa’s skin if we played them once. Unfortunately his physical makeup doesn’t allow for consistent, good guard play at the B1G level.

 

[RocknRollface]

This ain't rocket science. The first name that has to come up with respect to improving the defense and rebounding is Harding. Whenever Harding is in the lineup Fran is forced to go zone and this team doesn't understand how to play zone. Not only does this team not understand how to play zone, but it puts them at an even greater rebounding disadvantage. They need to stop double teaming to protect Freeman. All it does is create open looks all over the floor. If he fouls out he fouls out. They lose a lot offensively if he's out but there are probably 3 players on the bench that are as good or better on the defensive end and on the boards. This goes a long way towards solving the perimeter defense problem. Sandfort is also a defensive liability, but he rebounds at a rate similar to Freeman.

So who replaces Harding? Moving Sandfort to the 3 and adding more size down low is the only solution to improve the interior defense and rebounding. A lack of size/athleticism down low is this team's Achilles heel. I wish Fran would be flexible based on matchups. It's almost like he quits coaching after practice. When Iowa goes up against true 6'11 or 7'0 bigs who aren't 3 point threats, I'd rather see Mulvey at the 5 and Freeman at the 4. He's shown that he can do it in the short stretches he's been out there. When going against a smaller more athletic lineup, go with Tadjo or Traore. Dembele is a pretty good rebounder, but was terrible in the starting lineup and he's really slow on defense.

Yep, agree with all of this.

Brock is not a starter caliber player in this conference on either end.

A Thelwell Dix backcourt matches up well with the rest of the league.

Sandfort can't defend the 3 but he can't defend the 4 either and he does rebound.

I like the idea of the 4/5 being flexible based on opponent.

 

[jonesy5960]

Really, you think you have credibility, wow, just because you played the game at a country bumkin school 50 years ago. You have all the answers don't you? Yeah, right!
At least I understand that Harding is just a sophomore and has lot's to improve on his game. You take exception to everything he struggles with, but he is still better at some things then Thelwell. Harding has twice and many assists then Doug and both of them are close in every other stat with the same amount of minutes played. Not bad considering Thelwell has played 3 more years then Harding. Yes, there may by 3 inches different in height but that's not the end all that is college basketball, but It's ok if Dix get's abused by someone taller, or Thelwell, or Payton, or Pryce, almost every Iowa players at one time or another goes up against an opposing player that is 3 or more inches taller then they are. Have you been complaining about that? That would be unbecoming of you. What a turd.

He might be over the top negative on the guy but you tend to ignore his obvious shortcomings as if they aren't detrimental to the team. I think he's a good point guard, but he is absolutely a weak link at the other end of the court. He is nowhere near as effective as Thelwell and Dix on the defensive end. Thelwell is more than adequate at the point without the defensive shortcomings. He has a better assist to turnover ratio than Brock and is a 3 level scorer. Replacing Brock with some size and/or athleticism is the only card to be played here.

 

[texas twister]

Harding is not Iowa's defensive problems. Always leaving uncontested 3pt shots and rebounding is. Harding has had many really good defensive games as a disruptor. Every Iowa player gets abused close to the basket.

 

[hawkeyeinmo]

Mulvey... lmao, you've lost all credibility dude.

Guess I’ve lost credibility also because I’d rather see Mulvey take some minutes at the 5 along with Freeman at the 4 than Dembele additional time at 4.

 

[WestCoastHawkI]

Until Payton is heathy, I'd start Freeman, Mulvey, Dix, Thelwell, and Harding. I wouldn't give Dembele any valuable minutes until he shows he's willing to rebound, play defense, and score around the basket. Play Pryce, Traore, and Tadjo, Cooper if healthy, and Kingsbury.
The season is already over with so many teams left on the schedule that are better then Iowa to play through. Let's see if Mulvey and Freeman can play together and shore up the rebounding and defense. If it doesn't work the team was toast anyway.

lol. People still think Payton is unhealthy which is why he’s playing poorly? He is an awful decision maker, too slow to make his own shot and a liability on defense.

 

[RocknRollface]

Harding is not Iowa's defensive problems. Always leaving uncontested 3pt shots and rebounding is. Harding has had many really good defensive games as a disruptor. Every Iowa player gets abused close to the basket.

He's clearly the biggest problem Iowa has on d other than the head coach.

The reason that 3pt shooters are always open is penetration and or having to play zone to stop penetration.

The tape is out on Brock, he's too small to stop penetration. When Iowa goes zone to stop his man from driving him straight down to the rim it turns into a corner 3 shooting practice.

Rebounding isn't directly his fault but playing 2 pgs means Iowa only has one big on the court.

 

[HawkLogic]

Lot of good ideas on lineup changes---problem is Fran never adjusts his lineups to improve defensive matchups and he's pretty stubborn. I don't think Mulvey is as bad as he's made out to be---it least he's 7 foot. What Harding does on offense is sometimes amazing given his size, but rest of the team can't cover for him when teams isolate on him.

Anybody remember Alford's 7'0 Seth Gorney who played a lot? Mulvey is better than that guy.

 

[texas twister]

He's clearly the biggest problem Iowa has on d other than the head coach.

The reason that 3pt shooters are always open is penetration and or having to play zone to stop penetration.

The tape is out on Brock, he's too small to stop penetration. When Iowa goes zone to stop his man from driving him straight down to the rim it turns into a corner 3 shooting practice.

Rebounding isn't directly his fault but playing 2 pgs means Iowa only has one big on the court.

Obviously you have no clue what you are talking about. Brock is probably the best at stopping penetration as he is quick enough to stay in front of the player he is guarding. Not 100% successful; but, a high success rate. When he is out of the game, the offense stagnates and becomes like playground ball where there is little ball movement and lots of one on one.

 

[Mohawkeye]

Mulvey starting with Freeman over Dembele, he appears to be a better rebounder and defender in what little we’ve seen.

Harding hasn’t played well the past few games and I think going small has played to his weaknesses. Sophomores often are erratic. I’d bench him for a bigger lineup and hope he gives us a spark as a change of pace.

Pryce is the only guy getting offensive rebounds so I’d start him if Payton can’t go. More Saore, too.

 

[LukaDuka]

Really, you think you have credibility, wow, just because you played the game at a country bumkin school 50 years ago. You have all the answers don't you? Yeah, right!
At least I understand that Harding is just a sophomore and has lot's to improve on his game. You take exception to everything he struggles with, but he is still better at some things then Thelwell. Harding has twice and many assists then Doug and both of them are close in every other stat with the same amount of minutes played. Not bad considering Thelwell has played 3 more years then Harding. Yes, there may by 3 inches different in height but that's not the end all that is college basketball, but It's ok if Dix get's abused by someone taller, or Thelwell, or Payton, or Pryce, almost every Iowa players at one time or another goes up against an opposing player that is 3 or more inches taller then they are. Have you been complaining about that? That would be unbecoming of you. What a turd.

Being the Drew (WTF is Doug?) is starting at shooting guard and not pg will have an impact on his assists. And teams do not target the other starters like they do Brock. It's pretty obvious, if you know anything at all.

 

[LukaDuka]

Guess I’ve lost credibility also because I’d rather see Mulvey take some minutes at the 5 along with Freeman at the 4 than Dembele additional time at 4.

Maybe he should, but he stills sucks. None of our back up bigs are worthy of significant playing time. So if Mulvey is the better of the least of them.... This team needs some serious rebuilding.

 

[RocknRollface]

Obviously you have no clue what you are talking about. Brock is probably the best at stopping penetration as he is quick enough to stay in front of the player he is guarding. Not 100% successful; but, a high success rate. When he is out of the game, the offense stagnates and becomes like playground ball where there is little ball movement and lots of one on one.

This has no connection to reality.

Have you watched Iowa play the last two games?

 

[fivecardstud14]

Obviously you have no clue what you are talking about. Brock is probably the best at stopping penetration as he is quick enough to stay in front of the player he is guarding. Not 100% successful; but, a high success rate. When he is out of the game, the offense stagnates and becomes like playground ball where there is little ball movement and lots of one on one.

Pretty crazy takes, guy.

 

[texas twister]

Pretty crazy takes, guy.

The stat line is that Iowa has scored +20 over the last 4 games when he is in the line up (Nebby, Ind, USC, and UCLA). You can argue against stats until you are blue in the face.

 

[RocknRollface]

The stat line is that Iowa has scored +20 over the last 4 games when he is in the line up (Nebby, Ind, USC, and UCLA). You can argue against stats until you are blue in the face.

Cherry picked stats. He played 39 and 35 minutes against Nebraska and IU and only mid 20s in all the blowout losses.

He wasn't on the floor as much in those losses because he was not doing well.

His offensive efficiency and box plus minus are both the lowest of the top 6 rotation on the year.

So argue away. 😉

It's really obvious that he gets escorted into the lane in one on one defense and that's why Iowa has had to play more zone recently.

The zone only works against poorly coached teams like IU or teams that can't hit the corner 3.