Pluses / Minuses Today

[Loveblackandgold]

Pluses: Great to see Patrick on the floor. He really seemed to be enjoying himself.

Minuses: I hate to say it but it was the same old lackadaisical crowd at Carver yesterday.

 

[Fran_Man]

The press, just like Dr Tom’s teams, isn’t always meant to steal the ball. Sometimes you get beat. We were sluggish and it sped the game up. That is the purpose sometimes. Obviously you’d take a steal but we like a faster pace. And it worked. First game and all, Patrick is far and away the biggest surprise. Joe W better keep his head up and play or he will be the one losing minutes to Patrick. And Bohannon hopefully will look better on D. But not really counting on that.

This. The first couple possessions NCCU was really holding the ball. I was sweating the over. Then Iowa pressed and sped them up. With how deep we are I’d like to see Fran do that right away against teams like Wisconsin. Last year we had to pick out spots with all the injuries.

 

[Fran_Man]

Plus: Keegan Murray. PMac. Liked the other young guys as well. Perkins is crazy athletic.

minus: Defense needs to not let up so many easy buckets. Did end up keeping them under 30 at the break. Also the big man from Europe. He’s raw and out of shape not sure why he’s on the roster honestly.

 

[CO_hawk]

Question, do the coaches communicate beforehand with each other what they would like tested on?
Iowa still giving away too many 3pt attempts.
Patrick is hunggrrry!! Kid is going to be a motivator like Garza.

 

[Underscore2]

This crew is never going to be a great team defensively. CJ and Joe will be good at stopping the ball but the backside of the D is going to be just OK.

Fortunately, the Hawks do not need to play great team defense because our opponent's are going to be gassed chasing Hawkeye boys around.

I'm seeing now this could be the overall strategy Fran uses, ideally. If he has the personnel, and even if he doesn't. I could be wrong.

Basically, defense = press as much as possible, to make the other team run around more and rush their offense. If we give up some points, so what.

The other team will most likely have some kind of lead early in the game. Maybe even at half time, but not over (10?) points.

Keep this up 2nd half until the other team is completely out of gas with 7 min left to go, and Iowa just runs them out of the building during that last 7 min.

So playing as many as possible is critical to that strategy. All these "only play x number of guys" type of arguments are missing the point, he needs to substitute a lot, almost at a Tom Davis level.

 

[littlez]

Totally agree underscore. I think there will be games where a guy struggles and it just doesn’t matter. Maybe JBO won’t be hot. No big deal. Speed up the game and bring in Joe T and Ulis. Weiskamp or Conor struggle? Patrick or Murray play 20-25 minutes. This is a great problem to have. Frans going to play 8-9 guys a lot I would say. Easily 9 when Jack gets back.

 

[mjnem418]

PMac's play reminded me a lot of Nicholas Baer. Also hustling to be in position to make a play. Outside shot is kinda funky as Baer's was. Brings the tenacity as well. I was impressed. Is Nunge gonna be available for tomorrow's game? Hope so.

 

[RocknRollface]

Missed it but did any of the frosh look like they will help defensively?

If they were going to play, yes but I'm assuming Murray will be the only one to see any significant minutes unless Ulis beats out JoeT in which case that's a wash defensively.

 

[The Deplorable Sleeping Dog]

I do not foresee Ahron beating out Joey T. Joe is very talented and I think will be a star junior and senior season. I think we push a hard pace but don't need more than 9 players to do it, and maybe 8.

We do not know what Jack is going to be once he returns. I was not high on him before this awful personal tragedy. Jack may have significant grief problems that depress his desire to play. On a human level I hope his teammates give the kid whatever support or space Jack needs. As a basketball critic, its another question about an already questionable player.

So Iowa may only go around 8 deep. Joey T, P Mac and Ke Murray might be the only regular rotation players but those three are enough to maintain a fast paced game.

 

[Knothole Hawk]

The freshmen looked really good, but if Iowa is going to be the best in the big ten they need Nunge to be a beast. He's not a freshman but is the same age as Garza and has been around his work ethic and practicing against him for around three of those years. If he can trust that knee, and we can trust what we have heard about him from coaches and players for the last couple years, he should see alot of playing time.

 

[kceasthawk]

I hate to say it but I thought uhlis looked better in his limited minutes than Joe T today.

I said that also that Joe T. needs to get in the groove or he may get passed. He's still out of control way to often.....

 

[kceasthawk]

Plus: Keegan Murray. PMac. Liked the other young guys as well. Perkins is crazy athletic.

minus: Defense needs to not let up so many easy buckets. Did end up keeping them under 30 at the break. Also the big man from Europe. He’s raw and out of shape not sure why he’s on the roster honestly.

So you've seen Josh O for less then 2 minutes and its time to send him packing? The kind of minutes he saw Wednesday is all he'll see this year. That gives Fran a year to get him ready and he can work in practice against Luka.......

 

[littlez]

It’s crazy how a 6-10 guy with good athleticism but not a lot of experience is already just getting trashed by some of our fans. I mean he has played 1 game. Check back in 2 years boys.

 

[The Deplorable Sleeping Dog]

No one has any real idea about Josh O's upside. He's fat but baby fat can turn to muscle in the weight room. The kid is enormous. There's no reason he cannot develop into a good player. He's getting a free red shirt and encountering things like weight training and a controlled diet for the first time.

If Jack can come back and be reasonably productive in the 6 or 7 minutes he's needed Josh will not have to play any meaningful minutes. Next year, very different story as things stand now. Let's give the kid a chance before we decide he's not worth a schollie.

 

[Franisdaman]

Plus - Garza of course.
P. McCaffery - he is going to be fun to watch
K. Murray - very surprised. Looks good and love his tenacity.
Everyone else ok about what you would expect.

Minuses -

C. McCaffery - not one of his better games, especially on defense. Not worried about him though. He will come through when needed.

Joe T. - still playing out of control. Not worried about him either. He will get better.

Overall, I was disappointed in how many layups we gave away - again! Especially baseline layups. This has to get better if we are going to get where we want.

Not bad for a first game. Things to work on.

Just remember, earlier that day they attended Jack's dad's funeral via Zoom

I am pretty sure their minds/focus were in a couple places

 

[Franisdaman]

Not gonna complain too much but would have liked to see Weezy shoot better . Had a couple nice looks and wasn’t close. After struggling last year I hope he picks it up. We need his outside shooting

I would appreciate it if you would use a larger font so that I could more easily read your posts

 

[Franisdaman]

Overall, it was a respectable first game. Obviously, a lot to work on, but overall about what you'd expect.

I was actually encouraged by what I saw. This Iowa team is never going to be good defensively, they just don't have the lateral quickness. I do expect (hope) the defensive intensity improves, but I have no expectation of Iowa being good defensively. With that said, Iowa out rebounded NCC by double digits. Yes, it was NCC, but rebounding was a problem last year, and this year I think (hope) Iowa has the size and length to be more competitive on the glass.

If Iowa can rebound better this season, it will make up for not being good defensively. If they can, they're going to win a lot of games.

it is no surprise Keegan is good at rebounding; all you have to do is look at his dad.

Tom Davis & Keegan's dad (@PHawkKenyon ) took pride in rebounding & understood if you don't rebound the ball you (1) give your opponent the chance to score & (2) you can't score the ball.

Remember when Tom Davis' teams year in and year out were near the top in the nation (or at the top) in rebounding differential?

 

[Fran_Man]

So you've seen Josh O for less then 2 minutes and its time to send him packing? The kind of minutes he saw Wednesday is all he'll see this year. That gives Fran a year to get him ready and he can work in practice against Luka.......

Yeah I found it very interesting this guy was so out of shape. Usually when you recruit a raw player they are crazy athletic and in basketball shape. From what I saw he’s lost on the basketball floor and in poor shape. I’m sure there’s a reason for this? Was he injured? I trust Fran recruiting underrated players it was just shocking to see a scholarship player that bad. I know Fran has been saying all summer he’s behind.