Season Is Officially A Disappointment

[IowaHawkeyeFBnBB4Life]

13-5 with this loss, with the remaining schedule there will be more. Iowa legitimately looking at a 4/5 seed. Maybe a 6 seed.

In a season where you start in the top five, and now you may not finish in the top four on the conference. That's a massive disappointment. I'd say only an Elite 8 run at this point saves face.

 

[raiderman7]

Not surprising

 

[Tail_Feathers]

Watching this is more frustrating than it is fun.

 

[kwik44]

Just go away for a sec. We get it, UNL is exceptional at basketball.

 

[QChawks]

Looking at the remaining games I could see Iowa going 3-5 very easily

16-10 seems about right

 

[oldnewkirk.0]

Really unfortunate how much talent there is on this team, but it's going to be wasted. Team has no identity and doesn't appear to have much leadership. I've said it in other threads and I'm going to keep saying it, Tom Brands needs to attend one practice and show them what championship level effort looks like. Have a little fuc** pride about playing defense and not letting guys get wide open shots. Anyway I'll step back from the ledge now, should have expected this level of underperformance anyway.

 

[Eternal Return]

It's so maddening because if Fran shrunk his rotations to just using Joe T, Ulis, Perkins, Murray, PMac, Weiskamp, Nunge, Garza, CJ (when healthy), and JBo for just end-of-half/game or an offensive spark then this team would be a legit 2-seed. Playing Connor and Bohannon this much is akin to sabotage; playing those guys most of the game means Iowa automatically starts two players down to the other team. It's like playing two rec league guys instead of guys who would get some level of All-B10 recognition if they were playing the same minutes.

 

[HawkRugged17]

 

[unoHawkeye]

Iowa is underwhelming in the regular season, but the season won’t officially be a disappointment until we exit the NCAA’s early. Make the Sweet 16, and this board will be singing a different tune. I’d rather be slumping now than heading into March

 

[Legs94]

Iowa is underwhelming in the regular season, but the season won’t officially be a disappointment until we exit the NCAA’s early. Make the Sweet 16, and this board will be singing a different tune. I’d rather be slumping now than heading into March

I think many of us had ideas of an Elite 8 or better. I'd be happy with a Sweet 16 mainly so Luka could get that experience. But with the talent we have, that's underachieving. Fran just has no clue how to use it. Side note, Iowa is 0-3 in the Big 10 when Connor plays 30 minutes or more.

 

[unoHawkeye]

I think many of us had ideas of an Elite 8 or better. I'd be happy with a Sweet 16 mainly so Luka could get that experience. But with the talent we have, that's underachieving. Fran just has no clue how to use it. Side note, Iowa is 0-3 in the Big 10 when Connor plays 30 minutes or more.

I get that. We haven’t made a Sweet 16 since ‘99 so I really just want to get that far then everything after is gravy... though I get why expectations for some are higher

 

[Legs94]

I get that. We haven’t made a Sweet 16 since ‘99 so I really just want to get that far then everything after is gravy... though I get why expectations for some are higher

True, and I thought we had a great shot to get there. But now we will have a difficult first game and IF we win that, we will be playing a 2 or 3 seed. Not good.

 

[BlackNGoldBleeder]

13-5 with this loss, with the remaining schedule there will be more. Iowa legitimately looking at a 4/5 seed. Maybe a 6 seed.

In a season where you start in the top five, and now you may not finish in the top four on the conference. That's a massive disappointment. I'd say only an Elite 8 run at this point saves face.

It's disappointing because of the unrealistic expectations.

With that said, Iowa is still capable of making a deep run in March.

 

[Incredible Hawk]

It's going to get worse when Garza doesn't win the NPOY award again.....Guessing it's going to the top player on the top team this year....Guessing it will go to the guard from Gonzaga

 

[fivecardstud14]

It's going to get worse when Garza doesn't win the NPOY award again.....Guessing it's going to the top player on the top team this year....Guessing it will go to the guard from Gonzaga

Nah Suggs has too many games where he checks out. He knows he's good & doesn't try half the time, especially during conference play.

 

[BlackNGoldBleeder]

It's going to get worse when Garza doesn't win the NPOY award again.....Guessing it's going to the top player on the top team this year....Guessing it will go to the guard from Gonzaga

Garza would have to get injured or completely suck the rest of the year not to get NPOTY. He is about as much of a lock for it as you're going to get.

 

[BettDogs7]

13-5 with this loss, with the remaining schedule there will be more. Iowa legitimately looking at a 4/5 seed. Maybe a 6 seed.

In a season where you start in the top five, and now you may not finish in the top four on the conference. That's a massive disappointment. I'd say only an Elite 8 run at this point saves face.

this is dumb. No one can say the season is a disappointment in February 5th. Just like no one could say the season is a success on February 5.

 

[blhawk]

It's disappointing because of the unrealistic expectations.

With that said, Iowa is still capable of making a deep run in March.

A coach who understood and valued defense would have this roster right in contention for those goals. A coach with Fran's outscore everyone philosophy and nepotism? Yeah, unrealistic expectations. I predicted this was the season we see how truly inept Fran is with D and in game decisions (despite his improved recruiting). Was hoping for better with best player in school history and lots of experience and it could still be special but I expected many games like last night. I feel bad for Luka, he deserves better

 

[fezzador]

I think many of us had ideas of an Elite 8 or better. I'd be happy with a Sweet 16 mainly so Luka could get that experience. But with the talent we have, that's underachieving. Fran just has no clue how to use it. Side note, Iowa is 0-3 in the Big 10 when Connor plays 30 minutes or more.

Wrong McCaffrey is getting the majority of the minutes.

 

[CleteyColgate]

13-5 with this loss, with the remaining schedule there will be more. Iowa legitimately looking at a 4/5 seed. Maybe a 6 seed.

In a season where you start in the top five, and now you may not finish in the top four on the conference. That's a massive disappointment. I'd say only an Elite 8 run at this point saves face.

This thread is officially a disappointment

 

[TheTruthTheWholeTruth]

Only disappointing for those who thought there would be dramatic improvement on defense. Most knowledgeable and rational fans were thinking Top 3 in the B1G and a Sweet 16 appearance. Both are still on the table.

 

[TampaHawkfan]

It's disappointing because of the unrealistic expectations.

With that said, Iowa is still capable of making a deep run in March.

Unrealistic expectations? Iowa was ranked Top 5 in the preseason. It isn't just delusional message board posters that thought Iowa should have a great year............... This team had been hyped all over the place.

While I don't want to call anything "official" with so many games left, I'd say it's starting to look like this team won't live up to the hype.

Let's see what the rest of the games and the NCAA Tournament bring, though. It'll be a lot easier to evaluate after the season is over.

 

[CleteyColgate]

Only disappointing for those who thought there would be dramatic improvement on defense. Most knowledgeable and rational fans were thinking Top 3 in the B1G and a Sweet 16 appearance. Both are still on the table.

I think some of the starters just have a "outscore them" mentality and bring it on offense but don't match it with defense. We're going to be one or two and down in any tourney we play in with that attitude.

 

[TheTruthTheWholeTruth]

Unrealistic expectations? Iowa was ranked Top 5 in the preseason. It isn't just delusional message board posters that thought Iowa should have a great year............... This team had been hyped all over the place.

While I don't want to call anything "official" with so many games left, I'd say it's starting to look like this team won't live up to the hype.

Let's see what the rest of the games and the NCAA Tournament bring, though. It'll be a lot easier to evaluate after the season is over.

They were hyped because of two factors. Garza and returning starters, including Bohannon. It blew my mind that the talking heads completely ignored the defensive deficiencies when making their predictions. This is basically the same team as last year, with a better bench, but the minutes distribution is all askew.

 

[walleye hunter16]

13-5 with this loss, with the remaining schedule there will be more. Iowa legitimately looking at a 4/5 seed. Maybe a 6 seed.

In a season where you start in the top five, and now you may not finish in the top four on the conference. That's a massive disappointment. I'd say only an Elite 8 run at this point saves face.

Your welcome to leave anytime.

 

[Hawks2405]

It's not disappointing to me. They don't have a starter. They have losses to the #1, #7 and #12 teams in the country. Did you think they were going to go undefeated? Good grief, people. Minnesota is 11-1 at home. The only real bad loss is to Indiana.

 

[markfromj]

Not yet, but heading that way.

 

[BlackNGoldBleeder]

Unrealistic expectations? Iowa was ranked Top 5 in the preseason. It isn't just delusional message board posters that thought Iowa should have a great year............... This team had been hyped all over the place.

While I don't want to call anything "official" with so many games left, I'd say it's starting to look like this team won't live up to the hype.

Let's see what the rest of the games and the NCAA Tournament bring, though. It'll be a lot easier to evaluate after the season is over.

There are plenty of preseason swings and misses.

Besides, a lot of Iowas fans were talking about the Hawkeyes competing for a national championship and made it seem like they expected Iowa to go undefeated, a feat which has not happened in forty-five years.

So, yeah, I think there were quite a few expectations that fall under the category of unrealistic.

 

[Hawk_4shur]

Anyway I'll step back from the ledge now, should have expected this level of underperformance anyway.

The fans and the media decided this team was great. Now they are a disappointment to those that thought they were great.

The only surprises to me are good ones - KM is a star in the making, PMac contributing more than I thought, Nunge is a real impact player.

Garza is a star, JBo isn't a defensive player, Joe W disappears more often than he should, CMac can't shoot. These are not surprises.

They were ranked 7th in the country before last night.

Failing to live up to fans expectations is not really the same as underperforming IMO.

 

[RocknRollface]

It's disappointing because of the unrealistic expectations.

With that said, Iowa is still capable of making a deep run in March.

I don't think expecting to beat Indiana, Minnesota and OSU was unrealistic at all.

We lost double digits leads in every one of those games.

 

[oldnewkirk.0]

The fans and the media decided this team was great. Now they are a disappointment to those that thought they were great.

The only surprises to me are good ones - KM is a star in the making, PMac contributing more than I thought, Nunge is a real impact player.

Garza is a star, JBo isn't a defensive player, Joe W disappears more often than he should, CMac can't shoot. These are not surprises.

They were ranked 7th in the country before last night.

Failing to live up to fans expectations is not really the same as underperforming IMO.

So essentially you expect to see 0 improvement from last years team....got it. Sorry us fans and crazy media looked at a team that returned essentially everyone, including the favorite to win the player of the year and placed such lofty goals. Outside of Garza, who puts all of the offseason work in on his own time, who has Fran and company improved? Yeah it's awesome that Ke Murray is a diamond in the rough, and a year off to get healthy has certainly allowed PMac to showcase his game, and even Perkins & Ulis have shown potential. However, given the returning players and experience we had it's more than fair to say they're underperforming. CMac is shooting worse than last year, for all the talk of Joe W. bulking up he still disappears and crumbles against physical defenders, free throws have been killing us, JBo has gone entire halves without even attempting shots, we consistently allow teams to have season best shooting nights against us, etc etc

It's a cop out to say the media and fans expected too much. This team should be better. If everyone on this team busted their ass as much as Garza did in the offseason we wouldn't be having this conversation. Nicholas Baer lacked the talent of most of the guys on this roster, but willed himself to be a difference maker through energy and effort. Post UNC win JBo is quoted as saying something to the effect of they expected to beat UNC and he thought they were the best team in the country....I think it's safe to say the players would agree that they're underperforming IMO.

 

[Hawk_4shur]

So essentially you expect to see 0 improvement from last years team....got it. Sorry us fans and crazy media looked at a team that returned essentially everyone, including the favorite to win the player of the year and placed such lofty goals.

Actually, I was not expecting a lot of improvement in JBo, Joe W or CMac. These guys have been playing BB since birth. Sure, maybe they would improve some, but I really didn't think they would be better defensively.

Iowa lost by 11 to the best team in the country, 7 to a talented Minny team in OT, and by a total of 20 points to 3 very good B1G teams. They were ranked 8th last week. The Hawks are an excellent team and still have a chance to make some noise in March.

Fans, media and players that expected more and are now disappointed - I'm not being critical of them! Good for them. I'm disappointed too.

To the fans that are now angry and think that the players are lazy or apathetic - I am simply presenting a different viewpoint.

 

[oldnewkirk.0]

Actually, I was not expecting a lot of improvement in JBo, Joe W or CMac. These guys have been playing BB since birth. Sure, maybe they would improve some, but I really didn't think they would be better defensively.

Iowa lost by 11 to the best team in the country, 7 to a talented Minny team in OT, and by a total of 20 points to 3 very good B1G teams. They were ranked 8th last week. The Hawks are an excellent team and still have a chance to make some noise in March.

Fans, media and players that expected more and are now disappointed - I'm not being critical of them! Good for them. I'm disappointed too.

To the fans that are now angry and think that the players are lazy or apathetic - I am simply presenting a different viewpoint.

I hear your points and apologize for directing my frustration at you. I'm in agreement that defensively we probably wouldn't see much improvement. I'd say most of our lineup has been playing basketball a majority of their life though. Garza is kind of an anomaly in terms of the amount of offseason work he put in, but he's proof it can be done and significant improvements can be made. I'd hoped that collectively this team would have taken a more concerted effort to improve given the players and potential we have, not saying they didn't work hard in the offseason, but I doubt any can say they put in Garza level effort.

You make a valid point regarding the losses. I guess I'm more frustrated by the manner in which we lost them. Gonzaga doesn't bother me and Illinois didn't bother me. Getting beat by Indiana, being up 11 on Ohio St, and letting Minnesota beat us in the final minutes are all losses I'd hoped to avoid as a veteran and talented group.

Ultimately the season goes on and their are several big games yet to be played. My hope is that they're able to refocus and enter the tournament on a high note. Unfortunately, history is not on our side in this regard as Fran's teams tend to stumble face first into the tournament. A nice run in the NCAA tourney would do wonders to appease fans.

 

[Rambler Hawk]

Garza would have to get injured or completely suck the rest of the year not to get NPOTY. He is about as much of a lock for it as you're going to get.

yup...

 

[Eternal Return]

It's going to get worse when Garza doesn't win the NPOY award again.....Guessing it's going to the top player on the top team this year....Guessing it will go to the guard from Gonzaga

If anyone beats out Garza, it's going to be Butler from Baylor. He has a sick all-around game. No weaknesses and he's clutch.

 

[Whinny]

If anyone beats out Garza, it's going to be Butler from Baylor. He has a sick all-around game. No weaknesses and he's clutch.

Don't discount Dosunmu from Illinois.

 

[Eternal Return]

Don't discount Dosunmu from Illinois.

Maybe. Illinois has too many losses for him to beat out Butler, though. Butler is a better version of Ayo in my opinion and Baylor is still undefeated. But Ayo is having a hell of a year!

 

[Hawktheworld]

13-5 with this loss, with the remaining schedule there will be more. Iowa legitimately looking at a 4/5 seed. Maybe a 6 seed.

In a season where you start in the top five, and now you may not finish in the top four on the conference. That's a massive disappointment. I'd say only an Elite 8 run at this point saves face.

Dude you ain’t the official of squat. Just someone with waaaaaaay too much time on their hands. I’m enjoying this season for the competition that we’ve provided and faced. Yea, things could be better but they aren’t bad and you are always insufferable win or lose.

Why do you spend so much time talking to a group of people that don’t like you?

 

[hawkifann]

True, and I thought we had a great shot to get there. But now we will have a difficult first game and IF we win that, we will be playing a 2 or 3 seed. Not good.

You think Iowa will be a 6/7 seed? That’s insanity. If they go lower than 4/5 it’ll be because of decimating injuries.

 

[hawkifann]

I hear your points and apologize for directing my frustration at you. I'm in agreement that defensively we probably wouldn't see much improvement. I'd say most of our lineup has been playing basketball a majority of their life though. Garza is kind of an anomaly in terms of the amount of offseason work he put in, but he's proof it can be done and significant improvements can be made. I'd hoped that collectively this team would have taken a more concerted effort to improve given the players and potential we have, not saying they didn't work hard in the offseason, but I doubt any can say they put in Garza level effort.

You make a valid point regarding the losses. I guess I'm more frustrated by the manner in which we lost them. Gonzaga doesn't bother me and Illinois didn't bother me. Getting beat by Indiana, being up 11 on Ohio St, and letting Minnesota beat us in the final minutes are all losses I'd hoped to avoid as a veteran and talented group.

Ultimately the season goes on and their are several big games yet to be played. My hope is that they're able to refocus and enter the tournament on a high note. Unfortunately, history is not on our side in this regard as Fran's teams tend to stumble face first into the tournament. A nice run in the NCAA tourney would do wonders to appease fans.

Indiana and Minnesota are the biggest disappointing ones to me. Indiana just isn’t that great. Minnesota has shown that they can beat anyone (they smoked Michigan), but what was disappointing was how late Iowa had what seemed like an insurmountable lead and then just got roasted in OT. No issue with Gonzaga or Illinois - Iowa was competitive against really good teams and the opponent had to play really well to win. Even though Iowa lost an 11-point lead against OSU, that was a high-scoring back-and-forth game, so big swings are to be expected. I had some rotational disappointments there (I liked what Fran did against MSU to mix in Perkins/Joe T with the starting unit), but OSU is a legit good team.

Iowa finishes @Indiana, Rutgers, @MSU, @Wisconsin, PSU, @OSU, @Michigan, Wisconsin. I think 6-2 is realistic. Would love to see the Nebraska game added back to the schedule, as that’s as much of a layup win as there is in this league.