Seth Davis on Iowa Basketball

[MrAugustana]

Sorry if this has already been discussed somewhere and the thread is redundant (if so, a moderator is welcome to delete it), but a friend of mine pointed this out to me and I thought it was interesting as an Augie fan:



The full article is here, with the Iowa stuff at the very bottom: http://www.si.com/college-basketball/2016/01/06/bob-knight-indiana-hoosiers-1976-team-reunion

Still appreciate Fran giving Augie the opportunity to play you guys this year. Seems to be turning into a good thing for everyone involved.

 

[StormHawk42]

Same thing that happened to Syracuse a few years back. Lost to a D2 in an exhibition. Went on to like a 30-4 record and a number 1 bid. Better to play a team that will show you something in what is basically a glorified practice than to play a team you'll whip by 50 like some of the non con games.

 

[hknation]

FWIW.....Augustana University is ranked #2 nationally for D2. IIRC, they won 30 games last year?

Should have IA lost; NO, however, it was against a very good team, regardless of division difference, ala Hoosiers.

Wishing both teams success this regular and post seasons.

 

[DanL53]

Same thing that happened to Syracuse a few years back. Lost to a D2 in an exhibition. Went on to like a 30-4 record and a number 1 bid. Better to play a team that will show you something in what is basically a glorified practice than to play a team you'll whip by 50 like some of the non con games.

Fran said pretty much the same thing. I'd be fine playing Augustana every year as long as they are DII and so very talented.

 

[WinOneThisCentury]

JU was awful that game for some reason. I can't for the life of me figure out what was going on with him. He may have been sick or something...he was flat out lethargic. Fran sat him too.

 

[doughudd]

Had to be a watershed game for the Hawkeye's this season.

 

[SDHawkDoc]

Ugh. Not Seth Davis.
One of the few negatives associated with NCAA tourney time.

 

[EZ2BJZ]

At the risk of opening up a can of worms and inviting Cyclone posters to hijack this thread, I would say the turning point of this season was the gift-wrapped, final minute meltdown they handed Iowa State in Ames. The team could have gone one of two directions after that ignominious collapse, and this team chose to use it as motivation. As a result, Iowa hasn't lost a game since.

It's a long season, though. I hope the Hawks can keep it going and finish in the upper tier of the B1G.

 

[PhantomFlyer]

At the risk of opening up a can of worms and inviting Cyclone posters to hijack this thread, I would say the turning point of this season was the gift-wrapped, final minute meltdown they handed Iowa State in Ames. The team could have gone one of two directions after that ignominious collapse, and this team chose to use it as motivation. As a result, Iowa hasn't lost a game since.

It's a long season, though. I hope the Hawks can keep it going and finish in the upper tier of the B1G.

I'd put on a bulletproof vest if I was you. Be prepared to receive an all out assault from the Soybean haters, who lost their minds after he made the very same comments.

 

[MIHawk]

I think MSU lost to D2 Grand Valley State several years ago and went on to a good year. Minnesota also lost to D2 Winona State in the same year. I think Winona State ended up the D2 national champs that year. So it happens.

 

[DavenportHawk8]

At the risk of opening up a can of worms and inviting Cyclone posters to hijack this thread, I would say the turning point of this season was the gift-wrapped, final minute meltdown they handed Iowa State in Ames. The team could have gone one of two directions after that ignominious collapse, and this team chose to use it as motivation. As a result, Iowa hasn't lost a game since.

It's a long season, though. I hope the Hawks can keep it going and finish in the upper tier of the B1G.

I agree, I think Fran sat the boys down and had a discussion with them after that game. They have played very well since then and played more like a "team." The guys off the bench seem more into the game and ready to play. I just thought that Iowa had the starting 5 and that was it prior to the ISU game. Now we are playing 8-9 guys and the guys off the bench are contributing (some with points) others with hustle.

That Augie loss definitely showed Fran some things, but the ISU loss is what motivated these guys to win these first 3 games. Now they just have to keep it going. Got a tough stretch here, and need to go at least 3-2 or 2-3 to keep in the discussion. We cannot fall flat.

 

[And1Hawk]

It was a freaking exhibition game. Augie is an excellent D2 team and they came to Iowa City to beat us because that would be a big deal for them which it was. I'm not sure our guys were treating it with the same intensity for 40 minutes. When we got down 15+ points in the second half we picked up the intensity and cut the lead all the way down only to lose on a last second buzzer beater. Good lesson for us but it was an exhibition from our end and treated that way.

 

[And1Hawk]

That Augie loss definitely showed Fran some things, but the ISU loss is what motivated these guys to win these first 3 games. Now they just have to keep it going. Got a tough stretch here, and need to go at least 3-2 or 2-3 to keep in the discussion. We cannot fall flat.

I disagree about our players being motivated just because of the ISU loss. I agree that they learned a valuable lesson about composure and finishing but they have been motivated to win every game. Utoff said very early in the year that he thought this team was better than last year's so that sounds like a motivated guy and team to me when you say something like that.

 

[CanadaHawk]

The early part of the season was spent getting JU to realize that he is the main man on this team. That caused some eyebrow-raising losses for me. But I think it was the solidifying of the bench rotation that got us where we are today. Part of that was the RSs that narrowed the options. Part of that was the ISU game. The team realized we needed a cohesive game outside of JU. Finally, unfortunately, part of it was Jones' injury. He could have helped us this year but his injury brought into focus the roles of guys off the bench. Combined with the ISU game, that's when we started gelling.

 

[2432Hawk]

JU was awful that game for some reason. I can't for the life of me figure out what was going on with him. He may have been sick or something...he was flat out lethargic. Fran sat him too.

Team had no legs that night. They had a heavy lifting day earlier that morning

 

[hexumhawk]

Sometimes a loss is the best thing for a team.

While obviously not as talented it goes to show what teams can do if they are on the same page referring to Augastana

 

[MrAugustana]

It was a freaking exhibition game. Augie is an excellent D2 team and they came to Iowa City to beat us because that would be a big deal for them which it was. I'm not sure our guys were treating it with the same intensity for 40 minutes. When we got down 15+ points in the second half we picked up the intensity and cut the lead all the way down only to lose on a last second buzzer beater. Good lesson for us but it was an exhibition from our end and treated that way.

I'm sure this is all more true than not, but I do find it interesting that Iowa's starters played more minutes combined against Augie (154 total minutes) than the same group of starters played against Michigan State (138 total minutes). Obviously there are a number of reasons for that, but it's not like Fran was testing out his walk-ons and 10th, 11th, 12th guys off the bench the entire game against us. But yes, I would imagine Augie's players were more hyped for this game than Iowa's were, for sure.

Like I said after the game, I hope you guys keep seeing success on the court. The better the Hawkeyes do, the better it makes us look to our fans and followers here in SD. And to potential D2 recruits in Iowa, for that matter.