I like Thelwell starting, but the Hawks got out-rebounded again yesterday. Any of you geniuses got a solution other than 'Fire Fran'?
Small ball with Thelwell starting vs. bigger lineup for rebounding
- Thread starter paladinhawk
- Start date
It’s not so much Thelwell starting it’s also Sandfort playing power forward. I don’t mind 3 guards but then starting a guy like Peyton at Power Forward kills you defensively. We’re actually playing 4 guards plus Freeman. It’s great on the offensive end but against a team with athletic wings we’re going to get exposed. Big Ten is pretty down so it’s not going to show it so much but if we make the tournament it’s going to be a problem.
I like the ball handling and versatility it brings to our offense, but we’ve got to stop switching where Harding ends up guarding a post player. That creates all kinds of problems, including bad positioning for rebounds.
I think Payton could rebound better if he put his mind to it. He’s shown the ability in the past. Freeman needs to play all games with the mentality he had against Utah - except the stupid foul part. He could average 10 rebounds a game.
I think Payton could rebound better if he put his mind to it. He’s shown the ability in the past. Freeman needs to play all games with the mentality he had against Utah - except the stupid foul part. He could average 10 rebounds a game.
In order for it to be a plus strategy Sandfort has to score more against his mismatch than he gives up on the other end. That's a lot considering how many extra points a team can accumulate with offensive rebounds.
Last night Payton really took advantage of his mismatch and that's what he has to do when a big guy guards him. It actually got easier for him when Dembele came in because then he could go one on one with no one in the lane.
Freeman and Sandfort both need to put everything they have into rebounding in order to just keep it close there.
If Traore ever comes back he's going to be taking minutes at the 4 too and that helps the rebounding and defense. He basically cut Pryce out of the rotation against isu.
Last night Payton really took advantage of his mismatch and that's what he has to do when a big guy guards him. It actually got easier for him when Dembele came in because then he could go one on one with no one in the lane.
Freeman and Sandfort both need to put everything they have into rebounding in order to just keep it close there.
If Traore ever comes back he's going to be taking minutes at the 4 too and that helps the rebounding and defense. He basically cut Pryce out of the rotation against isu.
There are two reasons we don't rebound.
1- We are late in rotations all the time.
2- We don't boxout well.
1- We are late in rotations all the time.
2- We don't boxout well.
The women have really improved in boxing out vs last year so it can he done.
Fran needs to implement blocking out as a priority. We are atrocious at it at times and frequently get caught “shot watching.” The first 5 minutes of watching Drake play this year I instantly noticed a difference at how well schooled they are at blocking out. I love the lineup with 3 guards. It isn’t even small ball, it is now modern basketball and the norm.
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I like the new line up. Better ball movement, and overall better defense. I think Dix and Thelwell are Iowa's best defenders. Was Iowa rebounding better before the change? I don't think so. Seems like Dembele is now Freeman's back up at center, which seems to be working pretty well, especially since Owen gets in foul trouble regularly. I would try to get Traore 14 - 15 min at PF. Payton should take a blow both halves, and he can play some at 3. I think Koch might end up not getting many minutes when Traore returns. Owen/Dembele really need to focus on hitting the defensive boards, and the other guys need to rebound by committee, especially weak side.
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I'm not disagreeing but watch the rotations on defense. Example- We will go to double in the low post. Force up a poor shot. We have a guy who is half way to the rotation to get to the help side. We will get half way there, ball watch on the shot, and give up the board. It is maddening.
Freeman gets way too much blame for his so called dumb fouls. Again, it’s tough when he’s basically the only big we have playing 4 guards. I know Sandfort is 6-7 or so but he’s an absolute liability on D. Freeman has to help a ton with the current lineup and inevitably ends up fouling a few times. Again, it’s a really good offensive lineup, especially when Sandfort is hitting. But I’m not sure we’ll win the rebound battle against anyone in the conference. Guess we just better get used to it.
We don't rebound when we go "big" so I'd rather have him out there.
Thelwell and Harding are about the only guys we have that seem to be able to keep the ball in front of them on D semi-consistently....maybe Dix? Everyone else seems to get blown by on the regular.
The rebounding was lacking before Thelwell was starting. Freeman struggles when he plays too many minutes. Ladji is better off the bench. The 3 guard lineup is working overall.
Utah center Lawson Lovering a 11 ppg scorer was 11-14 from field and scored career high 25 points in 26 minutes and was the guy that kept Utah in the game.
Not having any effective post defense on the switches was bigger problem than rebounding deficit. Payton had 8 rebounds and that was the highest total for either team and I don't think he can do much better on boards. I think the problem with Payton at PF is he gets posted up and backed down because he lacks physical strength/undersized and gives up baskets at high rate to opponent. Dix defended very well, but he is also too weak physically and overmatched on switches. Harding is tiny.
If Traore were healthy, that is option at PF and sitting one of the PGs.
This win is great but we shot 45% from 3pt line and 53% overall and that type of shooting comes and goes. . Let's hope Traore gets healthy and Dimbele improves on defense to be able to defend PF position. I don't think Fran plays to play Mulvey or Tadjo this year. Koch is option at PF, but again on small side.
Not having any effective post defense on the switches was bigger problem than rebounding deficit. Payton had 8 rebounds and that was the highest total for either team and I don't think he can do much better on boards. I think the problem with Payton at PF is he gets posted up and backed down because he lacks physical strength/undersized and gives up baskets at high rate to opponent. Dix defended very well, but he is also too weak physically and overmatched on switches. Harding is tiny.
If Traore were healthy, that is option at PF and sitting one of the PGs.
This win is great but we shot 45% from 3pt line and 53% overall and that type of shooting comes and goes. . Let's hope Traore gets healthy and Dimbele improves on defense to be able to defend PF position. I don't think Fran plays to play Mulvey or Tadjo this year. Koch is option at PF, but again on small side.
I'd say the Madsen that was hitting everything from 3 is what kept them in the game.
The reason Iowa was switching at the end of the game where Lovering scored a bunch of his points was so that Madsen couldn't get off clean looks from 3.
I also don't recall anyone posting up Payton but he yeah, he can't really contest anything around the rim. He did rebounded well this game though.
How many times do we hoist up 3's and everyone is out at the 3 point line? Defensive rebounds, offensive for the other team, has to be corrected with a much more concerted effort to put a body on people as opposed to watching the ball in the air, which we are pretty famous for.
Hmmm. So maybe its coaching, that they also seem to be way better on defense this season?
Sandfort is not a good on ball defender but he is a decent rebounder.
The women may appear to be better because there are not any way near the same number of possessions as in previous years. The pace that CC played with was also going to lead the defense to giving up more points just because there would be more opportunities.
Agreed…..and when he is not hitting, he is a major liability out there. (Since he does not know when to take his foot off the gas) Fran really needs to have him sit when it is called for…
He’s playing with more restraint of late. I guarantee that there are games where he is going to win some games by putting his foot on the gas. Hopefully it happens when most needed.
They need Dr. Tom to come in and show them how it's done. He emphasized rebounding and making more FT's than other team attempted. Fran emphasizes getting the ball out of the basket and running it up the floor after letting the team score. He taught Patrick this technique.... lol
Wrong, now many times have you seen Freeman reaching and grabbing on the perimeter? Or slapping down on the arms of someone driving to the basket. I agree our on ball defense can cause Freeman to do silly things, but 75% of this is fixable on Freeman's part.
I think he gets tired and that’s when he gets his fouls. Again, he’s our only big on the floor. Does he get a few silly ones? Probably. But I’ll stand by if we had some other decent bigs helping him he’d get less fouls.
Maybe so, but Fran but him back in the last game and he got foul #4 in the first 35 seconds he was back out there after sitting for awhile. In a few of these games his minutes have been limited because of the foul issues so him being tired should not be an issue in the second half.
BirdistheWord
HB Legend
You will notice this when Mulvey plays, say what you want about the guy but he boxes out consistently.
Ladji the last 2-3 games is much improved at blocking out as well but to get at least average it’s on everyone
I think Freeman commits 1-2 just plain stupid fouls almost every game. His third foul against Utah was a good example. Otherwise, Owen played probably his best game of the year, considering the competition. Our perimeter defense has been good, since we moved to the 3-guard line up. I don't think anyone mentioned that Dix basically took Utah's leading scorer out of the game with his defense. Mostly good indicators from the Utah game, but we need to keep getting better at ending defensive possessions with a rebound and not giving up easy shots at the basket. Traore's return for the B1G season could help.
I agree, I don’t follow all the games closely but his shooting does seem to be improving as the season goes along…😎
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