At the end of the first quarter, the Hawks are ahead by 19. 34-15.
So the Hawkeye Women are destroying Penn State right now.
- Thread starter BubsFinn
- Start date
It's great to see some of the younger players getting in the 1st quarter and playing well. Something like 15 assists in the first quarter.
Up 25 now. Everything clicking offensively and they actually seem to be playing decent defensively today.
I think we can go ahead and break the seal on the guac right now.
So it would seem the women are starting to hit their stride in conference play.........
Only drama left is whether Iowa can score 4 more points in 6 minutes to hit 100.
And if Clark can stat boost her way to a double double (pts and assists)..........
And if Clark can stat boost her way to a double double (pts and assists)..........
Iowa has played 13 players.
10 have scored.
5 minutes left.
10 have scored.
5 minutes left.
It was kind of funny to hear the lady announcer say several times that all the B1G coaches say they don't want to play PSU because of their awesome defense, while the lady Hawks were chewing them up and spitting out the carcass of the Nitney ladies.....
That awesome defense only gave up 27 points per quarter. Some NBA defenses don't do quite that well.
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP!!!
Context. The women play 4 10 minute quarters or 40 minutes/game. The NBA is 48 minutes or 4 12 minute quarters
Whatever good defense that Penn State has, Iowa scored 100, 96, 107 and 108 points in the last four games against them, all under their current coach. I don't think Iowa averages that many points against any other Big Ten teams in the last few years.
That shellacking was good enough to bump the Hawk's up four spots in the NET.
Yep. I'll just add this. Bluder needs to STOP putting Clark back out there in the last few minutes of games we have sewed up, just to get another triple double on her resume. Its ridiculous and could be a disaster. We're up 30 something and she has her out there with the THIRD team players trying to get another rebound or assist to pad her stats. Girls who aren't up to the speed she plays with. Can you imagine if our AA player, the top draw in womens hoops was to be injured in that scenario? I've always said players should play with their team and not worry about injuries which can happen at any time, but leaving her out there, (or putting her BACK in the game) as she did against PSU is reckless, and a poor look for Bluder.
I agree; thought that was a stupid move by Bluder.
To be fair, when Clark plays in the forth quarter of games like this she reduces her risks significantly. She doesn't look to drive to the basket. She really doesn't look to shoot. She mostly just facilitates and tries to get rebounds. It's still more of a risk than sitting on the bench, but she is trying to keep herself healthy in those situations.
Stat padding aside, I think there is value to having Clark in the game for a few possessions with the second string. Nothing like live game reps to help development chemistry with the players who will likely be joining her in the starting lineup next year.
I noticed that she wasn't trying to score, but there still an very unnecessary risk, and I think our fans might look at it differently if this was a team we were playing. I'd also say that "trying to keep herself healthy" is a fools errand. It only takes one misstep to turn an ankle or worse....
She is trying to set up deep bench players to get in the scorebook. I have no problem with it.
It's a really dumb move to play her in these games that are over. You have an Iowa team this year that could win a national championship and that is only a possibility with Clark healthy.
Clark getting hurt would certainly kill any team goal we have, but Clark and the team are also trying to get Clark to win National Player of the Year. Her main competition right now is probably Angel Reese from LSU, who has gotten to pad her stats to an extent with a schedule much weaker than Iowa's.
Clark winning NPOY would certainly help the program. Not as much as a deep tournament run, obviously, but the two aren't mutually exclusive.
I also think practice is as dangerous or more dangerous for Clark than what she's doing in the 4th quarter of these games. Most of the team's ACL tears in the past few years have come in practice and not during games as an example.
Practice is dangerous but it's necessary. Playing your All American candidate with the 3rd string when you're up 40 points is completely unnecessary. That's the reason no-one else in sports does this. I love Bluder but this is a bad decision.
Except, the fact that it hasn't happened doesn't mean it can't. On top I think its just a bad look. We have other point guards. Let them try feeding the third team post player......
I understand your points BR, and really not trying to be argumentative, as your a good contributor here on womens hoops. I just think what ever awards Clark gets, she'll have ample chances against quality teams just in conference play and the tournament. There are several teams in the B1G ranked above us. She'll get ALL the opportunity she needs to strut her stuff, On top of that Clark is the most watched woman in college sports. Any game she plays is must see for any fan or evaluator of the womens game. She has no need whatsoever to be padding stats in blowouts.
I also don't agree with the last statement. Practice (yes we're talkin bout practice), is a necessary part of the game. Bringing her back in the last couple of mnutes to try to get another assist to a third string post player is most certainly not necessary in any way......
I think keeping Clark in is a legitimate criticism. I just wanted to point out with all this that 1) Clark is minimizing her risk substantially when she's doing it, and 2) it's not just to get a double-double or triple-double. There's a bigger purpose in mind. Even with those considerations its certainly debatable whether it's a good idea.
Edit: also for the practice point, I raised it in part because I read an article recently that the Minnesota Wild have very few practices during the season. The team dug deeper into player health and determined it was better for players to rest on days without games than to go hard in a practice. WBB schedules aren't as brutal as the NHL, but it does seem like there's an argument to be made that constant practices between games aren't as necessary as we once thought.
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anon_salmfilsntd0b
Guest
We only have one other PG actually - Molly Davis. MD will never start over CC but she could very well grab the starting 2 spot next year. There’s something to be said for putting them on the floor together now to prepare for next year (along with other reserves, as others have mentioned here).
i think it really is a glass half full argument. I would never want to see Clark get hurt but at the same time, I believe it's truly invaluable experience for the other back up players to play with Clark. She did sit at the end of game. Maybe not as long as some fans would like but Bluder did pull her. Clark wants to be in the game. Bluder has to balance keeping Clark happy with the risk of injury and the value her being on the court adds to the team versus the risk of injury.
I'm sure Bluder had a discussion with her about minimizing risk as the minutes were winding down. I don't have a problem with her staying on the court. It's good for Caitlin, it's good for recruiting (if she does get the triple double) and it's good for the experience of the backups.
She's playing fewer minutes overall this year with Molly giving her a breather. She may be in later in the game, but she is sitting more frequently and for a longer duration than she did the last two seasons.
