Held Minnesota to their season low. I heard/read they were the best 3 point shooting team in the B10.....pretty happy with that performance.
That was pretty good Defense!
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Swarmed the ball when it came inside. Identified and contested the threes better, more like the TT win. Held Minnesota to the Gopher's lowest point total of the season.
Not really a good defensive team but certainly not the historically bad performance of 2018 and weak defensive team of 2019.
That defense will only get better if Jordan sits-obviously losing Jordan's brains, experience and many skills will be a hard loss but Joe T is kind of a terror on defense. Joe T and CJ are a good defensive backcourt.
Not really a good defensive team but certainly not the historically bad performance of 2018 and weak defensive team of 2019.
That defense will only get better if Jordan sits-obviously losing Jordan's brains, experience and many skills will be a hard loss but Joe T is kind of a terror on defense. Joe T and CJ are a good defensive backcourt.
Minnesota ended up at about 25% from 3 and 37% overall....forced their stud center into 8 turnovers.
Defense was good, but I'm also partially agreeing with Kenpom that luck has something to do with 3pt shooting defense. Depaul, SDSU, and Michigan really lit it up from 3pt line, Minny and Texas tech not so much.
3pt% defense especially.
Most 3s are shot when wide open.
Its becoming a little less that way with people more willing to take contested 3s but still primarily true.
It's encouraging.
If they continue to improve defensively, they are going to be competitive this year. Might even sneak into the tourney.
If they continue to improve defensively, they are going to be competitive this year. Might even sneak into the tourney.
I really liked how CJ and Connor were playing in the pocket of the guards even out past the three point line. Dare I say it, MSU style.
I think we have made a move forward with the teaching of defense this year. Not paying lip service but actually making a noticeable change in technique.
I think we have made a move forward with the teaching of defense this year. Not paying lip service but actually making a noticeable change in technique.
If luck has something to do with it when teams can’t make a shot against us, then misfortune is also at play when teams light it up.
I said before the Michigan game that Iowa might be running into a buzzsaw, with them coming off a really tough loss to the #1 team in the country on the road. I can all but guarantee that Michigan shoots substantially worse at Carver later in the year
Going small with McCaffrey playing PF helps our defense tremendously. Conner, CJ and Weiskamp all have length and good court awareness. When you throw in Toussaint at the point, that’s a good defensive unit.
I thought Kalscheur and Hurt were pretty good shooters. Kalscheur couldn't miss last year up there if memory serves. He had a lot of good looks, just had an off night. Oturu got called for at least 5 travels and could have been called for more. Garza really bothered him defensively. Iowa did a nice job defensively. Joe T may not be hitting from the perimeter, but he is disruptive on D and is able to dart in and poke balls away when guys lose track of him.
Kalscheur is a really good shooter....Bobby Hansen said in the pregame that we better be all over him because he didn't miss in warmups....
100+ is a bit much to give up to any team, as is giving up 28 in one half to one player (Malachi Flynn). He just scored 9 all game against 3-6 San Jose State. Toussant should've been faceguarding Flynn the moment he crossed halfcourt. Instead, Bohannon is on his heels 5 feet inside the arc.
Every team that has beaten us has a guy or two that loves to rain deep 3s and we haven't guarded those guys properly.
Every team that has beaten us has a guy or two that loves to rain deep 3s and we haven't guarded those guys properly.
They are already competitive (besides the DePaul game). If they can win 1 if the next 2, I think they are in a good spot to at minimum be on the bubble. If they win them both, I think 19-20 wins is doable. With their schedule and assuming their losses are who they should lose to, that would get them in to tourney.
D is definitely a notch better than last season.
Maybe RS years for Fredrick and Nunge (even though he's out now) made the difference.
Toussaint is a disruptor when he's in there, too. Quick enough to double down, but get back outside to cover guys and prevent shots or penetration. Weiskamp's D also looks better this year.
Maybe RS years for Fredrick and Nunge (even though he's out now) made the difference.
Toussaint is a disruptor when he's in there, too. Quick enough to double down, but get back outside to cover guys and prevent shots or penetration. Weiskamp's D also looks better this year.
in the wins, the opp all seem to have missed many open 3s.
that said, I'll gladly take the W
in the wins, the opp all seem to have missed many open 3s.
that said, I'll gladly take the W
True but in those losses, the opponent also drained some long 3’s and with hands in their faces. That’s just how it goes sometimes. Some games teams miss open 3’s and sometimes they hit everything, even against tough D.
I'm really negative on this win at all. But hopefully I'm wrong in thinking Minnesota is just plain terrible. They didn't seem to have any set plays. Just try to get it inside and if not then pass it slowly around the outside until they took a bad shot or turned it over. Hopefully it was because of Iowa's defense but I don't think so.
Iowa's defense on the pick and rolls with the centers seem very suspect most of the night. Great win but letting Michigan go over a hundred means something also????
Iowa's defense on the pick and rolls with the centers seem very suspect most of the night. Great win but letting Michigan go over a hundred means something also????
Scoring more than anyone else did vs mi also means something.
Fran knows how Ferentz is! He just tries to keep everything balanced in the land of Iowa athletics
Michigan is legit, Minnesota is not. Iowa falls somewhere in between.
blew his load
i always felt if hot in warm-ups and you get the 1st one to go down in the game then it would flow all night. but if hot in warm ups and you come out cold. you better keep shooting to find the groove again
I like the 4-guard lineup for both defense and offense. Connor plays bigger guys pretty well and does pretty good help defense. Connor also is a lot more skilled perimeter player than Pemsl or Kriener at the 4....Connor as 2nd Pg/Wing whatever you want to call it is better at feeding Garza in post and has bit of a short game around the basket.
Fran hasn't played much man defense with 4 guards but that lineup is capable of playing man. Having JoeT in zone seems like kind of a waste, but he is always the quickest guy out there and he gets most loose balls, long rebounds even from the zone.
The numbers would say the defense is a bit better this year, according to Pomeroy's efficiency metrics.
Last year, Iowa was 111th in adjusted defensive efficiency, allowing 101 points per 100 possessions. This year, Iowa is 115th in adjusted defensive efficiency, allowing 97.3 points per 100 possessions. Seems that defense overall has improved around the country, that's why Iowa is allowing fewer points per possession but ranking lower in the national rankings.
On a comparative basis, Iowa and Nebraska are the two worst defensive teams in the Big 10 by far. It doesn't mean that Iowa can't win games. Tonight showed it can and will. Iowa is just very reliant on its offense being very good to beat anyone who is good. The game against Michigan was Iowa under Fran in a nutshell. Score 91 points in 74 possessions, on the road, against a team that is #2 in adjusted defensive efficiency according to Pomeroy's stats. That is getting it done. But Iowa just didn't defend at all, giving up a staggering 103 points in those 74 possessions. That's how you never really threaten to win the game (closest Iowa got was 7 points in the second half) despite carving up one of the best defensive teams in the country.
Yes, Michigan made some shots. But that happens when you never made the opponent feel uncomfortable and they shoot a huge number of layups and dunks. Michigan was a ridiculous 22-34 on 2-point shots in that game. In the 3 losses this year, Depaul made 22-34 2-point shots, SDSU made 16-28 2-pointers and Michigan made 22-34. Oh and all of those teams shot better than 40% on 3-pointers as well. No way you can win letting the opponent shoot open 3's and run a layup line on you.
I'm not smart enough to know what the answer is for fixing it. Probably a combination of better players/athletes and in how it's being taught and emphasized. I'm not entirely sure the better athletes argument is the best one, however, as Iowa is a near-elite offense with those same physical shortcomings. That would lead me to believe it's really an effort and coaching issue.
He was averaging 3+ turnovers per game before last night. Still got 22 points, 12 rebounds, and 5 blocks.
Statistically better. Whether it was luck or not, I will take it. I was specifically watching the pick and rolls last night and they are still very poor at that. The confidence and communication really seemed to be lacking. They seemed very unsure of what they were supposed to do several times and got caught in the middle guarding no one. A good pick and roll team looked like they could have stuck it to us. We have to figure that out.
Well I hear what you're saying....but that brings up a point I've been contemplating....When a guy puts up the positive numbers that he seems to put up regularly but has an off night (in this case turnovers-in other cases it could be shooting or rebounding) does that eliminate him being a stud/high level player because he doesn't perform at 100% efficiency all the time?
A
anon_i8nzeu2gbf0ba
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I get what you mean, but to me, playing zone doesn't mean you stand around with your hands in your pockets. To me a good zone defense simply means you play man principles against whoever is in your area rather than following one guy around the floor. Defensive intensity should be the same no matter what.
And I like that Iowa is FINALLY dropping off guys to go after the guy with the ball. As others have mentioned, Joe T and Connor have been especially adept at that. JBo has been better at it, but Joe W needs to do it much more often. Sag off the other guys whenever possible and pressure the ball and still be able to get back to your guy or your area. Iowa has players who can do that, and it's really paying off.
If Garza was just an average defender Iowa would be a tournament lock.
But hes just so lost away from the basket.
If he doesn't have contact with his man he doesn't know what to do.
Teams are running the pick and roll farther out against us. Fran has coached Garza to hedge. Because his foot speed isn't fast enough to recover, it leaves the screener wide open in the lane. Minny used this several times against us last night for wide open dunks. This isn't entirely on Garza, the rest of the team needs to help cover the lane. Or Fran needs to change his defensive plan for pick and roll.
In the post Garza is pretty decent on defense. He isn't going all out to avoid picking up fouls. But he's taken some good centers and disrupted them, plus picked up several blocks along the way.
Joe T had two really nice steals last night when he was a help man on defense. The first one you saw coming for almost 10 seconds as he kept on bouncing back and forth between his zone and the guy with the ball before going in for the swipe. He had a couple of really ugly drives where he just threw the ball up towards the backboard. If he can avoid those types of mistakes he will get more playing time and improve our defense.
One other thing I saw last night was we switched on defense several times and JBo was stuck guarding a big in the post. That is just an unfair matchup right now with his injury and even if healthy would not bode well. Our D communication needs to improve to help him switch off in situations like that.
Having said all of that, we are improving. And if JBo shuts it down like we all are hoping, more minutes for Joe T and Bakari should improve the defense even more. Except for shooting Bakari looks like he belongs out there. He just isn't looking assertive on offense. I think being out there with a bunch of really good shooters is affecting his confidence and making him think twice about forcing a shot. But he moves the ball well otherwise. There is a reason he was on the court late in the game last night and it was for his defense.
In the post Garza is pretty decent on defense. He isn't going all out to avoid picking up fouls. But he's taken some good centers and disrupted them, plus picked up several blocks along the way.
Joe T had two really nice steals last night when he was a help man on defense. The first one you saw coming for almost 10 seconds as he kept on bouncing back and forth between his zone and the guy with the ball before going in for the swipe. He had a couple of really ugly drives where he just threw the ball up towards the backboard. If he can avoid those types of mistakes he will get more playing time and improve our defense.
One other thing I saw last night was we switched on defense several times and JBo was stuck guarding a big in the post. That is just an unfair matchup right now with his injury and even if healthy would not bode well. Our D communication needs to improve to help him switch off in situations like that.
Having said all of that, we are improving. And if JBo shuts it down like we all are hoping, more minutes for Joe T and Bakari should improve the defense even more. Except for shooting Bakari looks like he belongs out there. He just isn't looking assertive on offense. I think being out there with a bunch of really good shooters is affecting his confidence and making him think twice about forcing a shot. But he moves the ball well otherwise. There is a reason he was on the court late in the game last night and it was for his defense.
FYI - defense has "improved" because 3 point shooting is at a lower clip with the farther line. I don't think it's that teams are actually playing better defense, just teams are shooting a worse percentage from 3, and thus fewer points per game and points per possession. We've also seen an increase in the out of bounds turnovers on the sideline where the 3 point line is now pressed pretty close to the side. There isn't as much space for athletes with large feet to be behind the 3 point line and still in bounds.
Good point Herky. It will be interesting to see if the percentage trends back up or if the new distance permanently lowers the 3-point percentage.
I keep hoping that the next assistant coach Fran brings in is a defensive specialist. It's not like the players aren't aware that they need to play better defense, but that they're not mentally prepared?
I don't know what alternatives there are to having Garza hedge that high ball screen, but I hope Fran finds some. I know everybody seems to do this, but on 2-3 occasions last night (as expected) it cost Iowa dunks or layups. There is no way Garza can hedge a screen at the 3-point line and recover fast enough to stop the guy from driving baseline.
I would rather play the odds that there is a lower % shot the opponent will get vs. a dunk by not continuing to hedge that far away from the hoop. Even if Garza recovers, it's almost a guaranteed foul because he will be there late trying to contest a dunk.
Minnesota and Pitino looked disinterested last night. Oturu's numerous travels stopped any momentum they had and Iowa was able to answer their mini-runs with runs of their own.
Pitino takes some crap, but I give him and his staff credit for how much respect they showed Garza when he was honored for 1,000 points and for the Bump Elliott tribute. Did not realize that Bump played at Purdue and Michigan prior to becoming the AD at Iowa.
I would rather play the odds that there is a lower % shot the opponent will get vs. a dunk by not continuing to hedge that far away from the hoop. Even if Garza recovers, it's almost a guaranteed foul because he will be there late trying to contest a dunk.
Minnesota and Pitino looked disinterested last night. Oturu's numerous travels stopped any momentum they had and Iowa was able to answer their mini-runs with runs of their own.
Pitino takes some crap, but I give him and his staff credit for how much respect they showed Garza when he was honored for 1,000 points and for the Bump Elliott tribute. Did not realize that Bump played at Purdue and Michigan prior to becoming the AD at Iowa.
I COMPLETELY agree with this. I'd prefer to have Garza show 2 steps back and force the ball handler to either shoot with our defender following over the screen or play a congested 2v1 with Garza sitting in the paint waiting.
Connor's help defense is outstanding. I know he is limited offensively but his ball movement and ability to disrupt when he is off the ball is part of the reason the team defense is better. Minnesota being very cold with their 3's didn't hurt either! People should really pay attention to all aspects of the game and understand what he can do, rather than what he can't. Pretty decent player.
I am serving myself from crow on Connor as well. My biggest knock on him has been limited offense. I don't expect him to be the leading scorer, but he has shown more potential than I thought he had. Definitely need him to look for some shots and be a threat to score given the production lost when Jbo shuts it down.
Defense is a lot better this year, especially on the perimeter. As mentioned, CJ, JoeW, Connor, JoeT, and Evelyn are all good defenders. Last night, as Fran mentioned, we were a little lucky, because the Goofer guards were getting decent shots, but couldn't throw it in the ocean. Kalscheur is normally a very good player on both ends and a great shooter. By far the worst game I have seen him play.
I still wish Luka would stop hedging so much on the pick and roll, because good teams (like UM) are going to kill us with that problem, if we don't figure it out. Luka needs to stay around the basket on defense IMO. I am glad to see Pemsl on the floor, but he has looked just awful, especially on defense. If that doesn't improve, Fran might need to play Kriener and Till more minutes.
Encouraging to see the improved defense, to go along with the offense. Beat the Clowns!
I still wish Luka would stop hedging so much on the pick and roll, because good teams (like UM) are going to kill us with that problem, if we don't figure it out. Luka needs to stay around the basket on defense IMO. I am glad to see Pemsl on the floor, but he has looked just awful, especially on defense. If that doesn't improve, Fran might need to play Kriener and Till more minutes.
Encouraging to see the improved defense, to go along with the offense. Beat the Clowns!
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