There it is.

[DanL53]

I said I'd put the fool avatar up for a week if Iowa lost to Virginia. There it is. Now to be clear, I'm a fool for getting in hurry. But I still see a ton of potential in this team and have every faith we'll put things together this season.

We're 3-3, and have played three solid programs. Notre Dame will be interesting. We've got to put things together soon and get some of these tougher games. Might as well start with the Irish.

 

[HawkGem10]

Ehh this team will be lucky to go .500 in the BIG this year...

 

[SDHawkDoc]

Applause to the positivity.

I didn't see them making the NCAA tourney this year and had a strong sense they would struggle mightily at times(particularly on defense) which makes their performance so far only slightly disappointing in that they are further behind than I thought.
Still could be good things ahead, particularly if improvement translates to wins later in the season. NIT would be a nice outcome for this team if they can somehow scratch out enough wins.

 

[33hawkfan]

I think the door is going to close on making the NCAA's before mid December, hoping we see a lot of growth from this team and an NIT berth though. Really need to develop some guards throughout this year.

 

[hawk-i bob]

From Turkey Day to today ...

Iowa is searching for a leader(s) from a defensive standpoint...our 2 playing upperclassmen (Jok & Uhl) have not (no surprise) fit the bill. That's not meant to slam them...just stating a fact. Listening to someone with a little coaching experience last week...its difficult when you have such a small size junior/senior class when neither are what you would call vocal (especially on defense) ... or are defensive juggernauts...sometimes freshman/sophomore tend to hold back...so in a nutshell add the experience of not playing together but for 6 games & the lack of leaders who have been thru what it takes to defend at this level ... you get a team giving up (literally giving up)...points.

This is why many of us stuck up for Mr. Woodbury ... who at one time was labeled a bust.

How does it get turned around defensively? 1ST...naturally the more this group plays together ..the better it will get. But is getting better ..good enough? In the B1G? I doubt it...at least to the extent of how many wins it takes to make the NCAA.
2ND....the younger guys need to take it upon themselves to defend & play more physical...screw the mistakes. This is where Fran IMO needs to extend a longer leash.

The good news is offensively we can play with 'most' good teams...Jok is the best outside shooter we have had since Fred Brown.
We have an inside presence with Cook. The key for this team is to not force things offensively while trying to make up for defensive lapses.

 

[Jonnymungo]

Is there even one guard or small forward in the program who can guard someone off the dribble? No - But Hopefully, that will change and they will turn a corner this year at some point.

 

[hawkquiz]

From the small sample size that I saw during the Emerald Coast games, Moss has the potential to play some solid defense. I liked what I saw out of him against Big 10 type athletes in the Virginia and Memphis games. Hopefully he'll get more minutes as we progress.
I also think Pemsl will be getting more time as well at the expense of Uhl. Solid offensively, more of a presence rebounding

 

[33hawkfan]

From the small sample size that I saw during the Emerald Coast games, Moss has the potential to play some solid defense. I liked what I saw out of him against Big 10 type athletes in the Virginia and Memphis games. Hopefully he'll get more minutes as we progress.
I also think Pemsl will be getting more time as well at the expense of Uhl. Solid offensively, more of a presence rebounding

What does Uhl do well? In my opinion, not much. He had one ridiculously hot shooting 3 point stretch last year (something like 9/11 to start B10 play), but that sure seems like a total fluke at this point. I would have no problem with Pemsl taking some minutes from him.

 

[youflog1hawk]

How do you get a player to play with confidence, play aggressive, but have the basketball IQ they need? In my opinion that is what we lack at this time. It will be a while before that IQ is improved. When that happens then things will start to improve with this team.

 

[Pepperman]

18 turnovers is as big of a problem as poor defense. Somehow they've got to be better with the ball.

I'm also disappointed with Uhl - still seems like he is out of control too much.

 

[iabcuda]

The Memphis game Saturday (when we could score but couldn't get a stop the last four minutes) reminded me a lot of games last year. They were better than these guys but had hit their own "wall" on defense - could score but couldn't stop anybody. These new kids are much more athletic & have so much to learn they are nowhere near a "wall". It's gonna get better. Just how much & how soon.
By the way, DanL, I'm not big on self flagellation, but if you want to suffer, next time you lose you should have to post a picture of yourself in a clone sweater.

 

[DodgerHawki]

Applause to the positivity.

I didn't see them making the NCAA tourney this year and had a strong sense they would struggle mightily at times(particularly on defense) which makes their performance so far only slightly disappointing in that they are further behind than I thought.
Still could be good things ahead, particularly if improvement translates to wins later in the season. NIT would be a nice outcome for this team if they can somehow scratch out enough wins.

Kind of where I was at. I thought it was a huge stretch to be in the tourney this year. The defense has been quite a bit worse than what I thought, but shouldn't be totally unexpected. This team will likely take quite a beating December through January, until the younger guys understand what it takes to defend people at this level.

NIT would be a stretch at this point. They will need to beat someone decent in the non-con, and not sure where that is going to occur.

 

[DanL53]

The Memphis game Saturday (when we could score but couldn't get a stop the last four minutes) reminded me a lot of games last year. They were better than these guys but had hit their own "wall" on defense - could score but couldn't stop anybody. These new kids are much more athletic & have so much to learn they are nowhere near a "wall". It's gonna get better. Just how much & how soon.
By the way, DanL, I'm not big on self flagellation, but if you want to suffer, next time you lose you should have to post a picture of yourself in a clone sweater.

Now you've gone too far. A poignant response, with a little mild racist portrayal, but stretched the right way, I think people will understand. A clone sweater?