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This is Iowa Basketball

Hawk_4shur

Hawk_4shur

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Jan 2, 2009
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The last few weeks has been the story of Iowa basketball for decades. Lose to Eastern, Nebby and PSU, then beat IU, RU and Mich. The teams that they beat are better than the one's that beat them. It's impossible to explain. But seems to have been a common occurrence over the years.

The fact that the Hawks haven't made the Sweet 16 or won a regular season championship in forever had no effect on my enjoyment of the last 3 games. The likelihood that they won't this year either also had no effect.

Bumper sticker idea - Iowa Basketball - Enjoy the Ride!
 
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Hawk_4shur said:
The last few weeks has been the story of Iowa basketball for decades. Lose to Eastern, Nebby and PSU, then beat IU, RU and Mich. The teams that they beat are better than the one's that beat them. It's impossible to explain. But seems to have been a common occurrence over the years.

The fact that the Hawks haven't made the Sweet 16 or won a regular season championship in forever had no effect on my enjoyment of the last 3 games. The likelihood that they won't this year either also had no effect.

Bumper sticker idea - Iowa Basketball - Enjoy the Ride!
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This is the attitude I have to take as well. The earliest I remember Iowa basketball is the 1981 season. The memories that come to the forefront tend to be the close loses, tournament exits, and what could have been situations. That kind of thinking is just too painful for something you have zero control over.

Enjoy the ride of November to March and there are lots of great things to enjoy. I would say watching Luka Garza's career, Keegan Murray great season/all around play and the BTT run last year rank pretty high on the list of enjoyable Iowa bb moments. If you are holding out for a regular season championship or sweet sixteen run to let yourself be happy about Iowa basketball, good luck. The 20 point comeback vs Indiana and down 4 with 20 seconds vs Michigan are pretty dang enjoyable moments. Take what you can get and always hope for more.
 
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Hawk_4shur said:
The last few weeks has been the story of Iowa basketball for decades. Lose to Eastern, Nebby and PSU, then beat IU, RU and Mich. The teams that they beat are better than the one's that beat them. It's impossible to explain. But seems to have been a common occurrence over the years.

The fact that the Hawks haven't made the Sweet 16 or won a regular season championship in forever had no effect on my enjoyment of the last 3 games. The likelihood that they won't this year either also had no effect.

Bumper sticker idea - Iowa Basketball - Enjoy the Ride!
Click to expand...
The Michigan game was my favorite this year. The announcers were ‘OK’ but the game was fantastic.
 
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Hawk_4shur said:
Nope. Which was kinda my point. Enjoy the big wins, suffer the losses.

Obsessing over championships and Sweet 16's takes away from a lot of the fun.
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Well it’s not quite obsessing it’s having hopes dashed year after year with great teams that can’t make it out of the first weekend. But I take your point.
 
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slipHawk said:
The Michigan game was my favorite this year. The announcers were ‘OK’ but the game was fantastic.
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Yeah I agree. If we’d have lost it would’ve been “we played great and it was an entertaining game but we got close a bunch of times but couldn’t get over the hump”.
If you’re a Michigan fan you probably think something like “we had them the whole game and it was an entertaining game but they grabbed it at the end when we suddenly couldn’t make anything”.
Fun one to watch!
 
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slipHawk said:
Well it’s not quite obsessing it’s having hopes dashed year after year with great teams that can’t make it out of the first weekend. But I take your point.
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Bishop1971 said:
I get your point though. I've been waiting a long time for another final four run.
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I agree. I want more.

But we've seen too many posters say "I'm done with this program".

I say enjoy what we get. 🤷
 
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slipHawk said:
Well it’s not quite obsessing it’s having hopes dashed year after year with great teams that can’t make it out of the first weekend. But I take your point.
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This. If ISU can get to the sweet 16 twice since Iowa was last there, it's not too much of a stretch to think Iowa could make it once every 25 years or so.
 
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markfromj said:
I dunno….is this really different than most other programs?
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A little bit. Go ahead and look at the last time we made the sweet 16 and how many mid majors and others have made sweet 16 appearances? It’s been a pretty bad dry spell.
 
The last coach to take us to the FF was Lute Olsen. Hall of Famer Lute Olsen.

Ive had an appreciation for each coach we’ve had since, some regretfully, but I gave them a chance.

Its not a co-inky dink that Lute took us to the FF and we haven’t been back since. Dr Tom took us further than most with great talent and system.

I like our talent, for the most part, but either the talent or coaching fall short. That’s a year long debate.
 
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Lute was obviously a hall of fame coach. Winner (and big winner) everywhere he went. Not sure if Dr Tom is a hall of famer but he was a damn good coach. Fran has developed a nice system, especially offensively, and now consistently has us in the tournament and we’ve been as high as a 2 seed I believe under him. Unfortunately he’s just really failed in the tournament, and badly. With some of the talent we’ve had, especially the last few years there’s no excuse for not at least making the 16.
 
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littlez said:
Lute was obviously a hall of fame coach. Winner (and big winner) everywhere he went. Not sure if Dr Tom is a hall of famer but he was a damn good coach. Fran has developed a nice system, especially offensively, and now consistently has us in the tournament and we’ve been as high as a 2 seed I believe under him. Unfortunately he’s just really failed in the tournament, and badly. With some of the talent we’ve had, especially the last few years there’s no excuse for not at least making the 16.
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Maybe this is the year.
 
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So, the Hawks lose a stinker at OSU, and then a nail biter at MSU. :(

Then they come back and beat the #2 & #3 teams in the BIG, and hung 179 points on 2 of the best defensive teams in the conference.

The Hawks are currently 5-0 against the teams above them in the standings.

February was very good to the Hawks in 2022. Maybe they can make a run in '23?

Who knows?

🤷‍♂️
 
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Hawk_4shur said:
Nope. Which was kinda my point. Enjoy the big wins, suffer the losses.

Obsessing over championships and Sweet 16's takes away from a lot of the fun.
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"It's not the destination, it's the journey" certainly applies to Iowa basketball (that's how I sleep at night anyway).

Hawk_4shur said:
So, the Hawks lose a stinker at OSU, and then a nail biter at MSU. :(

Then they come back and beat the #2 & #3 teams in the BIG, and hung 179 points on 2 of the best defensive teams in the conference.

The Hawks are currently 5-0 against the teams above them in the standings.

February was very good to the Hawks in 2022. Maybe they can make a run in '23?

Who knows?

🤷‍♂️
Click to expand...
2/19 - 2/28 is going to be a bitch (cue the annoying Fran Feb Fade idiots). Really need to win at least three of four in the first half of February though. Starts with a huge one Saturday.
 
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littlez said:
A little bit. Go ahead and look at the last time we made the sweet 16 and how many mid majors and others have made sweet 16 appearances? It’s been a pretty bad dry spell.
Click to expand...

Yes, but the original post was not primarily about Sweet 16 failure. It was broader than that.
 
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markfromj said:
Yes, but the original post was not primarily about Sweet 16 failure. It was broader than that.
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Thanks. Yes, it was broader than that.

I don't know the level of success this team will achieve, but I am enjoying watching them play.
 
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