The rotations do seem to work better now.
It does get frustrating as a fan when you see all these other teams get hot and make a run above seed. That is one thing that Iowa has not done since Lute was coaching. Part of that is luck of the draw, getting a lot of matchups against the better 1s and 2s (Duke, Kentucky, UConn, Gonzaga, Villanova) and not getting any games against lower seeds that pulled upsets in the first round…..but as long as you’re consistently seeded 7-10, you’re not going to get much help. But if you look back, Iowa as a 4-6 has always played the 3/4/5 seeds in the 2nd round. Sometimes, a Sweet 16 run can be as much about getting a lucky draw as it is playing well.
Okay, had to look it up. We beat Creighton in 2001 and lost to Kentucky in round 2. Back when we thought Alford was the next big thing 🥺
Ah, that makes sense. The year when Recker came back from injury in the tournament and world was there for the taking the next year with Recker & Evans as seniors. Oof, I didn’t see 2002 coming.
I think the rotations are just as important as the starting line up. Brining in Kris to play more with Keegan has been huge, but I also like the combination of those two with Connor, Ullis and Sandfort. You get great defense, passing and rebounding with that set.
I’ve posted about it a decent amount, but substitution flow has been so much smoother than it was at the beginning of the year. The platoon thing threw everybody off their game and made Iowa’s lineups disjointed. Putting subs in incrementally has drastically improved cohesiveness
There's something to be said for that. I think mixing the lineups has helped as well. Connor was injured which gave Sandfort, Kris, and others more playing time. I think that helped (Though Connor was excellent last night.)
I don't disagree with much of what you are saying, but, I think JBo provides a lot of value other than scoring and assists. Because he is the best shooter on the team and has the most range, he provides spacing for mostly Keegan to get to his spots without being doubled. Because of his shooting alone, I think he needs to be out there. Now with respect to the other 3 of Joe T/Perkins/Ulis, I think they all should play of course and depending on the match-up and how they are playing that night is who gets in the rotation in winning time. PMac needs to play and I think he could really be a glue guy because he can do it all, but, for right now I think he is much better in a supporting role than a main role. I would love to see him embrace a role of defending and rebounding, because we are so much better with him on the floor doing that.
its as much as, if not a bigger “what if?” for the Alford era than the Pierce saga…what if Recker doesn’t tear up that knee? That team was 17-4 at the time if I recall correctly and was ROLLING thru the b10 prior to the injury. That, plus the debacle that was 2002 overall, just killed the early momentum/excitement from the first few years of the Alford era. Then you had the second blow of all the Pierce stuff - which I put as much on the Athletic Dept at large for botching the PR response as on Alford for sticking his foot in his mouth, which cost him so much goodwill with the fan base. To some extent idk that the program has ever recovered from that.
No, what he's saying is you're a doofus.so, what you are saying is, Fran is da man?
Bohannon definitely isn't the best shooter on the team this year. Or last year. Maybe he was two years ago. I don't think he has the range anymore either. Look at how many games he's had multiple air balls. Last night for example.
Agree with all of that. Iowa was absolutely rolling before Recker blew the knee. That team was gelling and had a lot of great component parts that didn’t work nearly as well without Recker tying it all together. It’s interesting how things turned out, but Alford was a big-story hire when he came on board, fresh off the Sweet 16 with SMS. He was the next hot young coach and he opened his tenure by knocking off #1 UConn in Madison Square Garden.
I think he’s using the bench differently this year, too….but maybe that’s just perception. In the past when he had too many guys it was like he tried to force more of an even rotation and this year, he’s adapted to basically two lines in the first half with adjustments for hot hand and foul trouble and then in the 2nd he’s starting back at the beginning, but really seems to be basing his lineups on game flow and effectiveness. I think that’s made a difference - I think it also means that guys are playing, generally speaking, more effective minutes.
Not to mention that even if the injuries over the years have regressed his game, he was SOOOOO cold for a prolonged stretch that he was bound to “regress to the mean” at some point.
I disagree about this year. But even so, it is not as much about how well he is shooting as much as it is his threat of shooting. The dude is the B1G all team leader and he just hit 10 in a game. There aren't many players that have the capability of hitting 10 in a game, especially when some of them are not catch-and-shoot. His reputation is what opens things up and that is what matters. What do you think defenses do, that they go out and guard JBo until he shoots a 3 and if he misses it they say, "ah, we don't have to guard him anymore, he isn't the best shooter on that team anymore?". JBo has the mentality and reputation that he can miss his first 10, then in clutch time you still think it is going in if he takes it. Joe T/Ulis/Perkins have not shown the consistency to hit that shot on a regular basis.
Sometimes understated, but I think it helps that players are doing well enough to force Fran to play them more at times. There have been a couple years where I thought he played too many, but you would have a hard time saying bench players had earned those additional minutes.
And I don't necessarily disagree when JBo is hitting shots. He should be playing...just not at the point, in my opinion. He provides that range and spacing at the 2 guard position just as well.
He’s right….and you have to factor in seed. If you’re the 7, you’re just not going to beat the #2 very often, even worse if you’re the winner of the 8/9 game. If you make the tournament 5 straight years as a 3-5 seed and you don’t make a Sweet 16, that’s more of a failure. Iowa’s lack of Sweet 16s is due largely to seeding (not saying seeds were wrong, it’s what they earned) plus two golden opportunities that they couldn’t cash in.
He does do those things at the 2, yes, but I think that he is better at the 1 right now because he understands the offense better, doesn't turn the ball over, doesn't get baited into the teeth of the defense, and gets the offense into the right flow. I think he is better at the 2, but, Joe T has just not been consistent enough to be efficient. When Joe T is good, it is a beautiful thing, but his mistakes are too costly. He has a really bad tendency to over-drive the ball and get deeper than he should and hasn't learned yet when he should go and when he should not. If we had a better option at the 1 than JBo I think everyone would be good with that, including JBo. But right now with JBo running things, the offensive efficiency is off-the-charts and I would guess is probably best in the country.
Last year we all knew before the season started that the team was going to struggle with athletic teams. Oregon was super-athletic, but, on top of that we were beat up a little bit. Oregon was much better than a 7, like USC was much better than a 6 and UCLA much better than an 11. It was a nightmare matchup for us, at the wrong time, and we paid for it. But it was still a great year by any measure.
lol. Joe dribbling is generally because iowa uses the double low cross screen set that takes time to develop. It has nothing to do with Joe. It's the same play we've been running forever to get shooters coming off screens. The problem is we don't shoot well off screens.
I agree.
You also saw tonight that Michigan basically never sagged off Connor and in typical Connor fashion, he didn’t force shots. He’s fine to not shoot and facilitate the offense.
