Long time lurker, first time poster.
After this incredible game against Tennessee, I've finally felt the need to join the family and start contributing to HR.
First things first. Proud of our guys. We came up JUST short of completing the largest comeback in NCAA tournament history. Yeah, that makes the loss sting exponentially higher, but to wish we would have lost by 25-30 at this point is completely ignorant and naive. Any other Iowa team I've witnessed would not have come nearly as close to this comeback as this one did.
The biggest positive is the learning experience of this game. This taught the guys that they can indeed play with anyone, they aren't out of any game, and the importance of maintaining that same second half intensity through a full 40 minutes. We have so many special players returning. Bohannon, Garza, and Weezy lead the way. There's no reason this group can't make a deep tourney run next year. We will be back.
This brings me to Cook and Moss. Love the heart they came out with in the second half. If they were to return for their respective senior seasons I think it would really galvanize this squad even further. To be real, they are both far from their NBA dream. They have yet to prove they can play consistently at the collegiate level, and I think next year poses as a great opportunity not only to develop their skills, but to show they are the ultimate team players. After last season, getting to the tournament and winning a game showed great competitivenes, but in their eyes... did they accomplish enough? Like a said, a huge opportunity awaits to cement themselves as Hawkeye legends. Either way, I wish these young men the best in their future endeavors.
Nicholas Baer. Can I say enough about this kid? Instant energy. What an amazing and inspiring Hawkeye career he had. Everyone loves a great walk-on story, and he fit the perfect mold for what it means to be an unselfish and fearless leader. We owe this guy a giant thank you for an awesome 4 years.
Fran. It's safe to say Fran has had his fair share of ups and downs this year. It's hard to ignore the frequent late year conference collapse, or the negative attention that he attracts from acting a fool either on the sideline or in the tunnel leading to the locker room. However, let's not forget the turn around he engineered. Lets not forget how we went from being a group of losers to a group of winners. The belief that was instilled in their hearts, and produced so many memorable late game heroics.. started with Fran.
Does he and this team have more work to do? Absolutely. But this is the first time after a season ending loss that I've felt extremely positive. Moral victory or not, I can't wait to see what he's able to do with them next year. Something special is brewing up in Iowa City.
GO HAWKS
After this incredible game against Tennessee, I've finally felt the need to join the family and start contributing to HR.
First things first. Proud of our guys. We came up JUST short of completing the largest comeback in NCAA tournament history. Yeah, that makes the loss sting exponentially higher, but to wish we would have lost by 25-30 at this point is completely ignorant and naive. Any other Iowa team I've witnessed would not have come nearly as close to this comeback as this one did.
The biggest positive is the learning experience of this game. This taught the guys that they can indeed play with anyone, they aren't out of any game, and the importance of maintaining that same second half intensity through a full 40 minutes. We have so many special players returning. Bohannon, Garza, and Weezy lead the way. There's no reason this group can't make a deep tourney run next year. We will be back.
This brings me to Cook and Moss. Love the heart they came out with in the second half. If they were to return for their respective senior seasons I think it would really galvanize this squad even further. To be real, they are both far from their NBA dream. They have yet to prove they can play consistently at the collegiate level, and I think next year poses as a great opportunity not only to develop their skills, but to show they are the ultimate team players. After last season, getting to the tournament and winning a game showed great competitivenes, but in their eyes... did they accomplish enough? Like a said, a huge opportunity awaits to cement themselves as Hawkeye legends. Either way, I wish these young men the best in their future endeavors.
Nicholas Baer. Can I say enough about this kid? Instant energy. What an amazing and inspiring Hawkeye career he had. Everyone loves a great walk-on story, and he fit the perfect mold for what it means to be an unselfish and fearless leader. We owe this guy a giant thank you for an awesome 4 years.
Fran. It's safe to say Fran has had his fair share of ups and downs this year. It's hard to ignore the frequent late year conference collapse, or the negative attention that he attracts from acting a fool either on the sideline or in the tunnel leading to the locker room. However, let's not forget the turn around he engineered. Lets not forget how we went from being a group of losers to a group of winners. The belief that was instilled in their hearts, and produced so many memorable late game heroics.. started with Fran.
Does he and this team have more work to do? Absolutely. But this is the first time after a season ending loss that I've felt extremely positive. Moral victory or not, I can't wait to see what he's able to do with them next year. Something special is brewing up in Iowa City.
GO HAWKS
