So was at the game on Sat night and uber impressed with the team defense of TT - MSU never had a chance to look comfortable and seldom could penetrate successfully. I have not watched TT all season so not familiar with how athletic their personnel is but it really seems like the type of team defense Iowa should be working towards in the off season. My fear is that the D will not receive enough focus not that it has improved somewhat. Iowa needs a top D to be competitive in this league and it seems like it should be enabled by a very deep bench.
TT - a model defense for Iowa ?
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Model the defense on Texas Tech's and let's model the offense off of Villanova's last year and we should be good to go. I wonder why Fran hasn't thought of this yet?
You need the athletes and desire to play good team D all the time to make it work. It defines their team identity and culture. That desire starts with the head coach and each assistant. That's not currently what I see at Iowa.
I am curious as to why you think switching to a packline and sideline defense like Tech plays, would be a good idea for Iowa? I like mixing up 4 to 5 zone looks with a zone press and some man to man. Yes, we need to get better at it. Why do you like the pack line better? Curious as to your thoughts? It is really hard to change your defensive philosophy like that.
Agree - my question is - is saying Iowa doesn’t have the athletes to play excellent D a pass when in fact they could play a lot better D with the players they have given a high level of expectation, focus, and coaching on it?
I had to laugh.....a friend of mine who is also an MSU alum, was complaining about TT's physical play and all of the hand checking, bumping, etc. that they were doing and not getting called for. I said, "Oh...you mean the same sh!t that MSU has been getting away with for decades?"
I am not close enough to the Iowa program to know how much of the problem is coaching vs having the right players. Some of Iowa's guys have physical limitations (e.g., JBo is small with relatively limited quickness, Luka has very little quickness or jumping ability), but others (especially Moss and Cook) seem to have the physical capability, but aren't great defenders most of the time. Also, some players have a natural toughness, but others don't. I think coaching can especially help with toughness, can motivate guys who don't fully use what they have, and can help cover up individual limitations. I believe that Iowa could benefit from adding an assistant, who focuses on defense and firing up the players. It sure doesn't seem to be getting done with the current staff, although this year was better than last some of the time. In the end, it still will be the players who have to get it done, and recruiting should include more than whether guys have offensive skills.
Both teams in the final game play that defense. So does Michigan who switched to it two years ago made the title game last year.
So obviously its pretty effective, I think that's why most people like it.
I don't know a ton about it but its predicated on principles of how many passes the ball is from your man.
I'd have to learn a little more about it to know if it's a good fit for Iowa. Theres allot Iowa cant do with Garza and JBO for another year.
Could be very difficult - I think at a base level I see MSU and like teams cut through Iowa’s D like it is non existent versus what TT was able to do against them - perhaps Iowa could do this through better execution alone -just haven’t seen much evidence of it
Maybe Iowa should open up the checkbook for the TT assistant that Beard gives all the credit for the defense. Make him Associate Head Coach and let one of the current assistants move on.
Exactly. I hate the, "you need athletes" line.
Virginia is no where near being one of the most athletic teams, neither is Michigan.
Granted when you have guys like Bohannon and Garza it does limit your ceiling but Iowa could be much better than they are.
Give Tony Bennett a few months with this group and their defensive efficiency numbers would be cut in half.
You forgot modeling Kentucky's recruiting.
Have we completely eliminated Steve Alford from memory? There was even one team ranked #1 in the country in defensive efficiency. Unfortunately, the Achilles heel of pack-line defense is often the corner 3.
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anon_i8nzeu2gbf0ba
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I thought winning was the objective, not racking up other stats. Better defense, significantly better, would lead to more Hawkeye wins, and that sounds good to me even if Iowa's offensive average dropped 10 points or more. The idea is to score at least one more point than the other guys. The fewer they score . . . well, you do the math.
I do like my team scoring points, but I like winning more.
Pace yes, efficiency not necessarily.
I'd like to see Iowa somewhere in between. Like Michigan. Great offense and defense and without having great athletes.
You have to have the Jimmy's and Joe's. We have no where near the quickness of TT.
Our lineup had 2 guys with slow feet this year, and might have 3 next year without Cook. We could hardly play man at all this year, and likely will not be able to next year. I like some pieces on our roster, but in my opinion the construction of the roster is too flawed to be a good defensive team. Weiscamp was very good on d this year, but it takes several guys that can move their feet like him to be good on D as a team.
Hawks went 23-12, 6th in B1G, B1G tourney quarterfinalist, unbeaten out of conference, top 32 in tourney, lost to Tennessee in OT. With exactly the same roster and schedule, and Tony Bennett as their coach, what is their record? I’d say no better than 23-12. Complain all you want about recruiting, but to say the coaching staff can’t coach is ridiculous.
I can tell you some guys wouldn't be on the floor for long if Bennett were coach, if they stood around and observed on defense, like we have seen at times the past two years.
When Iowa plays man-to-man, it is very passive. They are limited by the roster for mtm. Guards getting beat consistently puts pressure on the post players and goes down hill from there. With the current roster, they are much better suited for zone, but they really need to be more disciplined, especially along the baseline.
Fran has no defensive identity. He plays some man, some zone, does some 1-2-2 pressing... The best thing we do is our 1-2-2, everything else is horrible and its not because we lack athletes. Rather, its because Fran doesn't emphasize it. If we had the coaching, this year's team could have been a very good defensive team-- not TT good, but very good. We do not possess the toughness, fundamentals, or the philosophy to be good in the half-court.
Iowa has no where near the quickness of most p5 teams but could still get allot better by playing smarter and harder.
You don't really have to have great athletes to play good defense if you're locked in mentally and communicate.
Virginia has below average athletes at the guard spots and still plays really good defense.
True. But JBO only has 1 more year left and after that we'll be allot quicker and or stronger on the perimeter.
The biggest problem is that our two least athletic guys are the two that will always have to be involved in defending the high screens but that's not going to be the case much longer. So may as well start looking twoards improvement in the future.
Team doesn't get to practice offense until they show they can defense to the level required to earn a spot offensively.
Bennet and Fran met in NIT maybe 7 years ago at which time both programs were about equal. He just won a National Title and has had ACC tourney/regular season success well beyond Fran. So I would say, compared to Bennet, yeah, Fran doesn't coach anywhere near as well.
A lot of coaches do not look good compared to Bennett, but Fran can coach and did a good job with this group this year.
If we could establish more pressure on the ball, then would make the first pass more difficult, and would keep the opposing PG out of the paint.
Those two things would help defensive efficiency quite a bit, I’d think.
Those two things would help defensive efficiency quite a bit, I’d think.
