Valentine and MSU

[anon_i8nzeu2gbf0ba]

Valentine may play tomorrow vs PSU, and it appears he will definitely face the Hawkeyes Thursday night. So what is Iowa's strategy? Do they do anything different? Do they let Valentine do his thing and put the clamps on everyone else? Who will share the task of guarding Valentine, or does Iowa play mostly zone? How about the 1-2-2 three-quarter court press...how much, and when, should Iowa go to it?

Having not won at East Lansing since 1993, will this finally be the end of that skid for Iowa?

It's already been a long time waiting for this one.

 

[yerpHAWK]

I think MSU gets us by double digits, but that's fine because life on the road in the b1g, it''s bound to happen.

I really can't stop Valentine because he will either score or assist on 50% of the baskets, but I would make the rest of the team beat us, as you see how that went.

 

[QChawks]

We'll lose at MSU

 

[MepoDawg#]

I'd let Valentine do his thing and make sure you rebound and guard the 3 point line. Also, make the front end of 1-n-1.

 

[hawksense]

I will repeat what I said about the first matchup with MSU. We will not win.

Hope this works, again.

 

[HoustonREDHawk]

Not going to predict a win, but the Hawks can win this game. I would try to stay in front of Valentine and make him beat us from outside. I would challenge Pete, who has been playing much better defensively, and also use Baer. Sapp needs to keep Forbes in check, and we need to limit offensive boards to win. Uthoff will need to have a much better game and stay on the court more than 30 min.

 

[anon_i8nzeu2gbf0ba]

It'll be interesting to see how Uthoff handles this game, especially after his...interesting...quote following the comeback win over Purdue. Can he and his teammates match the Spartan intensity in East Lansing? That's really the biggest problem Iowa faces @ MSU every year. If this answer is finally yes, then Iowa has a chance. Otherwise, the beat downs will continue regardless of any other factor.

 

[Packer54]

Sometimes when the "star" comes back it is not real smooth. You never know boys.

 

[hawk-i bob]

Not going to predict a win, but the Hawks can win this game. I would try to stay in front of Valentine and make him beat us from outside. I would challenge Pete, who has been playing much better defensively, and also use Baer. Sapp needs to keep Forbes in check, and we need to limit offensive boards to win. Uthoff will need to have a much better game and stay on the court more than 30 min.

everything is in MSU favor..at home..return of Valentine..revenge...make it close with 10 min to go...you just never know. Fran & the team isn't going to just hand it to them.

 

[Herkmeister]

Sometimes when the "star" comes back it is not real smooth. You never know boys.

I'm with you. I think it's fair to ask "What if?"

 

[CanadaHawk]

I figured Valentine would try to play some vs PSU to get the rust off for himself and the team with him. Perhaps there will be some rust vs Iowa but I'm sure Fran isn't counting on it. Sapp will probably be on Forbes because that worked well in IC with Jok on Valentine. But they'll change it up as well.

 

[Scott559]

I actually wish for Valentine to be back and fully healthy, We know when fully stocked MSU can compete with the best teams in the country, The game at MSU would be a nice gauge to see just where the Hawks are at this juncture of the season in regard to being able to compete against the true heavy weights in hoops this year.

 

[HoustonREDHawk]

We also need there to be only one Valentine on the court for Iowa to have a chance. I would gladly take the crew that officiated in Iowa City.

 

[ROCKY MOUNTAIN HAWK]

We also need there to be only one Valentine on the court for Iowa to have a chance. I would gladly take the crew that officiated in Iowa City.

Yeah. That was a good crew. They didn't have a stretch where most refs will favor MSU and totally swing the game.

 

[kellerm]

Woody has to stay out of foul trouble. Only chance to limit Costello and Davis is with him in the game. If they score easily in the paint it's probably over. Then hope the guards shoot less than 30% from three.

Low turnovers on offense and be close in rebounding and I say there's a chance.

 

[VAHawk]

I actually wish for Valentine to be back and fully healthy, We know when fully stocked MSU can compete with the best teams in the country, The game at MSU would be a nice gauge to see just where the Hawks are at this juncture of the season in regard to being able to compete against the true heavy weights in hoops this year.

I prefer wins to gauges.

 

[RocknRollface]

We also need there to be only one Valentine on the court for Iowa to have a chance. I would gladly take the crew that officiated in Iowa City.

That's the truth.

 

[Scott559]

I prefer wins to gauges.

I prefer wins as well, I also prefer truly getting the team ready for March, I think MSU having a healthy Valentine does that. The Big has a long way to go, Fran will continually try to get the team better as the year progresses, I personally like the idea of coompeting against MSU at full strength vs not at full strength. I respect your differing opinion though,

 

[Ronman]

Getting ready for March is a fine ambition. I just think this team has a very real chance to steal a Big Ten championship, something we've not done for decades, and winning at MSU would be a great step toward that goal.

Valentine is looking pretty good in his game back today. It is not going to be easy in East Lansing. You know Izzo is going to be rabid and will do everything in his power to incite his squad and intimidate the refs. And this ridiculous layoff will not work in our favor.

 

[IronFist1776]

I'm confident in our boy's abilities to compete and I think they're confident too. Helps to have 4 seniors and a junior starting for us. Valentine is good but he won't even be the best player on the floor. That would be the Ute. And w/ our team showing the stones and guts to come back at Purdue, I think they won't be intimidated by the atmosphere. X factor could be Izzo's incessant whining and working to the refs. Hope to see our PG's control the tempo. Clemmons should be recovered. Jok is due for a breakout game. Our bench has shown that they're going to scrap and give us valuable minutes. I don't see any reason why the Hawks can't steal a game in East Lansing so long as the refs don't bet on MSU like they usually do.

 

[Ronman]

I just wish we could have scheduled some bunny to play this past weekend, just to keep sharp. I haven't looked at all the schedules, but I don't think any other school has a nine day layoff as we do. Maryland, during their week off, scheduled Bowie St. to make an appearance.

Speaking of schedules, Indiana must have paid off someone. What a joke that we are all competing for the same prize, the Big Ten Championship, but we are given such different rows to how to get there.

 

[HoustonREDHawk]

I just wish we could have scheduled some bunny to play this past weekend, just to keep sharp. I haven't looked at all the schedules, but I don't think any other school has a nine day layoff as we do. Maryland, during their week off, scheduled Bowie St. to make an appearance.

Speaking of schedules, Indiana must have paid off someone. What a joke that we are all competing for the same prize, the Big Ten Championship, but we are given such different rows to how to get there.

I am not sure why Fran didn't schedule something during the layoff, just to keep the team sharp. I just looked at IU's schedule, and they do have a big advantage. Iowa is the only contender that they play twice, and MSU is the only other contender that they play on the road. Hawks need to at least handle IU at home, and hope that Crean coaches them down in a few other games.

 

[DanL53]

I am not sure why Fran didn't schedule something during the layoff, just to keep the team sharp. I just looked at IU's schedule, and they do have a big advantage. Iowa is the only contender that they play twice, and MSU is the only other contender that they play on the road. Hawks need to at least handle IU at home, and hope that Crean coaches them down in a few other games.

There is an interview with Fran around here somewhere where he mentions how late the Big Ten schedule comes out and by that time the rest of the schedule is set, or something like that. He definitely mentioned it would have been nice to have a team to play instead of the lay off. But he also made sure to say that like anything else the team will deal and get through it. I paraphrase of course.

 

[EvilMonkeyInTheCloset]

Yeah. That was a good crew. They didn't have a stretch where most refs will favor MSU and totally swing the game.

My guess is Izzo will make sure they never ref a game between them and Iowa again.

 

[Packer54]

I am kind of mixed on the time off......yes we were really playing well but I am also not so sure a mid season break doesn't help us recharge, refocus and run/press our asses off the others that have been playing. Maybe not....big 5 game stretch coming up! Should be fun.