Villanova is really really good
- Thread starter wyohawk
- Start date
Iowa has a long way to go to compete with the Big Boys. The things that jump out to me is the physical condition of Kansas and Nova. Fran has got to get and/or allow players to get muscle. Mentally Iowa needs an upgrade. Iowa will literally give up at times. I
I don't care one way or another about 'nova.
But, I have a significant dislike for the jaysquawks so I'm glad to see them go down.
But, I have a significant dislike for the jaysquawks so I'm glad to see them go down.
Now Villanova has a better football and basketball team than Kansas
Not sure where you're getting this idea. Effort has never been a problem. Giving up and not being able to handle pressure are two different things.
Ed Horton and Jess Settles type players come to mind. Not sure why we have not seen Fran recruit an enforcer down below. Woodbury was tall and gave great effort - enforcer he was not.
I love their defense, when you get into the lane, there is always someone or sometimes 2 people there swiping at the ball. They are not fouling, they just swiping their hands through. I am very impressed with there defense. Their 3 guards are also pretty solid, Brunson out of Chi-town is going to be a special talent for them.
Agreed and Oklahoma and Villanova just plain get after it and relentless. Just as impressive was Sabonis from Gonzaga - that dude is a beast.
And Jay Wright has more than one style of play for different opponents. Hmmmm......we should try that.
I love Nova's in-your-face, aggressive style, but you must have really good athletes, who are mentally tough, to make it work. Hawks are upgrading the team's athleticism, but it remains to be seen how mentally tough the younger players will be. Our two most experienced players for next year do not fit the mold.
It's official, if we wouldn't have had to play Villanova in rd 2, we would have been in the Final Four no doubt.
Probably national champs.
Just our luck again.
Probably national champs.
Just our luck again.
True. Not even the January Hawks can compete with these teams.
when we were playing our best we would have given them a good game. But realistically that is all. We are about two steps down in the talent ladder. Now starting next year we will be maybe only one and a half to perhaps one step down. Fran has to build on this to really close the gap enough to where we can compete with them when they are playing near their best.
At our best and at their best we lose by 15 or so, right now. We need to get that down to around 5 under the same situation to be able to win some of them.
I think people tend to think that because the "freshest" memory they have of Iowa is a team that sucked. Iowa's mid-season team could play and beat anyone in the country. Primarily because they made shots, a lot more of them than they did down the stretch (and the Defense wasn't non-existent in mid-season). You don't HAMMER Michigan State twice without being a good team. A Michigan State team that beat Kansas on a neutral floor BEFORE we drilled them twice (and yes Michigan State was the NCAA Tournament flop this year, but one game does not a season make....).
In addition, although we always find a way to choke against Iowa State, we obviously certainly can compete with them, and they play with (and sometimes beat) Kansas quite a bit of late.
I would agree when watching some of these games, it looks like a totally different "deal" than watching Iowa play, from an athleticism, aggressiveness, physicality in the paint standpoint, etc., but in reality, I don't think we're THAT far away. The late season Hawks will do that to a person.
I will say the defensive intensity of these "good" teams seems to be "different" from Iowa. There seems to be a whole lot more contested shots in the paint (often by multiple defenders) and on the perimeter. I don't think that gap is going to change much in the near future at Iowa, when you consider Jok and Uhl are likely starters, the defense isn't going to be a strength.................
I don't think that you can really say at this point what our defensive intensity will be next year with players like Hutton, Moss, and Cook
available next year. With Jones hopefully injury free, there are a lot of question marks in terms of which players will emerge and what their affect will be on our defensive play. I think that Jok is the only likely starter from this years team and I believe that Cook will start from day 1.
The athleticism should be much better and this in itself should hopefully lead to more consistent defensive effort and less wide open shots from the perimeter. I like that it seems that all positions will be up for grabs next year since going into 2015 we had most of the positions covered with the seniors.
Fran knows what he has in Hutton, Moss, Williams, Ellingson, and Fleming. We have seen Wagner and Baer enough to know what potential they have going forward and both play with a lot of intensity and will only get better during the off season. Uhl should also make a further step forward during the off season as well.
I think that Fran will be able to put this team together pretty quickly and we as fans will enjoy what we see on the court next year. No predictions but the talent will emerge and this team should play better as the year goes on.
Villanova attacks the boards while many other teams, Iowa included, has a higher priority of getting back on defense. Don't agree with giving up on the offensive rebound.
I tend to agree with you on most points. And I don't feel the team Iowa was fielding in January was that far behind the teams still remaining in the dance.
You must remember that the Iowa-Iowa State game was basically a dead heat and the Cyclones split regular season tilts with the Jayhawks and Sooners. Those teams have proven they can play with anyone in the country.
It remains to be seen if Prohm and Fran can restock after losing significant pieces to graduation. By this time next year we will have that answer.
Good idea lets get an enforcer and put an Iowa Jersey on him so he can play about 5 minutes a game before fouling out.
I believe your outlook is far rosier than the reality that is going to hit us in 2106/2017, but that's your view and that's fine (and you may be right). I'm more of a "show me" kind of guy. If you're counting on defensive intensity from a Caucasian walk-on (busy does not equate to good, but a good attribute to have ...........) and a skinny kid from Germany who didn't appear all that interested on the Defensive end, well, best of luck on that (I would have LOVED to see Uhl shoot more and run more plays for him from the top of the key 3-ball - the guy was dominant at that spot, and it almost completely disappeared as the season went along). Jok is iffy on defense but had a few nice steals here and there.
I like Wagner, just wish he was a couple of inches taller. I don't believe people are going to fear coming into the paint against him anytime soon (maybe I'm missing something, could be). As for Hutton and Moss, they haven't appeared in a "real" game, so no idea what they will offer, hopefully it's all good. I would lean to them being average, and hoping it goes the right way from there. Cook looks the part, and appears to have some hops. He should work. Not sure about Jones defensively, I'd be stunned if he's healthy that he won't start.
I am not sure that Uhl automatically starts with the competition he will be facing next year. With Wagner, Cook, Jones (possibly), Pemsl, Kreiner, and Baer, there is more competition for the PF position than what Uhl faced this year. Jok should play at SF with Hutton and Fleming off the bench. Cook will man the PF position and we may end up playing without a true Center unless Kreiner can play right away. With three forwards then the other forward position would be occupied by Wagner, Jones, Uhl, Baer, or Pemsl.
The lineup will be smaller without Woody but will be quicker and more athletic. With Williams at 6'6 and Moss at 6'5 at the guard positions, we will have more height and length at the perimeter which will hopefully cause problems for teams relying on the 3.
It really is difficult to speculate what this team will be like next year since we haven't seen much of Hutton, Fleming, or Moss. Add in the 4 freshman and whether Jones can return and it makes for a very interesting season next year. I don't think that my outlook is necessarily rosier than others but I think that Fran really knows talent. With Hutton, Moss, Cook, and Jones playing next year, we could end up bringing a lot more defensive intensity with the additional athleticism and quickness that will be added.
Teams have beat Iowa with this strategy though.
It depends on how effective you can be at either one.
Nova vs UNC should be interesting game. And I wasn't interested in it at all last week but Ive definitely changed my mind.
True. But it's a little more than that. It's heart. Tenacity. Defense. Grit. Toughness. All characteristics that lacked this year at Iowa.
I think Iowa has those characteristics but were deer in the headlights against Nova save Baer
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