Both Christina Buttenham & Alexa Kastanek turn the ball over at a high rate. Christina is more active & hustles for rebounds when compared to Alexa. Both players need to stop trying to force the ball into traffic when its clearly not open & move it along quickly forcing the defense to react. Primary ball handlers should be Kathleen, Makenzie, & Ally while Christina/Alexa are more spot up shooters not creators.
WBB 16/17 Season
- Thread starter cyberhawk
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Both Christina Buttenham & Alexa Kastanek turn the ball over at a high rate. Christina is more active & hustles for rebounds when compared to Alexa. Both players need to stop trying to force the ball into traffic when its clearly not open & move it along quickly forcing the defense to react. Primary ball handlers should be Kathleen, Makenzie, & Ally while Christina/Alexa are more spot up shooters not creators.
This makes sense considering the circumstances being this late in the season. Did Jan specifically mention these three? If so, one could assume that neither Mackenzie nor Christina are being considered to be the fifth starter.
FWIW, I believe the Hawkeyes have improved considerably in the TO department from the beginning of the season. I was at the Maryland game and while Maryland came out from the start in a full court press, Iowa adapted to it fairly quickly to the point that Iowa was beating them up the court for a couple breaks. Maryland wisely stopped pressing for the most part and only used token pressure from time to time after that. Now with Tania out, that may be an issue again. That is one reason I'm surprised that Mackenzie was not specifically mentioned as she seems to be less prone to TO's.
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Mackenzie wasn't mentioned because she is currently a starter. But her role probably will change since she will be called on to back up the point. It will be interesting to see how it all unfolds.
When is the last season Hawks didn't lose someone to a knee injury? Do other women's programs have similar injury rates?
I think they were good 2013/14 - 2014/15 then Carly Mohns went down with an MCL in 2015/16. Nicole Smith may have been in 13/14 but not sure, her situation was a little different.
The injury was devastating for both this year and next. You are correct that Davis being full-go for next year B10 is on the real optimistic side. It's possible, but not probable. This Iowa team struggles with overall athleticism, and taking out the best player they had at creating off the dribble is a huge blow. Next year is also without Disterhoft, the other player on the roster who was pretty good off the dribble. I like Meyer and Doyle's games, they will continue to get better and better. But the issues the team has this year will still be there next year. Speedy recovery to Davis.
Mich St. took our spot in the latest bracketology. Let's take it back!
http://www.espn.com/womens-college-basketball/bracketology
http://www.espn.com/womens-college-basketball/bracketology
Hawks with a great OT win over MSU tonight. 87-83.
Ally with 25 and 12. Megan with 18 despite major foul trouble. Make Meyer with a career high 14, including 12-14 pressure packed FT to get the win.
Bre got the start and finished with 8 points and great defense. Chase had 10 and did some great passing out of the post. She also nailed two big FT.
Kathleen added 12 and ran the point.
Ally had 3 3ptrs, Bre two and Kathleen 2. Bre's second one came to start the OT.
Ally with 25 and 12. Megan with 18 despite major foul trouble. Make Meyer with a career high 14, including 12-14 pressure packed FT to get the win.
Bre got the start and finished with 8 points and great defense. Chase had 10 and did some great passing out of the post. She also nailed two big FT.
Kathleen added 12 and ran the point.
Ally had 3 3ptrs, Bre two and Kathleen 2. Bre's second one came to start the OT.
Ally's 25 points tonight brings her to within 125 of becoming the program's all-time leading scorer.
Without speculating on anything beyond what the schedule allows, as it would be pointless to do so and this team is not in the position to chalk up any guaranteed wins no matter who the opponent--The Hawkeyes are guaranteed a minimum of 6 more games (including one in the Big Ten Tournament)
She would need to average just under 21 points per game to become the new #1.
Without speculating on anything beyond what the schedule allows, as it would be pointless to do so and this team is not in the position to chalk up any guaranteed wins no matter who the opponent--The Hawkeyes are guaranteed a minimum of 6 more games (including one in the Big Ten Tournament)
She would need to average just under 21 points per game to become the new #1.
If Disterhoft can score 21 points a game the rest of way, I think Iowa will win 4 out of the 5 remaining regular season games. In a lot of Iowa's losses she only scored in low 10s. .
Jankoska only scored 4 points in the first half. But toward the end of regulation when the Spartans were in desperate mode, she took over the team and made every shot to drag the game to overtime.
I could only listen on the radio tonight but Brooks said she was available & sounded surprised she didn't see time. Historically Bluder always shortens her bench as the season goes on.
All starters and Coley played well tonight. I figured the coaches didn't want to break up a good thing. And given the choice between Kastanek and Buttenham, I would have got Kastanek off the bench first as well. Kastanek played within herself and did not make any mistakes, so the coaches stuck with her. This is what I felt.
I have to disagree with the assessment of Coley. She makes some positive contributions on offense by being able to make the 10-12 ft shot, but normally gives this back on defense. There were several times last night on defense where she had no idea where the ball was or the person she was supposed to be guarding was. this lead to several situations where a MSU player was standing all alone in the middle of the lane and got rebounds that Coley should have easily been able to get a hand on at a minimum. Her post defense is also generally weak as she plays behind instead of on top. I would rather have seen MOhns have a chance of playing
Alexa had her bad turnovers and Coley had her bad defense, but they held it together in a game with a ton of pressure. Bluder does shorten the bench as the season goes on. Which makes it surprising to me she considered pulling Sullivan's redshirt.
Christina not playing at all is very surprising to me. She had been getting more minutes than Alexa.
Chase was soft on the defensive end, but made some huge shots on the offensive end.
Alexa had a few mistakes. She played better than usual though.
No Buttenham, no Mohns, no Ollinger. Two players with over 40 minutes. Hannah didn't have a good game, she was rushing shots.
Only 8 players got in.
Alexa had a few mistakes. She played better than usual though.
No Buttenham, no Mohns, no Ollinger. Two players with over 40 minutes. Hannah didn't have a good game, she was rushing shots.
Only 8 players got in.
She never even took her warmups off, which made me think there was something else. Christina is not a great shooter, but she brings energy and rebounding. On the other hand, Alexa is a turnover waiting to happen, can't keep anyone in front of her on defense, and often leads to a breakaway the other direction when her 3-point shot clangs off the rim.
Doyle has some Sam Logic in her, IMO. As a freshman, I thought Logic would never make it, but the energy and intensity are great. Doyle brings this plus she may already be one of the best defensive players on the team. Yes, she had a couple of turnovers last night that made you scratch your head, but her overall game is very good for a freshman.
I had the same flashbacks to Logic's first year. And let me add some kudos for another FR, Makenzie Meyer. She stepped up huge in crunch time. I loved how she drove hard to the basket and got a layup or got fouled, something they have lacked. MSU was not prepared for that. And then she nailed almost all of her FTs. They would not have won the game without her contribution. The future does look bright.
I also have to add that sitting near the Iowa bench, I heard every word of Lisa's tirade to the team 5 minutes into the game when they started out lackadaisical and already down 13-1. The message got through.
Alexa was 0 for 3 and 1 TO, but otherwise filled in ok in my opinion. Jan Jensen did the post game.
Why will Lisa not foul Jankoska at the end of regulation with a 3 pt lead? They had the chance to put her on the line with about 6 or 7 seconds left, and I realize she would have made both free throws. Iowa lost the game at Minnesota last year, and there Lisa even had a foul to give, instead let Banham throw up a three that you just knew would go in.
Why will Lisa not foul Jankoska at the end of regulation with a 3 pt lead? They had the chance to put her on the line with about 6 or 7 seconds left, and I realize she would have made both free throws. Iowa lost the game at Minnesota last year, and there Lisa even had a foul to give, instead let Banham throw up a three that you just knew would go in.
Agree on Doyle and Meyer. In fact at the very end of OT, the five on the floor were standing there talking to Lisa, and I thought what a gritty bunch of kids who had just played their guts out.
The way Jankoska was shooting they were probably afraid of a 4 point play, which was they only way they could lose. Jankoska was 5-13 from 3pt but the makes all came at the end. They had fouled her earlier in the game and as soon as the whistle blew she threw up a shot and got FTs.
I have to disagree here. Buttenham turns the ball over worse than Kastanek. Her turnovers are mostly unforced. Her ball handling skills are a bit suspicious. Kastanek does not turn the ball over if she is not forcing something. Buttenham really is not a guard. Kastanek is.
On the other hand, Buttenham is probably the quickest player on the team right now. Last night, whenever Iowa got a turnover and started a "fast break", it was excruciating to watch, especially if it was Disterhoft leading the break with her steady dribbling. The Davis-Jennings fast break that the coaches had envisioned just wasn't to be.
Maybe Buttenham turns over too much because she plays too fast.
Maybe Buttenham turns over too much because she plays too fast.
It was an impressive victory for the team just because of the unfortunate circumstances, but what impressed me the most was the determination they showed after falling behind by so much as the game was just starting and the composure they showed late in the 4th quarter and in OT.
This was the first time this group had ever started a game together. Being this late in the season and against an important opponent, this game bodes well for the rest of the season and in future seasons. It was also important for the conference standings and seeding for the B1G tournament.
Iowa has Northwestern (6-4) at home as well as Indiana (6-5) and Purdue (6-5) on the road which will no doubt have a huge impact on the standings from 4th to 9th places.
This was the first time this group had ever started a game together. Being this late in the season and against an important opponent, this game bodes well for the rest of the season and in future seasons. It was also important for the conference standings and seeding for the B1G tournament.
Iowa has Northwestern (6-4) at home as well as Indiana (6-5) and Purdue (6-5) on the road which will no doubt have a huge impact on the standings from 4th to 9th places.
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I think it was Cera's best game of the season. The scouting report was to obviously back off her to fill the lane & she made them pay with a few long balls. Hopefully she keeps shooting it with confidence & can finish at the basket a little better too. Good defense as usual.
Bree played great. Love her toughness. Great D and rebounder. She's going to be a great player for us.
Not sure why any one would have any thing negative to say about Doyle. We are seriously lucky to have gotten her. She is in my opinion the best player in the freshman class. She is so solid on both ends of the floor and is big ten ready. I would of hated going against her at Nebraska. I'm wowed every time she plays. I think she will end up being better than Sam Logic. She is a better athlete.
I hope she doesn't read this board, because if she does, I'm sure she had trouble sleeping last night.
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