What a win! Game thoughts...

[skydog0784]

Outstanding performances:
1. Kris obviously. Every time we needed a bucket, he came up big. Really carried us offensively all night.
2. Filip. In most nights, he would be the MVP in any given game. What a warrior. We don't win tonight without him.
3. Saucy - confidence and contributions grew through out the night.

I almost put Fran as #3, he really was brilliant tonight. He really made some great adjustments.

Great win, a lot of emotion by SH to begin the game. Hawks were in control from the 15 minute mark in the first half to the end of the game.

Well done gentlemen!

 

[BustingNarratives]

Biggest improvement is overall team D. We are guarding at the perimeter so much better. That also translates in to more road wins when you may not be shooting the ball that well.

 

[Bearhawk0505]

I liked the toughness and ball handling of the lineup closing the game out. Glad Fran stuck with a short rotation.

 

[BioHawk]

That's the best defense I've seen a Fran coached team have this early in the season in a really long time. I'm not sure if it's because Iowa is really good or Seton Hall isn't very good, but I like what I saw tonight, that's for sure.

 

[unoHawkeye]

I liked the toughness and ball handling of the lineup closing the game out. Glad Fran stuck with a short rotation.

Not to mention free throw shooting! This team is built to get stops and scores late in games

 

[pocha444444]

Murray and Perkins obviously were great. Hawks playing good defense so far this season (didn't watch the 2nd game). We do have very little depth, can't afford any injuries.

 

[unoHawkeye]

Murray and Perkins obviously were great. Hawks playing good defense so far this season (didn't watch the 2nd game). We do have very little depth, can't afford any injuries.

I was also surprised to see Fran go (in essence) only seven deep. I would expect Big O/Mulvey to log some minutes against teams with bigger forwards/centers and Bowen to log more minutes as the season goes on. Maybe Dix reaches a point this year where he can spell guys for a few minutes also?

 

[TampaHawkfan]

That's the best defense I've seen a Fran coached team have this early in the season in a really long time. I'm not sure if it's because Iowa is really good or Seton Hall isn't very good, but I like what I saw tonight, that's for sure.

I was thinking of the Virginia game last year. UVA was scoring nearly every possession in the 2nd half last year, and Iowa basically held on because they had a big lead. I was basically expecting the same tonight, except this team was getting some stops. Well done! I was surprised.

 

[pocha444444]

I was also surprised to see Fran go (in essence) only seven deep. I would expect Big O/Mulvey to log some minutes against teams with bigger forwards/centers and Bowen to log more minutes as the season goes on. Maybe Dix reaches a point this year where he can spell guys for a few minutes also?

I have called for him to shorten the bench in the past, but this year it seems it may be more out of necessity. Yes it would be great if Bowen and/or Dix could develop into quality rotation pieces. Haven't seen enough yet, lot of season to go though.

 

[birthhawk]

Perkins, Connor, and Rebraca bring another mentality that recent Iowa players haven't had. They don't fold with the physical college game. Murray is getting it.

 

[kellerm]

This was the toughest performance I’ve seen from Iowa guards in the Fran McCaffrey era. Despite the aggressive D Tony and Uhlis were able to penetrate and dish or finish on a regular basis. That has not been a trait of point guards or any guards in the Fran era. It was the type of guard play we have all been longing for. Hawks won because our guards made them pay for being too aggressive. And many other positives, defense rebounding, ball security, etc.. but the penetration our guards got repeatedly against an excellent defense was a thing of beauty.

 

[birthhawk]

This was the toughest performance I’ve seen from Iowa guards in the Fran McCaffrey era. Despite the aggressive D Tony and Uhlis were able to penetrate and dish or finish on a regular basis. That has not been a trait of point guards or any guards in the Fran era. It was the type of guard play we have all been longing for. Hawks won because our guards made them pay for being too aggressive. And many other positives, defense rebounding, ball security, etc.. but the penetration our guards got repeatedly against an excellent defense was a thing of beauty.

Yup. I should have added Ulis, although I wish he could finish better.

 

[denmar81]

Improvement on D, is that a result of the addition of Gatens?

 

[unoHawkeye]

Improvement on D, is that a result of the addition of Gatens?

imo, it’s the result of lengthy perimeter defenders who are really athletic. Bohannon struggled to keep guys in front of him on defense and Toussaint was pretty undersized

 

[perryhawk]

I think this was a damn good road win against an athletic and tough team…..with Payton having an off night (which I don’t think will happen very often).

 

[skydog0784]

Perkins, Connor, and Rebraca bring another mentality that recent Iowa players haven't had. They don't fold with the physical college game. Murray is getting it.

I like this post... Three tough, warriors that will hopefully influence the other guys...

 

[ZumaHawk]

I think handling the pressure was because CMac AU & TP were in there together late in the game. Seemed to be a calm presence!

 

[BBptg5]

Improvement on D, is that a result of the addition of Gatens?

with our size and added quickness we are able to switch more without getting hurt by post ups.

 

[HerkysDad]

Just when you thought the bottom was going to drop out….they fought back to a 10 to 12 pt lead. Filip played an excellent game. So did Murray and Perkins.

 

[perryhawk]

Kris played the way we hoped he would...looked great.
Rebraca looking good.
Tony brings it....18 points and 5 Asst?
Patrick was okay....he will be better
Payton was off....he will be much better

I thought that Ulis was a very strong player off the bench for us. Handled it well against physical pressure and actually made some shots. I think that's big for his confidence. His free throw shooting was really good and that is something that we need from a PG.

Connor was his steady and valuable self...great role player.

Good to see both DB and JD get off the bench tonight if even for a short time. Good experience on the road in a tough environment. We are going to need these two guys before the year is over. 7 deep will wear us down.

I think it speaks really well for the mental toughness of this team to get down right out of the shoot at the start of the game against and aggressive and physical team......and just steady themselves and fight back.

Then they fought off several charges from SH as well. It seemed that in the first half we played SH's pace.....and then in the second half they played ours. As good and physical as their defense was against the chump team I saw them play earlier.....they eventually lost some of their energy and ended up doing more reaching and getting themselves in foul trouble against us. I think part of that is them playing from behind and part of that is our continual running and defensive press...

Very very good day for Iowa basketball with Dembele signing on and then getting this win.

 

[Bro D]

That's the best defense I've seen a Fran coached team have this early in the season in a really long time. I'm not sure if it's because Iowa is really good or Seton Hall isn't very good, but I like what I saw tonight, that's for sure.

I think its both but we left alot of points out there. The d looks great. Said in another thread but 2 of our guys are gonna go off. Next game could be pmac and peyton. Fun

 

[vgshwk]

I liked the toughness and ball handling of the lineup closing the game out. Glad Fran stuck with a short rotation.

Easier to stay with a shorter rotation when your games are 5 days apart not so much if you have 3 games in 7 days.

 

[hawksense]

If you play defense like this, on a bad offensive night for iowa(65-70), you’re still in the game. Pure speculation.

 

[MrsScrew]

Nice win over the shu. 👏

 

[sm_hawkeye]

Seton Hall appears to have a roster that is pretty talented but wow on some of the shot selection. Too many mistakes on defensive positioning or missed assignments.

Good performance from Iowa but they really should have blew the doors off this game much earlier. Too many missed layups or poor fast break efforts in the first half. That 6min stretch where everyone excluding Murray were shooting 10% was worrisome.

Sandfort didn’t seem too comfortable taking shots with defensive closing on him. Hopefully they can figure out how to utilize him better even if he’s having an off shooting night. But overall team has to feel good to get a win on the road against that roster. I could see Seton Hall having a mix of ugly loses and impressive wins, potential develop into a much better team by February.

 

[DodgerHawki]

I was also surprised to see Fran go (in essence) only seven deep. I would expect Big O/Mulvey to log some minutes against teams with bigger forwards/centers and Bowen to log more minutes as the season goes on. Maybe Dix reaches a point this year where he can spell guys for a few minutes also?

It's fine. Dix and Bowen will have their moments, just may not be a ton of those moments this year. If you notice who played well, it was all the older guys. First game against a real opponent, a team that could match Iowa athletically, on the road, all the older guys who came through.

I would guess Mulvey/Ogundele will only play when the opponent is huge and they are needed for a few minutes (Purdue). Even Sandfordt found out it's much different when you are starting and the opponent has good athletes who follow the scouting report. He will be fine, he's a good player and will have other games this year where he scores a lot.

I have no real issues with Murray playing 37 minutes, Rebraca 35 and Perkins 34. They were all key last night. That's a big deal Rebraca was able to play defense without fouling (same for Murray). Those are all older players who can handle heavy minutes, and they are needed against good teams.

 

[DodgerHawki]

Seton Hall appears to have a roster that is pretty talented but wow on some of the shot selection. Too many mistakes on defensive positioning or missed assignments.

Good performance from Iowa but they really should have blew the doors off this game much earlier. Too many missed layups or poor fast break efforts in the first half. That 6min stretch where everyone excluding Murray were shooting 10% was worrisome.

Sandfort didn’t seem too comfortable taking shots with defensive closing on him. Hopefully they can figure out how to utilize him better even if he’s having an off shooting night. But overall team has to feel good to get a win on the road against that roster. I could see Seton Hall having a mix of ugly loses and impressive wins, potential develop into a much better team by February.

The game was a pick-em or 1-point either way by Vegas. Iowa trailed by 7 about 4 minutes in and ended up winning by 16. Seton Hall is not terrible, they are decent to good. Iowa was not going to blow the doors off that team at their place. Yes, Iowa had a stretch where they couldn't make shots. That is basketball. The good news Iowa kept Seton Hall from scoring too. The 3's never did go in (5-16) and Iowa still found a way to be efficient by making 28-33 free throws and protecting the ball while turning Seton Hall over a bunch. That is good basketball, finding a way to get it done when the shots don't go in.

Sandfordt will be fine. He's finding out it's much different when you are a starter and the opponent has you on the scouting report. He had zero pressure last year, could just come in and bombs away. If they didn't go in, no big deal he wasn't going to play a lot of minutes anyway. He is a good player, he'll adjust and have big games.

 

[Packer54]

I found myself in an interesting mental spot when we were down 10-2 early. I was just thinking "settle down and it will be ok". I was not really worried and sure enough Kris started dropping some shots and the defense showed up and the boys controlled the balance of the game by 24 points. So many good things that happened that have already been pointed out. Kris was fantastic. Same for Tony. Ulis provided really solid minutes and my favorite of the nite was Rebraca. He was battling HARD on both ends all nite. The block from behind at the end of the first half was a perfect example of that...don't stop, don't give up, keep fighting.
We had a subpar offensive nite (83 points!) and controlled the game after the first 4 minutes or so. Really nice win for the guys.

Edit: I will have to say seeing the guys shoot MANY FTs at a 85% clip feels good as well!

 

[twindman]

It's fine. Dix and Bowen will have their moments, just may not be a ton of those moments this year. If you res a lot.

I have no real issues with Murray playing 37 minutes, Rebraca 35 and Perkins 34. They were all key last night. That's a big deal Rebraca was able to play defense without fouling (same for Murray). Those are all older players who can handle heavy minutes, and they are needed against good teams.

Playing this many minutes will not work when we play a couple (or more) games in a short span. We really had no one to spell Kris and Filip - as we all knew to start the year.
I was disappointed in Payton. You can have an off shooting night, but he also had no FTs, no rebounds, and no steals. In the past he got a few boards along the way.

 

[Hawk_4shur]

Did not shoot the lights out and still put up 84. And they did it without a true contribution by Sandfort.

Absolute money at the FT line in the 2nd half.

I really liked the way they kept going inside instead of hoisting up 3's in the 2nd half.

The Murray/Perkins show playing to a packed house. Love it.

 

[BustingNarratives]

Playing this many minutes will not work when we play a couple (or more) games in a short span. We really had no one to spell Kris and Filip - as we all knew to start the year.
I was disappointed in Payton. You can have an off shooting night, but he also had no FTs, no rebounds, and no steals. In the past he got a few boards along the way.

We don’t have another game for 5 days so Fran could extend their minutes last night. Going to need Sandfort to be on the floor and hitting 3s when Kris is out. Josh and Riley are going to have to get some minutes to spell Rebraca down the road.

 

[BrunoMars420]

imo, it’s the result of lengthy perimeter defenders who are really athletic. Bohannon struggled to keep guys in front of him on defense and Toussaint was pretty undersized

Yup we don’t have to play a Jbo type guard on defense anymore. Perkins and Ulis are excellent on ball defenders

 

[unclesammy]

Playing this many minutes will not work when we play a couple (or more) games in a short span. We really had no one to spell Kris and Filip - as we all knew to start the year.
I was disappointed in Payton. You can have an off shooting night, but he also had no FTs, no rebounds, and no steals. In the past he got a few boards along the way.

Payton had a subpar game, but he did have 2 free throws and 2 rebounds.

 

[DodgerHawki]

Playing this many minutes will not work when we play a couple (or more) games in a short span. We really had no one to spell Kris and Filip - as we all knew to start the year.
I was disappointed in Payton. You can have an off shooting night, but he also had no FTs, no rebounds, and no steals. In the past he got a few boards along the way.

Why will that not work? Look at how many minutes guys play for other top teams. Against good competition, the best players are on the court a lot. Keegan Murray played 35+ minutes every game down the stretch for Iowa last year, with the exception of the Northwestern game in the BTT, where they blew out Northwestern. They didn't lose to Richmond because of too many minutes, they had 4 rest days. Hawks just didn't play well.

There is really no one to spell Kris, no one has anywhere near the skill set that he does. That is fine, he is one of the 5-10 best players in the country. It does mean that if Kr. Murray gets in foul trouble, Iowa is in more trouble than last year. They had Kr. Murray who could play last year, they don't have the luxury of another great player sitting on the bench.

Sandfordt had 2 rebounds. His activity was fine. He just didn't play well. The fawning stories about him being ready to be a great player were probably a bit premature. He will have his moments, but last night was not one of them.

 

[Rifler]

Payton had a subpar game, but he did have 2 free throws and 2 rebounds.

Seton Hall was a tough match up for Payton, as he tends to get most of his opportunities in space,.. Tight floor last night,.. Good practice for future opponents like Badgers & Spartans.

 

[nyhawk52]

Yup we don’t have to play a Jbo type guard on defense anymore. Perkins and Ulis are excellent on ball defenders

yes, so sweet not to see the constant blow by

 

[Hawk_4shur]

SH guards did manage to get inside a lot, but they were forced to take difficult shots and missed a lot of them

 

[HawkLogic]

Perkins, Connor, and Rebraca bring another mentality that recent Iowa players haven't had. They don't fold with the physical college game. Murray is getting it.

Kris Murray "got it" last year. His stats last year were outstanding on a per minute basis--2nd only to Keegan, but he was constrained by Playing time/rotation strategy.

This is pretty good Iowa team and they gotta play this type of hard nosed defense if they want to win more than 1 game in NCAA tourney.

Rebracca looks to have made a big step forward in his defense and rebounding. Kris Murray is a star and Perkins is 2nd best player and close to All big level. CMAC if he hits the open "3" becomes somewhat similar to the role Gasser played on the great Wisconsin team that finished 2nd in the nation. Bowen may develop, PMAC is pretty good offensively and looks to be putting in more effort on defense. Ulis is a good defender and Sandfort is potentially a great scorer/shooter, though he didn't show much vs Seton hall.

 

[RobSipe11]

In the past, I am going to say Fran's teams have been more of a "Finesse" team. Not necessarily saying soft, but definitely not as physically or mentally tough as many of their opponents. Last night they were tough. I loved seeing that.

 

[TheRealHerky]

yes, so sweet not to see the constant blow by

It was Perkins and Ulis doing the blowing by . What a difference to have tough guards that can penetrate for a change.