What went wrong and how to fix it
Tom Kakert | Publisher
After a tough season, Fran McCaffery has to figure out his roster and improve the defense.
One of the more unexpected seasons of Iowa basketball came to a close this past week Even though how this story would end hasn’t been in doubt for quite some time, it still has Hawkeye fans scratching their heads.
Most experts saw this Iowa team as a potential bubble team heading into the season. Instead, the Hawkeyes stumbled to a 14-19 overall record and finished 4-14 in conference play, which was the same mark in league play achieved by the Todd Lickliter led squad in his final year.
It’s safe to say that after a pretty drama free first seven years in Iowa City, Fran McCaffery has hit a significant bump in the road. After inheriting a program that was in the dumps, he built it up from the ground floor and made Iowa basketball relevant once again with three straight NCAA Tournament appearances and three straight years of finishing fifth or better in the Big Ten Conference, along with five straight years in the upper half of the league.
McCaffery’s seat isn’t warm heading into the 2018-19 year. He’s certainly built up enough equity in the first seven years to withstand one year where the bottom fell out. The key moving forward is will this be a one year blip or a sign of things to come. If it’s the latter, then I would expect his seat to become warm to hot one year from now.
To fix any problem, you first have to examine what went right and more importantly what went wrong and then make the correct adjustments to repair it. I don’t think anyone believes Iowa basketball is broken and beyond repair. There’s talent on the roster and if the final game of the season taught up anything, it’s that the Hawkeyes could play with anyone when they are focused.
WHAT WENT RIGHT
Iowa’s offense was actually very good this season.
This season, Iowa averaged 79.7 points per game, which is the third highest total of the McCaffery era. The Hawkeyes ended up shooting 47.9% from the floor in 2017-18 and that was by far the best in the last eight years. The previous high was 46.3% in the 2013-14 season. The Hawkeyes shot 37.5% on three point field goals, which is right on par with the previous two seasons and is ranked 65th in D1 college basketball.
According to KenPom.com, Iowa’s effective field goal percentage this season was 54.3%, which ranks 55th nationally and it was the best of any Hawkeye team under McCaffery. Iowa’s adjusted offensive efficiency, which measures points scored based on 100 possessions against an average defense, was 116.9, which ranks the Hawkeyes 22nd in all of college basketball. Those numbers are pretty good and should win you a lot of basketball games.
On an individual basis, Jordan Bohannon and Tyler Cook, as expected, improved their numbers at all levels. Cook’s scoring average jumped from 12.3 per game as a freshman to 15.3 this season. His rebounding numbers went up from 5.3 to 6.8 per game. His free throw jumped from 73 made in his first year to 121 and his percentage made went from 59.8% to 66.1%.
Bohannon, who a planter fascia issue in his foot this season, saw his scoring average jump from 10.9 last year to 13.5 this season. His made field goal percentage went up from 38.8% to 42.3% and from three, it jumped from 41.6% to 43.0%. The Iowa point guard actually had fewer turnovers this year, 68, compared to last season when he had 76. Meanwhile his assists went from 175 to 178 with one fewer game played. His two year total of 353 assists is already the 9th most in Iowa basketball history with two years remaining. At his current pace, he’s going to shatter Jeff Horner’s career mark of 612 assists.
The sophomore point guard is also climbing the rankings for three point field goals made as a Hawkeye. He already has 185 made three’s in his career and if he hits his average from the first two years next season, he will becomes Iowa’s all times leader in made three’s by the end of his junior year, passing Horner’s total of 262.
Another individual positive was the play of Luka Garza. The four star freshman big man lived up to expectations in his first year, averaging 12.1 points and 6.4 rebounds. His 211 rebounds is the most ever by an Iowa freshman and his 400 points scored is the 4th most by a first year player in school history. He and fellow freshman Jack Nunge combined to average 17.8 points and 9.2 rebounds per game this season.
WHAT WENT WRONG
It’s the defense.
There’s no two ways about it, Iowa’s defense was bad this year.
Iowa allowed opponents to averaged 78.7 points per game. Last season, Iowa allowed 78.1 points per game and the trend continued this season. Prior to the last two years, under McCaffery, the Hawkeyes had never allowed more than 72.5 points per game.
Opponents shot 46.2% from the field against the Hawkeyes this season, which is the highest total of the McCaffery era and ranks 288th out of 351 D1 schools. As you might expect, the Hawkeyes three point field goal defense was also poor. Opponents shot 37.6% from three against Iowa this year, which ranks 301st out of 351 D1 schools.
According to KenPom.com, Iowa’s adjusted defensive efficiency was 109.1 points per game, which is 249th in the country. From power conferences, only Washington State was worse than Iowa in this category. The effective field goal percentage against Iowa this year according to KenPom.com was 53.1%, which was 277th in all of college basketball.
Another stat that is very telling regarding Iowa’s defensive woes was the number of steals this season. Iowa had only 172 steals. That’s down from 252 last year and marks the first time in the McCaffery era that Iowa was below 200 steals for a season.
As you might expect, Iowa’s creation of turnovers also took a tumble. This year that number was at 356, which ranks 323rd in the country. The previous lowest total under McCaffery at Iowa was 417.
Given that McCaffery’s teams like to try and create turnovers and play in transition, this, along with the struggles defending in the halfcourt, led to a historically bad defensive team under Fran McCaffery.
WHAT WENT WRONG PART 2
As you might expect, there were other factors that contributed to Iowa’s disappointing season.
First, team leadership never seemed to develop to the level that was necessary.
Under McCaffery, Iowa has had several very good senior leaders, starting with Jarryd Cole and Matt Gatens in the early years and including Devyn Marble, Aaron White, Adam Woodbury, Mike Gesell, Jarrod Uthoff, Anthony Clemmons, and Peter Jok.
This year, there was no natural veteran leader. Dom Uhl was the only scholarship senior and he didn’t play a prominent role, so it was hard for him to lead. That meant that the leadership fell to Nicholas Baer, Jordan Bohannon, and Tyler Cook. While all three are capable of being leaders, it’s hard to be a team leader when you are on the younger side, like Bohannon and Cook are as college players.
With Baer, I think the broken finger that he sustained just before the start of the season led to his year being a bit sideways. Baer was coming off being named 6th man of the year in the conference the previous season, averaging 7.5 points and 5.8 rebounds. He missed nearly a month of action, probably pressed a bit when he came back, and bounced between being a starter and coming off the bench. His three point field goal percentage, which was at nearly 40% in his first two years, fell to 30.7% this year. The number of steals by Baer dropped from 48 last year to 27 this season.
None of this is to blame Baer in the slightest, but just to say, the broken finger right before the season seemed to impact his performance this year. When that happens, it’s more difficult to lead.
Isaiah Moss didn’t become the consistent scoring threat we thought he might be this season. Moss was supposed to take over the role filled last season by Peter Jok. While no one thought the sophomore guard would lead the Big Ten in scoring like Jok did as a senior, he was inconsistent in conference play.
Moss averaged 10.3 points per game in league play and showed flashes of brilliance, like the 32 points he poured in at Minnesota, including 19 in the final two minutes of the game. However, he scored in double figures in only 9 of the 20 games against Big Ten teams. Iowa needed that to be in the upper teens this year and it didn’t happen. I think it will come for Moss and better days are ahead.
Lastly, for whatever reason, the departure of Christian Williams prior to the first exhibition game really seemed to impact team chemistry. The Hawkeyes played very well on their foreign tour and on and off the floor they appeared to be a pretty cohesive unit. When Williams departure was announced on October 26th, it caught the coaches and his teammates completely off guard. He was a well-liked teammate and team chemistry on the floor suffered.
Iowa’s already thin guard court was one player thinner and then after Williams leaves, Iowa’s other reserve point guard, Connor McCaffery, gets hurt. The original plan was for the true freshman son of Iowa’s head coach to redshirt and play baseball for the Hawkeyes this year. With Williams gone, those plans changed.
McCaffery suffered a sprained ankle and then was diagnosed with mono and missed time. He eventually made it back on the floor, but was never healthy and eventually had his tonsils removed and had other complications from that procedure. He played in just four games before shutting it down for the year.
The Williams departure and health issues for McCaffery really impacted Iowa’s guard depth.
Tom Kakert | Publisher
After a tough season, Fran McCaffery has to figure out his roster and improve the defense.
One of the more unexpected seasons of Iowa basketball came to a close this past week Even though how this story would end hasn’t been in doubt for quite some time, it still has Hawkeye fans scratching their heads.
Most experts saw this Iowa team as a potential bubble team heading into the season. Instead, the Hawkeyes stumbled to a 14-19 overall record and finished 4-14 in conference play, which was the same mark in league play achieved by the Todd Lickliter led squad in his final year.
It’s safe to say that after a pretty drama free first seven years in Iowa City, Fran McCaffery has hit a significant bump in the road. After inheriting a program that was in the dumps, he built it up from the ground floor and made Iowa basketball relevant once again with three straight NCAA Tournament appearances and three straight years of finishing fifth or better in the Big Ten Conference, along with five straight years in the upper half of the league.
McCaffery’s seat isn’t warm heading into the 2018-19 year. He’s certainly built up enough equity in the first seven years to withstand one year where the bottom fell out. The key moving forward is will this be a one year blip or a sign of things to come. If it’s the latter, then I would expect his seat to become warm to hot one year from now.
To fix any problem, you first have to examine what went right and more importantly what went wrong and then make the correct adjustments to repair it. I don’t think anyone believes Iowa basketball is broken and beyond repair. There’s talent on the roster and if the final game of the season taught up anything, it’s that the Hawkeyes could play with anyone when they are focused.
WHAT WENT RIGHT
Iowa’s offense was actually very good this season.
This season, Iowa averaged 79.7 points per game, which is the third highest total of the McCaffery era. The Hawkeyes ended up shooting 47.9% from the floor in 2017-18 and that was by far the best in the last eight years. The previous high was 46.3% in the 2013-14 season. The Hawkeyes shot 37.5% on three point field goals, which is right on par with the previous two seasons and is ranked 65th in D1 college basketball.
According to KenPom.com, Iowa’s effective field goal percentage this season was 54.3%, which ranks 55th nationally and it was the best of any Hawkeye team under McCaffery. Iowa’s adjusted offensive efficiency, which measures points scored based on 100 possessions against an average defense, was 116.9, which ranks the Hawkeyes 22nd in all of college basketball. Those numbers are pretty good and should win you a lot of basketball games.
On an individual basis, Jordan Bohannon and Tyler Cook, as expected, improved their numbers at all levels. Cook’s scoring average jumped from 12.3 per game as a freshman to 15.3 this season. His rebounding numbers went up from 5.3 to 6.8 per game. His free throw jumped from 73 made in his first year to 121 and his percentage made went from 59.8% to 66.1%.
Bohannon, who a planter fascia issue in his foot this season, saw his scoring average jump from 10.9 last year to 13.5 this season. His made field goal percentage went up from 38.8% to 42.3% and from three, it jumped from 41.6% to 43.0%. The Iowa point guard actually had fewer turnovers this year, 68, compared to last season when he had 76. Meanwhile his assists went from 175 to 178 with one fewer game played. His two year total of 353 assists is already the 9th most in Iowa basketball history with two years remaining. At his current pace, he’s going to shatter Jeff Horner’s career mark of 612 assists.
The sophomore point guard is also climbing the rankings for three point field goals made as a Hawkeye. He already has 185 made three’s in his career and if he hits his average from the first two years next season, he will becomes Iowa’s all times leader in made three’s by the end of his junior year, passing Horner’s total of 262.
Another individual positive was the play of Luka Garza. The four star freshman big man lived up to expectations in his first year, averaging 12.1 points and 6.4 rebounds. His 211 rebounds is the most ever by an Iowa freshman and his 400 points scored is the 4th most by a first year player in school history. He and fellow freshman Jack Nunge combined to average 17.8 points and 9.2 rebounds per game this season.
WHAT WENT WRONG
It’s the defense.
There’s no two ways about it, Iowa’s defense was bad this year.
Iowa allowed opponents to averaged 78.7 points per game. Last season, Iowa allowed 78.1 points per game and the trend continued this season. Prior to the last two years, under McCaffery, the Hawkeyes had never allowed more than 72.5 points per game.
Opponents shot 46.2% from the field against the Hawkeyes this season, which is the highest total of the McCaffery era and ranks 288th out of 351 D1 schools. As you might expect, the Hawkeyes three point field goal defense was also poor. Opponents shot 37.6% from three against Iowa this year, which ranks 301st out of 351 D1 schools.
According to KenPom.com, Iowa’s adjusted defensive efficiency was 109.1 points per game, which is 249th in the country. From power conferences, only Washington State was worse than Iowa in this category. The effective field goal percentage against Iowa this year according to KenPom.com was 53.1%, which was 277th in all of college basketball.
Another stat that is very telling regarding Iowa’s defensive woes was the number of steals this season. Iowa had only 172 steals. That’s down from 252 last year and marks the first time in the McCaffery era that Iowa was below 200 steals for a season.
As you might expect, Iowa’s creation of turnovers also took a tumble. This year that number was at 356, which ranks 323rd in the country. The previous lowest total under McCaffery at Iowa was 417.
Given that McCaffery’s teams like to try and create turnovers and play in transition, this, along with the struggles defending in the halfcourt, led to a historically bad defensive team under Fran McCaffery.
WHAT WENT WRONG PART 2
As you might expect, there were other factors that contributed to Iowa’s disappointing season.
First, team leadership never seemed to develop to the level that was necessary.
Under McCaffery, Iowa has had several very good senior leaders, starting with Jarryd Cole and Matt Gatens in the early years and including Devyn Marble, Aaron White, Adam Woodbury, Mike Gesell, Jarrod Uthoff, Anthony Clemmons, and Peter Jok.
This year, there was no natural veteran leader. Dom Uhl was the only scholarship senior and he didn’t play a prominent role, so it was hard for him to lead. That meant that the leadership fell to Nicholas Baer, Jordan Bohannon, and Tyler Cook. While all three are capable of being leaders, it’s hard to be a team leader when you are on the younger side, like Bohannon and Cook are as college players.
With Baer, I think the broken finger that he sustained just before the start of the season led to his year being a bit sideways. Baer was coming off being named 6th man of the year in the conference the previous season, averaging 7.5 points and 5.8 rebounds. He missed nearly a month of action, probably pressed a bit when he came back, and bounced between being a starter and coming off the bench. His three point field goal percentage, which was at nearly 40% in his first two years, fell to 30.7% this year. The number of steals by Baer dropped from 48 last year to 27 this season.
None of this is to blame Baer in the slightest, but just to say, the broken finger right before the season seemed to impact his performance this year. When that happens, it’s more difficult to lead.
Isaiah Moss didn’t become the consistent scoring threat we thought he might be this season. Moss was supposed to take over the role filled last season by Peter Jok. While no one thought the sophomore guard would lead the Big Ten in scoring like Jok did as a senior, he was inconsistent in conference play.
Moss averaged 10.3 points per game in league play and showed flashes of brilliance, like the 32 points he poured in at Minnesota, including 19 in the final two minutes of the game. However, he scored in double figures in only 9 of the 20 games against Big Ten teams. Iowa needed that to be in the upper teens this year and it didn’t happen. I think it will come for Moss and better days are ahead.
Lastly, for whatever reason, the departure of Christian Williams prior to the first exhibition game really seemed to impact team chemistry. The Hawkeyes played very well on their foreign tour and on and off the floor they appeared to be a pretty cohesive unit. When Williams departure was announced on October 26th, it caught the coaches and his teammates completely off guard. He was a well-liked teammate and team chemistry on the floor suffered.
Iowa’s already thin guard court was one player thinner and then after Williams leaves, Iowa’s other reserve point guard, Connor McCaffery, gets hurt. The original plan was for the true freshman son of Iowa’s head coach to redshirt and play baseball for the Hawkeyes this year. With Williams gone, those plans changed.
McCaffery suffered a sprained ankle and then was diagnosed with mono and missed time. He eventually made it back on the floor, but was never healthy and eventually had his tonsils removed and had other complications from that procedure. He played in just four games before shutting it down for the year.
The Williams departure and health issues for McCaffery really impacted Iowa’s guard depth.
