X 's & O's Talk

[hawk_it]

I too had very high expectations this year. I've adjusted my expectations and now am enjoying the games much better. Looking forward to watching the growth of this team.
Obviously this will be a very challenging year for Fran and Staff and there is a lot to work on. Injuries have not helped.

What areas do you see team growth and what area's do you see team need?

Growth:
1) Better coordination between guards and bigs on defense against ball screens (edit: as seen in the ISU game).

Work:
1) cutting down silly TO's --->should be fixable
2) Poise on offense
3) Telegraphed passing or staring at the target too long ---> should be fixable
3) match up zone defense ???

 

[Crazy Hawk]

The scary thing to me is that most everything you point out in needing growth or areas of work...well, those things have been issues for a good portion of McCaffery's tenure.

 

[hawk-i bob]

I too had very high expectations this year. I've adjusted my expectations and now am enjoying the games much better. Looking forward to watching the growth of this team.
Obviously this will be a very challenging year for Fran and Staff and there is a lot to work on. Injuries have not helped.

What areas do you see team growth and what area's do you see team need?

Growth:
1) Better coordination between guards and bigs on defense against ball screens.

Work:
1) cutting down silly TO's --->should be fixable
2) Poise on offense
3) Telegraphed passing or staring at the target too long --->
3) match up zone defense ???

you cant start a thread that actually involves basketball discussion without getting the reply you got. This is what Hawkeye Report has become...this is why I dont fund it anymore.

suggestion pick those posters you feel you can carry on an adult conversation with (without player/coach bashing) and use the conversation tool...no dont include me ...I am with enough other posters.

It also allows for recruiting info & conversation that cant be said here.

Like you I felt (still do) we have talent..I also mentioned that it was a matter of how long it would take to put things together....I dont make preseason predictions so cant fall on the sword (although I think some would hope I could)...but I didnt think it would be this bad until we get there.

Turnovers...we are not good enough defensively to commit 18 TO's to opponents 8...many of the turnovers are unforced..I dont think its because our guys dont care...they do...when things start going side ways...we seem to try to make passes that are just not there...

So thats my take...

 

[icwesthawk]

It looked to me like we played our most complete game of the year last nite. We had chances to win and kept throwing the ball away. This game was a loss when I looked at the schedule and we were in it late with a chance to win. No participation medals here, just looks like we are getting better.

 

[Crazy Hawk]

you cant start a thread that actually involves basketball discussion without getting the reply you got. This is what Hawkeye Report has become...this is why I dont fund it anymore.

suggestion pick those posters you feel you can carry on an adult conversation with (without player/coach bashing) and use the conversation tool...no dont include me ...I am with enough other posters.

It also allows for recruiting info & conversation that cant be said here.

Like you I felt (still do) we have talent..I also mentioned that it was a matter of how long it would take to put things together....I dont make preseason predictions so cant fall on the sword (although I think some would hope I could)...but I didnt think it would be this bad until we get there.

Turnovers...we are not good enough defensively to commit 18 TO's to opponents 8...many of the turnovers are unforced..I dont think its because our guys dont care...they do...when things start going side ways...we seem to try to make passes that are just not there...

So thats my take...

Lets talk basketball:

Growth:
1) Better coordination between guards and bigs on defense against ball screens (edit: as seen in the ISU game).

This has been a problem most of McCaffery's tenure. The only span where it wasn't an issue was when you had Woodbury (who was one of the best complete defenders McCaffery has had) who would hedge like a man.

Work:
1) cutting down silly TO's --->should be fixable...I agree...this is very fixable.
2) Poise on offense....Any time McCaffery has been held to a half court game the offense has struggled. Spacing, balance, passing and not having a quality point guard are the main reasons for this. You need someone who can create not only for himself but more importantly for others. Under McCaffery Iowa has not had a point guard that requires extra attention for other defenders.
3) Telegraphed passing or staring at the target too long ---> should be fixable....another that should be fixable by just improving the angles in which these passes are thrown. JB for example has probably 4-5 turnovers trying to go from the elbow extended to the block.
3) match up zone defense ??? Going off just the top of my head, the match up zone (or defense in general) was better when again, Woodbury was able to be the quarterback on the defense. The guy was like having a defensive coordinator on the floor. Heck, often times he was calling out what the offense was doing. If you don't have a guy like that on the court, then you need guys with the ability to lock up. Iowa doesn't have that and therefore, other teams guards are able to create off the dribble and expose Iowa's rotation problems.

 

[doughawk]

Why can other teams players play 35 to 37 minutes but our can't ? Do our guys play harder than the other teams thus are worn out more ? Why does our coach not use his allotted time outs most games so that his best players can rest during the game rather than sit on the bench ? Why are our starters only able to play 4 minutes at the start of the game and regardless of good or bad results they go to the bench ? Their is no positive flow to the game on our side . Why does our team start most games and second halves flat thus starting in a hole or losing a lead ?
How can a team shoot 12.5% from the free throw line ? It's lack of concentration.
Please show me a successful college team who's coach manages the game like Fran does.