This team is done, no NCAA
- Thread starter HawkeyeGenius
- Start date
Biggest issue here is Ben is trying to compete in the BIG with mostly Drake players...that was never going to work, sure they might win a few they shouldn't mainly cause of Ben, but this isn't an athletic team or a big team that can compete with the BIG 10 athletes night in and night out! Got to give Ben needs 2-3 recruiting classes to see if can even recruit enough to keep Iowa as a tournament team or not.
You couldn't possibly be so damn dumb to think Iowa would be a championship caliber team in Ben's first year with a roster thrown together from Drake. They are overachieving if anything.
This!
I did not think Ben could get the Hawks into the ncaa tournament his first year (I still don’t….the players are worn out and the remaining schedule is too tough). He has overachieved, for sure.
If Iowa hasn’t made the tourney after year 3, then bring the pitchforks out.
Overachieved i would agree. But they aren’t missing the tournament this year. Or next.
I think they WERE overachieving, but that's not the case today. IMO something else is going on with this team that isn't apparent outside of the locker room. A few weeks ago you had Sage ascending and getting minutes. The last 2 games his minutes have been cut by more than half getting only 9 minutes and this 42% 3 point shooter only has 2 total 3 point shot attempts over the last 5 games. In the meantime you have the 4 worst 3 point shooters from a percentage standpoint on a team starved for shooters in Koch, Folgueiras, Hausen, and Howard taking all of those shots. Those 4 are all shooting under 33% in conference play and were 3-15 beyond the arc vs Maryland, 3-11 vs Purdue, and 1-8 vs Northwestern. I don't get it.
I thought at one point that this team would make a serious run in the tournament given the right matchups. Now the pendulum has swung the complete opposite direction. At this point the overly optimistic outlook doesn't look realistic nor does the overly pessimist outlook seem realistic now either.
The team has hit a wall. Fixing the issues starts at the top with Ben. He could have a great tenure here or he might not put things together enough to succeed at this level. The ball is in his court.
Fran was awful and it would have only gotten worse now that the Big ten's tougher like it used to be
No more laughable than all of the idiots that jump off a cliff after a bad performance then disappear after good games or six game win streaks
I'm all for getting the players that have the right attitude and the team being "connected" and all that, like Ben likes to talk about, but at some point, he needs to get some players that are Big 10 caliber. I don't know, that's got to be a hard line to walk, if you assume the more talented players are more about the paycheck, between "team" guys and guys that can really kick some butt in this league.
Yeah I think you're right. Something hasn't been there the better part of these recent handful of games.
There are plenty of Big 10 caliber players out there that you don’t need a boatload of cash to buy.
There are only so many roster spots available and not every school has deep
pockets.
Well that's part of my confusion. Hausen didn't hardly play until the last 5 games, and Folgueiras, Koch, and Howard haven't shot well in conference play all year. It seemed like the perfect opportunity for Sage who BM was talking up and all of a sudden he's not getting minutes. Even when he's been on the floor he's pretty much been ignored on the offensive end, even when he's been open. Again, he's only taken 2 3 point shots in 5 games and percentage wise he's a better shooter than all of them. You want your best shooters taking shots. That's not happening in this offense today.
Ben is "Searching" for someone to step up. "Searching for the right lineup. Any time you do that this late in the season, it usually means there's a big problem somewhere. Not going to speculate whether it's tiredness, lack of focus, locker room issues or any of that, since we're not privy to those conditions. We hear Ben say that HE has to do a better job having the team ready along with some in game decisions he's made, and Bennett echoes that sentiment often postgame, saying they weren't ready to play. Gotta get it solved or we'll continue to see the shuffling that we've seen here as of late, as well as forcing Bennett and Banks to shoulder the scoring load.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: Where are the other guys?
I'd roll with Sage and bring Koch or Combs off the bench just to see what he can do. Either that or take some of AF's minutes. I certainly wouldn't cut Sage and increase the others which is the direction we've gone the last few games.
You just have to go with Sage. The role he plays tomorrow night will tell us much I think about whether Ben gets things back on track or not. You have done a great job pointing out that personnel decisions have played a large part in this debacle. Behind the scenes issues if part of this have to get fixed.
New 1st year HC and 1 returning player, I had zero anticipation they would make the NCAA Tourney this year.
No Crocodile tears or handwringing on my part.
No Crocodile tears or handwringing on my part.
Pretty sure I didn’t say anything about expecting or thinking “championship caliber”… let me check -
Nope. Sure didn’t.
“MADE the tourney?” Lol.
By the way…Otzelberger took ISU to the Sweet 16 in his FIRST season. Sweet. 16. Year 1.
Why can’t we have nice things? Or have higher expectations without being ridiculed?
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Aw the truth comes out. You're a Clown fan.
Why is simply making the NCAA Tournament the benchmark?
You do not build a program around just getting in. You build it around winning the whole thing. Will that happen most years? No. But if that is not the standard, it will never happen. Programs rise to the level of the ceiling they set. If the goal is participation, you get participation. If the goal is banners, everything shifts toward that.
Right now Iowa has a resource allocation problem. It starts at the top with the Athletic Director and the university president. Everyone has to be aligned on what the basketball program is trying to become. If the direction is unclear or timid, the results will reflect that.
In the NIL era, you have to be aggressive. You have to invest heavily to build a competitive roster. That is the reality of modern college basketball. You cannot coach around a talent gap in this league. Buy the roster now, establish relevance, then let success compound. Once you build a brand and a track record, recruiting becomes easier because players want to plug into a proven system.
Look at Iowa women’s basketball. They became one of the most watched programs in the country during the Caitlin Clark era. That level of national attention is leverage. It strengthens media negotiations, donor enthusiasm, and brand equity. Visibility converts to revenue if leadership knows how to capitalize on it.
Meanwhile, Iowa State continues to outperform expectations. They have dealt with real budget constraints, yet they compete at a high level. That points to alignment, urgency, and clarity of vision. It is hard to understand why Iowa, with its advantages, cannot match or exceed that trajectory.
If the standard is just “make the tournament,” then that is exactly where the program will live. But if the standard is cutting down nets, the entire infrastructure has to reflect that belief.
You do know that Iowa is spending the max 20.5 million on Rev sharing allowed by rule?
Maybe we could change the mix to cut 5 million from footballs share and give it to bb, but football pays for everything so that might not fly.
The full commitment you're seeking is outside donors adding 5-10 million to bb as well as maintaining 10+ million for football
Really we need a Texas tech/Cody Campbell oil rich guy to drop 25 million a year in our nil fund to set our sights on championships.
ISU has their whale(albaugh)..we don't .
Just making the tourny would be amazing and would give momentum with donors and recruiting.
It will take time and luck( like having a 4 yr hometown starting pg like lipsey for ISU fall inho your lap).
Ben was lucky with stirtz ..need it to happen again.
Want to place any kind of wager on 0-6? Cmon man. Lighten up.
I never said just making the tournament is the benchmark….only that I didn’t expect it this year.
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Nice win tonight.
Nebraska
Nice win tonight.
Nebraska
OP is a Fairweather.
Tell Chicken Little it was always him.
Tell Chicken Little it was always him.
