*****Illinois vs Iowa Game Thread*****
- Thread starter QChawks
- Start date
Oh for crying out loud, that statement won't work on here.
Ask Michael Jordan. That punk had some less than stellar games as well. Even hall of famers don't play like it every time out. Chit-Chat's in a bit of shooting slump right now, but she's a great shooter, so she'll return to form soon.
Oops. Illinois goes on to hit all eight 3-pointers it shoots in the second half. Absolutely unconscious. But it still wasn't enough to beat a gritty, gutty band of Hawkeyes.
You wouldn't think so, but they did, shooting 8-8, 100 percent from three in the second half. They couldn't do that in practice.
Yeah. They couldn't get out of that zone soon enough for me. Those wide open corner 3's were giving me Fran shivers. Things got right after the team went back to man defense.
Oh, baby, that was ice cold. Game on the line, and the freshman tosses it in like she's shooting in her driveway. Houston reminds me of Stirtz in that she just never hurries, never changes expression, she just makes every play. And she has THREE more years . . .
Not playing ava at the end was absolutely crazy..dumb and ridiculous. She was not that sick to play the last couple minutes. She scored 28 in 23 min. Everyone including the announcers were dumbfounded. Anyone who thinks it was okay not to have ava in at end are as nutty as Jan's decision. Despite that they won the game, a game for the ages
With Heiden healthy, I'd love to see the Hawkeyes play UCLA in the BIG tourney.
I just rewatched the last 5 minutes of the 4th quarter.
Heiden came out at 3:53 - I'd guess because Illinois took 6'7" Vasconcelos out so they could go small. Ava was back at the scorers table at 2:04 ready to check in but the first stoppage put Houston at the free throw and she was subbing in for Houston - so no go. Ava was at the scorer's table until the next stoppage at 1:00 when Chit Chat got fouled. Jan called Ava back to the bench (I'm assuming she wanted to leave Houston in for IL's next possession).
Chat hit her free throws and then IL next offensive possession, Hannah stole a post pass. Then Iowa called an immediate timeout which was criticized by many here (Let the Clock Run). But, I think it's clear Jan called the timeout to get Ava back in.
All and all, I'd say good coaching - JJ was reacting to the moment.
But, just so I'm not accused of being a JJ Fan Boy, I'll add: our defense against the three point shot sucks.
Heiden came out at 3:53 - I'd guess because Illinois took 6'7" Vasconcelos out so they could go small. Ava was back at the scorers table at 2:04 ready to check in but the first stoppage put Houston at the free throw and she was subbing in for Houston - so no go. Ava was at the scorer's table until the next stoppage at 1:00 when Chit Chat got fouled. Jan called Ava back to the bench (I'm assuming she wanted to leave Houston in for IL's next possession).
Chat hit her free throws and then IL next offensive possession, Hannah stole a post pass. Then Iowa called an immediate timeout which was criticized by many here (Let the Clock Run). But, I think it's clear Jan called the timeout to get Ava back in.
All and all, I'd say good coaching - JJ was reacting to the moment.
But, just so I'm not accused of being a JJ Fan Boy, I'll add: our defense against the three point shot sucks.
But then when you have 15,000 for 51 games in a row, there ain't much of an argument, non-Iowa fan or whatever. Facts and evidence, man, those are somethin'.
Lol she is also not healthy/100% coming off sickness and needed frequent quick breaks she did play and was in the final minute the players in were performing and won the game for Iowa as well. I'm done wasting my time on this laughable "issue". Plenty more to worry about.
Maybe you and that Anon guy should call up Jan and tell her how to coach. She obviously sucks at it and you two are SO MUCH more knowledgeable.
I'm going to admit, and I think you know this, I was confused by JJ's decision in the remaining seconds to have Hannah on the floor knowing that Illinois was going to foul and her not being a great FT shooter. Then when she inbounded and the pass came back to her and she was fouled, I was really questioning it. Then HS stepped up and nailed both FTs, and I knew I was clearly wrong and JJ was right. Put your best, most experienced players out there in those clutch moments. Glad I wasn't coaching them, lol.
Ava was still sick. Ava herself said she needed the breaks in order to play at all.
Count me in as “nutty like Jan’s decisions”. I liked the offensive/defensive decisions made at the end, but just in this situation vs a team that was a specific challenge with their personnel. That’s why all coaches are open to criticism. They make tough decisions, sometime they are right, sometimes not. I understand why people are questioning her regarding Ava at the end but I think she had a good reason and if I’m not mistaken things worked out.
11 seconds to go, Iowa up by 4 with Illinois inbounding and only 3 team fouls on the Hawks.
Opportunity to foul whomever catches the inbound pass and eat up 3-4 seconds forcing Illini to reinbound with 7-8 seconds on the clock...
Nope...Illinois hits a 3, still 10 seconds left and HS inbounds at half court and the ball is nearly stolen from Chit Chat before foul called.
Ended the 4th Q with 3 team fouls.
Way closer than it needed to be.
Opportunity to foul whomever catches the inbound pass and eat up 3-4 seconds forcing Illini to reinbound with 7-8 seconds on the clock...
Nope...Illinois hits a 3, still 10 seconds left and HS inbounds at half court and the ball is nearly stolen from Chit Chat before foul called.
Ended the 4th Q with 3 team fouls.
Way closer than it needed to be.
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They inbounded with 14 seconds on the clock, shot made with 11 seconds left. 3 seconds were eaten up. If you'd like to make a point, don't lie about the details. Based on how Illinois was absolutely on fire from 3 I'm assuming an attempt to foul would have somehow resulted in a 4 point play.
*edit, they had a mid court inbound at 15.1 and the basket was made at 10.4. Just to be pedantic but what better way to fight made up timelines.
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Jan almost ate her water cup when Stremlow passed the ball back to Hannah and she was fouled. Hannah was inbounding so that she wouldn't be the player at the line.
Excellent summary, and Ava would have been back in the game if Journey had made the 2nd free throw. The missed free throw prevented the substitution, and Jan made the appropriate personnel decisions to fit the subsequent possessions.
I figured that. Then when it was passed back to her, I had the same reaction as coach, lol.
yeah she seems a bit over the top IMO. I think her Iowa background maybe ramps her up even more.
And yet she has her team 23-5 and 14-3 in conference. They went through an adjustment period when McCabe got injured and righted the ship fairly quickly.
I believe Jan has done a magnificent job in her two years. My only end of game strategy philosophy is when you have fouls to give in the last twenty seconds, foul to slow down the go to player for the opponent. Reminded me of the Nebraska game last year in that we had fouls to give and we should have been impeding, grabbing, holding their designated go-to (Prince) in order to knock time off the clock. Take your chances and maybe you get a five second call or a steal when you make them do another inbounds play. Last night I would have like to have seen them grab, hold, impede Parchment and/or Berry to make the seconds take away while they're running a play. Just a thought and a good win though.
I absolutely love her game. She takes the shots she feels comfortable taking without hesitation. She makes great decisions for a first year player. She's a rebounding machine. She can guard pretty much every position on the floor. She doesn't turn it over. She's been money every time she's been on the floor.
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The defense against the 3 point shot sucked because they were playing zone against a red hot 3 point shooting team, and frankly they're really bad at it. They play a very good man to man defense. With the exception of that ridiculous stepback at the end, Illinois stopped hitting 3's when Iowa switched back to man I think with about 6 minutes left. They hit all of those corner 3's while Iowa was playing zone. I was having Fran flashbacks.
And don't forget number 9 in the country! Fire her!
Perfect game to prep for the NCAA tournament.
If you've ever played or coached basketball you would know 98% of coaching is what you do in practice and how well the team is prepared and game planned for. Once the players hit the floor you hope that what you've prepped them for is good enough. And obviously Jan is doing something right preparing her team game to game as we sit 23-5 and 9th in the country. You can go ahead and sit there and critique every little play and try to blame her for a bad pass or not calling a timeout. And I do think it's fair to talk about the use of fouls. Illinois's bigs as someone had mentioned before the game even started were going to be a problem for us because of their range and drawing our bigs outside, which then of course opens up driving lanes for their guards, which they exploited. They were a much tougher matchup then MIchigan the way their bigs could hit from the outside. Jan was trying to conserve Heiden's energy for the offensive end and not have her chase out to the 3 pt line, and she is also still sick. You do nothing but ***** the entire game thread. And it has nothing to do with being a fanboy. When you look at those 2 teams on the floor Illinois has every bit the same amount of talent as Iowa. You don't just run through every team you play.
Just a FWIW, but Illinois is a solid team, they have multiple talented scorers on the floor at any given time. They reminded me of Minnesota that way. Their roster, and Minny's too, create real challenges for Iowa's personnel. Yet, the Hawks pulled it out and prevailed. Also, getting a win v. any team with a pulse that makes all of their 3 point shots is challenging. Go Hawks!
At some point when you get to February, you have to look at the season-long performance when judging how the team and the coach has been doing, not individual decisions here and there. Jan's #1 priority is to win. The team is winning games at an equal clip to the CC junior and senior seasons. That seems pretty good to me.
Correct. ^^ Houston has been a major bright spot this year and I look forward to her playing more in the future too. She is quite effective AND doesn't force things. She is a problem causer...for the other team.
