After getting crushed by MSU to kickoff B1G play, BMc was quoted as saying that this team would get "shockingly better" as the season wore on. Have they?
I'd say resoundingly "Yes".
I'd say resoundingly "Yes".
Has the team gotten "shockingly better"?
- Thread starter HawksRule73
- Start date
We have the type of team/coach that will strike fear in any upper seeded team come March….
As someone else noted, we really just need to stay off the 8/9 seed draw…
The team has definitely gotten better, noticeably. Whatever adjective we want to use.
I think back to that ugly offensive performance against Grand Canyon.. Even in victory, that was not pretty. Then look at the last two games. Night and day difference.
And yeah, that game @msu was their first true road game, fairly early in the season. It didn't go real well but the team has been in the thick of their other 4 losses. Could easily have won any of those.
I think back to that ugly offensive performance against Grand Canyon.. Even in victory, that was not pretty. Then look at the last two games. Night and day difference.
And yeah, that game @msu was their first true road game, fairly early in the season. It didn't go real well but the team has been in the thick of their other 4 losses. Could easily have won any of those.
I hoped Ben was right when he kept saying that they would get better.
Now, I am a believer.
He reminds me of Bears coach Ben johnson..obsessive about the details.
Bears started slow, then won 10 of 11
Young bright coaches like the two bens are a refreshing change for 2 of my favorite teams.
Now, I am a believer.
He reminds me of Bears coach Ben johnson..obsessive about the details.
Bears started slow, then won 10 of 11
Young bright coaches like the two bens are a refreshing change for 2 of my favorite teams.
Can you imagine the nerves the players felt playing their first road BIG game at one of the most hostile road environments? I think that played a huge factor in how poorly they played. Also Izzo was cooking the Refs. We got no calls.
I don't know what Ben McCollum and his staff are doing in practice, but every time the Hawks falter in a game, Ben comes out and says they just have to work it out in practice and they will be fine, and through hard work, they come out better and more focused. The man is a savant, glad we have him.
Iowa has stretches where they look like they can’t be stopped and after a TO/media TO they act like they’ve never ran an offense before. And vice versa.
I think the team is better as a whole today than they were in November, certainly. Not sure I’d say shockingly better. I’d say they’ve shockingly exceeded my expectations going into the season absolutely.
Against Wash they played well though out. They hung close when Wash couldn’t miss which gave Iowa a chance to eventually win the game when Wash came back to reality.
They started out vs Oregon very sluggish and couldn’t get anything going. Then after a media TO everything clicked and Iowa cruised to victory.
Against USC Iowa started with 4 turnovers and two blocked shots. Before they knew it they were down 10-0. Iowa then figured it out and took a 16 point lead to the around the under 8:00 or 4:00 time out. One USC guy rattles 19 straight points for them and USC took the lead. Iowa obviously finished up and won, but it should have in no way been in question.
Grand Canyon is a pretty decent team, a quad 2 win. They’re ranked higher than Minnesota and Rutgers. Iowa didn’t play all that great against Rutgers a few weeks back beating them by 6. UCLA just beat them by 32.
I think Iowa is a better team now. The pieces understand their roles. I just wouldn’t say they’re shockingly better now.
anything would be better than the annual Fran Fade will have to deal with
They do seem to start sluggish at times. Not sure why that is but at least they seem to right the ship before things get too out of hand.
I'm still concerned about our ability to compete with teams that have quality bigs inside. We just don't have the size to match up with that well. Last night the German Freshman was getting rebounds even when we had good position on him. The top tier teams will all have this interior size advantage -not saying we can't compete and overcome this but it's not easy.
Yah, being healthy instead of vomiting and having diarrhea is generally considered a good thing for an athlete. But I wouldn't know. It's just stuff I've heard.
Did you see last night's game? Did you see the Purdue game? And all the other games where the other team is bigger than Iowa?
Iowa is often undersized in height, but it's never undersized in heart. And no, overcoming height disadvantages is not easy, but that's what makes it fun. Just ask Ben and his Hawkeyes.
The refs in that MSU game called a very unbalanced game as well. In the close loses, Iowa had multiple players with a bad flu. It would have been interesting to see who Iowa would have fared if Iowa was not sick. Hell, I thought Iowa outplayed Purdue but Purdue got the ref's home court cooking in that game in the second half.
Yeah....if we win vs Minnesota we're staring a 20-4 start right in the eyes. Sigh....
That game was frustrating. I know I harp on unbalanced officiating a lot, but that was exactly what happened in that game as well.
The only game this year that I thought Iowa got a favorable whistle was the UCLA game.
Agreed teams with quality bigs are a concern and likely why we watched Wash shoot 80% from three in the first half. Manyawu and Banks have the strength, just sometimes length alone is enough. I thought Koch did a fairly decent job on Steinbach when they matched up.
It would also be nice if Jirak could develop into something like what Wash has in their freshman.
We have such inconsistent stretches I'm not sure what we are going to get from one TV timeout to another, but they've shown the ability to come back when down even playing a slower tempo and for Stirtz to become a great three point shooter (and often someone else but it changes every game, last night was Koch) when they've needed it down the stretch a few times. Just get into March and see what happens. Not a team I see doing much in a B10 tournament scenario playing back to back, but give them a day between games for the big dance and they'll have a chance vs anybody.
The team has gotten better. The players have gotten better. They close out games better. Bennett has gotten better when it's "Closing Time", playing according to the game plans have gotten better, the schedule has gotten better. Sometimes slow starts and some inconsistency in scoring, but defense usually takes care of that. Glad we have Ben. He has gotten this team better.
Nobody talks about this much in the MSU game. It was a blowout but there was fight in the guys until the end, we just played bad.
Before I even start, we could certainly say the opposite about many of these for Rutgers, USC, Etc...
Iowa St... double digit lead in the second half.
Purdue... double digit lead in the second half (I believe)
Minnesota... one bad stretch
Illinois... a terrible start
We are pretty close to a special year right out of the gate. I'm curious to see how we do next year without Stirtz and Banks. Thompson has some major buzz around him even through his red shirt. We have some good recruits. I'm excited for what is to come.
Can you tell that to Iowa City. The town is an infirmary. Regina is closed due to 40% of their school population being sick. My family has had at least one person sick (fever or stomach) a week for the last 4 weeks. It's bad here.
Before I even start, we could certainly say the opposite about many of these for Rutgers, USC, Etc...
Iowa St... double digit lead in the second half.
Purdue... double digit lead in the second half (I believe)
Minnesota... one bad stretch
Illinois... a terrible start
We are pretty close to a special year right out of the gate. I'm curious to see how we do next year without Stirtz and Banks. Thompson has some major buzz around him even through his red shirt. We have some good recruits. I'm excited for what is to come.
Can you tell that to Iowa City. The town is an infirmary. Regina is closed due to 40% of their school population being sick. My family has had at least one person sick (fever or stomach) a week for the last 4 weeks. It's bad here.
I really do think Jirak will develop into a solid player. I watched his video showing off athleticism / coordination when he signed with us and I thought he moved really well for a very big guy.
I was very impressed by the German freshman -size, great instincts, and soft touch are hard to come by! I hate to do the "what-ifs" but man if we had that guy on this team look out....
We should try and get him. We’ll have a lot of money freed up with Stirtz leaving. Use that money to get Steinbach.
Get Ben some size and I think he’ll do great thjngs
Agreed. We all know how important guard play is, but it's also important to have some rim protectors to negate that to some degree.
Iowa is doing well with what they have on the roster, no question. But when the rubber hits the road in the NCAA Tournament, the team we lose to will have a significant size advantage. You can book it now and save yourself some trepidation down the road.
Yeah that was kind of the only bad loss but Izzo can say that too as well.
