MISSED DUNK by Gorney, Seth 09:43 REBOUND (DEF) by Coleman, Dan
REBOUND (DEF) by Johnson, Justin 09:37 MISSED JUMPER by McKenzie, Lawrence
MISSED 3 PTR by Johnson, Justin 09:27 REBOUND (DEF) by Coleman, Dan
REBOUND (DEF) by Smith, Tyler 09:11 MISSED 3 PTR by McKenzie, Lawrence
MISSED 3 PTR by Smith, Tyler 08:54 REBOUND (DEF) by (TEAM)
FOUL by Freeman, Tony (P1T4) 08:28
08:06 MISSED LAYUP by Webster, Bryce
08:06 REBOUND (OFF) by (TEAM)
07:44 TURNOVR by Abu-Shamala, Jamal
TIMEOUT MEDIA 07:44
MISSED 3 PTR by Freeman, Tony 07:28 REBOUND (DEF) by Payton, Kevin
REBOUND (DEF) by Henderson, Mike 07:01 MISSED LAYUP by McKenzie, Lawrence
GOOD! DUNK by Smith, Tyler [FB/PNT] 06:58 18-14 H 4
ASSIST by Henderson, Mike 06:58
REBOUND (DEF) by Johnson, Justin 06:40 MISSED 3 PTR by Abu-Shamala, Jamal
MISSED 3 PTR by Freeman, Tony 06:33 REBOUND (DEF) by Webster, Bryce
REBOUND (DEF) by Johnson, Justin 06:09 MISSED JUMPER by Williams, Jonathan
MISSED JUMPER by Henderson, Mike 05:59 REBOUND (DEF) by Abu-Shamala, Jamal
REBOUND (DEF) by Johnson, Justin 05:26 MISSED JUMPER by Abu-Shamala, Jamal
05:15 FOUL by Webster, Bryce (P1T4)
MISSED JUMPER by Haluska, Adam 05:05 REBOUND (DEF) by Webster, Bryce
04:54 TURNOVR by Payton, Kevin
MISSED LAYUP by Looby, Kurt 04:37 REBOUND (DEF) by Wilson, Limar
04:28 TURNOVR by Wilson, Limar
MISSED 3 PTR by Haluska, Adam 04:18 REBOUND (DEF) by Nurumbi, EngenIowa 1-10 in the stretch, Minnesota 0-7.
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Gophers vs. Iowa: 5 minute stretch in the game where only ONE BUCKET was made
Between 9:58 to 3:58 in the first half, Iowa and Minnesota combined for two points. A FIVE MINUTE STRETCH where only ONE BUCKET was made, a dunk by Smith. WOW! That's awful. Here's the events between 9:58 and 3:58 left:
Iowa's Rankings / A Look at the Big Ten
Iowa's Rankings
RPI: 109 (moved down 1 spot)
Pomeroy: 68 (moved up 2 more spots)
Sagarin: 94 (up 6 spots)
Greenfield: 102 (up 2 spots)
Massey: 99 (down 1 spot)
Composite link from 26 ratings: 92 (up 22 spots)
Iowa's Highest Ranking - 57 (Lynch)
Iowa's Lowest Ranking - 124 (SAP)
How Weak is the Big Ten?
Looking at some RPI stats:
10. Wisconsin
13. Ohio State
22. Michigan
28. Michigan State
37. Illinois
44. Purdue
6 teams in the Top 45 RPI. While not world beaters, these teams all have respectable RPIs.
Michigan is at 57.
The thing is this, though. The BT is 5th in conference RPI.
RPI: 109 (moved down 1 spot)
Pomeroy: 68 (moved up 2 more spots)
Sagarin: 94 (up 6 spots)
Greenfield: 102 (up 2 spots)
Massey: 99 (down 1 spot)
Composite link from 26 ratings: 92 (up 22 spots)
Iowa's Highest Ranking - 57 (Lynch)
Iowa's Lowest Ranking - 124 (SAP)
How Weak is the Big Ten?
Looking at some RPI stats:
10. Wisconsin
13. Ohio State
22. Michigan
28. Michigan State
37. Illinois
44. Purdue
6 teams in the Top 45 RPI. While not world beaters, these teams all have respectable RPIs.
Michigan is at 57.
The thing is this, though. The BT is 5th in conference RPI.
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Anyone Notice the Stats of the VMI Men's Basketball Team?
(photo courtesy of vmikeydets.com)
I stumbled upon some of their stats...crazy ass stats... out of 325 D-I teams (as of Dec 17, 2006)
#1 in the nation in scoring: 102 per game
#1 in the nation 3 pt made: 15 per game
#1 in the nation in steals: 16 per game (four guys in the Top 100 in the nation)
#2 in the nation in assists: 21 per game
but...
#231 in the nation 3 pt %: 32%
#325 in the nation def. scoring: 95 per game
#325 in the nation def. FG %: 53%
#310 in the nation reb. margin: - 8 per game
#307 in the nation fouls: 23 per game
That's some insane stuff there... I'll have to see if any of their games are on ESPN Fullcourt.
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Thoughts After the Drake - Iowa Game
- Iowa's help defense is as bad as I can remember. It was a staple last year, this year it's a crutch. Which is sad because Looby should be excelling in help D.
- The Hawkeye bigs are a larger liability that I had first anticipated.
- Iowa only had three people attempt FTs. Three. Three guys made it to the line. They attempted less than they made. That's normally the opposite for an Alford team; not this year.
- Drake is a hell of a lot better than I thought they were. This is the best Drake team that I can recall in the past few decades. Very athletic and basketball smart, although Nick Grant is a bit cocky for his abilities... a bit of Shannon Brown in him, but for the wrong reasons.
- I didn't realize the rebounding discrepancy until the stat showed up. That was horrible.
- Keita's elbow was cheap.
- Haluska had a good first 14 minutes of the game, then Davis went to the box and one. Game over. Haluska started to force and was very impatient, made a lot of dumb plays the rest of the game. He is not a slasher/ dribble penetrator. He's a shooter, plain and simple. Haluska's D was atrocious, as well.
- Is there a person on the Iowa team that might think about stopping dribble penetration? Just a thought. We might want to hit that up sometime and work on it.
- Our bigs are worst than I thought (oh wait, I mentioned that already).
- Not as bad of a game as I thought it was going to be after I had read comments on some of the message boards. Drake was fired up, crowd was awesome. Drake went balls out, Iowa did occasionally (but not nearly enough). No loose ball hustles, lazy passes, and flat-footedness on the d end by the Hawks.
- Freeman lead the team in assists... with 3... 3 friggin assists. Where's Horner when you need him?
- Gorney took 1 shot all night. Looby took 1 shot all night. Tate didn't take a shot. Angle took 2 shots all night. 4 shots from 4 of our bigs. Doesn't take a statistician to realize that's not going to win many games.
- Iowa is very good at handling the press, but they are horrible at finishing after breaking the press. That is frustrating.
- Iowa STILL cannot get back on D in transition. I don't understand this one. Not hard to do, ESPECIALLY if you aren't crashing the boards.
- Drake shot very well. They had the touch even with a defender in their faces.
- I'll say it again, I was dead wrong on JR Angle. He is a bright spot on the team for sure. I love his D, and I think he needs to get more involved on the O end.
- We really could use a healthy Mike Henderson.
- Tyler Smith should be busting out soon. He looks like he wants to take over, but just doesn't do it. We will not win many games if we have to rely on Haluska game in and game out. Iowa can win without Adam's game, they just need to play that way. Iowa has done it earlier in the year when Haluska played poorly; they need that anytime Haluska has a bad game. They have the guys to do, they just need to do it. I'll put that one on the coach. Alford needs to let Haluska know that when he is off, to let the rest of the team pick it up, otherwise he just forces it and it's a no win situation.
- Gorney: Time to put up. Get tough. Punch somebody. Spit in someone's face. Do something mean. Take a lesson from Cyrus and get aggressive. Anything. Show me anything. Please.
- The Hawkeye bigs are a larger liability that I had first anticipated.
- Iowa only had three people attempt FTs. Three. Three guys made it to the line. They attempted less than they made. That's normally the opposite for an Alford team; not this year.
- Drake is a hell of a lot better than I thought they were. This is the best Drake team that I can recall in the past few decades. Very athletic and basketball smart, although Nick Grant is a bit cocky for his abilities... a bit of Shannon Brown in him, but for the wrong reasons.
- I didn't realize the rebounding discrepancy until the stat showed up. That was horrible.
- Keita's elbow was cheap.
- Haluska had a good first 14 minutes of the game, then Davis went to the box and one. Game over. Haluska started to force and was very impatient, made a lot of dumb plays the rest of the game. He is not a slasher/ dribble penetrator. He's a shooter, plain and simple. Haluska's D was atrocious, as well.
- Is there a person on the Iowa team that might think about stopping dribble penetration? Just a thought. We might want to hit that up sometime and work on it.
- Our bigs are worst than I thought (oh wait, I mentioned that already).
- Not as bad of a game as I thought it was going to be after I had read comments on some of the message boards. Drake was fired up, crowd was awesome. Drake went balls out, Iowa did occasionally (but not nearly enough). No loose ball hustles, lazy passes, and flat-footedness on the d end by the Hawks.
- Freeman lead the team in assists... with 3... 3 friggin assists. Where's Horner when you need him?
- Gorney took 1 shot all night. Looby took 1 shot all night. Tate didn't take a shot. Angle took 2 shots all night. 4 shots from 4 of our bigs. Doesn't take a statistician to realize that's not going to win many games.
- Iowa is very good at handling the press, but they are horrible at finishing after breaking the press. That is frustrating.
- Iowa STILL cannot get back on D in transition. I don't understand this one. Not hard to do, ESPECIALLY if you aren't crashing the boards.
- Drake shot very well. They had the touch even with a defender in their faces.
- I'll say it again, I was dead wrong on JR Angle. He is a bright spot on the team for sure. I love his D, and I think he needs to get more involved on the O end.
- We really could use a healthy Mike Henderson.
- Tyler Smith should be busting out soon. He looks like he wants to take over, but just doesn't do it. We will not win many games if we have to rely on Haluska game in and game out. Iowa can win without Adam's game, they just need to play that way. Iowa has done it earlier in the year when Haluska played poorly; they need that anytime Haluska has a bad game. They have the guys to do, they just need to do it. I'll put that one on the coach. Alford needs to let Haluska know that when he is off, to let the rest of the team pick it up, otherwise he just forces it and it's a no win situation.
- Gorney: Time to put up. Get tough. Punch somebody. Spit in someone's face. Do something mean. Take a lesson from Cyrus and get aggressive. Anything. Show me anything. Please.
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
Iowa Basketball: Predicting the Rest of the Season
NON-CONFERENCE
5 games left on the non-conf slate to finish out 2006. 4 of 5 at home.
Iowa St
at Drake
Georgia St
Tex South
Cornell
Hawks should be able to ride a 5 game win streak into the BT schedule.
9-5 (0-0)
CONFERENCE
16 games, 8 home, 8 away. tOSU, Michigan, NW, Purdue - only play once. No @ NW this year.
Mich St - W
at Illinois - L
Minnesota - W
at Indiana - L
at Ohio St - L
Penn State - W
Wisconsin - L
at Michigan - W
Indiana - W
at Minnesota - W
at Wisconsin - L
N'western - W
at Mich St - L
Purdue - W
at Penn State - W
Illinois - L
I see the games home vs. MSU, at Indiana, home vs. Illinois, and at Michigan as going either way though.
18-12 (9-7 Conf.) plus Big Ten Tourney (1-1 maybe 2-1)
SEASON
19-13 on the year.
Problem is I don't see enough quality wins in a down conference to get Iowa to the dance right now. I still think Iowa is a bubble team, but I don't know if they'll have enough. My preseason prediction of Iowa getting into the dance isn't looking good (esp. after throwing away a tremendous chance at a quality win at home vs. UNI).
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Iowa - Alamo Bowl; Minnesota - Toilet Bowl
As I stated previously in my blog, Iowa would get a better bowl than Minnesota this year. It has just been reported that Iowa has accepted an invite to the Alamo Bowl; Gophers get the last bowl offered to the Big Ten, the Insight.com bowl - USA Today Article
BIG TEN BOWLS
1. Ohio State - National Championship - $14-$17 million
2. Michigan - National Championship/Rose Bowl - $14.998 million
3. Wisconsin - Capital One Bowl - $5.312 million
4. Penn State - Outback Bowl - $2.85 million
5. Iowa - Alamo Bowl - $1.65 million
6. Purdue - Champs Sports Bowl - $862,000
7. Minnesota - Insight.com Bowl - $750,000
Alamo Bowl - Not too bad for the 9th place team in the Big Ten, and loser of 5 out of the last 6 games.
Congrats on the Toilet Bowl, Gophers. Maybe next season some of your fans will show up to the games and then you might be able to get more $$$ from bowl games. The University of Iowa will receive over twice the amount of money the U of M will, all thanks to its fan because clearly the Iowa Football team itself isn't worthy of it. Sure, the Big Ten has revenue sharing, but it's nice to see Iowa bring a bigger check home than Minnesota, esp. after what I have witnessed from Minnesota fans.
Iowa is lucky they have been selected to play in this bowl, they sure don't deserve it. Look, I am not happy about seeing Iowa in the Alamo Bowl. I'm not trying to rub anything into the University of Minnesota. I am just trying to show what kind of effect a passionate fanbase can have the outcome of a season. This was the perfect example. Should Iowa be going to the Alamo Bowl? Absolutely not; but they are. And there is a reason for that.
Sunday, November 19, 2006
Minnesota Gopher Fans: Absolutely Pathetic at Best
Living in Gopher country the past few years, I have witnessed their apathy first hand. Six games into the football season, they could care less about their team. Early January, they stop watching Gopher basketball. They have one of the elite wrestling programs in the entire nation, yet you wouldn’t know it by the support their squad receives. The University itself even gave an extension to their football coach who thrives in mediocrity. Glen Mason was even quoted earlier in the year claiming that he was still in the process of rebuilding the Gopher program, 10 years after taking command of the football team.
The Gopher vs. Hawkeye game on Saturday (11/18/06) just about made me throw up from the point of view of college football fan. Here is a team in Minnesota who is finally playing good football, getting wins on the road, and has a chance to become bowl-eligible with a win over their arch-rival and slumping Hawkeyes from the University of Iowa. You'd think that the rivalry in itself would promote a good turnout for the supporters of the Maroon and Gold, but not so.
Start of the game, there are THOUSANDS of empty seats in the lower level where Gopher "patrons" normally sit. The SE corner seats of the upper deck of the dome didn't even get sold! A Gopher/Hawkeye game and the dome can't even sell it out!
The game is underway and it's time for a pivotal stop for the Gophers, "GET LOUD", pleads the scoreboard as loud music pumps into the dome. The roar (or lack there of) wasn't felt by a single person playing or watching the game. Pathetic. The Iowa faithful, cheering for the most disappointing Iowa team in this millennium was at least twice as loud and once again took over the dome... ON A DOWN YEAR FOR THEIR PROGRAM. What a sad state of affairs this Gopher fan base has become!
As the game progressed and Iowa became the eventual loser, you'd think the sheer joy of Gopher fans FINALLY getting Floyd back, FINALLY having a "One Up" on the Hawk fans would have been enough for them to cheer about. Not so. As the game clock expired and the elated Gopher football team (congrats to them on a terrifically played game, by the way) rushed the disappointed Iowa sidelines to claim their reward, I saw the fire and excitement in the Minnesota players and coaches. It radiated; they were on Cloud Nine. They had done it; they have finally beaten the Hawkeyes. Time to celebrate with all the fa... oh wait... where are they? Where are the fans? Oh, that's right. The majority of the little Gopher fans that had shown up to the game had made their way to the exits before the 4th quarter was even over.
As the Gopher football team paraded their newly acquired trophy around the Metrodome, the apathy continued to spew from the Gopher fan base. The 100th game in this timeless rivalry had been won by the Minnesota Golden Gophers and no one was around to help celebrate. I sat in my seat amazed, not because I had just witnessed one of the poorest Iowa football seasons in recent memory come to a close, but the fact that a Minnesota team that had put so much energy and heart into a win wasn’t able to share their joy with their fans.
Because of those events, even in losing, I was proud to be a Hawk Fan. Hawkeyes will stick by their team through thick and thin, and it has been extremely anorexic this year. Iowa and Minnesota were disappointing last year, yet after Iowa retained Floyd for the fifth straight year the field was full of Iowa fans showing their support. I have witnessed a few non-apathetic Gopher fans, though. Some have taken the lead and started up “Fire Glen Mason” websites and blogs (http://fireglenmason.blogspot.com), while I personally witnessed one gentleman selling “Fire Mason” t-shirts for $10 following the Gopher victory over Iowa.
Iowa finished the season 6-6 (2-6), losing 5 out of their last six games, and finished 9th in the Big Ten. Minnesota finished the season 6-6 (3-5), winning 4 out of their last 5 (as well as 3 in a row), and finished 6th in the Big Ten. The Big Ten has 7 bowl eligible teams, and you can bet that Iowa will receive a better bowl bid than Minnesota. Why? All you need to do is look at the stands following the last game of the season.
The Gopher vs. Hawkeye game on Saturday (11/18/06) just about made me throw up from the point of view of college football fan. Here is a team in Minnesota who is finally playing good football, getting wins on the road, and has a chance to become bowl-eligible with a win over their arch-rival and slumping Hawkeyes from the University of Iowa. You'd think that the rivalry in itself would promote a good turnout for the supporters of the Maroon and Gold, but not so.
Start of the game, there are THOUSANDS of empty seats in the lower level where Gopher "patrons" normally sit. The SE corner seats of the upper deck of the dome didn't even get sold! A Gopher/Hawkeye game and the dome can't even sell it out!
The game is underway and it's time for a pivotal stop for the Gophers, "GET LOUD", pleads the scoreboard as loud music pumps into the dome. The roar (or lack there of) wasn't felt by a single person playing or watching the game. Pathetic. The Iowa faithful, cheering for the most disappointing Iowa team in this millennium was at least twice as loud and once again took over the dome... ON A DOWN YEAR FOR THEIR PROGRAM. What a sad state of affairs this Gopher fan base has become!
As the game progressed and Iowa became the eventual loser, you'd think the sheer joy of Gopher fans FINALLY getting Floyd back, FINALLY having a "One Up" on the Hawk fans would have been enough for them to cheer about. Not so. As the game clock expired and the elated Gopher football team (congrats to them on a terrifically played game, by the way) rushed the disappointed Iowa sidelines to claim their reward, I saw the fire and excitement in the Minnesota players and coaches. It radiated; they were on Cloud Nine. They had done it; they have finally beaten the Hawkeyes. Time to celebrate with all the fa... oh wait... where are they? Where are the fans? Oh, that's right. The majority of the little Gopher fans that had shown up to the game had made their way to the exits before the 4th quarter was even over.
As the Gopher football team paraded their newly acquired trophy around the Metrodome, the apathy continued to spew from the Gopher fan base. The 100th game in this timeless rivalry had been won by the Minnesota Golden Gophers and no one was around to help celebrate. I sat in my seat amazed, not because I had just witnessed one of the poorest Iowa football seasons in recent memory come to a close, but the fact that a Minnesota team that had put so much energy and heart into a win wasn’t able to share their joy with their fans.
Because of those events, even in losing, I was proud to be a Hawk Fan. Hawkeyes will stick by their team through thick and thin, and it has been extremely anorexic this year. Iowa and Minnesota were disappointing last year, yet after Iowa retained Floyd for the fifth straight year the field was full of Iowa fans showing their support. I have witnessed a few non-apathetic Gopher fans, though. Some have taken the lead and started up “Fire Glen Mason” websites and blogs (http://fireglenmason.blogspot.com), while I personally witnessed one gentleman selling “Fire Mason” t-shirts for $10 following the Gopher victory over Iowa.
Iowa finished the season 6-6 (2-6), losing 5 out of their last six games, and finished 9th in the Big Ten. Minnesota finished the season 6-6 (3-5), winning 4 out of their last 5 (as well as 3 in a row), and finished 6th in the Big Ten. The Big Ten has 7 bowl eligible teams, and you can bet that Iowa will receive a better bowl bid than Minnesota. Why? All you need to do is look at the stands following the last game of the season.
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
IOWA vs. THE CITADEL: Post Game Report
Photo courtesy of ESPN.comPretty impressive game all things considered for the Hawks.
Freeman played an an excellent game at the point. Alford is getting exactly what he wants out of that position. Very nice passing all night long, needs to work on the oops a bit more.
Haluska stroked it well, but he HAS to find his intermediate and close range games or he will not succeed this year.
Pleasantly surprised with our bigs - they didn't have much competition down low tonight, but I think Looby can be an EH type of defender. He is very good on weakside defense. Gorney will be serviceable, his feet are much quicker this year. Seth needs to learn how to finish down low. No more layups or 2 ft jumper, stuff the rock down! Also Gorney was too jumpy on the D end. Tate has a sweet 10 ft jay, and he is aggressive down low. Tate's D is very fundamentally strong. Very happy with what I saw out of the 4 and 5 spots tonight.
Johnson looks like he has a lot of athleticism, but is a bit out of control on the defensive side of the ball. Good looking jumper.
Disappointed with Smith, but he had some butterflies. Too many reaches and dumb fouls. He has athleticism, that's for sure, though. Good things will come from him.
Iowa had trouble finishing tonight, they missed a few lobs, missed a few bunnies, and just did not finish tremendously well.
Wessels will be a much needed addition to the rotation. He will be absolutely serviceable. Good with the rock, and plays smart on both ends.
We won't see much of Angle this year.
Looks like Crawford will likely burn his redshirt this year, as I figured Iowa would have to do.
This team will benefit greatly with the addition of Henderson back into the lineup.
Good game overall for the first game. The team looked smooth on the offensive side of the ball, and played terrific D. Iowa's season will depend a lot on how well they play D. I like what I saw on that end of the court tonight.
I am not overly-excited after what I saw tonight, but I am surely not disappointing in the product on the floor... I can say that much for sure.
I want more finishes though! We have the athletes, let's make some athletic plays!
We shall see how the Hawks do on this huge road trip to start the season, though.
RECAP - BOX SCORE
Monday, November 13, 2006
MY 2006-07 BIG TEN MEN'S BASKETBALL PREDICTIONS
STORMINSPANK'S 2006-07 BIG TEN PREDICTIONS
1. Wisconsin
2. Ohio State
3. Indiana
4. Illinois
5. Iowa
6. Michigan
7. Michigan State
8. Purdue
9. Penn State
10. Minnesota
11. NW
TOP TIER:
Wisconsin - Clear cut favorite in my opinion. They have the talent, experience, and coaching. Pretty good combo there. Remember when I said Tucker was over-rated… NCAA TOURNEY
Ohio State - Losing Sullinger will hurt, but the recruiting class will help. Plus you have Ron Lewis, my darkhorse for Big Ten POY. Matta has a good thing going on... NCAA TOURNEY
MIDDLE TIER:
Indiana – DJ White is back, Sampson can coach. The Hoosiers are sitting pretty decent... NCAA TOURNEY
Illinois – Talent is still around the program. Not that I think Illinois will be that good, it’s that the Big Ten will be that bad this year... NCAA TOURNEY
Iowa – One of the biggest question marks of the Big Ten for me. They could finish 9th, but I think they’ll be close to 3rd than 9th... NCAA TOURNEY
Michigan – If Amaker wasn’t coaching, I’d have the Wolverines up higher. Good core set of players, but can they compete for a full season? I haven’t witnessed it yet... NIT
Michigan State – Morgan looks like he could be a stud. I just don’t see many other studs on the team. Izzo is the one thing keeping this team this high in my rankings... NIT
Purdue – I am clearly underestimating Purdue, Painter is probably better than most people think. I just can’t put them any higher than 8th... NIT
BOTTOM TIER:
Penn State – A lot of people like this PSU team; I am not one of them... NIT
Minnesota – Monson and Mason are in the same boat, getting paid to lead sinking ships.
Northwestern – They suck and will always suck.
1. Wisconsin
2. Ohio State
3. Indiana
4. Illinois
5. Iowa
6. Michigan
7. Michigan State
8. Purdue
9. Penn State
10. Minnesota
11. NW
TOP TIER:
Wisconsin - Clear cut favorite in my opinion. They have the talent, experience, and coaching. Pretty good combo there. Remember when I said Tucker was over-rated… NCAA TOURNEY
Ohio State - Losing Sullinger will hurt, but the recruiting class will help. Plus you have Ron Lewis, my darkhorse for Big Ten POY. Matta has a good thing going on... NCAA TOURNEY
MIDDLE TIER:
Indiana – DJ White is back, Sampson can coach. The Hoosiers are sitting pretty decent... NCAA TOURNEY
Illinois – Talent is still around the program. Not that I think Illinois will be that good, it’s that the Big Ten will be that bad this year... NCAA TOURNEY
Iowa – One of the biggest question marks of the Big Ten for me. They could finish 9th, but I think they’ll be close to 3rd than 9th... NCAA TOURNEY
Michigan – If Amaker wasn’t coaching, I’d have the Wolverines up higher. Good core set of players, but can they compete for a full season? I haven’t witnessed it yet... NIT
Michigan State – Morgan looks like he could be a stud. I just don’t see many other studs on the team. Izzo is the one thing keeping this team this high in my rankings... NIT
Purdue – I am clearly underestimating Purdue, Painter is probably better than most people think. I just can’t put them any higher than 8th... NIT
BOTTOM TIER:
Penn State – A lot of people like this PSU team; I am not one of them... NIT
Minnesota – Monson and Mason are in the same boat, getting paid to lead sinking ships.
Northwestern – They suck and will always suck.
IOWA BASKETBALL Starts Tonight: Season Preview
Photo courtesy of the Des Moines Register
My outlook/expectations are little higher than the Hawkeye fan-base, and a lot higher than those of the national pundits.
Iowa's biggest question mark is no secret. The bigs are inexperienced and underwhelming. They have big shoes to fill... literally. Whatever we get from the 5 spot (and 4 spot when we play 3 guards) will be an added bonus. Gorney, Looby, Tate, and Crawford will all need to step up (esp. Gorney) and find ways to help out the team.
Although some think Crawford will redshirt, I believe he will not do so this year. Iowa needs bodies and he will need to help out, even if he only contributions are his five fouls. It would have been nice to have Palmer eligible this year, he would be able to help immediately.
I REALLY, REALLY like our guards this year. I believe Iowa has one of the top backcourts in the Big Ten, as well as in the nation (I'm sure others will disagree). Henderson, Haluska, Freeman, Johnson, and Smith are all solid. Wessels needs to be this year's Brownlee; come in and let the other guy's get a blow, take care of the ball, play smart. Once we get rolling on the season, I think we will see the staff use more and more four guard sets. With the versatility Tyler Smith brings to the court, Iowa can afford to play four guards. Look for Johnson to be another Chauncey Leslie.
Losing Mike early will allow Wessels to get some more face time against a few mediocre opponents. Let's hope Henderson's injury heals quickly and he doesn't have any lingering effects from it.
The Hawks will need to avoid foul trouble this year, as they aren't extremely deep. 8, maybe 9 man rotation.
As far as team leaders go, it would be obvious to single out Haluska and Henderson. While perhaps you will see this out of the two, don't lose sight of Tony Freeman. I think he will be the one to make the biggest strides this year and end up being the motor behind the Hawks. Haluska is a fine player, but he is much better in the supplemental role. He is not the kind of player that the Hawks can jump on his back, perhaps he can turn into that type of player, but I am not banking on it. Mike needs to be steady and dominate the other PG on the defensive end, something Tony will do well, too.
Overall, though, this year's team is probably one of the most unpredictable squads of recent memory. No real proven commodities, sans Haluska and Henderson, but major upside (and athleticism) in regards to a lot of our players. The season will really depend on how quickly the team can gel and find their identity.
I like the coaching staff as well. While I am not a cheerleader for Alford, I am certainly not a detractor. I guess that makes me one of the biggest supporters of SA, as most Hawk fan do not approve of him as the coach at Iowa at all. I think he is taking the program in the right direction and the past three seasons has shown increase productivity from the basketball team. The change in the assistants can only help out the Iowa program. Time will tell on that move, though.
As far as a prediction on the season: I see Iowa finishing somewhere between 3rd-6th in the Big Ten, getting about 20 wins, and making it to their third consecutive NCAA Tournament. Haluska should make the 2nd team BT, Smith might pick up a few freshman awards, Henderson has a shot at picking up the defensive POY in the BT although those awards normally go to a big man and he should also find he way onto an all-BT team. But as always, I am sure there will be a few surprises (bad and good) that happen this year. Be ready for a LOT of ups and downs. There will be times this team looks like a junior high squad and their will be times it looks like and all-world squad. Hop on the rollercoaster, though because it's going to be a fun, fun ride... let's hope we have hair left on our heads after the season is over.
GO HAWKS!
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