in year three of the five year plan. Just throwing that out there. With the possible exception of Indiana at home, I doubt we will be favored in any other game, home or away

I think Lickliter was out of his depth though when he arrived. The way he handled the media was amateur to semi-pro and he had a very hard time communicatinig his vision to people. No vision equals no expectations, equals frustration. Iowa’s biggest problem this year will be that everyone else might have improved even more than they have. So progress based on wins and losses may suggest we are moving backward, when as you argue, we are not. I like the word on the new recruits and I think he has a system that can be very effective with the right personnel and he deserves time to accumulate that personnel.

My thinking is that Iowa wins 4 games in conference. More than that will surprise and even impress me. But lots of fans will not be understanding of that and Barta is going to have his hands full on the perception side of things. He’d be a fool to play hardball with the fans right now. They need to create an atmosphere in that arena and be super student friendly. Given the economics (and maybe a BCS berth will help here) he might not be able to do very much.

He is very smart on the subject. I am not.

He is at Arkansas now. Look, transferring in college basketball is quite common. I have no problem with those guys leaving. At all. To me, in order for Lickliter to succeed he needs to do three things much better:
- represent this program with openness and respect. Fans and media cannot be perpetually wondering, “what the hell is he doing?”
- he needs to recruit better (he seems to be doing this now)
- he needs to understand how to tweak his “system,” and the players within it, to fit the Big Ten.

He came in with a system that was a bit naively constructed at first. He thought he could clog up the middle by playing great defense and outshoot other teams with the three and voila, here come the victories. Well, the NCAA moved the 3-point line back. That required adjustments. And frankly, he had guys who could do both but not very effectively for a whole game.

And in late game situations he had NO ONE who could make a play off he dribble and Iowa crumbled in a number of games late last year. The Penn State game most notably. Jake was his only player who had any one-on-one ability. In the Big Ten the athleticism is too great to expect your system to work in all situations. He needs guys who can make a play outside of the flow of the ball. Someone who can create his own shot in the last 3 mins of games when you have the lead and are milking the clock or when you are trying to win a close game. Ball screens can only get you so far.

Dochterman tells me that he thinks Iowa wins 4 home games and one road game. He thinks it possible Iowa is not favored in any conference game this year. That would be, like, cool.

bah.

conference only