Iowa Actually Loses to Duquesne, 52-50

his player rotations are so fucking unpredictable. I can see why players transfer. They don’t know their role. Aaron Fuller? What is his role? All I read from Lickliter was how he gained muscle and was going to have a breakout year…from the bench?

I have to say that Alford’s teams had much more movement…way more. teams hardly break a sweat against Iowa. The other thing, these guys are all soft. They all look pudgy and out of shape. Where is the weight room? Matt Gatens looks exhausted after 5 mins. What happened to him?

I think TL is going to lose this team. I can’t find more than 7 wins on the schedule. This could come to an end very quickly and it could be ugly. It would not shock me to see Aaron Fuller transfer back to Arizona, Andrew Brommer is gone (although he never plays) and what is left has no chemistry. They are averaging 50 points against lower level teams, they could get annihilated by almost everyone in Big Ten play.

But seriously, StoopsMyAss: Do you really think Lickliter would be canned after this year if Iowa fails to win 10 games? I remember reading how people were saying this season would be a wash given all the transfers. Does Lick have anyone special lined up for 2010 or beyond?

Not because the Hawks have been playing poorly, but because there seems to be no semblence of a plan or fundamentals. It looks like utter chaos. It is one thing for freshman to not know what they are doing, but the entire team? And whats worse, we seem to have regressed in fundamentals. Will someone please tell Anthony Tucker that when you are playing defense you should probably get your hand in the opposing players face? How hard is that? Yet it has been a recurring problem in the past two games now. Add sloppy passing and some of the worst shooting I have ever seen and a complete inability to win matchups in the paint and you have the biggest shit storm of ineptitude ever. Look, I will throw Lickliter a bone for the transfers, but there is no way this is all part of the “freshman growing pains” he talked about at his last press conference. This is an inability to play fundamental basketball and if Lickliter can’t put a team on the court that has basic fundamentals he has no buisness coaching here.

Ferentz’s Squad or Lickliter’s?

I see where Iowa plays Texas next Monday. So that’ll be fun. Anyway, I’m keeping score differently this year. For example, check out how Iowa won the second half against Duequesne. That means Iowa is now 1-4. Hey, a win is a win.

1) Keeps getting worse.
 I don’t really expect Lick to change his ways, but if his “system” had any validity, wouldn’t we be getting a little bit better each year, even if that means only winning one more game, or having players that look like they know what they should be doing?

2) Not keeping your own players.
One or two transfers, I can chalk up to kids being lazy or whatever. But I just noticed that Tyler Smith is still at Tennessee. We have lost at least 6 players that were in the fold at Iowa under Lick. Unacceptable for a program looking to crawl out of the cellar, unless you have multiple blue-chippers coming in to replace them.

3) Style of play.
It just isn’t working. After two and 1/16th years of it not working, it is hard to blame it on personnel, or an Alford hangover, or whatever. By now, you better be able to do your style well against small schools, and be able to shift to other styles for short periods against schools that have a big talent-advantage over you.

4) Lack of Public Relations.
After Alford, I never thought I would want my coach to be more of a media ass-kisser instead of a solid coach. Now, with Lick, I realize how crucial it is to have a personality and to have a mildly-good relationship with the press and the fans. Lick has none of these. If your team sucks, you better be able to spin a few yarns or tell a few jokes to keep people from hating you. A perfect example of this (and a worst-case scenario that I hope Lick never sees at Iowa) is Mangini and the Cleveland Browns media. After Monday night’s game, where the Cleveland offense looked worse than awful, Mangini steps up to the podium, and with a blank look answers question after question from beat writers who clearly want him gone. Nothing funny, nothing to put people at ease, and not an ounce of joy in the place. I’d like to think that the Iowa media would be too polite to get there, but if we don’t win more than 6 games this year, I could see it happen.

So, if Lick wants to survive, he needs to keep these players, coach them up (even if that doesn’t translate into a lot of wins), be able to shift to other styles when needed (pressing? running? low-post game?), and tell a few jokes or stories (and don’t mention Butler).

/end rant.

cc Gary Barta

Gregg Popovich tinkers with his lineup first few months of the season and usually works out.

As we all know, our team moniker “the hawkeyes” is from the James Fenimore Cooper novel the Last of the Mohicans. We are named after the main character called (you guessed it) Hawkeye. What I didn’t realize was the fort that gets taken over by the French in the book is named Fort Duquesne.

So there’s a bit of trivia for ya. Sigh.

We’re ….Iowa?

I have nothing to add other than “ugh”.

The Freshman look like ballplayers plain and simple. They aren’t John Wall or Xavier Henry athletically, but they are guys that clearly know their way around the court. Over time that will lead to production. Contrary to a lot of the pessimistic views, I do think they are playing hard and hustling. May and Cully look solid already and Cougill shows potential. With experience it will translate to better execution. These Freshman look good and our guys coming in next year look suprisingly good in scouting reports too. He’s doing better recruiting-wise than frankly he should probably be doing at Iowa right now with the state of the program.

Lick’s system is built around defense, controlling the pace and limiting possessions. This group will get better as the players actually stick around to gain experience with the style and imrpove their defense and ball handling. The product on the court is a direct reflection of the mass exodus we experienced. Losing what we lost, you can’t expect to do better right now. That’s not going to happen again. Now Lick has his guys, and guys that want to be there.

I know it sucks, and it is downright sad to see Carver look like that, but with 2 more years there will be massive strides forward. The “Fire Lick” stuff is just counterproductive. It would only lead to more negative perceptions of the program, which may lead to more transfers, and never helps recruiting. It isn’t the answer.

You have a right as a Hawk fan to demand a better product, but there comes a point when no matter how much you bitch and boo it doesn’t help. This is a complete overhaul and reconstruction. Give them time. Come back in 2 years if you can’t stand it in the meantime.

The entire all Big Ten team last year were sophomores, so young schmong.

…the end of the Zags-MSU game was terrific. Then I watched a re-run of The Office (the one where Andy finds out about Dwight & Angela – hilarious stuff).

I remember when, even when the Hawks were terrible in basketball, I still cared and wanted to watch. Now…

Makes me sad.

Did I hear that we almost beat DUKE by 2 points ?! That’s excellent! What a moral victory! Go Licks!

I’m thinking hoping that Lick’s “system” that worked at Butler is more than JUST slowing the game down. For this reason alone I’ll keep watching and waiting for those little nuggets of hope — like when they go on a 17-4 run (or whatever) on the #3 team in the nation. And I agree that May and Cully look like potential quality players.

But if by the end of next year Lick’s so-called system* isn’t more productive, I’m gonna be a front-row member of the Fire Lick’s mob.

*To me the system involves several things: winning, recruiting, strategic and successful PR, and filling Carver.