hawkeyecub

The Hawks win at Michigan 68-60. We were up 54-42 before they hit 5 of 7 threes including a 3 point play to get it down to 3. Freeman had 28 points on 8-14 (6-11 from 3) and 6-9 from the line. Cyrus Tate had 21 points, 12 boards and freshman Jeff Peterson had 9 assists with only 1 turnover. The offense was very crisp after they adjusted to the 1-3-1 zone. Seeing a lot of improvement which is all I hoped for this year.

SIU brand basketball is bad (aesthetically at least) for the Big Ten. Thankfully Lowery didn't jump in also.

Did you happen to see the game illiniguy? If you saw the box score I can understand that reaction. If you watched the game, I would wonder where you thought they got homered. Even on the MSU board they weren't complaining about homer officiating which is rare after a loss. They got the ball into the paint about 4 times all night without travelling. About 1/3 of our free throws came in the last minute when they were trying to foul. Another 1/3 were them forcing Tate or Looby to the line when they got the ball down low because they can't make free throws. There were some bad calls to be sure, but the free throw disparity wasn't a result of that. As far as Indiana bashing, they'll be in the Sweet 16 without a sweat and then it depends on matchups. They (like MSU) aren't looking very good now but they have the pieces. The more I see the more I think Wisconsin at least shares the Big Ten this year.

Wow! Neither team could make a shot. We shot 27.5% from the field and were 5-21 from 3. They shot 31% from the field and 3-12 from 3. Justin Johnson was 1-11, 0-7 from 3 and had a lot of open looks. Freeman had 22 points and did a hell of a job on Neitzel. He really denied the ball and just didn't give him more than a couple of good looks. Both he and Morgan played passive. The key was we only had 8 turnovers to their 18 and we shot 29 free throws to their 4 (although we shot probably 10 in the last minute or so). They just didn't go inside much and didn't attack. They really wanted to run but Lick had us conceding the offensive glass to get back in transition and we pretty much made them defend for 30 seconds every possession. Strange game. We didn't play nearly as well as we did against Indiana. We missed 13 free throws and a lot of open shots. They just played terribly. Only 18 points in the last 28 minutes.

Hopefully no recruits turn on the Big Ten Network for another hour or so. That was one atrocious half of basketball. 45-17 OSU at the half. After being competitive with Indiana and @ Wisconsin last week I didn't expect this.

Nah McCamey is better than Freeman. I would still like to have the two of them playing together though. I also thought Freeman choose Iowa because of his dad being close with Alford. Forgot about McCamey. He's a better talent, but Freeman would be in his 3rd year in the system and 2nd year starting. The ties to Alford and the fact that Alford targeted him early is how we got him over Marquette and a few others. But he made it known that he loved Illinois. Looking back at his profile they didn't show any interest until late summer before his senior year. They were bringing him in for a visit in September but didn't have an offer on the table so he committed to Iowa the week before.

It's just amazing to me that Illinois can have such a poor backcourt. Coming off a national championship appearance with the area they have to recruit from, it's just baffling. Missing on some of the top flight guys that went elsewhere is one thing. Tony Freeman is a better guard than Chester Frazier. He's from Chicago and was Illinois' if they offered but Bruce chose Frazier instead. He's not a savior, but I think he would be your best guard this year.

Nice, thanks! I saw him once before on FSN (about a month ago) and came away rather impressed. I can't wait to see Jrue at UCLA next year. Your guy is ridiculous. He kind of just went through the motions in the first half with a couple spectacular plays mixed in. Midway through the second half he just took over the game single-handedly. When they put him on Tucker (Iowa commit) he frustrated the hell out of him and took him out of any rhythm.

Hey Raisin if you have a dish Jrue Holiday will be on FSN North tomorrow night at 6:00. His team is coming to the Target Center for the Timberwolves Shootout. He'll be playing against Anthony Tucker who is coming to Iowa next year and the #1 team in Minnesota.

Easy.

Oh and Gordon was even more impressive than I anticipated. The guy is damn near impossible to guard. He used screens so well, changed speeds and took the right angles which is especially impressive for a freshman. It's damn near impossible to deny him the ball. It seems like Ratliff has played terribly against us his entire career, especially in Iowa City. Nice to see considering he was down to Iowa and Indiana coming out of high school.

You're hilarious.

Quite simply, Lickliter put a clinic on that ass. Ignoring Johnson's last two minutes (the most impressive shooting display I've ever seen in person) that game was pretty much within 5 points for about 35 minutes. We lost our best big man for the season on Saturday and this was our first game without him. We lost our third leading scorer for the game tonight after he gave us 4 minutes. We were only 15-25 from the FT line. We missed about 4-5 layups. We had absolutely no one who can guard Gordon or White. We have a fraction of the talent. Yet somehow we stayed in that game all night without much fluke stuff happening. 21 assists on 25 field goals? That's insane. It was the most we've resembled one of his Butler teams all year. We matched your 35 rebounds. That may be the best loss I've ever seen considering the circumstances.

Really? Well we have taken 5 of the last 6 against you. Tonight will be ugly. We lost our best post player for the year on Saturday night which means our already thin and weak frontcourt will be in trouble against White. Looby is a solid shot blocker but his back is bothering him again. Angle will have to play more minutes now, but he can't play defense. Freeman will probably be matched up on Gordon and can hopefully keep him under 20. Our only chance of keeping it within 15 is to keep the pace slow, limit turnovers and hope we're hot from the outside. Plus with how bad we are, it's an 8 p.m. start and all of the students are gone, we probably won't have more than 10,000 in attendance so homecourt advantage won't be that great. Is Ratliff playing?

Purdue lost to Wofford. This loss sucks. It really sucks. But we'll probably win 20 games still. Tourney's done for though which is really sad. Just work on developing DMac, Tisdale, and Davis. If you win 20 games that will mean you're 12-6 in the Big Ten and probably finish 3rd or at least 4th. I definitely don't see you going 12-6 in the Big Ten, but if you think you'll still win 20 then the tournament isn't done.

Iowa beat SE Louisiana 57-50 tonight. But since we needed another kick in the balls, it looks like freshman PF Jarryd Cole has a torn ACL and is out for the year. After earning a starting spot he was averaging almost 10 points and 7 boards in those last 7 games. Not only does it make us even worse heading into the Big Ten, but he was maybe the biggest bright spot of this year and watching the younger guys develop was the best thing we had to look forward to.

Go zags. Go Vols. 12-1. This could be a 25 win team. 13 points, 11 boards, 6 assists, 1 steal, 1 block and no turnovers for Tyler. Ugh that's depressing. At least it gives me someone to root for in the tournament this year.

Weber couldn't beat Alford on the road without that stud backcourt and even struggled against him at home with superior talent. I wouldn't be so sure about him handling Lickliter's squad in two years. Hell even this year at home. I'm not saying we're going to be serious contenders but we're not on the level of Northwestern and Penn State and I don't see reason to think we'll be bottom feeders. You guys are terrible. Take off the Gold and Black glasses. Now if you guys still had the talent you did three years ago we would be getting beat by you. The only guy you have that belongs starting on a DI team is Freeman. I still think he will handle you guys. I don't disagree with any of that this year. I'm talking about the next two years which is what you said in your post.

Weber couldn't beat Alford on the road without that stud backcourt and even struggled against him at home with superior talent. I wouldn't be so sure about him handling Lickliter's squad in two years. Hell even this year at home. I'm not saying we're going to be serious contenders but we're not on the level of Northwestern and Penn State and I don't see reason to think we'll be bottom feeders.

Is the word "groupthink" really that offensive? I think everyone here should be able to recognize that while it's not groupthink, there certainly is a tendency for people to change their opinion based on what one or a few posters say. At least I think I see it here more than other sports boards, maybe I'm wrong. Pie is an example of that. This summer I remember when the Pie for Khalil Greene deal was rumored in the San Diego paper and it seemed like absolutely no one was in favor of it because of his OBP. Then Meph posted his splits and suddenly dozens of posters were jonesing for him. The same thing happens in transaction threads. You'll see a few posters complaining to no end about a deal. Then goony, TT, Ping, Meph or someone like that will say it's really not a bad deal and the same people immediately change their opinions. That's not to say there aren't plenty of independent thinkers. There just also seems to be a fair percentage that changes their opinion based on what a few regulars think.

Well it's a win and I'll take it, but that's the worst game the Vikes have played since 34-donut against the Packers. I'm really in the minority but Tarvaris actually played pretty well for the most part, he just reverted to early season form on about 3 plays that killed him. His numbers look a bit worse when one of the interceptions was really a catch and fumble that stayed in the air, and the fumble on the handoff is A.D's fault. He was 18-29 for 249 and 3 picks. The first pick obviously wasn't on him and Ferguson was tackled inside the 1 on the long pass so effectively he was 19-29 for 257, 1 touchdown and 2 picks and 25 yards rushing (I know, I'm spinning). Clearly the 2 interceptions were terrible decisions and throws, but it was a decent night overall. The real issue is the o-line taking a major step back the last two games. They're not communicating, not working together and allowing way too much penetration. If they don't get that straightened out we're not going to the playoffs or if we do, it's one and done. There's no reason we shouldn't have been able to control that Bears front more effectively tonight. Thank God for Kyle Orton and Ron Turner.

The Giants may not make the playoffs. They finish at Buffalo and vs. New England. There's a very good chance the Vikings go 2-1 in their last 3 (Bears and Skins at home, @ Broncos) plus they have the head-to-head tiebreaker. The Saints play the Eagles at home and @ the Bears. If they win both they would be 9-7 and have the tiebreaker over the Giants. I'm worried about the Vikings going 2-1, Giants beating Buffalo and the Saints winning their last two. In that case, the Vikes would be out.

Stupidest just because you don't agree with what's being discussed? Oh, that makes sense. The last few pages have been civil with people from both sides making their case reasonably. There have been hundreds worse than this. Of course it doesn't matter at this point, but it's December and this is the most topical thing to discuss.

I've known plenty of steroids users. Knew a guy who ran a website selling them in the 90's. Drove around in brand new sports cars all the time and was arrested multiple times. Not sure what that has to do with anything. Not sure how those are two stupid excuses. Okay I didn't word that first part the way I should have, but my point was that if you've worked out with someone on steroids you know the superhuman workouts they can have that others can't. In college I knew about 6 guys who shot up in the offseason and weren't ashamed of telling anyone. They pooled money together and figured out what worked best by trial and error. Before they started using or during the season when they cycled off, they were basically average in terms of length, volume and vigor of the workouts. Once January rolled around everything started to increase noticeably. In April and beyond they absolutely blew past all of us who were similar. They would lift hard for 2.5 hours, sometimes more. If any of us even tried to keep up we would be absolutely shot for days or would just break down. They recovered the exact same way we did. Long story short, someone supposedly working out harder means nothing. If anything it almost raises suspicions if you're talking about a guy being able to have marathon weight sessions compared to other elite athletes who are putting in effort. By the way I'm just talking about just strength training, not cardio, endurance or plyometrics.

I've heard that Sosa spent more time in the gym than any other player. So what? Have you ever known a steroid user? That's much of the point of steroids. You're able to workout hard for long periods of time but recover quicker and make gains that you can't make naturally. As far as his diet and economics, do you guys not realize how many players have come from the Dominican, Venezuela, etc. and grew up dirt poor? Seriously if you want to continue to believe Sosa didn't use, that's your own thing. But those are two of the stupidest excuses I've ever heard.