BEAT IOWA!

[SpiderTrap]

I will say, between the national media, all the bracket shows, and all the gambling podcasts, never ever ever have I heard so many universally on one team as they are on Iowa. When I saw the bracket come out, I too thought this was about as crappy a seeding/match up as we could receive, which is fair as a team that was not in the tournament until we won the A10 tournament. The fact that this is maybe the most universally picked team to reach the final four in the history of the tournament actually gives me a little contrarian hope. I was in the car yesterday, I turned on a podcast I listen to , and all 3 talking heads immediately begin drooling about Iowa. I am taking this as a sign. Also, I am personally off to a stellar 2022 rooting season. Have been an LA/STL/LA Rams fans since the days of Pat Haden, Vince Ferragamo and Lawrence McCutcheon. 4 for 4 on my college rooting interests making the dance, including Delaware and Richmond, which were long shots as of about a week and a half ago. Feeling some positive energy for a sweet 16 run here.

I think the issue with the "experts" is we had our magical run just to get into the tourney, and Iowa is a very good team and good Sweet 16 and Elite 8 pick (some even final four). The thought is probably our magic was used up and we will be tired emotionally just being in the tourney.

The key will be the first half. We need to stay within 8 points at half. Can't let this game get away from us early because I think Iowa is too good to comeback on from 12-15 down. We stick around 8 or less with them by halftime, the pressure starts shifting (as in any NCAA game with underdogs) to the favorite and we open the 2nd half on a little run - we got a game.

Of course - we are going to need Gilyard for 40 minutes, Burton will need a strong effort, and we will need timely contributions off the bench. A Matt Grace bucket here and there, Crabtree or Sherod knocking down a 3, etc. We will need just a little spark off the bench as I think that was a key to our A10 run - we always got a little something off the bench at the right time. Not a lot - but just enough at the right time.

 

[fatherspider]

To be fair, that was a tournament environment game on their "home" court. And Indiana was playing for their postseason life. That was a very nice win for the Hawkeyes, regardless of how it happened.

To be fair, everyone is playing for their lives in the conference tournament, Iowa probably had at least 25% of the crowd rooting for them, and it was on a neutral court which is much different than a home game. I dont think the venue played much of a roll at all.
Iowa needed to make 14 3’s to beat a 12 seed on a last second shot. Besides NW game, how many times has Iowa made 14 3’s on 32 attempts?
The game I think is very interesting is the Feb 17th home loss to Michigan. 4/18 from 3 and you lose at home.

 

[StormHawk42]

I watched highlights of their last two games last night. What I dont see from them is any post play at all. Their main Big #23 averages 1.9 a game on 20 minutes and the other Mulvey is under a point per game. And neither is a dominant defender inside. Purdue’s giant had his way often if he got the ball low, he is 7’ 4” I know. Golden could have a big game and should be the focus on offense like in the Dayton game.
They are predominantly a 3 point shooting team in half court, and score many of their two point fg’s on offensive glass and fast break. Against Indiana they took 32 3’s and had to make 14 of them to escape with a last second win. Making 14 3’s and barely winning is on the lucky spectrum if u ask me.
Get them in a half court game, make getting the ball low to Golden the primary plan on offense just like in the Dayton game, have Goose smother Murray all game and play them very tight outside the arc, not worrying too much about guarding the post.

Ogundele and Mulvey won’t play against Richmond. They have only been used when the other team has a monster big like Kofi or Edey.

Rebraca is our “5” despite being undersized and mainly does garbage man duty. Don’t really have a center per se. Keegan is big enough that if he gets close enough to the basket, he’ll use some kind of move to put it up. He’s very strong and athletic.

 

[spiderman]

The only thing I will add about this matchup, if you haven't seen much of Iowa, is there will be moments when you'll turn to a friend, spouse, etc. and ask "what the hell just happened?".

I've seen a lot of basketball. pretty sure I won't be confused unless you've invented a new way to score.

 

[712_VT]

What’s a worse state iowa or kansas? Impossible choice.

 

[fatherspider]

Ogundele and Mulvey won’t play against Richmond. They have only been used when the other team has a monster big like Kofi or Edey.

Rebraca is our “5” despite being undersized and mainly does garbage man duty. Don’t really have a center per se. Keegan is big enough that if he gets close enough to the basket, he’ll use some kind of move to put it up. He’s very strong and athletic.

Ok so post play is definitely not a key element to Iowa's game, and you defend the post with your forwards who are big guys. We have a very skilled post player in Golden at 6-10 who also can pass well. It will be interesting to see how you defend him.

 

[97spiderfan]

In all honestly it’s like another miracle - with its silky water proof type miracle and clean undershirt on each day, it promise Spidernation it won’t be an issue …

Hell no, do you wash that shirt. It loses all of its magic then.

 

[whampas]

Hey ShawnDre, if you're reading this let the guys know that the talking heads, media and especially the Iowa fans aren't giving the Spiders a snowballs chance in this game. But, I've not read where one Spider fan doesn't think we've got a puncher's chance of winning this thing.

 

[KE Spider]

What’s a worse state iowa or kansas? Impossible choice.

Blacksburg, but it is only a state of mind.

 

[StormHawk42]

What’s a worse state iowa or kansas? Impossible choice.

I’ve lived in both. Other than Lawrence and far west KC where the soccer team plays, Kansas < Iowa and it’s not close.

Des Moines is actually a terrific and underrated city.

 

[Eight Legger]

Don't think over ever seen a team that scored over 100 a few times and also less than 50 in the same year. They have had some games where they just went nuts from 3 (19 for 29 once) and some others when they were terrible there.

If this were a month ago, I wouldn't feel great because I wouldn't have trusted our three point defense. Now, I feel better about it. Make them work for their threes and we should be in this for the duration. But I agree with whoever said we can't afford to get down double digits. We've played that game too many times this year, it won't work against Iowa.

 

[Ferrum Spider]

Can one of our new Iowa friends find us a picture of Hardt when he played at Iowa and post it here? This would be gold.

Archived online yearbooks. Paging @SFspidur

 

[BrewHawk]

Ok so post play is definitely not a key element to Iowa's game, and you defend the post with your forwards who are big guys. We have a very skilled post player in Golden at 6-10 who also can pass well. It will be interesting to see how you defend him.

Rebraca and Kris Murray will guard him. Rebraca looks undersized, but is "country strong."

Filip is a good offensive post player if needed. Very solid footwork. We just haven't needed to go to him as a primary scoring option. If you help on Keegan with Golden, I would look for Rebraca to have more points.

 

[BrewHawk]

Also, a little Keegan Murray love from GIA. He deserves it!

Keegan Murray By The Numbers: Banana-pants Crazy

Keegan Murray didn't just have a good year -- he had an all-time great year.

www.goiowaawesome.com

 

[iowahawkeyes1982]

To be fair, everyone is playing for their lives in the conference tournament, Iowa probably had at least 25% of the crowd rooting for them, and it was on a neutral court which is much different than a home game. I dont think the venue played much of a roll at all.
Iowa needed to make 14 3’s to beat a 12 seed on a last second shot. Besides NW game, how many times has Iowa made 14 3’s on 32 attempts?
The game I think is very interesting is the Feb 17th home loss to Michigan. 4/18 from 3 and you lose at home.

No - plenty of teams secured their bid and weren't playing for their postseason life.

"Neutral court" is semantics, it was a home game for Indiana and Purdue. 25% Iowa fans is generous.

I guess I'm not really sure what your point is? Richmond is a favorable comp to Indiana? Sure, I guess? But trying to use the BTT semifinal as your data point doesn't work.

 

[712_VT]

Blacksburg, but it is only a state of mind.

If you only knew.

 

[hexumhawk]

Iowa fan here.

Most Iowa fans know that come March anything can happen. We have the kind of team that can let teams stick around because we rely so much on outside shooting. We also USUALLY don't value possessions as we push up and down as fast as possible.

If I am an opposing team, your best bet is to try and slow the game down as much as possible. We are not big inside and have had trouble getting out rebounded/second chance points at times this year. Our other weak spot is our Bohannon on the outside on defense. He just flat out isn't a good defender so I would try to run as many iso plays as possible if you get the right matchup.

Iowa's positives are its shooting and its length/skill. We have 3 or 4 guys that are 6'8 or bigger that can play like guards.

Should be fun

 

[urmite]

The one thing we haven't mentioned is staying out of early foul trouble defending them. Foul trouble for the wrong players is the easiest way for this game to play out as predicted.

 

[spider23]

Interesting. Now I will say that this twitter account is pretty full of poop mostly, and cover their tracks on being so wrong so often by claiming it run by numerous anonymous coaches or former coaches.

 

[fatherspider]

No - plenty of teams secured their bid and weren't playing for their postseason life.

"Neutral court" is semantics, it was a home game for Indiana and Purdue. 25% Iowa fans is generous.

I guess I'm not really sure what your point is? Richmond is a favorable comp to Indiana? Sure, I guess? But trying to use the BTT semifinal as your data point doesn't work.

I disagree. Winning conference championships in major conferences is a VERY BIG DEAL. So I believe that a one and done tournament for a conference championship is "playing for your lives", if a team has any competitive pride. Do you think Purdue didn't play as hard as they possible could in the final just because they knew they had a bid? And the pressure of having to win to get in could make many teams tighten up. Imo, building up your victory over Indiana on that premise is a stretch.
A true home court advantage has many benefits beyond fan support, familiarity of setting and surroundings being #1. Having 25% support, your band, cheerleaders, etc. isn't near as intimidating as playing in Assembly Hall. Imo, again, building up your victory over Indiana on that premise is a stretch.
The game against Indiana isn't the sole data point, of course, but it can be used. You beat a 12 seed on a neutral court on a last second 3 making 14 3 pointers. I think all it suggests is that you needed to have an extraordinary shooting night to pull off the win. I also mentioned the Michigan home loss where you went 4/18 from 3 and lost.
I'm only looking for some reasons to hope and believe the Spiders can win and trying to put a sliver of doubt in the very confident Iowa fan base. No harm intended.

 

[iowahawkeyes1982]

I disagree. Winning conference championships in major conferences is a VERY BIG DEAL. So I believe that a one and done tournament for a conference championship is "playing for your lives", if a team has any competitive pride. Do you think Purdue didn't play as hard as they possible could in the final just because they knew they had a bid? And the pressure of having to win to get in could make many teams tighten up. Imo, building up your victory over Indiana on that premise is a stretch.
A true home court advantage has many benefits beyond fan support, familiarity of setting and surroundings being #1. Having 25% support, your band, cheerleaders, etc. isn't near as intimidating as playing in Assembly Hall. Imo, again, building up your victory over Indiana on that premise is a stretch.
The game against Indiana isn't the sole data point, of course, but it can be used. You beat a 12 seed on a neutral court on a last second 3 making 14 3 pointers. I think all it suggests is that you needed to have an extraordinary shooting night to pull off the win.
Im only looking for some reasons to hope and believe the Spiders can win and trying to put a sliver of doubt in the very confident Iowa fan base. No harm intended.

No harm at all, it's fun to chat about these things!

I never said winning conference championships isn't a big deal. It certainly is. My point was the game against Indiana in the BTT was a bigger deal to them than say a regular season game. They had more at stake (in the end it ultimately didn't matter, but that's not the way they looked at it). So to say it was just another game against a 12 seed isn't really telling the whole story.

I think Iowa will win, but I will not be shocked if Richmond pulls off the upset. You have a good team, it's called March Madness for a reason. I don't think you will find many Iowa fans that think this game is a forgone conclusion.

We'll have to agree to disagree about Indiana. In a vacuum, I think it's a good comp to Richmond. However, with all the other factors I mentioned, I don't think the semifinal is a good place to make that point. Just my opinion though.

 

[BrewHawk]

No harm at all, it's fun to chat about these things!

I never said winning conference championships isn't a big deal. It certainly is. My point was the game against Indiana in the BTT was a bigger deal to them than say a regular season game. They had more at stake (in the end it ultimately didn't matter, but that's not the way they looked at it). So to say it was just another game against a 12 seed isn't really telling the whole story.

I think Iowa will win, but I will not be shocked if Richmond pulls off the upset. You have a good team, it's called March Madness for a reason. I don't think you will find many Iowa fans that think this game is a forgone conclusion.

We'll have to agree to disagree about Indiana. In a vacuum, I think it's a good comp to Richmond. However, with all the other factors I mentioned, I don't think the semifinal is a good place to make that point. Just my opinion though.

The only way Richmond is a good comp to Indiana is if Golden is as good as TJD, everything else being equal. I would actually say their teams are pretty comparable otherwise.

 

[97spiderfan]

The only way Richmond is a good comp to Indiana is if Golden is as good as TJD, everything else being equal. I would actually say their teams are pretty comparable otherwise.

He's scored 2000 points in his career but I would in no way compare him to TJD, who is a lottery draft pick. They are two completely different players.

 

[Gallipoli]

I'm only looking for some reasons to hope and believe the Spiders can win and trying to put a sliver of doubt in the very confident Iowa fan base. No harm intended.

Custer at Little Big Horn- it is a forlorn hope.

 

[ur-2005]

At first, I hated this draw. I am slowly liking it more and more. I love the fact that nobody is talking about us as the upset and rather that Iowa is going to the championship or whatnot. There are countless upsets in March madness of teams nobody expects. I also came across this stat today. Team ranked in the top ten offensively and outside the top 100 defensively have gone 1 and 9 in the first round since 2000. Iowa 4th offensively and according to basketball stats and references 158 in defense. I am starting to like this more and more.

 

[gcarter52]

The only way Richmond is a good comp to Indiana is if Golden is as good as TJD, everything else being equal. I would actually say their teams are pretty comparable otherwise.

Oh yee of little faith, I know the odds are stacked against us but is your resolve. I still stand with our team until the end!!

 

[gcarter52]

At first, I hated this draw. I am slowly liking it more and more. I love the fact that nobody is talking about us as the upset and rather that Iowa is going to the championship or whatnot. There are countless upsets in March madness of teams nobody expects. I also came across this stat today. Team ranked in the top ten offensively and outside the top 100 defensively have gone 1 and 9 in the first round since 2000. Iowa 4th offensively and according to basketball stats and references 158 in defense. I am starting to like this more and more.

I'm with you ur-2005.

 

[BrewHawk]

Some more input/interpretation from BHGP...

Some thoughts after watching Richmond highlights

The Spiders’ Jacob Gilyard could be a problem

www.blackheartgoldpants.com

 

[urmite]

He's scored 2000 points in his career but I would in no way compare him to TJD, who is a lottery draft pick. They are two completely different players.

I agree. But they do keep saying Golden is the only player in the NCAA (not tournament, all D1) that has 2,000 Points, and 1,000 Rebounds...

 

[spider23]

At first, I hated this draw. I am slowly liking it more and more. I love the fact that nobody is talking about us as the upset and rather that Iowa is going to the championship or whatnot. There are countless upsets in March madness of teams nobody expects. I also came across this stat today. Team ranked in the top ten offensively and outside the top 100 defensively have gone 1 and 9 in the first round since 2000. Iowa 4th offensively and according to basketball stats and references 158 in defense. I am starting to like this more and more.

Yep, listening to some stuff on radio/pods, the poor defensive metric is historically being proven out to be a real factor in which teams can make a deep run. Purdue is another one that is super offensively, not so much on defense.

 

[urmite]

Oh yee of little faith, I know the odds are stacked against us but is your resolve. I still stand with our team until the end!!

That is a Iowa fan, I don't mind if the Iowa fans have little faith in us.
I'm hoping the Iowa coaches and players do as well...

 

[SpiderK]

Some more input/interpretation from BHGP...

Some thoughts after watching Richmond highlights

The Spiders’ Jacob Gilyard could be a problem

www.blackheartgoldpants.com

He didn’t mention Gilyard’s theft ability. Pretty big thing to miss.

 

[urmite]

At first, I hated this draw. I am slowly liking it more and more. I love the fact that nobody is talking about us as the upset and rather that Iowa is going to the championship or whatnot. There are countless upsets in March madness of teams nobody expects. I also came across this stat today. Team ranked in the top ten offensively and outside the top 100 defensively have gone 1 and 9 in the first round since 2000. Iowa 4th offensively and according to basketball stats and references 158 in defense. I am starting to like this more and more.

Hopefully that 1-9 stat is based on Stat-Ref and not KenPom where they are #2 & #77...

 

[BrewHawk]

Hopefully that 1-9 stat is based on Stat-Ref and not KenPom where they are #2 & #77...

We're also a different team defensively over the past 10 games (just eyeball test, nothing to back it up stats-wise).

 

[urmite]

Some more input/interpretation from BHGP...

Some thoughts after watching Richmond highlights

The Spiders’ Jacob Gilyard could be a problem

www.blackheartgoldpants.com

I would have replaced the "at VCU" game with Miss St & home vs St Bonaventure.

Unless we are missing everything from outside or are in foul trouble you at not likely to see us play like "at VCU" or home vs St Joe.

 

[SpiderK]

Let’s watch Thursday and see what happens. Richmond may lose this match up 7 out of 10 times. About a 30% chance to win. 12s beat 5s 39% of the time. Richmond had a 7% of winning the A-10 tournament. Hmmm?

 

[coach fezz]

Iowa fan here.

Most Iowa fans know that come March anything can happen. We have the kind of team that can let teams stick around because we rely so much on outside shooting. We also USUALLY don't value possessions as we push up and down as fast as possible.

If I am an opposing team, your best bet is to try and slow the game down as much as possible. We are not big inside and have had trouble getting out rebounded/second chance points at times this year. Our other weak spot is our Bohannon on the outside on defense. He just flat out isn't a good defender so I would try to run as many iso plays as possible if you get the right matchup.

Iowa's positives are its shooting and its length/skill. We have 3 or 4 guys that are 6'8 or bigger that can play like guards.

Should be fun

i am happy you have no Fredrick and no Nunge , I like Nunge game

 

[scotthawk1964]

Jesus there’s a lot of iowa fans on here. All y’all must be related right? I know that happens a lot in the Midwest.

Don't worry, we'll be on someone else's board next week. LOL

 

[urmite]

Don't worry, we'll be on someone else's board next week. LOL

So you won't be back to congratulate us on the win over Providence?

 

[hawkimatt]

Frankly, Rutgers had us on the ropes last Friday for a lot of the first half.

Rutgers is a tough matchup for us--as are a lot of B1G teams--because they are always (seemingly) more athletic than us.

While slow and plodding may not be the most accurate way to describe us, it also isn't the poorest way, either. In that respect, Fran McCaffery has done a great job recruiting better athletes, as well as adapting players to his style. Case in point: Luka Garza, who came in as kind of a big/tall doofus, but had the toughness and work ethic that FranMac saw as moldable.

Hoping the assigned crew will not let Richmond play defense the way Rutgers, Wisconsin or Michigan State are allowed to in the league. Grabs, holds, moving screens constantly with no calls. That being allowed is what costs the Big Ten during tourney time.