The Hawkeyes go to the Outback Bowl

As optimistic as I usually am about the Iowa Hawkeyes going into the season even I didn’t think I would be typing that headline at the end of this year.  Finishing 8-4 is a pretty impressive improvement from last year’s 4-8 record but it is actually the play on the field that I was most impressed with overall.  Most people (myself included) thought Iowa would beat Northern Illinois to start the season and when the Hawks couldn’t pull it off it looked like we might be in for a long year but NIU was pretty impressive all season (until the MAC Championship anyway).  Losing to Ohio St. and Wisconsin was to be expected and Michigan St.’s turnaround from last year was even more remarkable than Iowa’s.  If Mark Dantonio hadn’t made the boneheaded decision to put Andrew Maxwell into the end of Notre Dame game they might be facing Florida St. for a National Championship.  Those are Iowa’s four losses, no inexplicable loss to a terrible Purdue team or getting beat by a Northwestern team simply because they couldn’t figure out how to stop them.  The Hawkeyes came out on top of rivalry games against Iowa St, Minnesota and Nebraska, the trophy case looks a little better these days.  With the recent news that LT Brandon Scherff is returning next year for his senior season the future looks a lot brighter.

I openly questioned whether Kirk Ferentz could get the Hawkeyes turned around one more time but Ferentz did what Ferentz does, he stayed the course believed in what he was doing and didn’t let the noise get to him.  There was never a “hot seat” for Ferentz, his contract made sure of that, but he didn’t just sit around collecting his paycheck and hoping things would get better.  He made staff changes (Bobby Kennedy and Chris White) that helped add to the new blood from last year (Greg Davis, Brian Ferentz and Levar Woods).  The attrition that had hurt the team from previous years seems to have stopped and for the most part this team stayed healthy throughout the year.  I’m looking forward to what this staff can do with some continuity amongst themselves and continuity of the roster.  Bringing back a starting QB that played pretty well, a stable of RB’s, three offensive line starters (including a future top 10 pick at LT), and a solid group at TE should help make the offense next year pretty good.  Finding some playmakers at WR will be priority #1 during bowl prep and spring practice for Greg Davis.  Phil Parker came into his own as a defensive play caller at the end of the season and his blitzing during the Nebraska game was a thing of beauty.  Next year he has to deal with replacing those three outstanding LB’s but hopefully he’ll get some pass rushers at DE pretty soon.  I have to admit I am thoroughly impressed by the turnaround of the Hawkeyes and I’m looking forward to the Outback Bowl and beating LSU.  It won’t be easy (WR’s Odell Beckham and Jarvis Landry will keep Phil Parker up nights I’m sure) but I think the Hawkeye’s pull it off.  The new QB for LSU could be a wildcard, he’s talented but untested and against a veteran defense that has weeks to prepare I’m feeling optimistic but then again don’t I always.

 

 

Quick hits

–          This Iowa basketball team is fun to watch.  You never know who’s going to step up to help out Devyn Marble.  Marble is the constant but everybody from Zach McCabe to Gabe Olaseni to Peter Jok has stepped up at one time or another.  That might be this team’s best asset because it doesn’t matter how much game film you watch it’s impossible to game plan to stop nine different guys.  The Hawkeyes go to Ames to take on a ranked Iowa St team on Friday the 13^th.  The first time in 26 years the Hawkeyes and Cyclones will meet as ranked opponents (that was the stat I heard the other night during the broadcast, I assume it’s accurate).  Big game, both ways.

–          The Seattle Mariners gave Robinson Cano a 10 year $240 million deal.  Cano is a soon-to-be 32 year old second baseman whose power is likely to be affected by his move from Yankee Stadium to Safeco Field.  The idiocy of MLB teams astounds me sometimes. The only time a team has signed a player to a 10 year contract and not ended up regretting it was when the Yankees signed Derek Jeter to a 10 year deal…he was 26 when they did it.  The only time a player should get a 10 year contract from a team is if Mike Trout hits free agency when he’s 26.  Well done Seattle you just signed yourself up for mediocrity for the next decade.  Enjoy paying Cano $24 million dollars when he’s 40 years old.

–          The University of Texas may or may not be firing head coach Mack Brown.  Mack Brown may or may not be stepping down as head coach at the University of Texas. Nick Saban may or may not be replacing Mack Brown as head coach at the University of Texas. Nick Saban may or may not be signing an extension to remain head coach at the University of Alabama.  The only thing I’m sure of is Nick Saban is about to get a lot richer and things are about to get interesting down in Austin.  If new Texas AD Steve Patterson fires Mack Brown and doesn’t get Nick Saban he better make sure he doesn’t end up with Todd Graham as the new Longhorn’s coach because he won’t be the Texas AD for long if he does.  Although I’m sure the Texas job is Graham’s “dream job”, he apparently dreams a lot.

–          The Houston Texans fired Gary Kubiak after they lost to the Jacksonville Jaguars last week, their eleventh loss in a row.  Owner Bob McNair was far more patient with Kubiak than most NFL owners would have been and this year’s debacle certainly called for his dismissal.  McNair mentioned Lovie Smith as a possible name in his coaching search but I would advise him against that move.  The Texans defensive personnel is designed to fit a 3-4 defense and Smith is a Tampa-2 type coach if you need an example of how that doesn’t work just watch a Cowboys game.  Square pegs don’t fit in round holes.  If he wants a defensive coach call Ray Horton in Cleveland otherwise look at Ken Whisenhunt and get him to bring in a 3-4 defensive coordinator.

–          USC got their man in Steve Sarkisian and Washington got an excellent coach to replace Sarkisian in Boise St.’s Chris Peterson.  A lot of people think Washington upgraded and wonder why USC chose Sarkisian when Peterson was also involved in the search.  This is a prime example of coaches fitting their environment.  Sarkisian was the guy USC wanted when Pete Carroll left for the Seahawks but he had just taken the Washington job and he wasn’t about to pull a Lane Kiffin (obviously it would have been called a Sarkisian if he had).  This time the timing was right.  Peterson has turned down numerous jobs over the last several years because of his comfort level at Boise St. but he had outgrown that job.  Washington doesn’t bring the pressure or the media scrutiny that USC has and is a much better fit for Peterson’s low-key personality.  Bravo to both schools on those hires and double bravo to USC AD Pat Haden he has replace Kevin O’Neill and Lane Kiffin with Andy Enfield and Steve Sarkisian in the last year, that’s a good job by an AD.

–          The college coaching carousel hasn’t spun out of control too much this offseason (that could all change when Mack Brown is out at Texas especially if Saban takes the job).  Obviously the USC and Washington jobs were filled quickly and it looks like Boise St. and Wake Forest have filled their vacancies.  Florida and Nebraska decided not to fire their head coaches even though it was a distinct possibility.  Jeremy Foley was correct to not fire Will Muschamp after this season.  Florida won 11 games last year and this year they had an unbelievable amount of injuries.  Muschamp didn’t forget how to coach and I think Florida will be rewarded for their patience.  Nebraska wins a lot of games under Bo Pelini and he certainly shouldn’t be fired based on the results on the field a better argument for canning Pelini is that he is a terrible representative of the University, in short he’s an asshat.  I hope the Hawkeyes have begun a new tradition of beating the Cornhuskers every year.

–          The Texans got the ball rolling on the NFL coaching carousel but trust me it’s just the beginning.  The Mike Shanahan saga in Washington will be interesting and I don’t care what Jerry Jones says now I won’t believe Jason Garrett and his staff are safe until about March.  Leslie Frazier is a goner in Minnesota and I think Rex Ryan is toast with the Jets.  Titans head coach Mike Munchak is probably going to be looking for a nice offensive line coaching job after this season.  I think Greg Schiano in Tampa Bay, Dennis Allen in Oakland and Joe Philbin in Miami are all coaching for their jobs over the last three weeks.

–          If one of the jobs (there should be 5-8) in the NFL isn’t filled by Cleveland defensive coordinator Ray Horton the NFL needs to seriously reconsider its hiring practices.  Cleveland’s defense has been pretty good this year and their offense has rarely helped them out.

–          I’ll be shocked if Michigan St. defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi isn’t a head coach in college football next season but he deserves a better job than UConn or Bowling Green.  Maybe he should wait until next year the Nebraska and Illinois jobs should be open by then.

I should get around to a Iowa/LSU Outback Bowl preview before I go into NFL Draft mode so stay tuned.

I haven’t written about the Hawkeye football team in a few weeks and that’s because this team is turning out to be exactly what I expected them to be.  They are good enough to beat the bad teams and they lose to the good ones.  The Hawkeyes are 6-4 with wins over Missouri St, Iowa St, Western Michigan, Minnesota, Northwestern and Purdue, not exactly murder’s row.  Yes Minnesota is playing well now but they were terrible when the Hawks played them and Northwestern and Purdue are bringing up the rear of both divisions of the Big Ten.  On the other hand the Hawkeye’s losses are to Ohio St (9-0), Michigan St (8-1), Northern Illinois (10-0) and Wisconsin (7-2 their loss to Arizona St is completely bogus).  The good news is that this is actually progress because if this was last year they would have found a way to lose both the ISU game and the Northwestern game.  Sitting with 6 wins means the Hawkeyes are going to a bowl game because the Big Ten might not even have enough teams to fill all its bowl slots and now the Michigan and Nebraska games are all about positioning for a better game.  If this were the last two years or so I wouldn’t have much confidence that the Hawkeyes could pull off a win in either of these games but they play the best when the other team doesn’t have a good defense and Michigan and Nebraska are struggling there.  The Iowa defense can shut down anyone if the offense gives them just a little help (I’m talking about the Wisconsin game).  The Hawkeye defense finally broke down in the second half against the Badgers because if you give the opponent the ball enough eventually you get beat.  After watching Michigan and Nebraska play each other last weekend my confidence is up because both teams look beatable.  The bye week should help the Hawkeyes rest up and heal up (I’m looking at you Rudock and Weisman) and figure out the best way to beat the Wolverines.  I’m not ready to hop on the Jordan Canzeri bandwagon after his performance against Purdue but it’s nothing against Canzeri.  Canzeri was the right matchup against a big, strong but slower Purdue defense and it should be obvious to everyone that Mark Weisman isn’t at full strength right now.  Canzeri proved that the coaches need to use him more, although his fumble will still give them pause.  He also needs to buy Don Shumpert dinner for bailing him out by jumping on said fumble.  I would also like to give Shumpert credit for his two big catches at very opportune moments against Purdue.  Neither one was very pretty but they were both highly effective and through all the ups and downs of his career he stuck with it and made a contribution to the win that gets Iowa back to a bowl game.  Thanks Don the Hawkeyes need the extra practices for next year.

Other thoughts

–          The Oregon Ducks lost to Stanford last week and according to standard Heisman BS that means QB Marcus Mariota is out of the running and now Florida St. redshirt freshman QB Jameis Winston is the favorite.  I’ve seen Winston and he’s seriously impressive but the Heisman trophy needs to stop claiming it goes to the best player in college football.  If it did this would be a two man race between Alabama LB CJ Mosley and UCLA LB Anthony Barr.  At this point the Heisman trophy goes to the QB of the team that is the flavor of the month.  Mosley and Barr are the most dominating players in college football but they play LB so they might get a cursory Heisman mention but they don’t have a real shot to win it.

–          As a Hawkeye fan I could strangle Glen Mason from the Big Ten Network for talking non-stop about how great Iowa LT Brandon Scherff is and it’s because he is completely right.  Scherff has some work to do as a pass blocker but he is one of the most dominating run blockers I’ve ever seen and I’m blaming Mason for some mainstream media picking up on that.  Just recently one of the draft experts from CBS Sports put Scherff in his first round mock draft and people are going to start to figure out just how good he can be.  NFL scouts already know about him but I don’t want Scherff to figure out he could be a first round pick because the Hawkeyes need him next season.  I hope Scherff goes the Robert Gallery route and not the Bryan Bulaga/Riley Reiff route.  If he sticks around he will be a top 10 pick in the 2015 draft.

–          I don’t know if Joe Philbin will lose his job as head coach of the Miami Dolphins over this whole Incognito/Martin thing because I haven’t seen much information about how much he knew.  I did read a report that said GM Jeff Ireland told Martin to punch Incognito if he was having a problem with him.  If this report is true that tells me Ireland knew about something going on and he certainly didn’t handle it correctly.  Let’s get something straight, this isn’t bullying. Bullying is what happens in junior high and high school, what happened here was workplace harassment.  Hazing is one thing, like making the rookies carry your shoulder pads back to the locker room, but this situation took it to a completely unacceptable level.  I’ve always believed hazing was stupid for this exact reason, there is always some idiot that doesn’t understand where the line is and thinks it’s an excuse to act like a dumbass.  If Ireland doesn’t lose his job over this he should lose it over signing Mike Wallace.

–          I saw some of the basketball games the other night; Michigan St vs. Kentucky and Duke vs. Kansas.  I think the NBA’s version of tankapalozza is going to kick into high gear.  You don’t need to get the number 1 overall pick to get a franchise player.  Andrew Wiggins (Kansas), Julius Randle (Kentucky) and Jabari Parker (Duke) put on a show the other night.  Throw in Oklahoma St.’s Marcus Smart, Kentucky’s Andrew Harrison and Arizona’s Aaron Gordon and the 2014 NBA draft might redefine the league.

–          I went to the Iowa Hawkeye men’s basketball game against Nebraska-Omaha; yeah I don’t want to talk about it.  At least they won.  I will say this while the Hawkeyes were losing by about 6 with 10 minutes to go in the game I was never afraid they would lose and it’s been a while since I could say that about a Hawkeye basketball team.

Richie Incognito bullying fiasco in Miami

The short version of this story is Richie Incognito is an ass and even though everyone in the NFL has known it since he entered the league the people in Miami are feigning outrage and acting like that’s news to them.  Incognito has been bullying OT Jonathan Martin since he entered the league last year and even though some rookie hazing is normal Martin is no longer a rookie and Incognito doesn’t know the difference between innocent hazing and psychopathic behavior (maybe it sociopathic behavior I can never remember the difference).  The investigation is in the early stages but early reports show text messages and voice mails where Incognito goes far beyond typical ribbing of a newbie (if you want to disgust yourself Google the text messages because I won’t repeat what he wrote).  This isn’t the first time Incognito’s behavior has been a problem, it isn’t the second time or third either, to call Incognito’s behavioral problems a pattern would be an understatement.  He was kicked off of the Oregon and Nebraska teams while in college and was deemed undraftable by many teams because of character issues.  In his nine years in the league he was cut by the St. Louis Rams because of his behavior issues and he routinely ranks as one of the dirtiest players in the game as voted on by his peers.  He held the top spot on that list until a few years ago when Ndamukong Suh replaced him.  Earlier this year during the preseason a simmering feud between Incognito and the Houston Texans DE Antonio Smith boiled over and Smith ripped Incognito’s helmet off and swung it at his head.  Smith’s swing didn’t connect and he was suspended for a few games by the league for his actions.  While the league disagreed with Smith’s actions I don’t recall many players coming out to defend Incognito or saying he didn’t deserve it.  The dirty little secret amongst players was that many were wishing Smith’s swing had connected because as most people know the only thing that gets through to a bully is to punch them in the mouth.  That’s where this story takes a turn.

Jonathan Martin is a Stanford educated man who stands 6’5 and weighs 312 pounds proving that intelligence and physical stature are not deterrents to man like Incognito.  My problem with the media coverage of this is that everyone is talking about it as a case of bullying and hazing just on an NFL sized scale but it isn’t.  While Jonathan Martin may be a soft spoken, thoughtful man unlike most NFL lineman and his personality and demeanor left him susceptible to the tactics of a bully Incognito’s behavior went far beyond that of a school yard bully and right into that of a criminal.  Martin wasn’t afraid to “punch the bully in the mouth” because he thought Incognito would beat him up he was afraid he would do much worse than that.  Incognito is a criminal and police and  the court system need to take a hard look into the threats made against Martin that got him to pay $15,000 towards a trip to Las Vegas that he didn’t go on.  I’m fairly certain that threatening harm to a person or their family unless they pay you money is extortion and there are mob bosses in prison that are proof of that.  The reports are that Incognito’s indefinite suspension will only last long enough for the Dolphins to put together their case so that they can cut him and he won’t be able to say they didn’t have a legal reason to void his contract.  I’m absolutely certain that is the case.  Incognito is toxic at the moment and I don’t believe he will play another down for the Dolphins but there are also reports that he will never play again in the NFL and to that I say “pfff”.  I’m calling bullshit on that one.  He likely won’t get picked up for the rest of this season but next year all bets are off.  Incognito is like a nuclear bomb that went off, the area around him is uninhabitable until the fallout clears but it won’t take that long and by next season someone will give him a shot.  They will claim that he’s gotten counseling and that they will be handled better by his new coach and general manager, wherever that might be, and I only believe this because I know the NFL.  I’ve seen the offensive lines of the Dallas Cowboys, the Arizona Cardinals and numerous other teams that suck on the interior of their lines.  Michael Vick spent two years away from the NFL in prison, Leonard Little once killed a woman during a drunken driving accident, Donte Stallworth killed a man in a drunken driving accident, do you know what all of these players have in common?  They all played in the NFL after these incidents.  I honestly don’t believe any team should give Incognito another chance, he’s had more than enough, but someone will and any team that believes he can change deserves what they get.

All evidence points to Richie Incognito as a man with serious personality and behavioral problems that he has no intention of solving.  If he wanted to be a better person he would have dealt with these issues a decade ago when they almost cost him a shot at a professional football career.  Unfortunately they only almost cost him his shot.  NFL teams have routinely overlooked his problems because of what he can do on the field and it has finally come back to bite a team.  The Dolphins are going to pay a public relations price for this and it may be the final nail in GM Jeff Ireland’s coffin and that could mean trouble for head coach Joe Philbin.  Of course as with anything in the NFL winning trumps all so if the Dolphins can reach the playoffs Ireland and Philbin will be just fine.  Incognito has left a stain everywhere he has been; he is not a source of pride at Oregon or Nebraska as neither institution would dare claim him and he’s a blemish on the St. Louis Rams draft history as they are the team that took a chance on him and it backfired.  The Miami Dolphins are the latest team he has left a black mark on as they are the team that gave him a second chance in the NFL and this is how he will be remembered.  So whether it is Jerry Jones in his quest for a Super Bowl or some other desperate owner overlooking his history Richie Incognito probably isn’t going away…unless he actually goes away, like to prison which is where he probably would be if he wasn’t a professional football player and where he deserves to go.

One thing that has been overlooked in all of this is what it has done to Jonathan Martin’s career.  Martin was a pretty solid OT prospect out of Stanford, he spent his time there as Andrew Luck’s blindside protector.  I always liked Martin’s potential and he has struggled in his two years in the league and I always wondered why.  He is far more talented than what he has shown and now I see that the personal hell Incognito has put him through for the last year and a half has taken its toll.  I hope Martin can get himself right and return to his career and live up to his potential.  Richie Incognito may have ruined his own career, at least I hope he did, but I also hope that that is the only career he ruined because Jonathan Martin deserves better.

Iowa’s game against Ohio St.

In what might be the most positive sign I’ve seen from the Iowa Hawkeye football team in two years they scared the hell out of an Ohio St. Buckeye team that hasn’t lost in game in the Urban Meyer era.  The Hawkeye’s came out of the tunnel with a game plan that was more than give the ball to Mark Weisman and hope the Buckeyes screw up.  The coaches realized that trying to play with speed against OSU was a foolish notion and decided to go 3 TE sets and use a not only a power running game but a power passing game.  Never heard of that before, neither have I but that’s what I’m calling it.  CJ Fiedorowicz, Jake Duzey and Ray Hamilton were used at the same time over and over again and even George Kittle got in on the TE action.  Duzey was the star of the game for the Hawkeyes and OSU had no answer for him.  My favorite part was listening to the color commentator talk over and over about OSU’s speed and then watching Duzey catch a pass down the sideline and outrun the entire Buckeye defense 85 yards.  The Hawkeye’s haven’t figured out how to finish a game and maybe the strangest stat of the year so far is that Iowa has led all seven of their games at halftime yet they are 4-3.  The Hawkeyes need a new motto for the rest of the season and I think it should be, to paraphrase a great movie villain, “FINISH THEM”.  Just a suggestion.  The Hawkeye’s got beat by a superior team and there is no shame in that but the game had far more positive marks than negative ones and one last thing to Urban Meyer and all Buckeye fans…Bradley Roby deserved to get tossed.  When a guy hits a 6’7 TE in the head with his helmet when he had ample opportunity to tackle him correctly that is the definition of targeting.  I don’t agree with the NCAA’s stance that one incident in a game gets you ejected but that is the rule and he broke it.  Yes the NCAA should revisit this rule in the offseason and the ejection should only come after a second such hit but what Roby did was targeting and by the way he got away with a helmet-to-helmet hit on Damon Bullock on the sideline just before that play.  Hopefully the Hawkeyes can carry over the best parts of their game against OSU and finish a game off properly against the Northwestern.  Just in case they don’t, don’t worry Hawkeye fans basketball season is right around the corner and here is my basketball preview.

 

2013-2014 Iowa Hawkeye Men’s Basketball Preview

Fran McCaffery is entering his fourth year as head coach of the Iowa men’s basketball team and he is about to erase any memory of the Lickliter era by taking this team to the NCAA tournament.  The Hawkeyes haven’t made an NCAA tourney since 2006 but this team is poised to end that drought.  The talent and depth that McCaffery and his staff have put together is impressive and the coaches have finally embraced the truth that this team is better with Devyn Marble running the point.  It took a late season injury to Mike Gesell to force McCaffery into playing Marble at point guard and the team took off from there.  Gesell is not a bad point guard and he certainly can handle the position but Marble is the best player on the team and he is far more effective with the ball in his hands.  The team took a European trip during August which gave them a chance to practice and play together for a few extra weeks and it gave McCaffery a head start on figuring out his rotation.  The coach’s biggest problem is one that most coaches would love to have and that is going to be finding minutes for everyone.  Let’s take a look at each player at each position and I’ll try to predict how lineups will work and I may even take a stab at who will start and at which position they will start.

Guards:

Devyn Marble    Senior

Marble is the best player on the team and this team will go as far as he can take them.  At 6’6 he is unusually tall for a point guard but he just seems to play more comfortably from that position.  He isn’t the traditional passing point guard but he gets Iowa into their offense and he can be a matchup nightmare for opposing guards.  Marble is a streaky 3-point shooter but he is more comfortable from midrange and he’s pretty good at taking it to the lane and getting to the foul line.  He hasn’t been as strong at finishing in the lane when he’s taking contact and he isn’t overly athletic but he is one of the best guards in the Big Ten and I expect him to be one of the top scorers in the league. He’s a lock to start at the point guard and he’ll play on the wing in certain lineups.  Playing the point guard position is also good for Marble’s future because he lacks the athleticism to get him noticed as a shooting guard by NBA teams but if he can prove he can play point guard at 6’6 scouts will take notice.

Mike Gesell    Sophomore

Gesell was the starting point guard last year for most of the season until he got injured.  He also played off the ball a bit at the beginning of the year when Anthony Clemmons was starting alongside him.  Gesell brings a bulldog mentality to the floor and he’s always hustling.  He’ll slide over to the shooting guard spot this season to allow Marble to run the team and that might be best as Gesell is a good outside shooter and the Hawkeyes will be able to better utilize that skill of his.  Marble and Gesell will form the starting backcourt and on defense Gesell will take the opposing teams PG while Marble will get the bigger SG.  Gesell seems to get dinged up a lot because of the way he plays and luckily the Hawkeyes are deep enough to make up for him missing a game or two but it would be a good idea for McCaffery to get Gesell to take care of himself a little more.

Anthony Clemmons    Sophomore

Clemmons began last year as a reserve and then moved into the starting lineup for a bit before he returned to the bench and played an important role as the third guard.  Clemmons brings speed, athleticism and another ball handler to the floor when he is paired with either Marble or Gesell.  Clemmons is at his best at point guard also so he brings an interesting mix when he plays with both Gesell and Marble because all three of them can get the ball and start the fast break.

Josh Oglesby    Junior

No one is as hard on Oglesby as I am because while Coach McCaffery liked to talk about how great of a shooter Oglesby is in practice it seldom showed up during games.  When your designated 3-point specialist shoots under 27% for the season from behind the arc you have to consider designating someone else to shoot.  The report coming out of media day is that Oglesby has consulted a sports psychologist and I think that is a wise decision.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with the mechanics of his shot as his form is flawless so looking for help at his mental approach is a good place to start.  Oglesby has to shoot well because if he doesn’t he will quickly fall behind this next player and being the fifth guard on this team is going to seriously limit your minutes.

Peter Jok    Freshman

Jok is the one freshman addition to this veteran Hawkeye team and while it may seem like a tough task to crack this lineup Jok has the skills to do it.  One skill in particular is his outside shooting.  The Hawkeye’s 3-point shooting was abysmal last year and Jok excels at it.  At 6-6 200 lbs. Jok is physically ready to contribute to the team this season and he brings a lot of athleticism along with that shot.  As with most freshman the question will be how does he do on defense but McCaffery makes no secret that you must play defense if you want to play and Jok has the ability to be a good defender.

Forwards:

Aaron White    Junior

White spent the summer playing for USA basketball against tough international competition and his game should see great improvement.  White is an all-around player that hasn’t excelled at one thing he just brings many good attributes to the court.  He could really break out this season and it is his versatility that is most valuable to the Hawkeyes.  White can play both the small forward and power forward positions and along with Jarrod Uthoff he gives McCaffery the ability to go with either a big or small lineup. White could make the jump to an All-Conference type of player and the Hawkeyes need him to make a leap to take some of the pressure off of Marble.

Jarrod Uthoff    Sophomore

The 6’9 transfer from Wisconsin is coming home to Iowa and after two years of inactivity (his redshirt year at Wisconsin and his transfer year at Iowa) but he might be the key to this team taking a major step.  Uthoff left Wisconsin because even though he’s the size of a power forward he has small forward skills and he wants to use them.  The Hawkeyes have every intention of using Uthoff’s versatility and his ability to play the wing will create serious matchup problems for Hawkeye opponents.  White and Uthoff are going to give the Hawkeyes size, length and versatility at the forward positions like no one else has.

Melsahn Basabe    Senior

Basabe was the recruit that followed McCaffery from Siena to Iowa four years ago and he was the one glimmer of hope that first season that McCaffery might actually know what he’s doing.  As McCaffery has recruited better players Basabe hasn’t been quite the focal point he was his freshman year but he has stepped up at the times the Hawkeyes have needed him.  McCaffery trusts him and has talked about how he could blow up this season and my guess is he will be the starter at power forward to start the season.  I don’t believe he’ll hold onto the spot because White and Uthoff will eventually be the starting forwards but Basabe will play at crunch time and he’s a very skilled power forward his only drawback is he is slightly undersized.

Zach McCabe     Senior

McCabe is the lunch pail guy that comes in, sets screens, gets rebounds, muscles his way around the opposing big men and hits a big shot here and there.  Every team needs a McCabe and luckily Iowa has the McCabe.  He can be frustrating to watch sometimes but he gets his teammates fired up and he doesn’t complain if he plays 2 minutes or 32 minutes.  He’s good depth with a good basketball sense and he can frustrate an opponent just by playing hard.

Centers:

Adam Woodbury    Sophomore

Woodbury is the 7’0 center that McCaffery got after he said no to North Carolina.  He’s an Iowa boy and that makes a difference but he is also living proof that McCaffery can recruit with the big boys.  At media day McCaffery said that Woodbury was “hungry and in great shape” and that should scare everyone in the Big Ten.  Woodbury is one of the few legit 7’0 centers in college basketball and his potential is astronomical.  If he could become a dominant big man and avoid foul trouble this team reaches a whole new level.  Woodbury’s development could be the difference between this team making the NCAA tournament and this team making an Elite 8 run. Dominant big men are hard to come by in college basketball.

Gabe Olaseni    Junior

Olaseni is one of the best examples of coaches developing talent at Iowa.  Olaseni came to Iowa as a very athletic but raw prospect and the coaches have turned him into a legitimate Big Ten big man.  He isn’t going to dominate on the offensive end but his defense is pretty good and he can rebound.  He’s a very good backup to Woodbury and given Woody’s propensity to foul Olaseni is a nice option to have.  Coach McCaffery says they are experimenting with playing both centers together and given the multitude of lineup possibilities the Iowa depth allows I’m sure we will see it at some point.

Five guards, four forwards and two centers give Coach McCaffery and his staff 11 legitimate players to find playing time for and I didn’t even mention redshirt freshman power forward Kyle Meyer or junior Darius Stokes.  It is going to be a juggling act at the beginning of the year as McCaffery figures out rotations and who plays best with who and how to distribute the minutes.  The number of starting five combinations is ridiculous and this may be the team that proves it isn’t who starts that matters it’s who finishes.  I believe the starting five will begin with Marble, Gesell, White, Basabe and Woodbury but I don’t believe McCaffery will stick to that starting lineup very long.  Uthoff is the X-factor for this team and he should eventually join the starting lineup alongside White at forward.  The combinations McCaffery will use at any given time will be dictated by the opponent.  Marble, Jok, Uthoff, White and Woodbury would give the Hawkeyes a lineup with no one under 6’6, a serious height and length advantage, while Gesell, Clemmons, Mable, Uthoff and White would provide a speedy athletic lineup with three ball handlers that could run an opponent out of the gym.  McCaffery’s coaching style isn’t everyone’s cup of tea (hotheaded is one way to describe it, I prefer passionate) but there is no denying he knows what he’s doing.  Other than his inexplicable loyalty to Oglesby last season (even when he couldn’t hit water from a boat) there weren’t any awful coaching decisions to complain about.  McCaffery has an excellent coaching staff working under him (and he has from the start) and it has been a really long time since Iowa could claim that in the basketball program. Kirk Speraw, Sherman Dillard, Andrew Francis and new Director of Operations Billy Taylor have a lot of experience and are tireless recruiters.  Something I find truly refreshing about McCaffery is he isn’t afraid to speak the truth about his players and he hasn’t shied away from the expectations for this year’s team.  Most coaches try to down play expectations when a team looks like it is just about to break out after a long rebuilding job but McCaffery knows he has something special and he has let his team know it.  The media and the fans expect a top 5 finish in the Big Ten and an NCAA berth, I think the reason McCaffery hasn’t backed off of those expectations are that his are even higher.

The Hawkeyes loss to Michigan St. and more

The Hawkeyes offense certainly took a step back after looking good against Western Michigan and Minnesota but when you are missing your best WR and your top RB gets hurt that’s understandable against one of the best defenses in the nation.  I will say I wasn’t overly impressed by Michigan St’s offense but then again pure thuggery rarely impresses me.  The Spartans offense was often aided by illegal blocks that the referees never called and Iowa’s defense was put in bad spots because of it.  I have rarely seen so many blatant holding and blocks in the back that went uncalled in my life.  The Hawkeyes didn’t help themselves by failing in areas that they normally fail in.  They were burned by big plays by the Spartans and for the seventh time in a row the Hawkeyes failed to stop a fake punt.  The fake punt thing has become completely ridiculous at this point and Kirk Ferentz’s half joking comment about not returning punts anymore and just guarding against the fake punt is not a half bad idea.  I mentioned in a previous post that since the Hawkeyes rarely return punts and usually just fair catch the football there is no reason they can’t stop a fake punt, apparently Ferentz is considering going the next step.

A few notes about the game

–          I hope during this bye week that while reviewing tape it becomes clear that the offense moved the ball through the air far more efficiently when the three WR set was Damond Powell, Matt Vandeberg and Tevaun Smith and not Don Shumpert, Riley McCarron and Jordan Cotton.  When Kevonte Martin-Manley is available the top five WRs should be KMM, Damond Powell, Tevaun Smith, Matt Vandeberg and Jacob Hillyer; they are the best and most reliable playmakers at the position.

–          I think Damon Bullock is still best used as an offensive weapon and he proved it with the big play of the game.  Bullock tried his best running against a tough Sparty defense but he is better in space.  When Weisman isn’t available or simply tired the Hawkeyes should look to use LeShun Daniels at tailback more.  I know Jordan Canzeri has his fans out there too but Daniels is similar to Weisman in style and that style seems to work best.  Ferentz and coaching staff need to get over whatever it is that is keeping them from playing Daniels more and use his talent.

–          The Hawkeye defense still hasn’t given up a rushing TD this season and that is an amazing stat.  The problem is that the pass defense has given up far too many big plays.  The Hawkeye’s front seven stops the run as well as anyone but it still doesn’t get the pass rush it needs to help out the secondary.  It isn’t just one defensive back blowing it either, King has made some freshman mistakes, Lowery has been beaten, Miller has been out of position a few times and Lowdermilk isn’t as good in coverage as he is coming up in the box.

–          The LB group is really good and once again James Morris made a great play on his interception.  Unfortunately the Hawkeye offense wasn’t able to do anything with it.

–          Jake Rudock threw another terrible interception and this one came because he locked onto Damond Powell and then his throw came up short.  He’s still developing his game but I’m sure this one will be looked at over and over by Rudock and coaching staff, this is what is known as a teaching moment.

The Hawkeyes have a bye week this weekend before they travel to Ohio St to take on the unbeaten Buckeyes.  Urban Meyer has yet to lose a game as head coach of the Buckeyes and they currently have the nation’s longest winning streak.  I would love to see the Hawkeyes be the ones that knock off the Buckeyes but even my rose-colored Hawkeye glasses aren’t that foggy.  Maybe the Hawks will get lucky and Urban Meyer doesn’t have a fake punt in his playbook.

 

Other football thoughts…

–          One man’s trash is another man’s treasure or in this case one team’s first round bust is another team’s reclamation project.  QB Josh Freeman was mercifully cut by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and he landed a cushy $3 million job as the new QB hope for the Vikings.  Coach Leslie Frazier had said that Christian Ponder was his starting QB even after Matt Cassel led the Vikings to their first win but then somehow Ponder’s bruised ribs became a major concern and Frazier backed off that stance.  Then GM Rick Spielman threw gasoline on the fire and signed Freeman.  It doesn’t take a genius to see that Ponder’s days in Minnesota are numbered.  Cassel will likely be the starter and he has until Freeman is up to speed to show the Vikings that he can be the guy.  If he falters then Freeman will get a shot and if he fails the Vikings could clean house at the end of the season and take advantage of the deep QB class in the 2014 Draft.

–          This first round reclamation project thing didn’t start with Freeman it actually started with the Colts trading a first round pick to the Browns for former #3 pick Trent Richardson.  Richardson could hardly be labeled a bust just yet since he was drafted last year but he certainly hadn’t lived up to the hype in Cleveland.  New Cleveland GM Mike Lombardi and head coach Rod Chudzinski realized Richardson wasn’t the type of back they wanted and got great value getting first round pick out of an injury prone RB.  This trade could benefit both teams considering the Colts love Richardson’s skillset and they are devoid of anything resembling a workhorse.  Since the days of Edgerrin James the Colts have had one good season out of a RB and that was the one year Joseph Addai was good.  Richardson brings a lot of talent to the table it is only a question of actually translating that to the field…oh and staying on the field would help.

–          The NFL world has apparently gone mad as there have been three other trades of former first round picks in the last week or so.  The Arizona Cardinals finally gave up on the charade that was Levi Brown as their starting LT and they shipped him off to the Pittsburgh Steelers because Mike Adams impression of an offensive tackle was just…offensive.  The Carolina Panthers must have gotten tired of paying OLB Jon Beason’s medical expenses so they sent him to the Giants who don’t employ anyone that resembles and NFL LB.  Beason can play like an NFL OLB but he spends more time with doctors than he does coaches.  Then there is the trade of Jacksonville Jaguars LT Eugene Monroe to the Baltimore Ravens…hold on a second…this deserves its own dash.

–          The Jaguars traded former 1^st round pick Eugene Monroe to the Baltimore Ravens for a couple of late round picks, yep the Jaguars are going all in on their way to 0-16.  Now the Jaguars will tell you that they traded Monroe because he will be a free agent at the end of the year and they already planned to put 2013 1^st round pick Luke Joeckel at LT next year so they traded Monroe now in order to get value for him.  Okay I can buy that except they didn’t shop him around; there were other teams willing to part with more than a couple of late round picks for him.  The karmic part of this story is the fact that in his first start at LT Luke Joeckel broke his ankle and is out for the year.  This isn’t karma for Joeckel, he seems like a stand up kind of guy, this is karma for the Jags.  The Ravens make out like bandits because while no one is going to confuse Monroe for Jonathan Ogden he is a gigantic upgrade over Bryant McKinnie’s corpse.

–          I have to keep going on the Jaguars.  They enter this week as 28 point underdogs to the Peyton Manning and the undefeated Denver Broncos.  This ties the record for largest point spread in NFL history and there isn’t a number big enough to get me to bet on the Jags.  Manning tied the NFL record with 7 TD passes in the first game of the year and the only thing stopping him from breaking that this weekend is if he throws 7 TDs in the first half and John Fox sits him the second half.  The Jaguars pass defense is actually ranked 11^th in the NFL but that is probably because they have the worst rush defense in the league.  I’m fairly certain Manning will still make them look terrible.  Oh and if you need more proof that the Jaguars need a new QB how about the fact that they are 28 point underdogs with their backup QB Chad Henne slated to start and if their starter Blaine Gabbert was healthy they would probably be getting 30 points.  Bring on Teddy Bridgewater.

A quick look at some of my Preseason Predictions (the good and the bad)

Good: Peyton Manning for MVP.  No one has ever locked up the MVP trophy by week 5 but unless Manning gets hit by a bus this one is over.

Bad: Aldon Smith for Defensive Player of the Year.  How was I supposed to know he’d end up in rehab? In my defense he was playing pretty well the first few weeks of the year.

Good: WR Mike Wallace would be a bust.  This is a bit like predicting the sun will rise in the east and Wallace still has time to turn it around but I’m feeling pretty confident on this one.

Bad: Atlanta and Houston in the Super Bowl.  The Falcons started off a little shaky and now Julio Jones, Steven Jackson and Roddy White are all injured, it doesn’t look promising.  Matt Schaub has turned into a turnover machine and Houston is struggling.  I predicted the Texans over the Broncos in the AFC championship game and I can admit when I’m wrong.  No one is beating Denver at this point.

Good:  Kansas City benefits from a steady QB and new coaching staff.  The Chiefs are 5-0 because Alex Smith has been steady and Andy Reid and his staff are excellent.

Bad:  The New York Jets will be terrible.  The Jets are 3-2 and they still probably won’t be fantastic but they may be good enough to allow Rex Ryan to keep his job through the season.  I still don’t think Ryan will be coaching them next year but with 3 wins the Jets have already surpassed my expectations.

Good: Ahmad Bradshaw would only last until week 5.  We just had week 5 and Bradshaw just went on IR.

Bad:  Andrew Luck would have to throw it all over because the Colts wouldn’t have a RB.  How was I supposed to know the Browns would give up on Trent Richardson and the Colts would part with a 1^st round pick to get him?  Luck will still have a ton of passing yards.

Good:  The Vikings wouldn’t repeat last year’s surprising record because of Christian Ponder.  They Vikings didn’t sign Josh Freeman because of their overwhelming support of Ponder.  Ponder will be looking for a new home as someone’s back up next year.

Bad:  San Diego and Oakland will be terrible.  Neither team is great but they are certainly more competitive than I thought.  Terrelle Pryor is actually starting to progress into a solid starting QB and their offensive staff is learning to use his talents.  If the Raiders could get him some actual talent he may become something.  Phillip Rivers is playing much better this year under Mike McCoy and he too would benefit from some more talent around him.

Good and Bad:  8-8 might win the NFC East and everyone in the NFC East might go 8-8.  This was good because 8-8 really might win the division but it was bad because it will take a miracle for the 0-5 Giants to get to 8-8.  The Giants are inexplicably horrible especially given the talent on offense.