SB Nation - Iowa Hawkeyes

Tonight's Picks

SFBE.NF — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 15:18:11 -0000

We be ballin! Syracuse really proved they're worthy of the acclaim as they remain undefeated (against D-1 teams). Miami-OH made it close late against Cincy and MSU embarrassed Oakland. The Golden Grizzlies are off to an awful start. Here is Friday's lackluster trio:

Middle Tennessee St. (+22) over #9 Tennessee: Bruce Pearl's high powered offense will not have a 20+ point victory against MTSU, their inferior in-state rival. I'll take the Blue Raiders (with the spread) for three reasons: (1) the Volunteers beat ETSU by only a dozen just a week ago; (2) they played Tennessee tight last year on the road; and (3) now they're at home.
Iowa State (-13) over Iowa: The once promising Cyclone team have stumbled recently, dropping three consecutive games in a row, but they arent bad enough to give the Hawkeyes a chance tonight. Two of their losses came down to a 3 pointer or less - so let's hope they come out focused and on point in this rivalry game. Sophomore Hawkeye Anthony Tucker may drop some points, but Iowa State's balanced attack will pull through in the clutch.
Vanderbilt (-10) over W. Kentucky: Both of these teams are well matched and distribute scoring opportunities well, but look for Vandy's A.J. Ogilvy to be the difference maker. This junior from Australia rebounds on both ends of the court, blocks lots of shots and has a great touch around the rim. The Hilltoppers have been erratic this season, so center Cliff Dixon will have to neutralize the Commodores star.

Yesterday: 3-0
Overall: 15-8

Iowa Preview: Avoid The Apocalypse

Mark Kieffer — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 21:52:54 -0000

If this team does not beat Iowa tomorrow night, the world will end. No joke. Everyone leaving Hilton at the usual 4:00 mark regardless of score to get a beat on traffic, will be heading straight to Hy-Vee to get stocked up on food supply, dashing home, and locking themselves in, hoping to survive the Apocalypse.

For me, I don't leave until after the game, so I will have to cross my fingers to make it home.

To see what the chances of this happening are, let's see what the stats say:

	ISU	Iowa	Adv
Records	(6-3)	(3-6)
Pomeroy Rank	73	180
Sagarin Rank	61	177
Vegas Line	-13	+13
Sagarin Line	-13.5	+13.5
Off Efficiency	1.109 points/poss	.967 points/poss	ISU
Def Efficiency	.912 points allowed/poss	.998 points allowed/poss	ISU
eFG%	54.4%	49.7%	ISU
TOV%	19.5%	23.6%	ISU
OREB%	34.9%	29.4%	ISU
FT Rate	30.1%	29.7%	PUSH

On paper, we've been better than Iowa in almost every phase of the game: offense, defense, shooting, taking care of the ball, and rebounding. Getting to the line is a push, but if ISU does everything else better than Iowa, they'll win this game easily.

I know there are some Cyclone fans that are worried about this game, looking at how poorly ISU has played the last couple of weeks. If you take the Cal Game and look at the Four Factors (eFG%, TOV%, OREB%, and FT Rate), ISU's numbers in TOV%, and FT Rate would've logged higher than Iowa's average, but Iowa's averages in eFG% and OREB% were higher than ISU's in that game. It's clear that ISU has to play better than the Cal Game.

The good news is that if you look at how ISU played against UNI and Northwestern, it would appear that playing at that level would be enough to get past this Hawkeye team with relative ease.

When I look at Iowa, a couple of things concern me:

They jack up a lot of 3s. Two nights ago, they threw up 26 3 pointers, which is about their season average. Luckily, they've been only shooting 32% from beyond the arc,but if they somehow get hot tomorrow night, it's going to boost their eFG%.
They outrebounded UNI, a team that made our rebounding look weak.

Other than that, I'm not too concerned. They don't attack inside enough, aren't particularly good at shooting from outside, and turn the ball over a lot. That doesn't mean they aren't capable of having a better-than-average game, but it's clear this is a worse team than ours. Last year, Iowa's front court led by Cyrus Tate, shut down Brackins, but Tate is now gone, and Iowa looks weaker inside.

McDermott and his staff has had almost a week to get the players prepared for this game. I am going to be looking at some kind of improvement on the offensive end (more moving around, more going inside), and with rebounding. This team needs to respond to playing soft and looking as bad as they have been.

If we do lose this game, it's going to be a signal that something is seriously wrong in the program. I sincerely hope that is not the case, and we roll the Hawks by 20.

It's Not Plagiarism If You Link To It Is Still Creeped Out By "Obie"

Oops Pow Surprise — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 18:48:01 -0000

More photos » by J Pat Carter - AP

Obie, left, the Orange Bowl mascot, along with Georgia Tech football coach Paul Johnson, center, and Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz, right, pose for photos after a news conference for the upcoming Orange Bowl game in Miami, Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2009. (AP Photo/J Pat Carter)

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Looking at the above picture, we're just filled with questions. What do they do with those oranges in the trophy after the picture? How often do they shuffle out the oranges? Has anyone ever eaten one straight from the trophy during one of these silly photo ops? Has anyone realized that Paul Johnson is a zombie? Doesn't Obie hate always looking to his (her? its? their?!) right? Why does he have arms where his ears should be? What's with the stalker there on the left?

Anyhoo.

More like Tricky Stanzi! Am I right? No? Fine: As expected, Ricky Stanzi returned to practice yesterday.

From Hawkmania:

With Stanzi gone to the locker room with a severe ankle sprain, the Hawkeyes lost that game.

They lost again the next week in overtime in a Big Ten showdown at Ohio State, but managed to scrape out a 12-0 victory over Minnesota in the season finale.

Stanzi was on the sidelines for those games, serving as a personal tutor to his young replacement, James Vandenberg.

He said he was proud of the way the freshman from Keokuk performed in his stead, but he’s ready to take his job back now.

And uh, we're ready for that too. No offense to Vandenberg, who was admirable as an emergency replacement, but his performance thus far wasn't terribly confidence-inspiring. Vandenberg struggled mightily against Northwestern, and though he rebounded for a solid (if inconsistent) performance at Ohio State, the yucks returned against Minnesota the next week. That's 1 for 3 on competent QBing by Vandenberg. Stanzi, as we've mentioned before, has the uncanny ability to keep both teams in a game, but he's been enough to get the job done on a remarkably consistent basis.

There's no telling how each QB will practice between now and January 5, of course, but assuming the 3 1/2 weeks are enough for Stanzi to shake any rust off, we don't really expect to see Vandenberg on the field during meaningful play. If he does, something has likely gone very wrong once again, and we are D-U-M-E-D doomed.

Laugh if you must, but these guys are more like you than you want to admit: Um, yikes.

(via the Fanshots)

Our commenters already noticed the Grant-spot in his pile of cash, but did you guys notice that under it were nothing but 20s? So he basically said "Look, I have 330 dollars in my account. I can't make it rain hundreds. We could do three 50s and nine 20s... no, that's only 12 bills. That looks thin. Okay, one 50 and 14 20s. That's 15. That'll look badass probably."

And did they have to shoot it in Cedar Rapids and find some abandoned, flooded-out old building? What are they trying to say about the Hawkeyes here? Sheesh.

You should see the other guy's leg. When Gable passes it through his stool: So Dan Gable has a broken leg. You're probably wondering how he broke it, and it's pretty normal really: some cheating bastard brought a baseball bat in during a blindfolded martial arts tournament. Errr, no, never mind. That's not true.

Gable fell after his foot got caught in one of the cracks between the decking, he said."I can't do too many things that I normally do right now, like shovel snow and all that stuff," Gable said. "So I've got it pretty much made."

I like how they say "the decking" as if we're supposed to know exactly which one they're talking about. "Oh yeah, on Doc Muller's porch! He needs to get that redone, I tell ya."

Have we figured out why "Graham" isn't two syllables? That seems to be the bigger issue: As mentioned yesterday, the Trib split the Silver Football award between Daryll Clark and Brandon Graham. Whether they split the silver football along the seams or straight down the middle is unreported.

Shockingly, Pat Harty disapproves:

The problem with Graham being selected is that Michigan finished just 1-7 in the Big Ten this season, and its defense was terrible at times. A more logical choice would have been Wisconsin defensive end O'Brien Schofield or Penn State defensive tackle Jared Odrick or Iowa linebacker Pat Angerer. Not only did they perform well, but their teams also won 10 games during the regular season.

It would be different if Michigan had finished 5-3 or 4-4, or even 3-5 in the conference. But it doesn't make sense to have the Big Ten co-MVP come from a team that finished in a tie for last place, especially when there were some other worthy candidates.

We (unwittingly) performed a pre-emptive strike on this line of reasoning during last week's podcast: Here's the deal. Graham was the best player in the BXI this season. He was unblockable. But when 9 or 10 of your fellow defensive players are miserably bad at their job, it's going to mean a long season no matter what. After all, Graham registered 25 tackles for a loss, which is an insane amount. It's still only a hair over two per game. That's maybe enough to swing a few games if the rest of the defense is competent. That wasn't the case, and that wasn't Graham's fault.

QUICK HITZ:

NCAA Tournament to go to 96 teams? Jesus god no. Keep it at 65, and if you want to make any changes, make the play-in game be the last two teams to receive at-large bids rather than two 16-seeds who actually earned an automatic bid. A play-in between two 12-seeds would be so much more entertaining.

Bryan Bulaga fails to live up to hype: As the Hlog notes, casting aside the silliness of the BXI handing him Lineman of the Year, Bulaga didn't really impress scouts a whole lot this season. He's still projected as a first-rounder, but we strongly feel that he needs to come back to Iowa. And never leave. Please don't go. We need you. We miss your musk.

Wait, your productivity hasn't been annihilated yet? Kiss that sucker goodbye: MST3K on Hulu. You're welcome.

BLACK HEART GOLD PODCAST #16: GET YOUR WONK ON

Hawkeye State — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 14:52:11 -0000

This week, we're joined by the artist formerly known as Big Ten Wonk, John Gasaway, to talk about the Big Ten/ACC Challenge, the apparent acceleration of conference play, and the abject misery that is Iowa Hawkeye basketball. John is currently writing in his usual prolific manner at Basketball Prospectus, and is the editor of College Basketball Prospectus 2009-10, available at Amazon.com. It's a great stocking stuffer, provided your stocking can fit 190 pages of the best writing and analysis on college basketball available anywhere.

Listen below or on iTunes.

BHGPodcast 16

Notre Dame Tried to Contact Kirk Ferentz? Okay Then

Oops Pow Surprise — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 23:06:44 -0000

More photos » by Joe Raymond - AP

Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick talks with the media about the firing of coach Charlie Weis Monday Nov. 30, 2009. In related news, Kirk Ferentz now thinks Notre Dame is about 5% more "adorable." (AP Photo/Joe Raymond)

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BEEEEEEEEP

Coach? There's a

No.

Fine. Mr. Ferentz, there's

NO. Use your secretary voice.

sigh

(Mrs. Doubtfire-voice) There's a call for you on line two sir, righty-o!

Better, but what's with the accent?

I dunno. I'm bored. This job sucks.

It's what you get for deserting us last year. Anyway, I'll take the call. Thanks, Martha.

Can't you just call me Ken?

Of course not, Martha. Big boy business now. Too-de-loo.

BEEP CLICK WHIRR

This is Kirk.

Yeah, hi Kirk, Jack Swarbrick here. I'm the AD at a school called Notre Dame. Perhaps you've heard of it.

What do you want?

We were just curious on a scale of 9 to 10, where 1 is "would only go to Notre Dame for at least $2 million per" and 10 is "you pay us $2 million a year to coach here," how much you're looking forward to being our next coach.

No.

Kirk, c'mon, no offense, but this is Notre Dame. Iowa's just a stupid state with vowels and a birdy mascot.

No.

So by "no," you're actually like a 5 or 6, kinda wanting to break even?

No.

How about we talk money. What's it going to take? $2 million a year? Maybe $1 million?

No.

Look, Kirk, I'm just trying to gauge your interest in this, clearly one of the top 2 jobs in the world.

It's taking an awful lot of patience to not just start making fart noises at you over the phone.

How about $1.1 million and your own parking spot in a commuter lot.

PHLBPHLBPHLBPHLBPHLBPHLBPHLBPHLBPHLBPHLB

Oh come on!

FARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRT

Look, I don't need to take this from you, Ferentz!

I think you do.

You're not that big a deal. You're like 7th on our list. At best. Show some respect.

So that many people have turned down your crappy job?

NO! ...maybe. Son of a gun.

Look, I'd be happy to put you back on the line with my secretary; he's also my offensive coordinator and he's probably decorating cupcakes with Legos and wondering why they don't taste good right now.

(peeking head in) Mithter Ferenth, I don't wanna imperrup, but I tfink I chipped a toof. I go home?

He's all yours for $25 million a year, 10 more million a year for Joe Moore's estate, and decoration rights to your field.

WHAT?!

Check your inbox; I've already forwarded you an idea.

That is inappropriate! I have half a mind to hang up on you without offering you the job!

The finished product, of course, would include several leafy greens planted in the end zone.

And pubes.

Lots of pubes.

Good bye!

CLICK

Good save on the cupcake gag, Ken. Nice looking out. You keep that up, I won't make you be Secretary anymore.

Fankth but my toof really ith brokem.

sigh

Go home.

(leaves)

(drums fingers on desk)

(thinks)

BEEP BOOP BORP

HELLO

Hey Norm, it's Kirk. Chupto?

HAMBURGER FIGHT WITH THE MISSUS, WE HAD A COUPLE POUNDS THAT WERE ABOUT TO GO BAD

YOU WANT IN OR WHAT

Be there in 10.

EXCLUSIVE FOOTAGE OF GEORGIA TECH DEFENSIVE DRILLS

Oops Pow Surprise — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 21:16:51 -0000

Behold, tackling prowess nonpareil:

Wait. Excuse us. We've just been informed that this footage is, in fact, pandas using playground equipment. In our defense, we saw lumbering, ineffectual, strangely-colored oafs who couldn't get out of their own way and we just, y'know, made the simple connection. Our sincerest apologies to Georgia Tech, its fans, and its defense, who are most certainly less dangerous than Playground Pandas.

12/8 Game Links

SFBE.NF — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 16:31:54 -0000

More photos » by Darrell Hoemann - AP

Browse more photos »

Illinois holds court against Vandy; might be most likable team in college basketball

The Chris Mack era is off to a rough start

Dayton survives second-half flurry from George Mason

Secondary School? Iowa downed by Northern Iowa

Texas Tech moves to 9-0, downs TCU

It's Not Plagiarism If You Link To It Is Tired of Hearing About Kansas

Hawkeye State — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 16:00:28 -0000

More photos » by Charlie Neibergall - AP

Iowa coach Todd Lickliter performs the 'To Be or not To Be' soliloquy from act 3, scene 1 of Shakespeare's Hamlet for point guard Cully Payne. "Yeah, it's unorthodox," Lickliter later said, "but he kept doing it in the Billy Madison voice. It was driving me crazy." (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

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Get Well, Coach Lick. Todd Lickliter was released from University Hospitals yesterday, and discussed his condition with Gary Dolphin during last night's pregame show:

Lickliter, 54, suffered a tear in his carotid artery and the stent was inserted Saturday. The carotid artery supplies the head and neck with oxygenated blood and any disruption in the artery causes headaches and could lead to a stroke, according to medical Web sites....

"I was having headaches when we were in Kansas City (for a tournament)," Lickliter said in an interview on Iowa’s pre-game radio show. "It turned out to be the beginning of a tear in (the) carotid artery. I’m thankful for the thoroughness of the medical staff, very thankful for that. They ran all the scans, they made sure of the diagnosis, then made a decision on what to do. It was not an easy decision; it was very stressful."

We had heard rumors of migraine headaches and undisclosed medical procedures, but I don't think anyone knew it was anything approaching this level of seriousness. Not being medical professionals, we're not going to speculate on the cause of this or its long-term effects; we're just happy to hear that Coach Lick is out of the hospital and improving. He is expected to return to the bench for Friday night's game with Iowa State.

About Last Night. Northern Iowa effectively won the state championship last night with a 67-50 beatdown of the Hawkeyes before a raucous near-sellout crowd. Panther guard/Impossible Wheel of Fortune answer Kwadzo Ahelegbe led the way with 20 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists. The game was never really in doubt after Iowa went into its patented "let's not score for a really long stretch of time" offense, allowing UNI to go on a 22-1 run over a nine-minute stretch of the first half that gave the Panthers a 24-7 lead. Iowa briefly pulled within six early in the second half, but the damage had been done. Northern Iowa converted 15 Iowa turnovers(!) into 31points(!!), as opposed to Iowa's 3 points off 5 Panther turnovers. Iowa got to the foul line a paltry eight times, and made just three of those free throws. And that says nothing for the fact that UNI sold their place out in a blizzard and Iowa City's local networks would rather show fat people in spandex. What I'm saying is this was an unmitigated disaster.

At least Andrew Brommer remains on pace for the most fouls per minute of any player in team history, committing four infractions in 12 minutes. That is nine fouls in his last 22 minutes of game action, which is more carnage than Saw VI. This has already become the season's best storyline.

Brewster, You Got That Crazy Look in Your Eye! Things are getting downright weird in the Great White North, where Ol' WIN FIGHT TRY himself, Tim Brewster, is wrapping up his third season on a five-year contract with Minnesota. He's angling for an extension, but Minnesota AD Joel Maturi -- whose apparent hatred for his head football coach becomes more obvious with each passing day -- has said there will be no discussion of a contract extension until after Minnesota's bowl game.

It wouldn't be such a problem, except recruits are jumping off this sinking ship in droves. Earlier this week, 4-star running back Josh Huff and 3-star cornerback Antoine Lewis both decommitted from Minnesota, citing Brewster's status as one of their reasons. Lewis, who is now committed to Purdue, made comments that were particularly damning of WIN FIGHT TRY BEST GOPHER ROSE BOWL GOPHER:

"I have respect for every program, every individual who (recruited me)," Lewis said Sunday night. "It wasn’t necessarily about switching commitments. It was about making the right decision for me.

"Purdue was a very family-like environment and the coaches seemed very genuine and the players acted the same way around the coaches and away from the coaches. … I knew what I was going to do before I left."

The wholesale decommitment of the heart of Brewster's 2010 class would usually be enough, but Joel Maturi has apparently been hearing rumors about Kansas potentially hiring Brewster to replace Mark Mangino. To his credit, Maturi --who is one of the country's sharpest AD's when he's not searching for a football coach -- clearly sees what this really is: an attempt by Brewster and his people to extort a contract extension out of Minnesota with the threat of his departure. In fact, there is only one scenario in which this rumor is true, that being an Alford-esque golden parachute out of a situation that has obviously become toxic for all parties. Fortunately for all of us who enjoy college football soap operas, Maturi isn't afraid to call a bluff. Also, just to remind you, he clearly hates Brewster:

"There are rumors that he's going to Kansas, so I don't know," Maturi said Tuesday. "What can I say? So I can't guarantee it, no. I can't guarantee the decisions of other people...."

"I'm smart enough to know that (Brewster's) not going to tell me, nor is the athletic director (Lew Perkins) at Kansas going to tell me until it's a done deal," Maturi said, adding that Kansas had not contacted him. "I chatted with (Brewster) about it very, very briefly. I told him I'm getting tired of all of these Kansas calls. That's kind of been my conversations with him. I know how the game is played. I know how it is. I'm respectful of that. I'm not going to believe the rumors until they're fact. I'm not going to knee-jerk react one way or the other because of it."

Barring a quick termination for concocting a fake rumor in an attempt to get a pay raise, we still have two more years of this. I know, I can't wait either.

Foot's Notes:

It's award season: Michigan DE Brandon Graham and Penn State QB Darryl Clark split the Silver Football, given to Big Ten Player of the Year. It's the first time the vote was tied in the 86-year history of the award. Wisconsin RB John Clay took third.
ESPN.com released their all-conference selections: Bulaga and Richardson on the offense; Clayborn, Angerer, and Sash on defense. The only semi-egregious omission is Amari Spievey, who was omitted in favor of Northwestern's Sherrick McManis in what looks like a "we need a Northwestern guy" decision. Otherwise, I can't complain.
Ndomukong Suh, who could well win the Heisman, beats out Pat Angerer for the Bronco Nagurski Award, given to the country's best defensive player.
Adam Rittenberg interviews Big Ten commissioner and BCS defender emeritus Jim Delaney. His reaction to those complaining about the TCU-Boise Fiesta Bowl matchup? Essentially, go fuck yourselves.

Matt Bullard Is Still Awesome

Oops Pow Surprise — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 05:23:11 -0000

Iowa alumnus Matt Bullard, who would have one of the most inexplicable long NBA careers in league history were it not for fellow former Hawkeyes Les Jepsen and Ryan Bowen, is now the Houston Rockets' color commentator. Also, as with anybody who played Big Ten basketball at any point in the last 30 years, he is sick and goddamn tired of referees rewarding flopping.

It's pretty remarkable that "Bull" didn't just start winging rocks at the referees. Maybe he's just saving that as a Christmas present.

(Terrorist Fist Jab: NBA Fan's House)

Daily Nugs 12.8.2009

Buck Bravo — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 09:00:26 -0000

Ohio State boards are excited about their prospects at landing several players including Seantrel Henderson at this link, yet raise the issue that Jim "Sweater-Vest" Tressel may be on the hot seat:

I really think Minnesota is still in the hunt here...Brewster absolutely needs this kid and I don't see them going down quietly. Whoever ends up at ND will obviously make Seantrel a priority as well. I think USC is too far away. Lots of positives for OSU but I've seen this movie before and it doesn't seem to end well for JT more often than not.

Iowa fans are drooling over a rumor that Henderson may be considering the Hawkeyes as a top choice at this link. Iowa has a good football team, but probably hit the pinnacle of their success this season. It would be very interesting if Henderson went to Iowa and became to Minnesota what Brett Favre is to Wisconsin, but I would be very surprised to see him end up down there.

Down With Goldy previews tonight's matchup with Morgan State on the basketball court.

Four Star running back Josh Huff has decommitted from the Gophers to attend TCU. TCU is having a great season, but there are a few reasons to seriously question this decision: their head coach will probably leave soon for a higher profile job, they are historically only the 4th best team (over the last decade) in Texas, and they don't even have a blog that I can link to!

Poll

SB Nation - Iowa Hawkeyes

Tonight's Picks

Iowa Preview: Avoid The Apocalypse

It's Not Plagiarism If You Link To It Is Still Creeped Out By "Obie"

QUICK HITZ:

BLACK HEART GOLD PODCAST #16: GET YOUR WONK ON

Notre Dame Tried to Contact Kirk Ferentz? Okay Then

EXCLUSIVE FOOTAGE OF GEORGIA TECH DEFENSIVE DRILLS

12/8 Game Links

Illinois holds court against Vandy; might be most likable team in college basketball

The Chris Mack era is off to a rough start

Dayton survives second-half flurry from George Mason

Secondary School? Iowa downed by Northern Iowa

Texas Tech moves to 9-0, downs TCU

It's Not Plagiarism If You Link To It Is Tired of Hearing About Kansas

Matt Bullard Is Still Awesome

Daily Nugs 12.8.2009

Where will Seantrel Henderson play football next year?: