Junior Senior - Move Your Feet from Manolis_G on Vimeo.
Just when you think you have this team figured out, they go and do something like that. Wow. My confidence level heading into this game was low. Very, very low. Coming off back-to-back road losses, the latter a crushing near-miss against Penn State, and facing a team that had absolutely had its way with Iowa earlier this season? Let's just say that didn't seem like a recipe for victory to me. And no Bryce Cartwright (high ankle sprain)? No Eric May (back strain)? No problem, as it turned out.
All we needed was Matt Gatens to play like it was the second half of the Penn State game again (he scored a career-high 30 points on 10/18 shooting, including 7/10 from 3-point land), Melsahn Basabe to play like it was 2010-2011 again (he had 13 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 blocks and his energy in the first half was key to Iowa building a lead in the first half), and the entire team to defend like, well, I don't know when. But a team that shredded Iowa for 103 points a month ago was held to 66 points on 38% shooting. Iowa also forced 14 turnovers and even outrebounded Indiana (37-33). It was the best defensive performance from Iowa in a long, long time.
At some point maybe wins over ranked opponents will be so commonplace that we won't feel the need to bust out "Move Your Feet" to celebrate them. But we're not there yet and after two excruciating losses, a win like this felt extraordinary. And so, we celebrate. Go Hawks.
1 recs | 61 comments
Sunday nights is dinner night at the 'rents house.
I let my ribs get cold while watching the second half of this game. It was too fun to turn away. Loved every minute of it.
The Mexican't - February 19, 2012
Matt Gatens!
SomeJerkPoster - February 19, 2012
Melsahn Basabe!
SomeJerkPoster - February 19, 2012
Gatens blowing up was obviously awesome
But Basabe’s performance may be more important going forward. Not just his effort and results, but the announcers also mentioned that he was the first one to come out and warm up.
Hopefully he’s got it figured out and can achieve some consistent success before the season ends. It’s really important for next season that he finds what he had last year.
KilometersDavis - February 19, 2012
I hope RDM got some time in the ice tub tonight.
He played 38 physically taxing minutes tonight. We’re going to need him in top form if Cartwright’s not able to play.
SomeJerkPoster - February 19, 2012
I also hope McCabe zumba'd after the game.
SomeJerkPoster - February 19, 2012
5 fouls in 6 minutes for McCabe. Brommer doffs his cap in admiration.
RossWB - February 19, 2012
Speaking of Herr Brommer...
1 foul in 10 minutes.
Olaseni had 3 fouls in 1 minute.
(Brommer also played good defense when he was in there.)
RossWB - February 19, 2012
That's the type of efficiency we've been missing!
KilometersDavis - February 19, 2012
At first I read this as a comment to Ross's comment.
And 3 fouls in 1 minute is pretty efficient.
TwistConePlease - February 19, 2012
Doffs his cap and asks Grasshopper for his pebble back, please.
Eyeheartfreedumb - February 19, 2012
He was getting beat up a lot
They were kinda hacking him up and down the court and it only occasionally get called. Had a really rough night shooting too, though he hit a couple big ones in the first half.
NorseHawk - February 19, 2012
once late in the second half
they literally knocked him off his feet – no call until the crowd went a bit nuts. Valentine is a peach.
The Bacon Explosion - February 20, 2012
Does anyone know where I could catch a replay?
Or highlights or the like?
BraveHawk - February 19, 2012
BTN has replays at 12:30 CT tonight and 3 pm CT tomorrow.
I’d also guess they’ll put it on BTN2GO at some point.
WaterlooChazz - February 19, 2012
There should be highlights on Big Ten Basketball & Beyond on BTN at 9pm and 11:30pm CT
RossWB - February 19, 2012
It's on BTN2Go right now if you can get access to that.
NorseHawk - February 19, 2012
Love this story about Stokes in the postgame press conference.
The Mexican't - February 19, 2012
hah, that is awesome
he had a few moments tonight didnt he? awesome
justsomehawkeyefan - February 19, 2012
Smart kid there
30, 40, 50 years from now, he’ll be able to say he played for the Hawks. Whatever schollie he might have gotten from Mount Mercy or UD would not be the same.
therealCatnuts - February 19, 2012
Straight up lurking on the Rivals boards
Indiana: SOMG AHHHH.
Purdue: LOLOLOLOL
Iowa: WE’RE GOING DANCING.
I love the internet.
mikjones24 - February 19, 2012
And each of those boards has only one other type of reaction available:
Indiana: NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP FOR SURE
Purdue: TRAIN NOISES
Iowa: ABANDON BASKETBALL ALTOGETHER WE’RE TERRIBLE
KilometersDavis - February 19, 2012
Touché
ReisnerPowa - February 19, 2012
LMFAO. CHOOO CHOOO!!
BentNotBroken - February 19, 2012
*clap clap* Boiler up!!
NorseHawk17 - February 20, 2012
Awesome
Black and Gold - February 19, 2012
Not gonna lie. Went to the Iowa Purdue game this fall.
I enjoyed Purdue’s hate with Indiana. The “IU Sucks” cheer was pretty cool.
NorseHawk17 - February 20, 2012
Real happy for Matty Fresh Gatens.
Great performance by a great Hawkeye.
BentNotBroken - February 19, 2012
I hope Indiana had the decency to send flowers and cab fare home with Marble after molesting him tonight.
YouCanPutYourEddsInIt - February 19, 2012
Maybe throw in a nice gift card to Applebee's or something.
Might as well buy the guy some dinner after the molestering.
Swarley - February 20, 2012
Game was amazing
Just tons of energy from pretty much the second Basabe got in there on in the first half (great game by him, and I continue to think we underutilized him on offense. He was the one guy on the team who could score down low against their bigs, and our guards ignored him a lot when he had good position or was rolling to the hoop). Crowd was going nuts, and the players were playing really hard, battling for every rebound and loose ball. Totally different team from the last few games.
Gatens was just….man, I don’t even know. That’s one of the coolest Iowa sporting things I’ve had the pleasure of seeing in person. The place came absolutely unglued when he hit the fourth three. At some point it just became clear that he would let let us lose that game. We’re definitely going to miss him next year.
I don’t really know what the idea behind going with the end of the bench crew so early was, but it somehow was not as big a disaster as it could have been. Stokes and Brommer played some decent D, and it was cool to see Stokes get a basket. Sad that B-Stubbs didn’t let one fly, I was so excited to see him get some minutes again.
NorseHawk - February 19, 2012
Speaking of Gatens's 4th
If anyone DVR’d this, you gotta go back and watch it. The entire bench (including the assistants in the second row) saw Matty Fresh get the pick from Basabe. They stood up with such anticipation and their emotional release when the ball flipped through the cords was so awesome. I think the bonkers award goes to Coach Speraw.
Also of note, after re-watching a couple of the better offensive plays, B-STUBBS has about a half second head start on every other player on the bench in recognizing when something fantastic is about to happen. He stood up on Gatens’s 25-footer before Matt even pulled up.
McNasty and the Campbellettes - February 20, 2012
B-Stubbs may not have the best talent
but it does seem the kid knows basketball. I think he’ll try to get into coaching and probably be pretty successful.
ClaybornSmash - February 20, 2012
B-Stubbs knows a little something about drilling three pointers
NorseHawk - February 20, 2012
So I posted this on the game thread long before the game started....
“Since I won’t be able to watch the game…
I predict Iowa will go up early, slowly lose lead but seal it in the end. If I WAS watching it, it would be a 25 pt clusterfucklosstogoddamnindiana. So, again, I will not be watching.
That, and I don’t have a tv."
Didn’t quite turn out the way I predicted, but we won. Therefore, my theory stands. On Iowa and my continued blackout. Well done boys, well done. Hawks rule.
LoganSq2DBQ - February 19, 2012
Kudos to Fran
I was a little uncertain about whether Fran was the guy for this job, but he’s making it work, and he’s winning some seriously important games. You could write off Wisconsin as a fluke. But then … Michigan and Indiana? Iowa is 3-3 against nationally ranked teams, with a chance to have a winning record against ranked competition, including one road win.
That’s epic. That’s huge.
hawkeyeinstl - February 19, 2012
This was awesome.
Iowa’s got to do this with some measure of consistency going forward, but this is about the fifth game this year where I’ve thought, “Man, this looks like a pretty damn good team.”
They’re gonna miss Gatens. I didn’t think that’d be as much of the case coming into the year, but he’s playing at his highest level and Iowa’s highest level right now.
Adam Jacobi - February 19, 2012
Yeah, I had this conversation about fifteen different ways today while watching the game.
“I’m so psyched about next year! Look at these great pieces!”
“Gatens, tho.”
. . .
The Final Gun - February 19, 2012
Gatens has stepped up whenever Iowa has needed a basket lately, even in the loss to PSU
Losing that is the biggest issue, but I think RDM may be able to fill those shoes next year. He has hit some clutch shots this season, and you have to expect he’ll continue to grow as a player.
KilometersDavis - February 19, 2012
Can you imagine if Gatens would've played under Fran for 4 years?
He would probably hold a number of school records by now
ClaybornSmash - February 20, 2012
Yeah I dunno
Weirdly if The Butler Way had worked the way it was supposed to it seems like he’d have worked well in it given his ability to knock down open threes, which that offense is built to generate. Unfortunately we didn’t have any talent, and particularly not someone who could create their own shot (aside from like a month of Jake Kelly), so he was asked to do a lot of stuff he’s not really good at . He had the same issue for most of last year.
I think bigger than the system for him this year is the emergence of Marble, who can actually take a little pressure off him and create when things break down offensively. And of course he’s just been on fire the last couple games, which is probably on him a lot more than the coaching.
NorseHawk - February 20, 2012
There was a lot of Marble + Gatens + Three Screens offense last night
And when Gatens is knocking down shots or White/Basabe are cleaning up the glass, it’s not that bad a look. It’s not terribly sustainable over the course of several games, either, but it worked as an effective foil to Indiana’s man D with their personnel.
Adam Jacobi - February 20, 2012
Indeed
It did kind of stall out in the middle of the second when there was a whole lot of Marble just dribbling the air out of the ball, but if Gatens is taking and knocking down outside shots, it’s not too bad. And really it could have been even better last night if Marble had shot a little better. He took a lot of tough ones but he also missed several makable looks.
As noted above, I do wish they did a little more to be Basabe involved. There were a few plays in the first where they actually dumped the ball to him down low and he made some things happen, which everyone else was struggling to do with Zeller lurking in the paint. But for whatever reason we never did it again, even if he had good position on the guy guarding him or was rolling with an open path to the hoop, so he got relegated to garbage man. He definitely struggles when he’s facing up farther from the basket, but I think if we actually make an effort to get him the ball in post up situations, he could provide production that’s closer to what he was giving us last year.
NorseHawk - February 20, 2012
They need to have Melsahn use the Gus Johnson Sound Board before every game from now on.
To the Basket!
Make the Court Your Sanctuary!
Nice!
WaterlooChazz - February 20, 2012
I remember that month of very-good-Jake-Kelly.
It was about 6 weeks before he transferred.
WaterlooChazz - February 20, 2012
/has a sad.
SomeJerkPoster - February 20, 2012
Jake went through more than any college student ought to.
Adam Jacobi - February 22, 2012
Big Ten Power Rankings:
Michigan State
Ohio State
Michigan <——- LOL @ “Bad Loss to Iowa” Tier
Wisconsin
Indiana
Purdue
Northwestern
Minnesota
Iowa
Illinois
Nebraska
Penn St
The Final Gun - February 19, 2012
We're going to finish at worst 3-2 against that Michigan/Wisco/Indiana tier...
And at best 1-3 against the OMHR/jNW tier.
There’s also a chance we’ll go 1-3 against the Nebraska/PSU tier.
lolwut
RossWB - February 19, 2012
I bet Fran and Kirk are really good friends.
KilometersDavis - February 19, 2012
rec'd
NorseHawk17 - February 19, 2012
I feel I need to watch the video every time it is posted.
And my wife shakes her head and leaves the room.
scottyknows50 - February 20, 2012
My kids love that video
That and the Iowa party dance video. They dance like crazy to both.
hawkeyeinstl - February 20, 2012 via mobile
Watching the 12:30a replay
At least till I’m tired enough to go to bed. Still on a high from being in CHA today (& that’s after the 3+ hour drive home). I think my parents in the QC can look forward to a lot more weekend visits from us next winter.
CW said it feels like it did when Dr. Tom was running the show. I can’t speak to what CHA was like during the previous 2 coaches’ regimes but the excitement I remember from the early-mid 90s teams was what I felt today. Hooray!!! Go. Hawks.
HawkeyeGirleye - February 20, 2012
It is certainly taking on the same feel as the Dr. Tom teams.
We’re not there yet, but you can absolutely see flashes of it.
When I was watching last night, there was a guy on the camera side of the court, front row that kept giving the refs the business every time Marble was molestered. We just didn’t have those kinds of fans the last several years. It’s nice to see that CHA is getting to be a tough place to play again. Kudos to all that attend games and make that happen!
Swarley - February 20, 2012
We also didn’t have somebody running the point of an offense that warranted 3/4 court assault to try and take him out of his rhythm. Those fans were there, they just had nothing to bitch about ref-wise. (Actually, they were in existence but at home yelling at Lick through the TV screen)
PackerHawk - February 20, 2012
Yeah, Marble creates some problems for opposing defenses, which is nice to have!
Tough to get riled up about refs when your team is struggling to score 45 points a game, right?
Swarley - February 20, 2012
If you're talking about the guy right next to the center court (best seat in the house) he's been there giving grief to the refs for a bunch of years
Though he was certainly more animated yesterday.
He helped deliver some of my friend’s babies. Obviously a major donor.
The Final Gun - February 20, 2012
Man, Tom Gugliotta is everywhere.
WaterlooChazz - February 20, 2012
Yeah, that's probably the guy. The only guys with better seats for the game were either coaches or players.
I guess I’ve missed him the last few years. Last night I was kind of worried that he’d bull rush the court and take matters into his own hands.
Swarley - February 20, 2012
There was another guy up a lot
sitting courtside at the end of the row opposite the IU bench. He seemed to be giving the business quite a bit. I don’t recall noticing that in any other recently televised games. Hoping those courtside peeps will get some of those sitting on their hands in the lower rows of stadium seating on their feet (if even just because they can’t see over the courtsiders).
We were up in the rafters & I had to laugh when I’d yell & kids a few rows down would turn around & look to see who was making all the noise. (My 6 y/o also likes to yell & started repeating everything I yelled.) It’s like everyone’s forgotten how to support the team till the team does something good.
HawkeyeGirleye - February 20, 2012
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