Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Caitlin Clark is frontrunner for National Player of the Year, and it's not close

Episode Date: February 10, 2022

Iowa women's basketball star Caitlin Clark should be the frontrunner for National Player of the Year, and to be honest, there isn't much competition. She is dominating on another level for the Iowa basketball team that just secured another win vs Minnesota last night. We break down the reasons why she should win the NPOY, and who is the main contender before diving into tonight's men's basketball game versus Maryland.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You are Locked On Hawkeyes, your daily podcast on the Iowa Hawkeyes. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome back, Hawkeye Nation, to a Thursday morning episode of the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast, your daily podcast covering your Iowa Hawkeyes on the Locked On Podcast Network. As always, I am your host, Andrew Wade, and we have another great episode for you today. We're going to be talking about Kaitlin Clark and why she is the National Player of the Year candidate, the number one candidate, and the only one, really, the frontrunner at this point. We're also going to be talking about this upcoming game tonight, Iowa versus Maryland,

the men's basketball team taking on Maryland on the road. How does Iowa beat them and what storylines are we looking to see play out in this game? Plus, we got to talk about last night's game, Iowa versus Minnesota, and a few other tidbits around Hawkeye Nation, some recruiting news, some wrestling news. We're covering all that on today's show. Before we get into any of that, though, I want to thank you all for making the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast your first listen every single day. You can find the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast for free wherever you get podcasts at and

also on YouTube by searching Locked On Hawkeyes. Let's get into it, though. Kaitlin Clark, some interesting controversy coming around. People who aren't watching Kaitlin Clark just seemingly hating on Kaitlin Clark for no reason. That's what happens when you do some pretty awesome stuff. We saw some very interesting comments after the last couple of performances, especially against Michigan, where against a top-ten team on the road, Kaitlin Clark was draining threes from the logo, had 46 points.

Honestly, it's had one of the most phenomenal games I've ever seen from a woman's basketball player. And people want to say that she doesn't deserve the National Player of the Year award. People are arguing that Elijah Boston out of University of South Carolina deserves this award more than her. I'm here to make you a case for why Kaitlyn Clark is the National Player of the Year frontrunner

and why it's not even close. For those of you out there who already agree with me, this is going to be a welcomed segment. For those of you who don't agree with me, I'm honestly a little shocked that you're listening to this show. But nevertheless, here we go. First and foremost, let's break down the stats, right? Aliyah Boston, 17.2 points per game, 74th in the nation, 11.8 rebounds per game, ninth in the nation, 1.8 assists per game outside of the top 150, a 55.4% field goal percentage at 21st. She's a 6'5 junior at us again at South Carolina. Field goal percentage, 21st.

She's a 6'5 junior, again, at South Carolina. South Carolina is the number one ranked team in the nation. Kaitlyn Clark. Now these numbers are not updated from the Minnesota game, but 27.4 points per game, which is first in the nation. 8.2 rebounds per game, which is 101st. 8.2 assists per game, which is first. And 45.7% shooting percentage, which is 121st in the nation.

Purely from a statistic perspective, Kaitlyn Clark is better than Boston. She scores more points by 10 a game. She's only three rebounds less than her, and she's a guard, whereas Boston is a six-foot-five forward, and she has significantly more assists than her, and honestly, she's shooting pretty darn well. Considering Boston's shots are mostly going to be around the paint, whereas Kaitlyn Clark is shooting difficult shots across the board and driving to the paint and getting banged up quite consistently. That's pretty impressive all around. Now, Jonathan Schaefer, we've had him on the show before. Jonathan Schaefer used to work for the news. Now he works at Bing Bang, I believe. Loves Iowa sports, loves covering all Iowa sports. He made a really good point as well. When Megan Gustafson won the

National Player of the Year award, she averaged 27.8 points per game and 13.3 rebounds per game. That's almost two rebounds more per game than Boston. And again, 10 points more per game than Boston. The biggest argument that Boston has is the fact that she plays for the number one ranked team in the nation. But I would argue you that that team would still be a top five team without Boston. I cannot say that Iowa would be a top 25 team without Clark. In fact, I would consider Clark to be the reason why Iowa is a tournament team in general. There is a chance they have some talent on that team, right? This is not a not talented team but i think clark is really what elevates them especially

with so many injuries that they have currently going on imagine playing on the road against a top 10 ranked team without two starters you're playing with two forwards in general right right? Two front court players on the entire roster that are healthy. And you go into Michigan and you get it within five points with a few minutes left. You have to applaud what Kaitlin Clark can do. On top of that, take away Boston in general, Clark is putting together one of the most impressive seasons, not just this season amongst players,

but in the history of college basketball, men and women's. Her game last night against Minnesota was her 20th career 30-point game, which is the most by any player in D1 over the last two years. She's the first D1 player in 20 seasons with 45 points and 10 assists. She holds several scoring records, including most recently at the Chrysler Center. In the last 15 years,

only one player in the NBA, WNBA, or D1 men and women's basketball has scored over 45 points and 10 assists while playing an entire game. And that was Kevin Durant. She has been truly phenomenal and they are triple teaming her down the court and she's still doing this. Wake up people. When you have NBA stars like a Kevin Durant consistently talking about how

great Caitlin Clark is, it's time to start paying attention. It's not just the highlight reel shots. It's what else she does on the court as well. Now, critics are going to point to those highlight reel shots, but that's all she does. Look at what she's doing and how much she's elevated this Iowa basketball team. The National Player of the Year award does not go to the best player on the

best team. It goes to the best player in the country. And that by all accounts, without doubt at this point is Caitlin Clark. And unfortunately for you people out there who are critical of Caitlin Clark, she's getting better. She struggled for the first part of the season,

but now starting to get hot. She's starting to hit that three. Watch out for Kaitlin Clark because Iowa has a few games left. They go into the Big Ten tournament, and then they got NCL by tournament time. This is a team that is still battling for potentially a four seed, and if they don't get that four seed, watch out for those higher seeds because Kaitlin Clark will keep this team in games. She is ready and made for the stars.

She's made for pressure. She's made for those limelight situations where she can shine and really elevate her team. Kaitlin Clark should undoubtedly be National Player of the Year, and there is not even close competition at this point, in my opinion. Coming up, we're going to talk about Iowa versus the Maryland Terrapins and what to expect in that game. Before we get to that, though, I want to remind you all that BetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds, and lines than ever before

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And the Locked On NBA podcast will be covering it live from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. John Kim Becker, John Corrales, and Lockdown Fantasy Basketball host Josh Lloyd to get analysis of every blockbuster move. So subscribe to the Lockdown NBA YouTube and turn on your notifications so you know when they go live. That is going to be a fun day today. Lots of interesting stuff. There's several Iowa Hawkeyes in the NBA.

I doubt they get traded, but make sure to find out at the Lockdown NBA YouTube channel. So let's get into it. We talked about Kaitlin Clark and why she should be the National Player of the Year. Now we're going to talk about Iowa versus Maryland. Iowa has another must-win or can't-lose game, otherwise how you want to put it, for the men's basketball team tonight in Maryland. Fran is going to be there. Fran is going to be coaching.

For those of you out here that think Billy Taylor should be the head coach, again, I want you to listen to my episode yesterday that we recorded with Trey Demms, former Northwestern basketball player and current Big Ten network analyst. He loves Fran's game. He loves the way Fran coaches, and he speaks very highly of Fran and what he's heard about Fran. So Fran is the coach, which means we might see some different rotational patterns,

which is something we're going to get to. But first, take a step back and look at the last game. Last game, Maryland was up in the second half before Iowa mounted a comeback in that second half. They allowed several good three-point shooters to get hot from deep. Eric Ayala was the main one, five of nine from three. Maryland did dominate Iowa early on in the rebound game, ultimately finished plus 4. But Keegan Murray had another fantastic game, 35 points, 8 rebounds,

3 blocks, and 1 steal as Maryland took home a loss while playing Iowa at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Coming into this game, there's not much to love about Maryland to this point. They have still struggled quite a bit this season. They are not the same Maryland team that we are used to. So when you look at this, what do you expect from Iowa? Well, they should win. They're expected to win this game.

Ken Palm has it as a three-point win for Iowa, 76-73, against the 91st-ranked, wow, bad use of grammar there, 91st ranked Maryland team according to Ken Palm. At this point, Maryland is 11-12. And when you look at Maryland's last couple of games, they have literally three wins since they lost to Iowa on January 3rd. They lost to Illinois. They lost to Wisconsin.

They beat Northwestern in double overtime. Lost to Rutgers. Lost to Michigan. Beat Illinois. That was They beat Northwestern in double overtime. Lost to Rutgers. Lost to Michigan. Beat Illinois. That was a little shocking, but they were at home, which is concerning. They then lost to or beat Rutgers. They lost to Indiana. Lost to Michigan State.

Lost to Ohio State. Now they get Iowa. This is a team that really Iowa should be able to beat. It should not be a problem. The things that Iowa doesn't do well or hasn't done well in the past, such as handling the perimeter, Maryland doesn't shoot very well from the perimeter. They are 31.8% shooters and they shoot the 265th in the nation for three-point shooting percentage. So Maryland, not a very good three-point shooting team, not a

very good offense in general, 105th ranked Kempom offense in adjusted efficiency. So this shouldn't be a hard game for Iowa, but we've seen Iowa allow bad offensive teams play really well. So one of the things I'm watching out for is specifically the defensive energy. In the second half of that game versus Minnesota, that might've been the best defensive effort I've seen in a long time. Now, yes, Minnesota was missing some shots, but Iowa did not let them have a single easy shot.

Jordan Mohannon, that might have been one of the best defensive efforts I've ever seen of him. Iowa locked down and shut down Minnesota's guards. Truly a great effort. If they can continue that for a full game, you have to feel pretty good about this Iowa basketball team going into the tournament time. Now, again, I mentioned Maryland is one of the worst-ranked offenses

in the Big Ten, 103rd in the nation overall, 267th in three-point shooting, 265th, excuse me, and so it's 105th in offense, 265th in three-point shooting, and 166th in non-steal turnover percentage. So Iowa likes to do that half-court trap. They made Minnesota run out the clock quite a few times. Actually, several times Minnesota had a shot clock violation. Iowa is going to do these things to Minnesota

if they're able to bring that defensive energy. Will the starting lineup change again? It's possible. We saw the mixed up bit put Jordan Bohannon at the one, Tony Perkins at the two. Tony Perkins struggled a little bit, and we saw them go to a different rotation in that second half. Aaron Ulis stepping in as at two,

with Jordan Bohannon as at one. And I really thought that the guard combo did a really good job in that game against Minnesota. Will they do it again? Clearly, Fran knows there's an issue. He wants to get these guys rolling. And I think what you saw from Jordan Bohannon, he didn't necessarily break out of his shooting slump,

but you saw a different kind of energy from him. And that's something that Trey Demps mentioned on the show yesterday as well. He was very impressed by what he saw from Jordan Bohannon in that game against Minnesota, even if the shooting wasn't always there. And now this is not Trey Downs being all high and mighty on Jordan Bohannon. Trey said it was right to criticize him prior to this game. But with Jordan Bohannon at that one, he felt like Jordan looked more comfortable. His offense seemed to work well.

Defensively, they had it together. And it'll be really interesting to see is Iowa willing to make a quick change and try out Aaron Ulis at that too, because Iowa has still gotten off to several very slow starts, including against Minnesota. You need to avoid those slow starts, especially on the road against a team like Maryland. Now, does that translate to Jordan Bohannon breaking out of his shooting slump?

It remains to be seen. I sure hope so. It has been a really weird season for Jordan Bohannon. And think whatever you want about Jordan Bohannon, but this guy has given his all to the Iowa Hawkeyes for several years, and he's been a great steward for college basketball, and he's made the game more exciting. We mentioned the lineups.

Another thing to watch out for is the rotation patterns. Billy Taylor did a really good job. He reduced and shortened the bench in that second half. The substitutions were quick, and they weren't long. That's the same thing. They were quick, and they weren't a lot of them. So when he shortened the bench, he rode with his guys, and Iowa closed out Minnesota very easily in that game. The final thing is, can Iowa win on the road? They are 2-5 on the bench. He rode with his guys and Iowa closed out Minnesota very easily in that game.

The final thing is, can Iowa win on the road? They are two and five on the road, but Maryland is six and seven at home. So there's some opportunities here where the Big Ten is a very tough place to play on the road any single time. Maryland is not one of those better teams. They do have that win over Illinois a couple of weeks ago. But anything can kind of happen. And it's worth noting that Andre Corbello only played 14 minutes in that game. Kofi wasn't in that game. So Illinois really down quite a few players against Maryland in that game. That could have impacted the outcome of that game.

It'll be interesting to see, does Iowa win this game? If they do, that's huge for the Hawks. If they don't, I'm getting a little worried. We talked about this. I think they can go five and four is the min of where they need to go to make the tournament. Six and three is where they really need to fall in, I think, to be comfortably in the tournament. These are the games, the game against Maryland on the road. Not a very good Maryland team that you cannot lose if you want to make the NCAA tournament.

That does do it for segment two. We're going to get into the brief news and tidbits of everything around Iowa basketball, the women's team, also Iowa football with a recruit announcing his top seven, and also wrestling and some men's Iowa basketball as well. News all over the board. So we're covering that all here in a few short moments.

Stay tuned. We'll be back in about a couple minutes. All right, y'all. Appreciate you being part of the show, as always. Appreciate you listening into the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. We talked about the men's team playing Maryland tonight. We talked about the women's basketball team and Kaitlyn Clark being a National Player of the Year candidate.

We need to quickly give a brief review of last night's game, Iowa versus Minnesota. Gabby Marshall was back. McKenna Warnock was not back, We need to quickly give a brief review of last night's game, Iowa versus Minnesota. Gabby Marshall was back. McKenna Warnock was not back, but she should be back for Monday's game versus number 15, Maryland, which will actually be huge. And with four games left, Iowa now has number 15, Maryland, number seven, Indiana, Rutgers, number four, Michigan. They are fourth in the Big Ten Conference. They have an opportunity to climb their way up to win the Big Ten title, the regular season title, and get the number one seat going into the Big Ten tournament.

We'll talk about that here in a few short moments. But first, in this game, Iowa wins 88-78. Minnesota, kudos to them. After getting blown out by 50 at Carver, they kept it close. Or sorry, excuse me, getting blown out by 50, I believe, at Minnesota. They kept it close. Or sorry, excuse me, getting blown out by 50, I believe, at Minnesota. They kept it close. They're able to stick around this game. They played well against Iowa. And at one point, it was a one-point game, 62-61, before Iowa went on a 11-0 run, fueled by Kaitlyn Clark and Monica Shinano. In that fourth quarter, Monica had a fantastic showing. 12 of her 23 points came

in that fourth quarter to really close out that game alongside her five rebounds. As always, Kaitlin Clark had a phenomenal game, 32 points, eight rebounds, six assists on 10 of 20 shooting. But again, Minnesota played a good game. They shot well from three, 40.9%. Well, Iowa did shoot well as well, 44.4%. And after Minnesota dominated Iowa on the boards in the first half, Iowa ended up being plus two in rebounding, having a strong second half to really finish that out. That moves Iowa to 16-6, 10-3 in the Big Ten. And as I was talking about, they have four really key games coming up.

They have number 15, Maryland. They have number seven, Indiana. Rutgers, and number 15, Maryland. They have number seven, Indiana, Rutgers, and number four, Michigan. Now we look at those teams that are ahead of them, Michigan, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, 11 and one. They have at Michigan State, at Northwestern, versus number 15, Maryland, and versus Michigan State, and then at Iowa. Indiana has Michigan State at Nebraska versus Northwestern versus Iowa and at Maryland.

And Maryland has at Iowa versus Ohio State at Michigan versus Indiana. Here's honestly the easiest way to make this happen. Iowa needs to win out, number one. Michigan, or actually Iowa needs to win out. Maryland needs to win out and lose to Iowa. And that'll do it. Michigan, Indiana, both good. Iowa, they haven't. Well, Michigan, I'm not sure on the, I'll be honest, I'm not sure on the tiebreakers yet for the Michigan piece, because it kind of depends.

Some of the postponements have been really interesting for how we look at the schedule and the standings, but I think that should do it, right? Michigan, if they lose to Maryland and Iowa, that puts them at three losses, at least has a tie with Iowa. Indiana losing to Iowa, Maryland has a tie, but Iowa wins that tie. Maryland losing to Iowa puts Maryland behind Iowa. So that's how Iowa potentially gets as the number one seed. They have a good opportunity, too, with McKenna Warnock coming back versus Maryland. so it'll be a lot of fun to watch that game. Again, this is going to be huge.

Maryland coming to Carver. Carver needs to be bumping for that game, help this Hawkeye women's basketball team get a win. In other news, and we'll talk more about this stuff on tomorrow's show as well, Caden Proctor, the top recruit in the state of Iowa, a five-star recruit that Iowa is very heavily in on at that tackle position. He has narrowed it down to seven schools.

That is Michigan, Oregon, Alabama, Notre Dame, Georgia, Penn State, and Iowa. So Iowa being in that top seven is a good thing. We'll talk more about that on tomorrow's show. For Iowa's upcoming dual meet for wrestling, Drake Ayala was listed as an or. Sounds like Tom Brands thinks Drake Ayala is day-to-day, so there's a chance he could go.

That'll be huge for the success of this men's wrestling team. They need Drake Ayala back. There has been almost no success with Drake Ayala not in this lineup and Spencer Lee out for the season. Then on this men's basketball side, they did announce jersey retirement February 22nd. Luka Garza, Charles Darling, Roy Marble, and Murray Rear all going to have their jerseys retired,

which is a phenomenal thing. Super excited for that. That is going to be a fantastic game on the 22nd. Really excited for the Iowa Hawkeyes and those four Iowa Hawkeye legends. Really excited for the Marble family as well those four Iowa Hawkeye legends. I'm really excited for the Marvel family as well. I know there were some issues and concerns that kind of came out the last year or so. I think it'll be really good to hopefully help heal some of those wounds and issues that have been had.

So really excited about that. That does do it for our show today. So I appreciate you all tuning in to today's episode of the Locked on Hawkeyes podcast. Just a reminder that if you want to know how to bet on more games, you can go to betonline.net and bet on those. But first, listen to the Locked On Bets podcast hosted by your boy Q and handicapping expert Lee Sterling of Paramount Sports. They do a great job of breaking down three to four games every single day,

letting you know who you should bet on at betonline.net. Again, thank you all for tuning in. Have a fantastic Thursday. We will be back tomorrow. And as always, Hawkeye Nation, let's go Hawks.