Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Iowa Falls to Auburn in the NCAA Tournament - What's next for Iowa Hoops?

Episode Date: March 17, 2023

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Another year and more disappointment for Iowa basketball. Another first round loss. Back-to-back seasons of falling in the first round. A year ago, it was Richmond. This year, it is Auburn. The Hawkeyes, once again, can't get it done come March. We figure it out as we continue here on the Locked on Hawkeyes podcast. Our Locked on Hawkeyes, your daily podcast on the on Hawkeyes podcast.

Hey, welcome in once again. I'm Trent Condon, and this is the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. As always, thanks for making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day. We're available wherever you get podcasts. We're looking for five-star ratings while you're over there. And if you're on YouTube, hit that subscribe button. It helps us get in front of more Hawkeye fans. This episode is brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook, official sportsbook of Locked On.

Make every moment more. Visit FanDuel.com slash Locked On today to get started. Well, we get started today with more disappointment. Iowa falls in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament 2 Auburn. In a game that was wild, was interesting, you give up 52 points in the opening round of the NCAA tournament to Auburn. In a game that was wild, was interesting. You give up 52 points in the second half. Yeah, you score 49. That should be enough, but certainly wasn't in this one

as Iowa was never able to get off the hump, over the hump. You know, I'm not exactly sure where today's podcast is going to go. We're just going to talk. And we're going to talk about this team. We're going to talk to talk. And we're going to talk about this team. We're going to talk about this program. We're going to talk about the future and where we are with Iowa basketball. Before we get into the big picture stuff, though,

let's take a look back at the way that it was. And Iowa in the first half of the game, very lucky to only be down five points at the half, 31-26. They're 0-9 from three. They're playing terrible early on they do exactly what i told you yesterday in the podcast they should be doing they're going inside they're getting to rebracha they're going to chris murray in the paint and then they completely go away from it and we've seen this happen so many times with this squad this year

they do the things that make sense and And then they go away from it. And they start chucking. Now ultimately this was not a great three-pointing team. Shooting team. This season for Iowa. Now overall the numbers are okay. Adequate. The Hawkeyes this year.

As it's currently set up. 177th in the country in three-point shooting. That's not great. That's middle of the pack. We're talking about 300-some teams, 360-some teams now that play Division I basketball. Let's get the official. 363.

Long Island, your worst team. All right. So that's the number. They're in the middle. And yet they settle. You know, the thing that continues to drive me nuts about this Iowa basketball team and the program in general is the lack of toughness when things get difficult. Yeah, they had the comeback win. Well, those comebacks are easy because things are going well.

And I shouldn't say easy. That's not fair. Coming back like they did against Indiana and Michigan State and Michigan, that's not easy to do. I shouldn't put it in that terminology. But when things aren't going well, they just will. And we saw that again from Chris Murray. The first half of the game, he was taken out and he's settling.

And another part that is just crazy is how it then goes over to the defensive side of the ball. This Auburn team was not good offensively. They come in ranked 47th in the country in offensive efficiency. They can't shoot the basketball from downtown. They're in the 300s in three-point shooting percentage. And yet, we have a play running zone. Chris Murray's out on the wing.

He's out on the wing of very, and he, he just leaves the shooter wide open in the first half. It just, it's simple things. And why these simple things on the defensive end of the floor, why they are so difficult with this squad time in and time out. And we're talking about, this is youth league basketball stuff

that they struggle with. I know, is there a yin and yang? And if you take away what they do offensively, and probably the work that they do offensively, is that going to take something away? Maybe. I think we can argue about that, and we're going to have a whole offseason to argue about it.

But for this to happen, time in and time out, not getting beat physically. That's one thing. The guy in the paint, he's got size against Rabracha. He goes up and makes a bucket. That's one thing, physically. A guy beats you off the dribble. He gets to the rim and he finishes physically. Guy crosses you over.

He hits a step back three. All right. That's fine. But the mental aspect, how this team can be continually so inept year after year after year on that end of the floor, it's unimaginable how a team could be this locked in, how they could be that solid on the offensive end of the floor, and it looks like they don't have a clue on the other side and they had pressure throughout or at least tried pressure

what did it do nothing this was going to be part of the frame of caffrey era is the pressure defense going back to what we saw with dr tom davis right that was going to be a part of what iowa basketball was going to go back to be. And I've made the argument plenty of times here in the past about this team and this program and what they've got back to. And that's really the Dr. Tom era. Well, after these last two years, that's not the case. Because Dr. Tom would not have lost to this Auburn team.

Dr. Tom would not have lost to that crappy Richmond team a year ago. And his two stars in those two games would not have wilted the way that Chris Murray and a year before Keegan Murray wilted in the spotlight of the NCAA tournament. It's disappointing. There is no two ways about it. Chris, when the going got tough, he wasn't able to answer the bell. Now he hit a couple of shots.

Okay. Late in the game as they're trying to build their way back into it. And he's done that before. But come on. In the block, mental mistakes, just things that are unconscionable for a Division I basketball team to have these kind of woes. So here's Auburn, a terrible offensive team. What do they do?

They have six players better than 100 in offensive efficiency. Johnny Broome, a guy that is a stiff offensively. Well, not in this one. Not in this one. He goes off for 19 and 8. 19 and 12, excuse me. Along with five block shots.

Little Green got to the free throw line, hit his free throws easy. All right, we did a decent job on him. Katie Johnson. Come on. This guy's hitting three-pointers. Trey Donaldson. Coming off the bench, he's firing up three. It's just time after time after time.

He can't get the stops. Rabracha did his thing. Why they went away from him, I'll have no clue. I just don't get it. We told you before the game. This is where Iowa's advantage was in this game. Get the ball inside. Get it to Rabracha.

They did it right away, and then they went away from it. They start chucking up garbage threes. 3 of 11 from downtown for Chris Murray. 0-1 for Perkins. 0-2 for Ulis. Ulis,

he was unplayable. He was terrible. Patrick McCaffrey, same old, same old, right? In a game where Iowa only turns it over eight times, they only have 11 assists in the game on 28 made field goals. That's not Iowa basketball.

Defense was awful. That's Iowa basketball. We're used to that. 11 assists on 28 made field goals. That's not Iowa. Bruce Pearl and Auburn took them out of their game. And Iowa did not have the mental fortitude and the mental toughness to come back

and find a way to get the victory. This was a winnable game. The Hawkeyes couldn't get it done. More on this, big picture thoughts, as well as we continue here on the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. Well, as we make our way through March, of course, college basketball continues tomorrow on Friday with a lot of great basketball.

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Cause that's just the reality of what we do here. But tomorrow I like Arizona state plus the six as they take on TCU, a TCU team that I'd like to ton this year. I like Iowa state. I hate to say it in the three and a half against Pittsburgh, well, you can do that as well. Find your favorite games and jump on them right now with fan dual sportsbook.

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with FanDuel, an official sports betting partner of the NBA. Trent Conant back with you on an instant reaction podcast after Iowa falls to Auburn in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

So who played well? What did we get out of this game? What is there to be excited about? What is there to hang your hat on? Well, Rabracha I mentioned is good. Chris was terrible. Connor was Connor. Rebounded well. Eight rebounds in the game. Three

assists against just one turnover. Hit his free throws and had Auburn seemingly every single time in the lane as he was firing them up. Hit a three-pointer, hit a two. Kind of was solid. Perkins, not so much. 4-12 from the field.

Eight points. Uless was awful. Patrick was Patrick. Sanford was good. So as we look at next season, we look big picture at this program. What are they? What is this program going to be? You return next year. Tony Perkins, you hope. I like Tony Perkins. If you've been listening to us for a while, you know my affinity for Tony Perkins. More consistency? Absolutely, you hope.

But that's a building block. Peyton Sanford, no doubt about it. Peyton Sanford absolutely is a guy that needs to be playing not 22 minutes a game. He needs to be playing 32 minutes a game, maybe more than that. He needs to be out there a ton more than what we saw to him that season. Patrick McCaffrey, what's going to happen? What's he going to be? Patrick's Patrick. It's not going to happen? What's he going to be?

Patrick's Patrick. It's not going to change. I don't see an evolution suddenly happen for Patrick. He's a good spot-up shooter. That's about it. Doesn't help on the defensive end. Not good handling the ball. Not a good rebounder.

Doesn't pass it well. Patrick's Patrick. He's a good spot-up shooter. That's about it. And DeSante Bowen, Josh Dix, we'll see. DeSante Bowen, after seemingly outside of this game, hardly playing over the last month of the season, is he going to stick around in today's environment?

That's a question. I know questions were asked of him before the game about that we'll see I wouldn't hold my breath so I always get involved in the transfer portal and they bring in four new prospects for next year Price Sanford will come in good prospect we talked about Price a lot in the past

called a ton of his games probably I don't know I've seen him 20-25 times during his high school career maybe more than that I like Price. I think there's more to his game. At least a more well-rounded, a more refined game than Peyton was at this point in his career. He's going to help him out.

Bring in Brock Harding, an undersized point guard. We'll see. Undersized guys can work in college basketball. Does he have enough? Owen Freeman, like him. It's a recruiting class, it's fine. But there has to be more.

So this is the year where Fran really has to hit the portal hard. And he's tried. The narrative out there that he doesn't try is asinine. He's tried. Farnas Enoch, a year ago, ended up at Texas Tech. He's back in the portal, by the way.

They tried. He was one of the portal, by the way. They tried. He was one of the best prospects out there in the transfer pool. They went that route. They just weren't able to land him. Here is the good news. There is at least some NIL money here compared to what we've seen in the past. Iowa was not playing with a full deck a year ago. Now, maybe they compete.

They're not going to compete with the Kentuckys and the Carolinas and the Dukes of the world, but in that next tier, absolutely. So go out there and go shopping, Fran, because you're going to need help next year. I think you need a better point guard. I don't think that point guard's on the roster right now. Uless, no chance. Nice backup point guard, but that's it.

Shouldn't be a starter for a Big Ten team that's going to make a run in the NCAA tournament. He's just not good enough. DeSante Bowen, Josh Dix, we'll see. A lot needs to change for both those guys. Need to go that direction. Need help inside. We saw Mulvey, who

I thought was fine when he played this year. Gundalay is a crowd favorite, but he's not good. He's a big body. That's it. They got to go shopping for pigs. You got to be looking at maybe the point guard position. You need an upgrade from Aaron Lewis. I mean, there's no two ways about it.

Is Bowen going to be that guy? Is Dix going to be that guy? I don't think so. Not at this point in their career. Maybe ultimately they can get there. Not right now. Not right now. It's a little bit nerve-wracking

of what they're going to be. But the biggest question remains, even if they bring in more talent, they get better, right? They do those things. They get better. And those young guys hit. And you got to give credit to Fran because he develops talent really, really well.

He does a good job of developing talent. Under the radar guys, guys that you just don't think are going to hit. And he's done a good job of that throughout his career. And get him to what? This? I sit here and once again lamenting another year, 24 years since the Sweet 16. So what's it going to take? That's as we finish up here on Locked On Hawkeyes.

And a quick preview ahead as we take a look at what the women have on tap coming up today against Southeast Louisiana. And the Iowa wrestlers, pretty good start overall to the NCAA tournament. We'll talk about that when we come back here on the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. Trey Conda back with you one final time on the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. As always, thanks for making Locked On Hawkeyes your first listen every single day. Make sure you check out our brand new podcast. It's Locked On College Basketball.

The time is right to hit that subscribe button right now for Locked On College Basketball. Everything you need to know about college hoops all in one spot. You can hear from all the big names out there, the experts, the insiders, coaches, and players with Locked On College Basketball available on YouTube and wherever you get podcasts. So we're talking big picture here. We're talking big picture about what this program is going to be going for. Well, they'll bring in talent and Fran will coach them up and they'll be great offensively,

but they're going to be brutal on the defensive end. Year after year after year. The only times that I was finished in the top 50 of defensive efficiency in the frame of calvary era is when they had a good anchor on the back end of things with adam woodbury they had good perimeter defenders at that time gasel was a plus defender anthony clements sap he was very very good on the outside they have length with guys like utah and on and on and on they had the pieces to at least make them adequate but you get into it needs to be better than just that it needs to be more than that and it comes down to scheme and as i talked about at the top of the show today it's not that they're physically

getting beat that's gonna happen and for a team built like this that's going to happen that physically just times guys make plays. Now those guys have scholarships too, but they have to be better schematically. How many times does it look like they don't have a clue what they're doing in their zone defense? I told you the other day, Iowa has the third most zone defense run this year out of every NCAA tournament team. Of the 68 teams that advance to the bracket, Iowa was third in their zone.

Yet they're bad at it. And they're bad at man. What's their identity? What are they trying to do? And I know I've said this before, and if you're new to us, thanks for joining us here today on Locked on Hawkeyes. But John Beeline had a very similar program early on in his tenure at Michigan.

And what did he do? He went out and he hired, for all intents and purposes, a defensive coordinator. He told Luke Glock Yaklich, the defense is yours. And what did he do? He made them a good defensive team. And suddenly, Michigan's playing for national championships. Goes from a good program, a solid program, and they're playing for a national championship.

And that's not to say that Iowa, with the right defensive higher coach, is going to suddenly be playing for a national championship. No, because that's not realistic either. But can we get to the second weekend? Can we win a couple of games in the NCAA tournament? Can we stop this getting knocked out in the first round of the tournament? Now losses to Tennessee in the first four. Richmond a year ago, and here to all.

Can we get past that? Here's the thing that's concerning. Because on the surface, it makes a ton of sense. Sherman Dillardard 67 years old what does sherman do yeah he's got a scout every third game come on i mean i came up with a scouting report that was pretty good but i don't know crap about basketball in comparison to these guys that really know the x's and o's a scouting report i look at the sheet hey don't let that guy shoot a three-pointer hey we're gonna do this this because their post-offense isn't very good,

and their post-defense isn't very good, and they struggle in this. We're not talking rocket science here. It's basketball, right? What is Sherm doing? What is the last prospect that we've heard that Sherm Dillard was the one to handle? He's well-dressed, looks sharp, has a good time. That's Sherm. But if we're going to elevate this program, we've got to make tough decisions.

And not only that, but here's a huge component to it. And let's just say that happens. Sherm retires, goes off to the sunset, does his thing. Okay? Is Fran actually going to bring in somebody that he's going to let actually be a coach? Or

is it just going to be another yes man? Is it going to be somebody that has a background with him? From Courtney Eldridge to Matt Gatins to those guys. And not to say that them individually are guest men, but they're guys that played under them and they understand the circumstance. How about some new ideas?

How about some new thoughts? How about at this point in your career actually making the tough choice? Something that's going to shake things up a little bit. It's something that Iowa program needs. I just don't think it's something the Iowa program is going to get. 19-14 on the year. Credit to getting here.

The team I thought was going to be in the bubble. They were better than a bubble team. Just a touch. In the tournament as an 8 seed. Top 32 seed. Pretty good. Pretty good. Pretty good. Can it be better?

I think it can. Will it be better? I don't think we're going to get to that point. The Iowa women open up their NCAA tournament run against Southeast Louisiana. They're a 30.5 point favorite currently at FanDuel. They should run past that one and get the big victory in that one. We'll be back. We will have you covered. Instant reaction on that game. A round of 32 game, a sweet 16 game, a lead 8

game, a final four game. Let's get there. Positivity on the women's side because, boy, this men's team, they have me absolutely broken at this point in time. I love Iowa basketball. More than anything, it is my favorite sport. I'm a Bears fan. I haven't had a whole lot to cheer about since I was in kindergarten in 1985. I'm a Twins fan. As great as a youngster, 18 consecutive playoff losses. That beats you down. Iowa football, we go back and forth

with it. I love Iowa football. I love tailgating. I love everything with it. But Iowa basketball, it's different. I don't have the same level of frustration in any other sport and any other team that I root for than Iowa basketball. And I know it can

be better. And I'm like many of you out there that want to see more. But we have to live in reality. Reality is he's not going anywhere. Brian's going to be better. And I'm like many of you out there that want to see more. But we have to live in reality. Reality is he's not going anywhere. Fran's going to be here and I'm okay with that. I just would love to see just a little bit of leeway.

A little bit of open mindedness from Fran. Because I think this program can take that step. Under Fran McCaffrey, we're just so beaten down. Iowa women, as mentioned, they get Southeast Louisiana. Decent start overall for the wrestling team. Still going to be a very difficult, tall task for them to get by Penn State.

We'll talk about that a little bit tomorrow and over the weekend going into the Saturday and the championship round. I'm out of time. I am out of breath. I am blood of breath. I am blood pressure elevating. We'll talk to you again tomorrow on lockdown Hawkeyes. Go Hawks.