Tough day against a team that is kind of a polar opposite of the Huskers. The Hawkeyes play a pretty dull, fundamentally sound brand of basketball. They rebound like their next meal depends on it, they have a great inside game, but I'd point out that it's not one that's predicated on great athleticism. They have guys who know where to spot up, and catch the ball ready to shoot from those spots. Defensively, because they aren't freakish athletes, they play really smart, and I loved how they knew when and who to double to create problems for Palmer and Watson.
I know some think our defense was our weakness, and it might have been to some extent, but I can't really fault Roby or Copeland who spent the entire prior game wrestling a couple of beasts, and were battling fouls again. I know foul trouble is up to them to stay out of, but it's hard to stay clean when you are having to cover guys who are getting great position on you, have great footwork, and know how to get shots off when they aren't the best athletes on the floor. It's also hard when you have rebounders coming in who aren't necessarily inside players. Our wings did not do the best job in keeping their perimeter people from getting into rebounding position. Nothing pisses off an inside guy more than getting good position on your man for a rebound, then having some twit fly in from the wing to tip the ball away, all because your guy didn't put a body on him.
As for our offense, well, I think it's fair to say that being reliant on shooting a certain percentage of 3's is pure folly. We simply don't have that club in our bag. 4 for 23. If you aren't math people, that's 17%. We lost by 9, to a team that plays within itself. They don't try to do things they aren't good at. 9 points, shooting 17% from 3's. Does that suggest anything to anyone? Try this: Palmer is 6-10, Watson 3-5, Allen 2-4, Copeland is 7-12 and Roby is 7-9. We shot 62.5% from the field last night and got beat by 9. I'll stop there and let others tell me their thoughts.
