If you're looking for some tremendous insight into the Iowa team that will be facing Temple Friday, listen to our interview with Hawkeyereport.com Publisher Tom Kakert, who was kind enough to talk to me today.
Like a lot of other people, Tom is unsure as to which Iowa team will show up Friday - the one that was once ranked third in the nation or the one that bowed out early in the Big Ten tournament to perpetuate a streak that has seen the Hawkeyes lose six of their last eight games.
A couple of things to keep an eye on that stood out from our conversation today. If Iowa shoots around 45 percent or better, they're usually in good shape. If they're in that 35- to 40-percent range, he said, it's often hard for the Hawkeyes to find ways to win. In other words, they're not built to win ugly, and they've struggled in close games. We should get a good idea of how the game is going to go heading into that first TV timeout.
Iowa does like to mix up its defensive looks under Fran McCaffery, and Tom said McCaffery will usually have the Hawkeyes go with a pressing 1-3-1 trap and some zone looks out of that first media timeout in an attempt to shake things up and create some turnovers.
Like a lot of other people, Tom is unsure as to which Iowa team will show up Friday - the one that was once ranked third in the nation or the one that bowed out early in the Big Ten tournament to perpetuate a streak that has seen the Hawkeyes lose six of their last eight games.
A couple of things to keep an eye on that stood out from our conversation today. If Iowa shoots around 45 percent or better, they're usually in good shape. If they're in that 35- to 40-percent range, he said, it's often hard for the Hawkeyes to find ways to win. In other words, they're not built to win ugly, and they've struggled in close games. We should get a good idea of how the game is going to go heading into that first TV timeout.
Iowa does like to mix up its defensive looks under Fran McCaffery, and Tom said McCaffery will usually have the Hawkeyes go with a pressing 1-3-1 trap and some zone looks out of that first media timeout in an attempt to shake things up and create some turnovers.
