Iowa's offense powered by improved ball movement

IOWA CITY — If it feels like everything has looked and felt easier for the Iowa men's basketball team's offense, it's because it has.

If it feels like shots are coming easier and shooters have more confidence in them going down, it's because they are.

If it feels like that's the biggest reason the Hawkeyes have won three games in a row, it's probably because it is. Coach Fran McCaffery was asked after Sunday's win against Nebraska where the biggest growth was made without senior guard Peter Jok in the lineup. His answer matched what Jok said about his first game back and what he wanted to continue to help them do: move the ball.

Movement creates opportunities, and Iowa has seen its players cash in on them.

'I think just trust in everybody, trust in each other. Moving the ball around, sharing the ball. We mixed up post scores, jump shots, penetration, getting to the free-throw line. We mixed motion and continuity and set plays, which ultimately makes you harder to guard,' McCaffery said Sunday. 'When teams prepare to play us, typically you start with the starting five. Brady has been one of our best players lately, so you got to talk about him. Cordell is coming off the bench. He's a handful. You just kind of keep going.

'That's the way we have to execute: taking advantage of all the different pieces that we have and kind of blending them together and get them to sort of trust one another and support one another.'

The numbers very clearly back up what McCaffery said.

During Iowa's three-game losing streak, the analysis that came from McCaffery and his players was that the offense wasn't flowing like they wanted to. The ball wasn't moving side-to-side with the quickness nor the efficiency the Hawkeyes wanted. That allowed defenses to close out quicker and deny Iowa open looks.

Iowa has relied a lot on outside shooting thanks to high-quality shooters in Jok, Jordan Bohannon, Brady Ellingson, Isaiah Moss and Nicholas Baer.

In losses to Northwestern, Maryland and Illinois, the Hawkeyes shot 23.5 percent from 3-point range and had an effective field goal percentage (shooting percentage with more weight given to 3s due to their worth) of 41.4 percent. In wins against Ohio State, Rutgers and Nebraska, those numbers jumped to 50 percent shooting from 3 and a 57.1 percent effective field goal percentage.

Two of the biggest helps to those numbers have been Bohannon and Ellingson, given Jok's two-game absence and his self-described slow reintegration into being his old aggressive, shot-hunting self.

Bohannon was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week thanks to averaging 16 points and 69.2 percent shooting from 3-point range. Bohannon's 4 of 6 shooting from beyond the arc Sunday gave him 52 made 3s this season and broke the freshman record of 52, set by Matt Gatens in 2009. Ellingson has emerged in the last three games as a reliable outside weapon, going 5 of 7 from 3 against Ohio State and 3 of 4 from deep against Nebraska on Sunday.

McCaffery cited his pride in Bohannon for his 'pace,' that 'you can't rush him,' and that 'he knows exactly what we want done,' on Sunday while highlighting the freshman record. As for Ellingson, he said the sophomore is 'smart. He's tough. He's cerebral. He can play any one of three spots. He knows exactly where to go, where to line up every time.'

Those qualities are why the ball movement has been such a big deal, and why the improvement has been so impactful.

'It's all about ball movement and screening and recognition and how to get the ball to those guys and just be locked in to, 'OK, who is hot? Who are our shooters?'' McCaffery said. 'You got to find Jordan, Brady. Brady was cooking. Got to get him the ball.

'That's an unselfish group.'

The unselfishness in moving the ball stems from a collective desire to raise the level of play, according to multiple players. They realized, between the Illinois and Ohio State games, that something had to change.

An often-overlooked aspect to ball movement is post exit kickout passes from big men. The assists usually come from a guard driving and kicking. While backcourt players still averaged 13.7 assists per game in the three-game win streak, frontcourt players saw their average jump from three assists per game during the losing streak to 8.7 per game in the win streak. Overall, the Hawkeyes have assisted on 75.3 percent of made shots in the win streak (67 assists on 89 baskets).

Passing out of the post to an open shooter — passing, period, actually — was a point of focus, and it's paid off. Improved ball movement has affected the Hawkeyes in a very positive way — a winning way.

'We're swinging the ball, we're cutting; we're finding open guys,' Cook said. 'We know that guys are going to want to double us (in the post), they don't want to leave us in single coverage most of the time. We also worked on our low post motion to make sure we're cutting and spacing out, and making the outside guys available for us to see. We've got to find them and they've got to get open. We're doing a lot better job of that.'

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