Three takeaways: B1G, Woodbury, confidence

IOWA CITY - Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery was asked about the Big Ten. His answer could have told you everything about Iowa.

Widely considered the best basketball league for multiple seasons, the Big Ten has morphed into a shell of itself so far this season. True, the league won the Big Ten-ACC Challenge. But the number of mind-numbing losses absorbed in the last month are more shocking than surprising.

The New Jersey Institute of Technology smart-bombed Michigan. Michigan State lost to Texas Southern. Gardner-Webb and North Florida beat Purdue. In losses of Biblical proportions, Incarnate Word stopped Nebraska and both St. Peter's and St. Francis beat Rutgers.

So when McCaffery was asked about the Big Ten's performance thus far and how it projects in the big picture, he responded, 'I think that's a very hard question to answer.

'I think what will unfold is what unfolds. I don't know if you want to overanalyze those scores. It's not typical, right? I would agree to that.”

At 9-4, Iowa doesn't have a loss like any of those squads. The average Ratings Performance Index (RPI) of Iowa's non-conference opponents is 168.5. That's major upgrade from two years ago when it was 216. Iowa has faced five currently or formerly ranked opponents - Texas, Syracuse, North Carolina, Iowa State, Northern Iowa - but beat only North Carolina. The Hawkeyes also have stopped teams that likely will compete for their conference crowns or the postseason in North Florida, North Dakota State, Pepperdine and Hampton.

But less impressive than the caliber of opponent and final result is how Iowa's offense has performed. At times it has challenged the confidence of its players and its fans. The Hawkeyes led the Big Ten in scoring and scoring margin last year and this year ranks 10th and eighth, respectively, in both categories. Iowa is 13th in field-goal percentage and 3-point percentage after finishing third and fifth, respectively, last year.

There are nasty post-halftime spells where Iowa has been outscored 61-13 through the first media timeout. Iowa senior Aaron White has watched many of those breakdowns and perhaps the toughest game for him to re-watch was the 56-44 loss to Northern Iowa in Des Moines on Saturday. Iowa hit just three of 24 shots in the second half and missed all seven 3-point attempts.

'I watched the film of UNI,” White said. 'Very disappointed in the second half, but I was very disappointed in my individual play, especially in the paint. I wasn't finishing what I usually finish. A lot of shots I got, I liked, but I just don't know why I didn't make them.”

The Hawkeyes didn't shoot great (38.3 percent) Monday in an 80-70 win against North Florida. But Iowa sank 26 of 28 free-throw attempts. That performance at times makes what Iowa has struggled to do offensively so perplexing. After all, shooting is shooting.

But making free throws does boost the team's confidence in several areas, White said, even if it doesn't translate in shooting from the field. Eventually, he said, it should.

'It helps in the fact that whenever you see the ball go in the hole, even if it's a free throw, it helps your psyche, it helps our team,” White said. 'The other thing is it helps us set up our defense. We'd like to get into the three-quarter press where I'm on top out of the free throw. If you don't make it, you can't get in it (the press). It's extremely difficult to get in it off a miss. If you make it, you get in it, keep them in front, make them play side-to-side rather than north-and-south. By the time they get it over, there's 26, 27 seconds.”

As for the Big Ten, it has only three teams ranked in the Coaches' poll top 25: Wisconsin (6), Maryland (15) and Ohio State (18). Michigan State, Minnesota, Indiana, Illinois and Penn State are receiving votes. Iowa, Nebraska and Michigan opened the season ranked. That measures up to both disappointment and potential.

'As far as it relates to the conference, it's not like you look at somebody and say because they lost to a team they're not what we thought they were,” McCaffery said. 'Top to bottom, this league is going to be brutal. You look at Penn State, they're 12-1. Maryland, people don't really know what to make of them. They're beating people with Dez Wells out, their best player. That team, they're a top 15 team for a reason. That's what our league is.”

Iowa's schedule is particularly difficult early. The Hawkeyes open at Ohio State, then play host to Nebraska and Michigan State, before traveling to Minnesota. Then Iowa faces the Buckeyes again before playing at Wisconsin. Against those opponents in those same locations a year ago, Iowa was 2-4.

2. Woodbury's ups and downs.

Homegrown Iowa athletes typically receive the most scrutiny, and junior Adam Woodbury has felt the brunt of fan angst over his three seasons in Iowa City.

Woodbury, a 7-foot-1 center, has started all 83 games in which he's played at Iowa. His scoring average has grown every year, from 4.9 as a freshman to 5.7 as a sophomore to 7.8 this year. He's posted his highest rebounding average (5.8) as well as minutes per game (21.0) in his career.

But Woodbury's status as a top-50 recruit who spurned North Carolina lathered him up with high expectations. At times, he's come through. He scored in double digits in four of Iowa's first six games and posted a double-double against North Dakota State. He played perhaps his best game as a Hawkeye at North Carolina. Woodbury scored 11 points with seven rebounds and ended a team field-goal drought of 7 minutes, 30 seconds with an offensive rebound and a putback. On Iowa's next possession he hit a jumper and scored again with a one-handed shot off the glass. Woodbury scored five consecutive field goals for Iowa over a 14-minute period.

'When we were really struggling and we couldn't seem to get anything to go down, (Woodbury) hits two big shots and that changes everything for us,” Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery said after that game. 'Now you have your post man stepping out and hitting jumpers and it pulls their big guys out a little bit, and it gives us more of an opportunity to drive the ball.

'It took a lot of toughness. It took rebounding the ball.”

But Woodbury's inconsistency also has become an issue. Against Iowa State and Northern Iowa, he was a combined three of 16 from the field. Many of those shots were close to the basket and he didn't use his size and strength effectively in the paint. On Iowa's first three possessions of the second half, Woodbury missed three shots. All three misses led to Northern Iowa baskets, which erased a six-point Iowa lead.

'I thought Woody did a really good job of screening and getting to the front of the rim and getting the ball in a position to score,” McCaffery said Saturday. 'He's really scored the ball well for us facing the basket. He doesn't always score it as well when he comes and has to turn and that's where he was having trouble. They were coming from the weak side, and they were being on the side of him and making him miss.

'I think in the future he's got to either shot fake at the end of his move or he's got to go up and try to dunk it even if he can't get there in time and go as strong. But he can't just turn and lay it up, especially against a guy who's as long and as talented as (Seth) Tuttle is.”

Monday against North Florida, Woodbury's statistics were mixed. He had eight rebounds, including six in the first half. He sank three of four free-throw attempts. But he also had three turnovers and missed both of shots from the field in 15 minutes.

Iowa replaced Woodbury with Gabe Olaseni, who played 25 minutes, including 15 in the second half. They played side-by-side for about a minute late in the game.

'Adam in the first half was a force defensively,” McCaffery said. 'He had impact on this game. He got a little tentative with the ball.

'What Adam is trying to do is make sure that he makes a good play. If he gets a tenacious offensive rebound, he doesn't see the weak side guy coming, make sure that guy doesn't get blocked, shot-fake it, got to the free-throw line early twice. Get some payback off of that energy and throw the ball out to our best shooter. That's what he was trying to do it when he turned it over. Gabe ran the floor, he rim protected.

'Woody, like I said, impacted the game. What he's going to do, he has to play with the swagger he usually plays with. Be an energy guy, rebounder, defender. Shoot your face-up jumper. No dipsy-doodle jump hooks from 12 feet. That's not his game. His game is power, impact with his energy and his toughness, and he'll be fine.”

3. Confidence.

As long as Iowa struggles in situations requiring maximum focus, observers will question the Hawkeyes' mental toughness.

North Florida Coach Matthew Driscoll talked at lengths (I encourage all of you to listen to his comments as well as read them) about watching Iowa's body language after missed shots. Iowa senior shooter Josh Oglesby indirectly resembles Driscoll's remarks.

After a strong junior year, where he hit 40.3 percent from 3-point range, Oglesby slumped to 22.4 percent before Monday's three-of-four 3-point performance. Oglesby sought help from Iowa's staff sports psychologist after a frustrating sophomore season and said his problem stemmed more from his mental outlook than physical limitations.

'It's all been in my head,” he acknowledged. 'I haven't been shooting well the last five games, the whole beginning of the season. I think it's just locking in, getting in the gym early, getting shots up before and after practice. These two days I've gotten a lot of shots up since the UNI game with our coaches and just getting repetitions.

'It's a relief just because I've been struggling.”

Senior center Gabe Olaseni has overcome his own confidence struggles during his tenure with the Hawkeyes. Early in his career when he'd miss a shot or even a screen, Olaseni let the miscue affect him on defense and often led to multiple mistakes on the court. Now, Olaseni moves on after every possession.

'Just understanding that you can make a play on the next possession,” Olaseni said. 'Today I turned the ball over, but I think they came down and I blocked a shot. So just understanding that that play's over and you can still affect the play. Whatever happens, if you miss a shot, if you miss a rotation, your team is going to be there to help you. You have to understand that it's not just you who made the mistake, we made the mistake. Just understanding that hopefully your teammates will be there for you and you can always make a play coming back down.”

l Comments: (319) 339-3169; scott.dochterman@thegazette.com