Time 'to take things personal' as Iowa hoops loses fourth straight

IOWA CITY — 'You've got to take things personal.'

In a conversation about what the Iowa men's basketball team is lacking defensively, that was the new message after the Hawkeyes lost their fourth straight game — this time, 98-89, to Nebraska Omaha on Saturday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

The theme sounds like a broken record: communication, trust and effort have been cited after each of Iowa's losses — in all of which, Iowa has allowed 91 or more points.

But the addition of taking it personally was what stood out Saturday. Senior Peter Jok, who had 33 points and 10 rebounds, and freshman Cordell Pemsl, who had 18 points, each went there. After Coach Fran McCaffery and the coaches said their piece during postgame, Pemsl said various players — Nicholas Baer, Jok, Dale Jones among them — took turns stepping forward and addressing each other, taking each other to task and emphasizing the new, vital point.

It's time, they said.

'As a team, we sat down after the game; the coaches talked first and then we talked as a team and just wanted to figure out what we're doing wrong and how we can fix it. It seems like every game is the same thing,' Pemsl said. 'We're giving up easy layups. We're giving up offensive rebounds. … I think it's a mindset now, at this point. We've all been playing basketball since we were 6, 7 years old. Everyone knows how to play defense, it's just whether or not we want to. That's a collective thing.

'We need something. A lot of guys stepped up in the locker room after the game. We know now it's personal. We have to take these kinds of things personal.'

Of the common themes the guys have talked about after the last four losses, communication has been by far the most often cited.

Only the Iowa players and coaches truly know what it's like, but to a man, each says with emphasis that they see capable defensive cohesion during practices.

Where the disconnect is between practice and games remains uncertain. Jok said 'once the lights turn on, I don't know what it is, but we've got to figure it out soon.' Freshman Jordan Bohannon, who finished Saturday with 20 points and six assists, defined communication issues as having trouble anticipating what a team is going to do and acting on that, rather than being reactionary and a half-step behind, as the Hawkeyes have been. Pemsl talked about helping the helper headed into the Omaha game, and that has everything to do with the anticipation Bohannon cited.

When those break down, that's where the trust takes a hit.

'There's just not as much communication on the court. There's not as much trust in helping the helper on the court,' forward Ahmad Wagner said. 'Sometimes we don't trust that our helpside is going to be there, so it's hard to know what's going to happen on the court defensively.

'I think that's the basis of everything.'

McCaffery has had experience in the past with working through issues that plague a team — that much is true of every college basketball coach. But what makes the trends he and the team have seen more frustrating is that change doesn't seem to be affected, and the issues are persistent.

Pemsl pointed that out too, saying 'realistically, we haven't seen change. We played a little better in the Notre Dame game, but then we come out here and do this.'

The Hawkeyes have given up 1.286 points per possession in the four losses in a row, and 91 points per game. They've allowed 37.5 points in the paint per game (150 total). Dribble penetration, kick outs and ball screen defense have been trouble. It's the same thing, each time, save for a few good spurts in each contest.

'I've never had one with consistently the same problem and seemingly no affected change, and that's what's been frustrating because we haven't defended,' McCaffery said. 'We've played essentially 10 games if you count the scrimmage and the exhibition game. We haven't defended in any of them. We have outscored people in four or five of them, but we haven't really competed defensively like you're going to need to with the caliber of teams on your schedule. So that has to change.

'So how you do that? Well, you change your practice structure, you change personnel, you reward the guys that are playing with the kind of effort that you're both referring to. If you don't run back, you're coming out.'

They know it's time — past time, in fact. The perceived 'gimme' games are dwindling, and the Big Ten Conference season is less than a month away.

Can it change? The Hawkeyes believe so. Will it change? Only time will tell.

'It's all about effort, to be honest. One you're out there, you've got to take it personal, including me. We've all got to take it personally on defense,' Jok said. 'It starts with me, so I guess I've got to play better defense. I don't know what it is, but I've got to put in more effort and get in better shape than I am.

'We have Iowa State, UNI and from there on it's going to be great teams. … We've been talking about it, but we've got to make a change because the Big Ten starts soon.'

Iowa vs Nebraska Omaha Box Score by Jeremiah Davis on Scribd

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