Hawkeyes trying to help increase Big Ten's basketball speed limit on offense

The first and foremost battle Iowa men's basketball coach Fran McCaffery obviously has is to make his team viable in the Big Ten.

Iowa's last three games -- wins over Michigan State and Indiana and a home overtime loss to Wisconsin -- have gotten people interested in McCaffery's first Hawkeyes squad. They aren't a work of art, not at 3-9 in the conference. But most people seem to agree they're pointed in the right direction. They aren't gruesome to watch lately, which is marked improvement in itself.

But the second thing McCaffery must overcome is the Big Ten's style of basketball. The league has a few teams that have some go-go, but Wednesday night, the slower-paced Wisconsin crew was able to stave 0ff Iowa, 62-59 in OT.

Now, it's easy to knock the more-deliberate offensive style of Bo Ryan's Badgers. The facts, however, tell us Ryan has won and won and won in Madison. At 8-3 in the Big Ten and 18-5 overall, his team is doing so yet again.

And, Wisconsin has had its flashes of offensive brilliance in Ryan's tenure. Had Devin Harris or Alando Tucker played for the Hawkeyes at the same level they performed at UW-Madison, there probably would be statues honoring them somewhere in Iowa City. Jon Leuer and Jordan Taylor of this season's Badgers are no slouches.

But for viewing pleasure, I'll take a lot of other teams across America. Ohio State (24-0), for one, when it isn't getting bogged down in someone else's slower game. The Buckeyes are at Wisconsin Saturday afternoon in a battle of wills. Wisconsin hasn't lost at home all season. It wouldn't surprise me if that's still true after Saturday.

I'm not one for watching much college basketball on television anymore because I agree with Memphis Grizzlies Coach Lionel Hollins, who said the following in this column by the Minneapolis Star Tribune's Patrick Reusse:

"It's hard to watch college basketball ... There's not a lot of playing," (Hollns) said. "The pro game, with the 24-second clock, moving up and down the court, you get at least 100 possessions every game.

"In college, especially in the Big Ten ... I watched Wisconsin and Minnesota play down the stretch and I couldn't take it. They just hold the ball and hold the ball, and try to get a shot with 10 seconds on the clock.

"That's the whole game -- not just the fourth quarter."

Here's the kicker: Hollins' son, Austin Hollins, is a freshman who averages 15 minutes a game for the Minnesota Gophers.

After watching the Wisconsin-Iowa game at home, I switched over to the final few minutes of the North Carolina-Duke game. I'm like a lot of you in that I don't really care to have Carolina and Duke constantly shoved at me by ESPN all season, every season. But ... they do play a better, more-entertaining brand of ball.

No Duke-Carolina game is going to end up 62-59 after overtime. They'll always attack each other. This is basketball as I love it, when an offense is designed to cater to talent instead of restrain it.

Aren't you Iowa fans happy to see Matt Gatens and Eric May get the chance to play in an offense that showcases their skills? They're not on a great team, but first things first. If recruits are seeing what first-year player Melsahn Basabe and Bryce Cartwright have gotten the chance to do this season, you would think they'd take McCaffery seriously.

Let me make this clear: I have tons of respect for Bo Ryan. He does what he does extremely well and has for a long time. His body of work is remarkable, really. Kohl Center is one of the best atmospheres in the Big Ten and nation, and it's largely because Ryan's Badgers win, win, win. But I'd rather watch a faster-paced offense, and you seldom see national-championship contenders that don't have one.

I think McCaffery has already shown he is more than just sales-pitch to a basketball-starved fan base when it comes to playing uptempo offense. It puts me in the minority, probably, I agreed with him not calling a timeout near the end of regulation and letting his guys play out the final seconds in trying to set up a winning shot. Call your play from the sideline, have faith in your players, don't let the defense get some time to consider multiple possibilities.

Cartwright didn't get a good shot. OK. Maybe next time he will. Maybe the confidence McCaffery showed in his guys will pay off down the line.

There's still some good, lively offense being played in college basketball. It's in the ACC, it's in a lot of the Big 12 and Big East. (It is not in the Missouri Valley). Heck, Iowa State is averaging 76.3 points, and has just one Big 12 win. But when Fred Hoiberg assembles a deeper, more-talented squad (which he ought to have next year), that could be something very interesting.

Someone on Twitter chided me for closing with an Iowa State note. Everything's a competition, I guess.