TV analyst says Iowa men have talent to adjust from slow to fast

Former Indiana interim coach and current Big Ten Network analyst Dan Dakich said Iowa's players will have no trouble adjusting to new coach Fran McCaffery's fast-paced style of play.

"It is far easier to get kids excited to say we're going from slow to fast as opposed to you coming in as a coach and your teams are used to running and going crazy and you're slowing them down," Dakich said. "So I don't think it's going to be an issue at all.

"I would guess the first meeting that Coach McCaffery had when he started talking about the speed that he wanted to play at, I guarantee their eyes lit up. I promise you they got excited. But the other way, now I'm looking at you like where else can I go to school because most guys say, 'Hey I want to run.' They really don't; most guys want to run until they're tired."

Dakich, 47, played under former Indiana Coach Bob Knight and served as the team's interim coach in 2008. He said Iowa has capable athletes who can adjust from the slower, half-court style of play under former coach Todd Lickliter to an up-tempo attack under McCaffery.

"I think they do," Dakich said. "I think Eric May is a terrific athlete. I think Matt Gatens and May, they both really want to run. I think if you tell Cully Payne listen, 'I want you to get from point A to point B as fast as you can run with the basketball.' I think he's fast. Now here's the question: when people think fast, they think point A to point B. But what's really fast and when you watch Fran's system, you have to get from point A to point B, but you've got to whip somebody with the bounce. You have to be good enough to create off the dribble, either with a little ball screen or on your own. Now, whether they can do that, I don't know.

"They struggled with that in Todd's offense when the ball screen came, but I like their talent. I thought (Aaron) Fuller was as improved of a kid as there was in the Big Ten. I know they have a terrific freshman class coming in. Cully Payne was sensational here (at the Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis) so he ought to at least go into next year with great confidence. I do like their young kids."