Hawkeyes at a good phase with young group

IOWA CITY — The Iowa men's basketball team seemed to be at a frustrating point on Jan. 26. The Hawkeyes had just come off three straight losses in which they'd gotten down at least 8-0 to start, and both ends of the floor were strained.

Fast forward 10 days and that frustration has been replaced with renewed optimism. Even without Peter Jok, who likely will return for Sunday's game, Iowa made a stark turnaround in a short amount of time.

The back-to-back wins against Ohio State and Rutgers don't make the three losses seem farther away, though, according to Coach Fran McCaffery. Teams go through phases. That was just one of them.

'To me, that's who we were at that time. You hope you're not that again. But that was us. We have to be better. We've been better. We want to continue to be better,' McCaffery said Friday. 'You just hope that when you struggle, which we did, that you learn and commit to one another to being better and figuring it out, and keep believing that you are better than that.

'I think we all can agree that we were better than that. But that's what the journey is.'

In Jok's absence, it was the group of lauded freshmen who primarily carried the weight, but the Hawkeyes also got tremendous contributions from sophomores Ahmad Wagner and Nicholas Baer, as well as the one upperclassman who played in the two games, Dom Uhl.

Jok watched from the sideline for both games in his suit, and seemed engaged with his teammates — multiple times getting up from his seat to go talk to someone just after they were subbed out.

He said Friday he'd rather have been playing, obviously, but enjoyed being a cheerleader of sorts and something of a player-coach. More than anything, he was proud.

'The main thing that stuck out watching them was defense. They really picked up on defense. And on offense, they've been really patient. I'm really proud of them. Every single one of them stepped up,' Jok said. 'When I found out I wasn't going to play I was just trying to be positive in any way I can. I talked to them individually, off the court I text them. I tried to be a player-coach and keep them positive and to play hard, and also challenged them before every game. They went out there and stepped up really big.'

This whole year was going to be a learning process from the start, and it will continue to be that for the rest of the season.

McCaffery may have become frustrated on more than one occasion with the progress they've made and how often they've had to go over certain things, but what keeps him patient, he said, is his team's willingness to learn and 'accept coaching.' He said that effort can almost be too much at times and that, 'It's funny, because at times they almost talk too much to each other and stop listening. But it's only because they're trying to help each other and communicate on the floor.'

Forward Tyler Cook said Friday things are starting to click, especially in film, with recognizing what needs fixed before being told.

'Our activity has picked up. We've seen on film the difference between when we're active and when we're not,' Cook said. 'I think we're doing a better job holding each other accountable from top to bottom, making sure we're in the right spaces at the right times. I think we're focused on doing that.

'I think we're more focused now and I think everyone has a concrete understanding of what needs to happen defensively. We're just more locked in.'

Sometimes there's an expectation that highly-recruited players who are great in high school should come together and be great right away. The Kentuckys of the world have made that so, in many ways.

But McCaffery pointed out Friday every team is different in that way and every player develops at a different rate. He recalled Aaron White having 'it all figured out' basically from the start.

This year's team has gone up and down, and currently is on an up. That might change Sunday against the Huskers, or it'll continue. Whatever happens, McCaffery said, they have to stay patient.

'Everybody wants the team to be good all the time, not to have any dip. You're a Final Four team one year, you should be a Final Four team the next year. NCAA team one year, you should be an NCAA team next year. I don't care how young your guys are. You have four years of guys. You should have enough experience, enough youth,' McCaffery said. 'It's different for everybody, every team. I think what we have to be able to do is appreciate the good things they're doing and be more understanding of the young guys. As coaches, we do the same thing. We have to be patient and teach. It's our job.'

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