Iowa hoops: Making the Grade, Week 5

Iowa went from its low point of the season against Nebraska Omaha to its high point against Iowa State, and it happened within 10 days. Such is life when your team has the experience level Iowa does. Most important, though, there were those tangible improvements Coach Fran McCaffery has said he wants so bad — especially on defense.

Each week of the season, we'll break down the Hawkeyes' offensive and defensive performance and give them grades, as we'll as highlight each player who contributed significantly and his individual performance. This week's Iowa Hoops: Making the Grade highlights Games 8, 9 and 10 against Nebraska Omaha, Stetson and then-No. 25 Iowa State.

Schedule/Results

Iowa vs. Nebraska Omaha; L, 98-89

Iowa vs. Stetson; W, 95-68

Iowa vs. No. 25 Iowa State; W, 78-64

Offense

B+Why: If you only looked at Iowa's offensive stats through 10 games, you'd probably be surprised it's lost five times. The Hawkeyes' adjusted offense is at 1.108 points per possession overall, and was 1.170 this week. Their overall mark has them 38th in the nation.

What's kind of funny about those numbers, though, is it feels like they can be better and have room to improve. The turnover issue still isn't fully fixed — 11 per game in the last three — but against Iowa State looked more like a case of trying hard against a good defensive team than some of the careless turnovers they've had in the past.

Iowa ran in transition very well, particularly against the Cyclones. It ran after makes and misses, got layups and 3s, and a few and-1 opportunities. Moving the ball quick is one thing; moving it with efficiency and effectiveness is another. Iowa is 23rd in adjusted tempo (74.3 possessions per game) and ninth in average possession length (14.1 seconds).

When transition didn't pan out, there wasn't a lot of complexity. The high ball screen initiates the offense, but a lot depends on if Jok can get open off the ball on a weak screen. When they worked the ball around the perimeter and inside-out, half-court offense looked pretty good. When they devolved into dribbling a lot — which happened for a long stretch vs. Omaha — bad things happened.

They're going to shoot a lot of 3s and run as much as they can. It worked this week, and needs to to win games going forward.

Defense

BWhy: Numbers and stats can sometimes be complicated, but let's take a look at two different ones related to Iowa's defense in its last three games: 1.289 and 0.865.

Against Nebraska Omaha — a team that had never beaten a Big Ten opponent (0-11 before that) — Iowa gave up 1.289 points per possession. The Mavericks exploited the Hawkeyes with ball screens at the top of the key and on the wings, in transition and inside-outside 3-point opportunities. Closeouts and defensive rotations were a half to full step behind. There was almost no helping the helper. It was the low point this season for the defense, which obviously has had rough outings on multiple occasions.

Against No. 25 Iowa State, that number was 0.865 ppp — second best this season only to the UT-Rio Grande Valley game. The Cyclones and Vaqueros are not exactly on the same level. The things Iowa had struggled with all year were so much better — and for all but a few minutes all night. Especially in the first half — in which ISU was held to 0.784 ppp — the Hawkeyes pushed the Cyclones late into the shot clock, filled passing lanes, and were far more efficient hedging the ball screen, preventing a shot and recovering back.

Maybe the most bizarre success was the half-court trap. Iowa State's Monte Morris, who likely is the best point guard in the country, committed three turnovers, two of which came at midcourt. It's not an overly-complicated trap — Jok covers the ball, the other two guards flank him, with the forwards back and Jok and the strong side guard trap just past half-court. It's a defensive set the Hawkeyes had been burned on, but the Cyclones seemed frustrated by.

It wasn't perfect, against Stetson or Iowa State. The Cyclones had open shots in the second half, and missed 12 layups over the course of the game. That cannot be ignored. But last Thursday was a 40-minute effort Iowa could be proud of, and it came against a good team.

Players (in last three games)

 

* To view more data, click here.

Peter Jok, guard — Before this year, Jok had only won one weekly Big Ten award in his first three years. After Monday, he's got two in the first five weeks, having been named the Player of the Week again. He went through a bit of a shooting slump, but came out of it against Iowa State. The shots he was making were absurd, too. Iowa State has a solid defense, and he took the tiniest of windows and put 23 points through it. The way he's impacted the game is more than scoring, though. He rebounded very well this week and his floor vision was great. His defense still isn't where it was last year, but it was better against Iowa State.

Cordell Pemsl, forward

— Ho-hum. Only shot 76 percent from the field, had 16.7 points and grabbed nearly six rebounds per game in the last three games. Since he moved into the starting lineup, he's 27 of 34 from the field. That's absurd. His court vision defensively got better, and as a result he was better as a rim protector. His one-on-one post defense was solid, but overall still has work to do on ball screens.

Isaiah Moss, guard — The story I wrote after the Iowa State game was about the freshmen perhaps having their 'coming of age' game. Three moments from Moss stood out as why: two and-1s in traffic and a 3-pointer in the second half that all came when Iowa needed them terribly. He benefited in all three games from all the pressure on Jok, and will going forward, but he's also taking advantage of those looks. His impact from the starting lineup has been impressive.

Jordan Bohannon, guard — He's been asked to do more and more each game out since he moved into the starting lineup, and for the most part has answered that call. Yes, there still are a few turnovers that shouldn't happen, but they've come more from trying to do too much than not having a grasp of what's happening. Additionally, until Matt Thomas went out with two fouls, he was chasing defensively against Iowa State. All that said, his fearlessness (his brother Zach's words, but they're accurate) make him Iowa's answer at point guard right now.

Nicholas Baer, guard

— It kind of got overshadowed thanks to the Iowa State win, but Baer threw down the dunk of the year (so far) for the Hawkeyes against Stetson. He beat his defender one-on-one, took two dribbles and slammed it home one-handed. Not to be too white-guy cliché, but it was so unexpected the entire Iowa bench erupted, and the crowd kind of sat in stunned silence for a beat before exploding. Good on ya, Nick Baer. Oh by the way, he's come off the bench in back-to-back games and his energy level and focus on the floor haven't changed a bit.

Ahmad Wagner, forward

— Coach Fran McCaffery challenged him to go get rebounds. He answered the challenge — especially on the offensive boards against Omaha. He had that brief scare against Stetson with hyperextending his knee, but bounced back just fine and played well against Iowa State. His offense hasn't come around yet, but it hasn't necessarily needed to. Rebounding like that will give him a case to stay a starter when Cook comes back.

Dom Uhl, forward

— He had a few possessions against Stetson and Iowa State that looked like he was on the form that's been expected of him this season. But overall, he's struggled on both ends. He hasn't found a groove offensively, though his shot did look better this week. His defense has been spotty, especially on-ball. All that is reflected in his minutes, which have slowly dwindled.

Brady Ellingson, guard

— There just aren't a lot of shots to be had for Ellingson, who has to share the ball with Jok, Moss, Bohannon and Baer out on the wing. But he's picked his spots well offensively, even in limited minutes. His on-ball defense has struggled, like most everyone else, and that continued this week.

Christian Williams, guard

— McCaffery has said he expects more out of Williams offensively, but it just hasn't happened. In the two games in which the outcome was in doubt the whole way, Williams played a collective 20 minutes. His defense was supposed to be his strong suit, but he hasn't affected the game well enough on that end to justify staying out there — especially given Iowa was in a place where it has had to have high offensive production to win.

Upcoming Games

Iowa vs Northern Iowa, 3:30 p.m., Dec. 17 at Wells Fargo Arena

Iowa vs North Dakota, 8 p.m., Dec. 20 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena

Iowa vs Delaware State, 8 p.m., Dec. 22 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena

Previous weeks: Games 1-2, Games 3-4; Games 5-7

*Full disclosure on grades: First things first, that's by subjective view after covering and re-watching games. Second, grades are an aggregate of the week, based on an 11-point scale. A is worth 11, A- 10, and so on through F, which is 0. Offense and defense are given a grade for each game and then averaged for the week.

l Comments: (319) 368-8884; jeremiah.davis@thegazette.com