No Chemistry in Loss to South Dakota State
By: Mike Rabon
Iowa Head Coach Fran McCaffery (AP Photo via rivals.com)
Fran McCaffery discusses loss to South Dakota State
For the second consecutive season, the Iowa Hawkeyes lost t he home-opener. South Dakota State, who had failed to beat any Big10 program since 1930, stole the show in Carver-Hawkeye Arena defeating Iowa 79-69. Iowa Head Coach Fran McCaffery, who spent the entire off-season eating lunch with students, touring the I-Club circuit and complimenting Iowa fans for their basketball IQ, sophistication and tradition, provided the lackluster Iowa crowd with a deflating loss.
On two straight possessions in the first 4 minutes, Cully Payne traveled with the basketball and when JUCO transfer Bryce Cartwright entered Iowa’s fortunes did not change. Sophomore Eric May was Iowa’s only true bright spot as he registered 20 points, 6 rebounds and 2 steals. The Hawkeyes accumulated 14 turnovers in the first half Sunday evening, a site reminiscent of the Todd Lickliter Era, which is clearly still impacting this program. Senior Jarryd Cole contributed 17 points in the Hawkeye loss but showed little sign of improvement in terms of fundamentals and foot work in particular.
McCaffery was questioned about the chemistry of his basketball team and candidly responded by saying, “That’s going to take time. Eventually they’ll develop chemistry. I think we were starting to develop that. Then, of course, we’re moving Eric May to the two spot, he was in the three spot. He’s done fairly well there I thought. Zach played a good part of the preseason in the four spot, now he’s playing the bulk of his minutes at the three spot. There was a big learning curve there for him in particular.”
Implicit in this remark is McCaffery’s failure to adequately prepare this team for Sunday’s game. McCaffery is a business man with a strategy that integrates conditioning and regular schematic changes in order to effectively disrupt the competitor’s execution. Clearly, the precondition for implementing his strategy, which is a complete comprehension of all the schemes, was not satisfied.
Payne and Cartwright combined for 10 assists, 7 turnovers and 4 points. McCaffery commented, ” We were blowing the ball down the floor and we didn’t get anywhere near as many opportunities as we did in the last game. Cully just didn’t penetrate tonight. He did one time, took it all the way through, laid it in. I want him to do more of that. I think he got a little tentative when he had the traveling calls earlier, started playing more conservatively. Bryce has to play at a more intense pace. He’s talented and can really impact the game more I think.”
In comparison, SDSU Guards Nate Wolters and Clint Sargent combined for 10 assists, 5 turnovers and 41 points. Sargent, a native of Sioux City, Iowa has now defeated Iowa and Iowa State during his career with the Jackrabbits. Wolters, a Sophomore from St. Cloud, Minnesota controlled the tempo and his 9 assists facilitated a smoothly executed offense that is far from perfect but effective in providing jump shooters like Clint Sargent, Griffan Callahan, and Chad White opportunities to extend leads.
South Dakota State may legitimately have more talent on the roster than the Iowa Hawkeyes and McCaffery is likely in for a long season that endeavors to simply satisfy the preconditions of his system. Iowa must turnaround quickly as Louisiana-Monroe comes strutting into Iowa City tomorrow. In 2007, Louisiana-Monroe defeated the Iowa Hawkeyes 72-67 in overtime.
Commenting on the quick turnaround, McCaffery said, “ I would rather have more practice. We need as much time together as we possibly can have just to get comfortable with what we’re doing, how we’re doing it, why we’re doing it, and who’s doing it, what combination. We’ll still take advantage of the time. We’ll meet tonight. We’ll watch film tonight. We’ll have an opportunity to introduce our next opponent and get ready to play them.”
Iowa desperately needs a win before they travel to the United States Virgin Islands to play Xavier on November 19th.
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