Best way to handle adversity is to keep working and be accountable
Iowa determined to bounce back against Michigan State after back-to-back losses
By Pat Harty
IOWA CITY, Iowa – Even with the heavy favorite to win National Player of the Year on the roster, and with a top-10 ranking, the Iowa men’s basketball team still has some fans who are paranoid, and who expect the worst to happen.
More than 40 years without winning a Big Ten regular-season title will have that sobering effect.
Iowa also has had some seasons under current head coach Fran McCaffery in which it faded down the stretch, what some call the Fran fade.
So it’s easy to identify the roots of the paranoia.
It’s too early, however, to draw any conclusions about the current Iowa team, which is coming off back-to-back losses for the first time this season to Indiana at home, and at Illinois this past Friday.
Costly?
Without question since Iowa is now two-games behind Big Ten leader Michigan in the loss column.
But to suggest, or assume that Iowa is now fading or crumbling or unraveling or however you want to describe it is premature and an overreaction.
It also is disrespectful to the players and coaches.
Should Iowa lose to a struggling Michigan State squad on Tuesday at Carver-Hawkeye, that would definitely cause me to wonder what’s happening, but I still wouldn’t assume the worse.
Not yet.
There is too much talent, too much experience and too much pride for this team to unravel.
And this isn’t even the stretch drive yet.
It’s only the midway point of the conference schedule, assuming all 20 conference games get played, which is a big assumption as the COVID-19 global pandemic continues to rage.
Fran McCaffery and three Iowa players, including All-America center Luka Garza, held a zoom conference with the media on Monday. The players described Sunday’s practice as perhaps the most intense they’ve had while at Iowa.
“I think I try to say something before every practice, but I think yesterday everyone just brought it,” said the 6-foot-11 Garza, who is considered the frontrunner for National Player of the Year accolades. “Everyone had a focus and a mentality that’s needed to win, I think.
“It comes with a two-game losing streak and two games you feel like there were points in the games where you could have done something to make the team win. And to lose those two games back-to-back is tough on everybody, and the only way to go about it is to just keep going through it and practice as hard as you can.”
What Garza basically was saying is that each player has to be accountable.
Iowa has a veteran squad with players who have experienced the peaks and valleys that come with the Big Ten grind.
Senior guard Jordan Bohannon has struggled in each of the past two games, and it’s probably no coincidence that Iowa lost both games.
Bohannon has struggled before, though, and bounced back with huge performances.
Fran McCaffery was asked Monday if it’s easier for a veteran team to be accountable during a tough stretch like now.
“I think it is, and I also think it’s easier for them to hold each other accountable because I think that’s important, as well,” McCaffery said. “So I’m not the only one that’s feeding them information. They have to, not only hold each other accountable after the game but during the game, as the game is progressing; and somebody doesn’t run back on defense or somebody doesn’t recognize the intricacies of the scouting report and makes a mistake or two, because we all know that one mistake can’t become three or four.
“So I think our guys, they know our system well enough. They know me well enough that I am going to hold them accountable and it’s going to be done in a professional way.”
Fran McCaffery said there is a chance that sophomore guard C.J. Fredrick could play against Michigan State after having missed the last 1 ½ games due to a lower leg injury.
With or without Fredrick, this is a critical week for Iowa with three games on the schedule.
In addition to the rescheduled game against Michigan State on Tuesday, Iowa will face Ohio State on Thursday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena before playing at Indiana on Sunday.
The Michigan State game was originally scheduled for Jan. 14 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, but was postponed due to positive COVID-19 cases within the Michigan State program.
Michigan State is 2-6 in the Big Ten, its worst start under legendary head coach Tom Izzo, who led the Spartans to the national title in 2000 and to eight Final Four appearances.
But nobody is feeling sorry for the Spartans, especially in the case of the Iowa players. Nobody on the current Iowa roster has defeated Michigan State.
“I’ve never beaten Michigan State in my career here, so it’s the only team left in the Big Ten that I haven’t beaten,” Garza said. “So we’re motivated for this game. We get to play them twice and we’re highly focused.
“We know that this team is not a team that’s just going to roll over. They’re going to continue to get back up and throw punches. And when you have a team coached by Tom Izzo, that’s what they’re going to do. They’re going to play tough. They’re going to play hard and make it hard on everybody they play.”
Iowa vs. Michigan State
When: Tuesday: 6:07 p.m.
Where: Carver-Hawkeye Arena
TV: FS1
Radio: Hawkeye Radio Network
All-time series: Michigan State holds a 76-55 advantage over Iowa in the series. The Spartans have won five straight and 14 of the last 16 meetings, dating back to 2011. Michigan State won last season’s only meeting (78-70) in East Lansing, Michigan. Iowa holds a 35-26 advantage in games played against Michigan State in Iowa City. Michigan State won, 82-67, in its last visit to Iowa City two years ago (Jan. 24, 2019). The Hawkeyes’ last victory over Michigan State in Carver-Hawkeye Arena was on Dec. 29, 2015, when Iowa took down the top-ranked Spartans, 83-70. Michigan State, in 1983, won the first basketball game ever played in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.