Iowa developing wrong kind of identity with four losses in five games
Indiana completes season sweet with 67-65 victory in Bloomington
By Pat Harty
The Iowa men’s basketball team is developing an identity that is both discouraging and costly, and a little surprising under the circumstances.
Despite having a roster filled with veteran players, including All-America senior center Luka Garza, Iowa is failing to protect leads in the second half and has now lost four of its last five games.
Iowa led Indiana for much of the second half on Sunday, but failed to close the deal, losing 67-65 in Bloomington, Ind.
Iowa also led Indiana by 11 points in the second half two weeks ago at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, but still lost 81-69, and that was the start of this current slump, which almost certainly will drop No. 8 Iowa out of the top 10 for the first time this season.
Indiana only shot 35.9 percent from the field, and missed nine free throws, and yet, still found a way to complete the season sweep.
Iowa played better on defense in Sunday’s game compared to some recent games, but the Hoosiers still had 15 offensive rebounds.
Iowa also had just five assists as a team, committed 11 turnovers, and only shot 37.3 percent from the field.
So in this case, defense wasn’t Iowa’s biggest problem.
“I think we were more aggressive and I think our defense was substantially better,” Fran McCaffery said. “We played more man than we’ve been playing, and I think that was good.
“Obviously, the foul trouble wasn’t good. But eleven turnovers that led to 17 points, that was problematic, and 15 offensive rebounds. So our defense was good, but they got too many of them back.”
It would be easy to blame the officials, and many fans were pushing that narrative on social media after the game, because there were some questionable calls, including the one that sent Garza to the bench with 12 minutes, 30 seconds left in the first half with two fouls.
It was a touch foul in a game that had a lot of touching.
But Iowa still led Indiana midway through the second half, albeit not by a lot, and couldn’t finish the job, yet again.
That is a disturbing pattern for a team that starts two seniors, including a fifth-year senior, and two juniors, including a fourth-year junior.
“I think we have the potential to close out these games better, and I think we did a better job, obviously, this game offensively down the stretch,” Garza said. “I think the last five minutes of this game, I think we did a pretty good job. But I think the five minutes before that when we couldn’t outstretch our lead, that’s the key time where we’ve got to be better.”
Garza brings up a good point, considering Iowa was leading 50-44 when Indiana head coach Archie Miller called a timeout with 10:51 left to play.
That’s when Iowa, with all of its experience, should’ve buried the cold-shooting Hoosiers.
Garza had overcome his foul problems and was playing well on offense in the second half.
Joe Wieskamp was also playing one of his best games as a Hawkeye to that point, but then he sort of disappeared on offense down the stretch.
Wieskamp and Garza led four Iowa players in double figures with 18 points, but Wieskamp only scored three points in the second half.
“We’ve got to be able to close out games,” Garza said. “There was a stretch there where we kind of let them back in. We go up six. We just had a couple tough plays in a row and couldn’t get a stop. And that’s unfortunate.”
Wieskamp said he tried to be more aggressive on offense when Garza went to the bench with two fouls in the first half. Wieskamp attacked the basket more than he usually does in the first half and it paid dividends as he scored nearly half of Iowa’s 31 points in the first half with 15.
“I just had to be aggressive, I knew a lot of guys were in foul trouble,” Wieskamp said. “The coaches were running sets for me and I was just trying to be as aggressive as I could and get to my spots, and shots were falling.
“So I think I need to do a better job of that carrying over to the second half.”
Fran McCaffery’s decision to sit Garza for the rest of the first half with two fouls was a hot topic on social media after the game, and was also addressed during McCaffery’s post-game zoom conference.
McCaffery took offense when a reporter asked why he didn’t insert Garza back in the game in the first half since the bench players were struggling.
Iowa was leading 17-7 when Garza went to the bench with two fouls, but then trailed 33-31 at halftime.
“You know what, you guys are unbelievable,” Fran McCaffery said. “You want me to play the bench, so the bench is there because guys are in foul trouble. And then you want me to take them out. How are they going to get better? How are they going to improve?
“That’s a ridiculous question. You should know better.”
McCaffery was referring to the loss to Ohio State on Thursday when he played his starters almost exclusively in the second half, causing some to wonder why he didn’t use his bench more since Iowa’s bench had played a huge role in the victory over Michigan State this past Tuesday.
Garza was asked about Fran McCaffery’s decision to sit him after getting two fouls, and Garza defended his head coach.
“I trust coach McCaffery and his decisions,” Garza said. “So that’s all I’ve got to say about that.”
Garza takes every loss hard, but Sunday’s setback really had him noticeably upset. He didn’t make any excuses or blame the officials or point fingers.
Garza just hates losing, and right now his team is losing games at a disturbing pace.
Garza blamed himself for picking up two early fouls, and for putting his team in a difficult position.
Iowa already was missing starting guard C.J. Fredrick due to a lower leg injury, so to also lose Garza for much of the first half was a severe blow.
“I just can’t put my team, in that position,” Garza said of being in foul trouble. “I didn’t think I put the elbow out too much. It’s just unfortunate. The first one I could have avoided as well. The second one was different. I don’t know it was fifty-fifty, and he kind of sold it a little bit.”
With Iowa having lost four of its last five games, the narrative now shifts to whether this is the start of what some fans call the Fran fade.
Iowa has struggled some down the stretch under Fran McCaffery, who is in his 11th season, but this isn’t even the stretch yet.
Iowa (13-6, 7-5) still has eight conference games remaining, assuming they all get played during the global pandemic.
There still is time to right the ship, but Garza and his cohorts have to learn how to close games.
If that means they have to be coached better, then fine, coach better.
But the players also have to play better with the game on the line.
This isn’t to say that Fran McCaffery is without blame because the buck stops with him since he’s the head coach.
Everyone on the team, coaches and players, deserve some blame whenever a team loses four of five games.
You win as a team, and you lose as a team.
It now seems obvious that Iowa was overrated heading into the season as the third-ranked team nationally.
It’ll now be a challenge for Iowa just to finish in the top three in the Big Ten.