Scout Notes/impressions on Iowa

[BBallF]

This is somewhat of a unique game for the Huskies. Iowa is a program that develops old-school centers and power forwards – players with very good footwork, very good hands, and very good size. This year is no exception, as the Hawkeye bigs are extremely efficient around the basket and do not shy away from contact. Iowa is averaging 18.8 free throw attempts per game with over half (10.5) coming from their three bigs (unfortunately for Hawkeye Nation, their bigs are not good at the charity stripe). That said, as effective as Iowa's inside game has been thus far, they have a trio of shooters who continue to light up the scoreboard from beyond the arc. Probably the best inside-outside offense UConn will see this year prior to the Big Dance.

Here are some notes I put together for Saturday’s game at the Barclay's Center in New York City.

6’2” Senior Hannah Stuelke – a mobile, very strong power forward who rarely shoots outside the paint. Her season field goal percentage is 54.1%, but inside the lane her percentage leaps upward to 64%. Analyzing the details of her 111 field goal attempts this season, only 22 jump shots have come outside the lane (making just three), and just nine attempts beyond the arc (connecting on two – one each in the first two games, none since). Stuelke is awful at the foul line (53.7%) and has only three games where she made more free throws than she missed. Yikes. She is a very strong rebounder due to her quick feet and strength, and averages an impressive 8.7 boards in less than 27 minutes per game.

6’4” Sophomore Ava Heiden – another large presence who is the team’s leading scorer (15.2 ppg) and second leading rebounder (7.9 rpg) while averaging under 24 minutes. She has made a huge sophomore jump and appears to be the focal point of the offense when she is in the game. Her FG percentage is outstanding (65.7%), and her short range game is even more impressive than Stuelke’s. Superb footwork and excellent hands. She does not shoot threes – all 203 field goal attempts in college have been inside the arc. Not good at the foul line but not terrible either at 64.4%. High energy. Is not timid and

6’5” Freshman Layla Hays – a very large, strong center destined to wear the Iowa Big crown someday. She averages over 14 minutes a game and is shooting an impressive 59% from the field, albeit all close to the basket. Although not quick, she moves her feet very well. Zero three-point attempts. When Hays is in the game, she is an integral component of the offense and the Hawkeyes try to feed her the ball. She is even worse than Stuelke at the charity stripe, missing more than she makes (14-30 at 46.7%).

5’9” Senior Taylor McCabe – the Hawkeye’s pistolero. She shoots threes almost exclusively. To wit, of her 84 field goal attempts this season, 76 are behind the arc (90.4%). She has been very proficient each of her four years and currently sits at 43.4%. Not surprisingly, it appears that most of McCabe’s three point attempts come from when the Iowa bigs kick the ball out to her when double-teamed. She doesn’t have a preferred side, but will shoot and make threes from everywhere.

5’4” Sophomore Chit Chat Wright – very quick, speedy and is not afraid to go inside where the bigs live. In the eight games she has played is equally effective inside the arc as she is outside the arc where she is shooting 50% (17-34). When the offense play breaks down, and/or when the shot clock winds down, the Hawkeyes are comfortable with Wright getting the ball to try to make something happen. Doesn’t get to the line much, but shoots very well when she does. Although she shoots threes from everywhere, she is much less effective inside the arc going to her left. Forcing a quick, little guard to her left will be good practice for when we play Notre Dame down the road.

6’0” Senior Kylie Feuerbach – a two year Hawkeye starter averaging over 23 minutes a game despite shooting the ball poorly throughout her collegiate career. This year she continues to struggle at just 35.4% from the field and 31.3% behind the arc. A jack-of-all-trades, it appears that her job is to keep the offense flowing through the bigs. She hustles a lot which might be why Jensen keeps her on the court so much in an offense that isn't particularly fast.

5’10” Sophomore Taylor Stremlow – first guard off the bench, averaging 19 minutes a game. Looking at her numbers and watching her play, one would think she should be replacing Feuerbach in the starting line-up before too long. Nothing fancy – although her 51.8% FG and 39.3% behind the arc, coupled with her productivity in the starting line-up when Chit Chat was out, has been impressive. Stremlow is not fast or noticeably quick - just solid all around.

6’0” Freshman Addie Deal – the #23 ESPN recruit is still adapting to the pace of college ball and playing in front of 14,000 fans who are expecting great things from her. Her pedestrian numbers (5.8 ppg on 39.3% FG and 27.6% 3PT) are not living up to the hype so far, but Jensen continues to give Deal quality minutes (16.5 pg) and seems committed to bringing her along deliberately. Deal only played six minutes in each of the two games against ranked opponents and didn’t score in either, so we might not see much of her against the Huskies.

I agree with several Boneyard posters who foresee a large MOV if UConn brings their A game. However, this is the ONLY game before late March in which the Huskies will play against a team that puts two very talented, work-hard-in-the-paint bigs on the court at the same time. Knowing that a similar scenario awaits down the road against South Carolina, Texas, UCLA and Oklahoma, Geno might very well use this rare opportunity to get more playing time to integrate Jana with Sarah, Blanca and possibly even Serah. If he does (and I hope he does), it is quite possible that the MOV will be closer to Massey's prediction (11 point UConn win).

There are other factors that could keep the score lower. With only a 30 minute warm-up between games in an unfamiliar arena, UConn could come out shooting cold from distance. The start-and-stop quickness of Chit Chat and her ability to get hot quickly could likely test the flexibility of UConn's defense that (presumably) will be focused on containing the Iowa bigs in the paint. Then there is always the spectre of early foul trouble arising from UConn's unfamiliarity (this year) playing against two talented bigs on the court together.

I am greatly looking forward to this game, and to the Boneyard post-game analysis that follows. Go Huskies!

Really good scouting report on the individual players. I have only one question. Who, on Iowa, is going to contain Blanca? She is too fast for any of their bigs, and too big for any of their guards. I think she makes a big difference in this game because the Iowa guards have not seen pressure the likes of what they will see tomorrow and it only ratchets up when she comes in.

 

[Centerstream]

HAWKEYES!!!!!! ☺️

Oops, autocorrect/fill-in. I typed in Hawkeyes but my phone changed it to Buckeyes. I didn't notice the change.

 

[Zarathustra]

I believe the Iowa - Iowa St game was a home game for Iowa and yet despite the friendly environment they still lost. Now they go away to play, albeit a neutral site, but with many rooting for UConn. Interesting to see how they fare here.

Wednesday, December 10: Iowa AT Iowa State in AMES, IOWA, a loss, 69 - 74.
Also... (see earlier posting above) ... Hannah Stuelke fouled out with seconds
remaining in the game. One of the big problems for the Hawkeyes was
Ava Heiden (6'4") getting into early foul problems which limited her
playing minutes (and effectiveness). I believe she picked up painful
self-inflicted foul early in the third period. Both Hannah and Ava had
'ultimate' trouble with Audi Crooks. Heiden only played 15:37 minutes
with 8 points and two rebounds before fouling out EARLY. Stuelke ended up playing 37:22 minutes with 10 points and 15 rebounds. # 55 Audi Crooks played 36:03 minutes (Probably a season's high for her... she averages MORE PPG than playing minutes per game!!) and Audi's stats were 13 for 20 from the field, 4/7 from
the foul line (and a big one in the final seconds) with thirty points and 10
rebounds. One key to the game (IMHO) is to get fouls on HEIDEN! This
will be Serah's and Jana's task with the help of her teammates driving
the lane (BLANCA? KK? K9?). Should be a good game with UCONN winning with a MOV greater than Massey's spread. NOTE: Emily Rodriquez (sp), a transfer from UCF, will not travel with the Hawkeyes. Emily was briefly on the Boneyard recruiting page. Coach Jensen has suspended her for the game for some violation of team rules.

 

[Centerstream]

What I provided is across all of Iowa's 11 games thus far. I think it would be folly to assess Iowa on a single game, or to dismiss what Iowa's season stats imply.

And what I provided is for the only game Iowa played against a team with a really good big. Iowa has played only two ranked teams, one, Baylor, they won without scoring 60 points and the loss to ISU. Both their bigs had good games against Baylor but I have no knowledge about the players on the Baylor team.

 

[FanSince17]

A huge aspect of Geno's defensive philosophy is that it takes away the bigs. Watch how far out teams have to start their offenses from. Then the wings have to come way out, beyond 3-point shooting range to get the entry pass and then the posts have to come further out to get the post passes. Like a set of dominoes.
I remember during the Tim Duncan years at Wake Forest, a down Duke team gave them fits because this style D forced Tim out to get post passes.
BTW it felt like Forbes wasn't even in the game until the 4th Q.

I'd like to ask the BY what you would do offensively to counteract UConn's pressure.

 

[Bjbod]

Lots of good analyses by many here on the UConn site....usually over on the General Board. Only the most fanatical Iowa supporters are expecting an Iowa victory, but like Jan said, this isn't a win or go home kind of game so that may ease the pressure some. This is our youngest team since 2012 so I'm sure there will be plenty of nerves.

UConn's pressure D I believe will be the difference in this game, perhaps in a major way. Kylie Feuerbach is a 6th year player and probably our best defender; did a great job vs Juju in our upset of USC last year, but is pretty loose with the ball. A couple of quick turnovers by her will hurt her psyche. Taylor Stremlow will see a lot of minutes but will struggle vs the press too.

Someone brought up UConn perhaps going small and pushing the pace. Iowa hasn't minded doing the same in the past, running Steulke at the 5. Emely Rodriguez was thought to be able to play a running 4 at times, but she's currently suspended and many doubt she'll play again for Iowa. Journey Houston is a true freshman who's exceeded expectations so far, and is solid and athletic enough to provide minutes at the 4 even though only 5'11". Teagan Mallegni has missed most games so far for medical reasons and also might be able to run at 4. Point is, Iowa might not be super bothered by an uptempo pace although we'd be vastly overmatched in talent.

I'm really looking forward to see the gap between the nation's #1 team and the Hawkeyes. Even if they get pounded it'll be a great learning experience for them. Looking at our players you'd think you might be up against a Psych 101 discussion group, but they are a gritty bunch. I don't feel a wide margin of defeat will demoralize them.

Good luck to both sides!

 

[AmeriConn]

We need more Bigs! 😂

 

[Charliebball]

I'm pretty sure that this game will be one of the toughest UConn will play this season......if they aren't shooting well from three, it could turn into a real battle.......in the end I think UConn's full court pressure and overall speed will give Iowa problems as the game progresses but it wouldn't be a surprise to see a close game......

 

[Bone Dog]

Emely Rodriguez was thought to be able to play a running 4 at times, but she's currently suspended and many doubt she'll play again for Iowa.

I’m sorry to hear this. Do you know what the difficulty is for her?

 

[HuskyNan]

I’m sorry to hear this. Do you know what the difficulty is for her?

No one from the Iowa athletic department is giving details

 

[Cuango]

This is somewhat of a unique game for the Huskies. Iowa is a program that develops old-school centers and power forwards – players with very good footwork, very good hands, and very good size. This year is no exception, as the Hawkeye bigs are extremely efficient around the basket and do not shy away from contact. Iowa is averaging 18.8 free throw attempts per game with over half (10.5) coming from their three bigs (unfortunately for Hawkeye Nation, their bigs are not good at the charity stripe). That said, as effective as Iowa's inside game has been thus far, they have a trio of shooters who continue to light up the scoreboard from beyond the arc. Probably the best inside-outside offense UConn will see this year prior to the Big Dance.

Here are some notes I put together for Saturday’s game at the Barclay's Center in New York City.

6’2” Senior Hannah Stuelke – a mobile, very strong power forward who rarely shoots outside the paint. Her season field goal percentage is 54.1%, but inside the lane her percentage leaps upward to 64%. Analyzing the details of her 111 field goal attempts this season, only 22 jump shots have come outside the lane (making just three), and just nine attempts beyond the arc (connecting on two – one each in the first two games, none since). Stuelke is awful at the foul line (53.7%) and has only three games where she made more free throws than she missed. Yikes. She is a very strong rebounder due to her quick feet and strength, and averages an impressive 8.7 boards in less than 27 minutes per game.

6’4” Sophomore Ava Heiden – another large presence who is the team’s leading scorer (15.2 ppg) and second leading rebounder (7.9 rpg) while averaging under 24 minutes. She has made a huge sophomore jump and appears to be the focal point of the offense when she is in the game. Her FG percentage is outstanding (65.7%), and her short range game is even more impressive than Stuelke’s. Superb footwork and excellent hands. She does not shoot threes – all 203 field goal attempts in college have been inside the arc. Not good at the foul line but not terrible either at 64.4%. High energy. Is not timid and

6’5” Freshman Layla Hays – a very large, strong center destined to wear the Iowa Big crown someday. She averages over 14 minutes a game and is shooting an impressive 59% from the field, albeit all close to the basket. Although not quick, she moves her feet very well. Zero three-point attempts. When Hays is in the game, she is an integral component of the offense and the Hawkeyes try to feed her the ball. She is even worse than Stuelke at the charity stripe, missing more than she makes (14-30 at 46.7%).

5’9” Senior Taylor McCabe – the Hawkeye’s pistolero. She shoots threes almost exclusively. To wit, of her 84 field goal attempts this season, 76 are behind the arc (90.4%). She has been very proficient each of her four years and currently sits at 43.4%. Not surprisingly, it appears that most of McCabe’s three point attempts come from when the Iowa bigs kick the ball out to her when double-teamed. She doesn’t have a preferred side, but will shoot and make threes from everywhere.

5’4” Sophomore Chit Chat Wright – very quick, speedy and is not afraid to go inside where the bigs live. In the eight games she has played is equally effective inside the arc as she is outside the arc where she is shooting 50% (17-34). When the offense play breaks down, and/or when the shot clock winds down, the Hawkeyes are comfortable with Wright getting the ball to try to make something happen. Doesn’t get to the line much, but shoots very well when she does. Although she shoots threes from everywhere, she is much less effective inside the arc going to her left. Forcing a quick, little guard to her left will be good practice for when we play Notre Dame down the road.

6’0” Senior Kylie Feuerbach – a two year Hawkeye starter averaging over 23 minutes a game despite shooting the ball poorly throughout her collegiate career. This year she continues to struggle at just 35.4% from the field and 31.3% behind the arc. A jack-of-all-trades, it appears that her job is to keep the offense flowing through the bigs. She hustles a lot which might be why Jensen keeps her on the court so much in an offense that isn't particularly fast.

5’10” Sophomore Taylor Stremlow – first guard off the bench, averaging 19 minutes a game. Looking at her numbers and watching her play, one would think she should be replacing Feuerbach in the starting line-up before too long. Nothing fancy – although her 51.8% FG and 39.3% behind the arc, coupled with her productivity in the starting line-up when Chit Chat was out, has been impressive. Stremlow is not fast or noticeably quick - just solid all around.

6’0” Freshman Addie Deal – the #23 ESPN recruit is still adapting to the pace of college ball and playing in front of 14,000 fans who are expecting great things from her. Her pedestrian numbers (5.8 ppg on 39.3% FG and 27.6% 3PT) are not living up to the hype so far, but Jensen continues to give Deal quality minutes (16.5 pg) and seems committed to bringing her along deliberately. Deal only played six minutes in each of the two games against ranked opponents and didn’t score in either, so we might not see much of her against the Huskies.

I agree with several Boneyard posters who foresee a large MOV if UConn brings their A game. However, this is the ONLY game before late March in which the Huskies will play against a team that puts two very talented, work-hard-in-the-paint bigs on the court at the same time. Knowing that a similar scenario awaits down the road against South Carolina, Texas, UCLA and Oklahoma, Geno might very well use this rare opportunity to get more playing time to integrate Jana with Sarah, Blanca and possibly even Serah. If he does (and I hope he does), it is quite possible that the MOV will be closer to Massey's prediction (11 point UConn win).

There are other factors that could keep the score lower. With only a 30 minute warm-up between games in an unfamiliar arena, UConn could come out shooting cold from distance. The start-and-stop quickness of Chit Chat and her ability to get hot quickly could likely test the flexibility of UConn's defense that (presumably) will be focused on containing the Iowa bigs in the paint. Then there is always the spectre of early foul trouble arising from UConn's unfamiliarity (this year) playing against two talented bigs on the court together.

I am greatly looking forward to this game, and to the Boneyard post-game analysis that follows. Go Huskies!

Thanks for the analysis! I’m pretty impressed with Heiden and Hays. Iowa got some bargains there. I remember wishing Geno would look at Heiden. I thought she would be a perfect one or two year project who could really help us as a jr/sr. It looks like I shorted her a year. Anyway, I’d say they are going to be a big problem in the front court when Woliszko comes in next season. I’m confident we will win this game handily but that front court could cause us some problems.

 

[Bjbod]

I’m sorry to hear this. Do you know what the difficulty is for her?

I doubt we'll ever know for sure. If you have the time to peruse Iowa's ON3 and 247 sites you'll find many theories with no supporting evidence. NIL squabbles, injury vs "injury", yelling at coaches, negative comments towards other players, homesick, unhappy with playing time, meddling parents, academics and on and on.
NONE of these suspicions come with any solid proof. An unfortunate situation because Iowa prides itself on its team chemistry and we're not used to these distractions. Hope she makes it back but doubtful.

 

[Cuango]

Excellent detail here, @YKCornelius ! I suspect the MOV will still be large (>20) even with their twin towers game. But it is intriguing to see how our big lineup will do. Geno has experimented only briefly so far with having Sarah Serah and Blanca on the floor together. This trio is big enough to give Iowa’s bigs fits in the paint, and quick enough and shoots well enough to force them out of the paint on defense, where they are likely to be exposed.

I suspect the smaller lineups will be even more challenging for Iowa to matchup with, either Sarah and Serah or Sarah and Blanca or Blanca and Jana. What they are good at, their strengths, are also strengths for us — low post scoring and rebounding. But Sarah and Blanca also bring a much more diverse set of offensive skills they lack.

I think you’re right to think Geno will give Jana more minutes in this one since Heiden and Hays matchup well with her and don’t have the quickness to challenge her. This will be a good opportunity for Jana. Will we even see a Serah-Jana set? I doubt it, but you never know.

The other half of the equation, the backcourts, will heavily favor UConn, and I kinda feel for Chit Chat as this will likely be a very trying game for her against KK and Kayleigh. And I have a feeling McCabe will not get many open looks from the perimeter. The other problem Iowa will have is that Azzi will have no specific scoring threat she has to shutdown. This means she will be free to provide a lot of help defense. This could be interesting.

On the plus side, I suspect this game will really give Feuerbach a chance to shine, not as a scorer necessarily but as the key to helping Chit Chat break the press. The vulnerability of any press to a big guard at midcourt could be on full display here. Iowa won’t be able to burn us with transition 3s. But she may be able to get Stuelke and Heiden easy buckets on the run. Of course, I imagine Geno will have some sort of answer to this, as time will surely tell.

On the other side, I have a feeling this game will be an opportunity for Allie to show her stuff. She matches up really well with Iowa’s guards, and she is likely to get open perimeter looks if they collapse on Sarah and Serah in the paint. We may also see more of her ‘drive-and-dish’ skills on display. She is exactly the sort of player Iowa would have recruited hard — I think Coach Jensen said as much earlier this week — which likely means she will pose problems for their defense.

Yeah, their coach was very complimentary of Allie in College. I too am hoping to see Allie have a game tomorrow. Hopefully she will get some good looks from three as she has not had many opportunities from there over the last two games. It would be fun to see her and Azzi go off from the perimeter.

 

[Skeets]

I am sure UConn wins, on paper. I back this up with my prognostication. My one worry? Historically UConn plays poorly around Christmas with sugar plums dancing in their heads. I'm surprised no one has mentioned this. Come on UConn, win first, then think about opening presents.

 

[Bills Fan]

Thanks for the analysis! I’m pretty impressed with Heiden and Hays. Iowa got some bargains there. I remember wishing Geno would look at Heiden. I thought she would be a perfect one or two year project who could really help us as a jr/sr. It looks like I shorted her a year. Anyway, I’d say they are going to be a big problem in the front court when Woliszko comes in next season. I’m confident we will win this game handily but that front court could cause us some problems.

I find it hard to believe that their front court is going to cause us any problems. It seems like Heiden and Jana are very similar players with similar skills - I just hope that Jana can stop missing shots that she should be making 99.9% of the time.

That leaves our remaining front court 3 players that are probably the best 3-some front court in WCBB this year. Serah who is starting to show why she was all-Big Ten last year. She and Steulke probably cancel each other out as similar, quick bigs, which leaves us with one NPOY candidate and one NFOY candidate, neither one of whom will be stopable by any other pair of "bigs" on Iowa or any other team. Watching Blanca the last few games, it is clear that there is not another 6'1"-6'4" that can stop her from driving past them. Her speed is out of this world. If only she could shoot the 3 ! Oh wait, she leads the team in % from beyond the arc!

 

[Zarathustra]

I doubt we'll ever know for sure. If you have the time to peruse Iowa's ON3 and 247 sites you'll find many theories with no supporting evidence. NIL squabbles, injury vs "injury", yelling at coaches, negative comments towards other players, homesick, unhappy with playing time, meddling parents, academics and on and on.
NONE of these suspicions come with any solid proof. An unfortunate situation because Iowa prides itself on its team chemistry and we're not used to these distractions. Hope she makes it back but doubtful.

This note from Bjbod is a very good summary of the "theories"
on various Hawkeye blogs that I have read. In summary... No one 'really' knows,
and those that "Know" are not saying.

 

[Skeets]

I am sure UConn wins, on paper. I back this up with my prognostication. My one worry? Historically UConn plays poorly around Christmas with sugar plums dancing in their heads. I'm surprised no one has mentioned this. Come on UConn, win first, then think about opening presents.

YKcornelius, You are confused about my post? Please explain, or better yet, private message me.

 

[YKCornelius]

YKcornelius, You are confused about my post? Please explain, or better yet, private message me.

PM sent.

 

[Bigboote]

I doubt we'll ever know for sure. If you have the time to peruse Iowa's ON3 and 247 sites you'll find many theories with no supporting evidence. NIL squabbles, injury vs "injury", yelling at coaches, negative comments towards other players, homesick, unhappy with playing time, meddling parents, academics and on and on.
NONE of these suspicions come with any solid proof. An unfortunate situation because Iowa prides itself on its team chemistry and we're not used to these distractions. Hope she makes it back but doubtful.

Yeah, I can’t think of a case in which we’ve found out (from the coach/AD, i e, someone who really knows) which rules have been violated.

 

[Hawkstar 22]

I believe the Iowa - Iowa St game was a home game for Iowa and yet despite the friendly environment they still lost. Now they go away to play, albeit a neutral site, but with many rooting for UConn. Interesting to see how they fare here.

It was a Iowa State home game.