Well keys to the game because it has been working so why stop:
1. Limit the 3 ball: We have done a great job at defending the 3 (29.4% which is top 30 in the country according to Barttovik) however Iowa shoots 36% from 3. As someone said above it is almost like pick your poison and I would limit the help of the double inside as best as possible. If we do we must have crisp rotation otherwise they will hit their share of them.
2. Keep them off the FT line: Again as mentioned above Iowa does a great job getting there & shooting a high percentage as a team at almost 74%. They will get chances, the key is to limit them and not pick up cheap fouls to put them in the bonus.
3. Contain CJ Fredrick: I thought about this a lot and really he is a guard from Iowa who can create his own shot the most. I expect Mathis/Young to draw the assignment on him as he is lights out from 3. If they can contain him like they did with Carr it puts us in a much better spot to win.
Bonus: Attack and draw fouls on Iowa. They are not the strongest defensive team and have a shorter bench than we do. If we can get their guards in trouble it will force guys who do not score a lot to step up and play more minutes. Whether this means posting up our guards and clearing out the bigs or running in transition we need to find a way to put some pressure on their bench to play some significant minutes.
Not sure what the outcome will be here as it is really hard to go into Iowa and win. The fact that this group did last year plus the way we are playing now increases our odds, but if we do lose this one in a close game it will not be the worst thing in the world since we took the sweep at home this past week. Great Q1 opportunity awaits.
