HawkeyeReport.com - Hawkeyes look to right the ship

November 20, 2009

Todd Brommelkamp
Managing Editor

There's no denying things haven't gone the way Todd Lickliter and the Hawkeyes wanted them to in the opening week of play this season. Iowa is off to its worst start in nearly three decades and brings an 0-2 record into tonight's matchup against Bowling Green.

Yet Lickliter and his staff aren't going back to the drawing board and they aren't panicking. At least not yet.

"We can't hide what has happened, and you can't just hope that the shots will start to fall," Lickliter told reporters yesterday. "It's about repetition, which guys are getting in practice, and seeing the ball go in. That is how you gain confidence. We'll continue to take good shots. These guys have great technique. It will work itself out over time."

Not many Hawks have been "seeing the ball go in" through Iowa's first two games. The team shot just 34 percent from the floor against Texas-San Antonio and just 31 percent in a 52-50 loss to Duquesne in Carver-Hawkeye Arena Tuesday night.

With Matt Gatens, one of the Big Ten's best three-point shooters a year ago, off to a ridiculously cold start (4-21) and only two players - big men Jarryd Cole and Brennan Cougill - shooting better than 36 percent from the field, the source of Iowa's struggles are easy to pinpoint.

"When you have guys you know good and well can shoot?there's no sense harping on it," Lickliter said. "I believe in this team and I know they will shoot it. We have just had two difficult shooting nights."

As Texas and either Pitt or Wichita State loom on the horizon next week in the final rounds of the CBE Classic in Kansas City, the Hawkeyes can't afford another difficult shooting night against the Falcons.

Bowling Green (1-1) comes to Iowa City as a 9.5 point underdog, still licking its wounds from a 101-57 drubbing suffered at the hands of Xavier Tuesday night in Cincinnati. Third-year coach Louis Orr is, like Lickliter, still trying to figure out what type of team he's fielding. The Falcons were a darling of the Mid-American Conference last season, winning the Eastern Division and earning a berth in the National Invitation Tournament while racking up 19 wins. However, the top three scorers from that squad are gone and the Falcons are still looking to replace their productivity.

Otis Polk, Bowling Green's career leader in blocked shots, is one of two current Falcons scoring in double digits for Orr's squad. In the absence of a high-powered offense, BGSU has focused its efforts on the defensive end of the floor. The Falcons rely heavily on a zone defense similar to the one Orr learned as a college star at Syracuse.

"We've made it a point of emphasis to work on guarding the ball," Orr said. "We want our team defense to be really good. We have more depth up front (this year) so hopefully we can play a little bit more man. I hope our man-to-man is better so we don't have to rely on the zone as much but we'll go with whatever works."

Xavier shot 64.8 percent from the floor in Tuesday night's victory over the Falcons. While it may be asking a bit much to replicate given Iowa's shooting woes, the Hawks view this as just as good of time as any to break out of their early funk.

"It's painful when you come up short. We'll fight through it," Lickliter said. "I can't fault the effort (against Duquesne), but we can't be content just saying 'If we made shots.' You have to find ways to be a good team regardless."

And Lickliter feels he has a good squad.

"It's been a process, and I'm thankful to have this team," Lickliter said. "If it were my first year (at Iowa), I think there would be real anticipation, real excitement. But it's taken a couple of years of the process but I'm thankful we've been able to get the players that we have now."

A victory by the Hawks tonight would prevent the team from starting 0-3 for the first time since 1919.

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