Tuesdays with Torbee

Despite a lofty ranking, having the best player in college basketball and a supporting cast of sharpshooters, it was always an inevitability that Iowa basketball would lose a game or two this season. That’s just the reality of the sport, particularly for Big 10 teams who face amazing players and savvy coaches all winter long.

Still, it was a bit disconcerting seeing the Hawkeyes dig themselves into a big deficit against #1 ranked Gonzaga last Saturday morning thanks to uncharacteristic poor outside shooting and more characteristic shaky defense. We have grown so accustomed to seeing Luka Garza dominate, Jordan Bohannon and C.J. Frederick bomb away from the three-point line, Joe Wieskamp and Joe Touissant knife in and score and the rest of the cast of characters pitch in to lead the Hawks to decisive victories that seeing them struggle was disorienting.

It was clear from the outset Saturday that Gonzaga has every bit as much firepower as Iowa, and they flexed it early; taking advantage of Iowa’s poor shooting start to pile up a double-digit lead. To Iowa’s credit – and more importantly, hopefully indicative of the team’s chances in big games down the road this season – they clawed back and had a chance to steal the game away late despite atrocious (18 percent) three-point shooting and unconscionably bad (53 percent) free throw shooting. It’s a fantastic sign for Iowa basketball that despite its worst long-distance shooting and worst free throw percentage of the year, the Hawkeyes went toe-to-toe with the consensus number one team in the country. If Iowa hits its usual shooting percentages, this game could have been a huge Iowa win.

One shouldn’t take anything away from Gonzaga. They are a fantastic team, and did a nice job closing out on Iowa shooters. That said, Jordan Bohannon doesn’t typically pull a vanishing act in big games, and we know Iowa can knock down free throws at a 70 percent or so rate, meaning it’s not at all time to panic.

Perhaps the moment was a bit too big for the team, and especially Bohannon. I am a huge fan of Jordan’s, but do wonder if his big talk about Iowa getting ready to show the nation who the real number one team is may have created undue subconscious pressure on him and his teammates. Pressing and being tight is a surefire recipe for poor shooting, and to my untrained eye, it appears Iowa players were pressing a bit and rushing shots, especially in the first half of the game.

An argument can be made that once Bohannon realized he was having a cold shooting night, he should have deferred to teammates and backed off. But the paradox of a guy like Bohannon is that part of what makes him a deadly three-point shooter is his 100 percent belief that the next shot is going in, regardless of how many misses have piled up. So at the end of the day, I have few problems with him continuing to launch. And I fully expect cold outings like Saturday to remain rare.

A talking point shred after the game that I do agree with, however, is the notion that it’s a bit unfair for Iowa alone to be bashed for poor defense. While that is a legitimate complaint – Iowa’s defense is quite soft and will never really clamp down on teams - what about Gonzaga’s defense? No one thinks poor defense will hurt their chances at a Final Four run, but this is a team that gave up 88 points to a team shooting 18 percent from three and only 51 percent from the free-throw line! In addition, two of its bigs were fouled out by the relentless and amazing Garza.

I grew up watching 1980s style Big 10 basketball, so I love the 100-point-plus barn burners. Do I wish Iowa played a little better on the defensive side of the ball? Of course, especially that leaky transition defense that leads to opponents getting free layup drills. That said, I also love the “just outscore them” mentality the Hawkeyes possess. After all, whoever has the most points when the buzzer sounds is the winner, so if you are going to give up 90, you might as well score 100.

I am super excited to see how this team plays in conference. With Northwestern shocking a salty Michigan State team and resurgent Rutgers taking out Illinois, who along with Iowa is considered one of the title contenders in the league, it’s obvious the conference slate is going to be a meat grinder.

Here’s hoping Iowa is turning the handle and its Big 10 foes are the sausage.

Follow me on Twitter @ToryBrecht and @12Saturdays