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Feb. 17, 2010
By Don Lund
NORTH LIBERTY LEADER
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IOWA CITY- It was a nice win for the Hawkeyes at home last week against Northwestern.
Iowa played a lock-down defense, hit its 3-pointers and won the rebound battle in a 78-65 win.
I've heard some fans complain of Coach Lickliter's style of working for the best shot and slowing the game down.
That is exactly what Bobby Knight did when he brought his brand of tough man-to-man defense to the Big Ten in the '70s. Bobby won three NCAA championships with that style of play.
Former Iowa Coach Lute Olsen also played a more deliberate style when he coached the Hawks.
I'll never forget his last game in the old Fieldhouse when Iowa lost in TRIPLE overtime to Minnesota, 57-55.
This was before the shot clock came into play, but the Hawkeyes would win the tip at the start of overtime and pass the ball around for almost five minutes.
Talk about playing not to lose.
The starting five for that team in the 1981-82 season were Mark Gannon, Kevin Boyle, Michael Payne, Steve Carfino and Kenny Arnold. The bench included Bobby Hansen, Greg Stokes and Todd Berkenpas. They finished 21-8, 12-6 in the Big Ten which tied them for second place. The Hawks were knocked out by Idaho in the second round of the NCAA tournament that year.
We got kind of spoiled with Tom Davis and his up-tempo, full court press style but people got tired of that when the Hawks didn't win Big Ten championships or go to the Final Four.
Iowa will score more points when they add more talent and depth, but when you have a short bench and less talent you have to work for everything you get.
There was great balance in Iowa's ninth win of the season over the Wildcats with Matt Gatens scoring 16, Devan Bawinkel 15, while Aaron Fuller and Jarryd Cole had 13.
Anytime Devan scores, it's a plus as he was 5-8 from 3-point range.
I still can't believe he hasn't shot a 2-pointer yet this year. He might be a great outside shooter but if the shot isn't falling, most scorers will try to take it to the basket and shoot a free throw.
Coach Lickliter also talks about taking care of the basketball and the Hawks did just that with only eight turnovers and 18 assists (Cully Payne had six).
A sign of good coaching is when a team gets better as the season goes on and even though it's too late for this year, the Hawks are getting better.
Iowa followed that up by getting smoked at Purdue last Saturday 63-40.
The only good news is hopefully the Hawks won't have to play the Boilermakers again... unless it's in the Big Ten Tournament.
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