Comments mentioned a 24 point drubbing…not going to panic just yet. Most of these guys have never played with each other and Iowa is a solid team.
Think the final score was Iowa 92 SIU 68. Agreed though, I wouldn't put too much stock in the scrimmages.
Yeah, I don't think the final score here was the primary focus. Coach Nagy hinted that this would be important for getting a feel for rotations and roles. I don't know about Iowa, but I'd wager they're dealing with far less player/coaching staff turnover. It'll likely take us a bit before we gel. Even still, it'll be a different story when the games count.
--Insert something witty here--
There were several positives. Rebounding a plus, 3 pt defense a plus. 2 pt fg shooting was good. Lots of players got lots of min according to what I was told. Nothing to give us a clear picture.
Iowa picked 11th but the Big 10 is probably the best basketball conference top to bottom.
Big Ten Preseason Media Poll
| Prediction | Team | Points |
| 1 | Purdue (20 1st-place votes) | 572 |
| 2 | Indiana (7) | 549 |
| 3 | UCLA (2) | 510 |
| 4 | Illinois (2) | 458 |
| 5 | Michigan State (1) | 448 |
| 6 | Oregon | 412 |
| 7 | Rutgers | 391 |
| 8 | Ohio State (1) | 369 |
| 9 | Michigan | 342 |
| 10 | Maryland | 263 |
| 11 | Iowa | 249 |
| T-12 | Wisconsin | 212 |
| T-12 | Nebraska | 212 |
| 14 | USC | 196 |
| 15 | Washington | 158 |
| 16 | Northwestern | 153 |
| 17 | Penn State | 87 |
| 18 | Minnesota | 62 |
I believe one of the biggest weaknesses of previous years was lacking a senior leader on the staff, like Hawkins. I think the Salukis are blessed to have him.
Anyone going to the meet ‘n greet at the arena tonight? From past experience, are these things enjoyable?
So, anyone attend the meet ‘n greet? Don’t make me beg for a report.
There were about 150 or so people at the M&G
i think there are a lot of fans who couldn’t make it because of work or the drive, but I did see people I knew that came from Ruma, DuQuoin, Union County, and Mouse Vermin.
Luke Martin was the emcee, Tim Leonard spoke then Kelly Bond-White, then Scott Nagy.
Nagy mentioned the scrimmage with Iowa and said it was good to get to play vs a team rather than the same guys you’ve seen all summer. Said offense was ok, need to continue work on defense.
I was a little disappointed they didn’t do player introductions.
Players sat at tables with a name card so you could walk around & see who’s who and chat them up.
Ticket office had parking passes and if you ordered real tickets they had a box with your name on it.
There were no lounge passes in the parking pass envelope this year, so not sure what’s up with that. Maybe that’s going to be open to everyone?
Listening to Nagy talk, it's very obvious he is a much more experienced coach than previous. I like that a lot.
He's so straight forward. No sugar coating, but not negative either. Just very realistic and gives you more info than previous staff.Listening to Nagy talk, it's very obvious he is a much more experienced coach than previous. I like that a lot.
Listening to Nagy talk, it's very obvious he is a much more experienced coach than previous. I like that a lot.
Yep. Not a BS artist like two coaches ago and more of an open book than the previous coach. It's refreshing.
Sounds like limiting turnovers to an acceptable level may be the most key factor for the Dawgs without a natural PG and playing very uptempo. Any guards who show they can take care of the ball and make good decisions should have a leg up in the battle for minutes.
