After the first Iowa - Michigan State game, I congratulated Alford on getting his 300th win and telling him that there was a small chance he could win me over.
After the second game, I remember why I want a new coach. Losing is at Michigan State is nothing to be embarrassed about. Getting humiliated is. Go check out the box score.
I love to complain about bad officiating, but Iowa made more free throws (17) than MSU took (10). Iowa ended up outscoring MSU from the line by 12 points and still lost by 32 points. Michigan State had twice as many fouls as Iowa.
How does that happen?
Iowa still cannot consistently defend the 3 point line. MSU shot 10-22 from the arc.
I would point out the rebound disadvantage, a typical Iowa problem, but when the other team shoots 58% from the field and you shoot 34%, you are probably going to get out rebounded badly. I’ll save that complaint for another game.
But, let’s talk about that shooting. Iowa shot 2-12 from the 3 point line. How does a great 3 point shooter like Alford consistently have teams where nobody can make a 3 pointer? Our big men can’t score inside and the small guys can’t score outside. That’s a bad combination.
Then there’s the turnover to assist ration. 17 turnovers. 7 assists. Alford can blame the short turnaround or whatever he wants, but a minus 10 turnover ratio is always going to be a loss. Smith looks like he is going to be a pretty special player, but he needs to stop leading the team in turnovers really soon. Players don’t like giving the ball to the guy that keeps turning it over.
Finally, let’s talk about Haluska. I love the guy. He plays hard. He’s the go to guy on the team. He is a free throw shooting machine. He works his butt off to use the picks and get a shot. He might have a chance of getting on an NBA roster. This year he is shooting just over 40% from the field. That isn’t super, but for his style, not necessarily bad. But go look at his stats. For somebody with his inconsistency, he takes too many shots.
That is not his fault. That is Alford’s. When Haluska is hot, let him shoot. When he is not, then the team needs some kind of offense they can run where other people score.
I haven’t officially been contacted yet, but just so everybody knows. When Alford is fired after this season (fingers crossed), I am available and willing to take over the position. My agent will be contacting the school shortly.