It’s mid-February and, let’s face it, cabin fever is setting in.
I can kill only so many hours watching the Weather Channel to see who will be getting more snow this week, Buffalo or Chicago.
I can reread the Bob Knight interview in the March issue of Playboy only so many times.
Or I can pull that Big Ten MVP ballot out from the pile of unopened mail on the desk and do something constructive.
After watching No. 14 Iowa stink up Welsh-Ryan Arena in a 69-61 loss to Northwestern on Saturday, I’m thinking about casting my vote for Luke Recker.
But wasn’t Recker sitting on the Iowa bench in a gray sweater?
Exactly.
If the Tribune’s Silver Basketball goes to the best player on the best team, then it is headed either to Champaign or East Lansing. That’s a slam-dunk. But whose name should be on it? Illinois and Michigan State have so many parts it’s hard to say which one is most valuable. Depends on the night and the opponent.
But it is becoming impossible to underestimate Recker’s importance to the Hawkeyes. Saturday’s stunning loss to Northwestern was Iowa’s second in three starts since Recker shattered his right kneecap in a Jan. 27 victory over his old school, Indiana.
There’s no shame in losing to Ohio State, which Iowa did Wednesday night. But losing to Northwestern, with an RPI of infinity, in front of an arena packed with black-and-yellow-clad fans?
“I’m sure there’s quite a few people laughing at us now,” Iowa guard Dean Oliver said.
“If I was a fan, I’d be laughing at us.”
Iowa coach Steve Alford finds little humor in the mess his season has become. Ten days ago they were talking Big Ten title out there in the cornfields. Now, with Iowa at 17-6 overall and 6-4 in the Big Ten, they’re trying to get to March with some semblance of confidence.
“We’ve got to find somebody who can knock down shots,” Alford said.
Recker was averaging a team-high 18.1 points and 3.9 rebounds, second best on the squad. And among Hawkeyes who have tried more than one three-pointer this season, no one is nearly as accurate as Recker, who makes 43.1 percent from beyond the arc.
The rebounds they can replace. The points are a different matter.
“As you could see, we haven’t adapted well,” guard Ryan Hogan said. “He gave us [almost] 20 points a night. This has been a tough transition.”
Oliver, a senior, bravely volunteered to carry the team on his shoulders. But while Oliver is one of the better point guards in the conference, he can’t take up the scoring slack too. That leaves who, exactly?
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On Saturday, Alford gave Deerfield product Hogan his third straight start in Recker’s spot. With friends and family looking on, Hogan might have been pressing a bit; he hit only 3-of-9 shots, 2-of-4 from beyond the arc.
Hogan may soon be taking a seat next to Recker. Alford promised lineup changes, which he didn’t disclose, when Iowa visits Michigan on Wednesday night.
But Alford can do only so much shuffling. This isn’t the NBA, where the waiver wire offers a quick fix. The only lineup change that is going to improve this team is getting Recker out of his sweater and back into his No. 24 jersey, and that’s not expected to happen until sometime next month.
Even when Recker does return, it’s not fair to expect much, at least not at the start. The kid will not have played in six weeks or so, and when he steps onto the floor it may be in the glare of the Big Ten or NCAA tournament.
It takes time for shooters to find their rhythm, and the big gyms in the Big Dance can be rough on long-range snipers.
All this had to be going through Alford’s mind as he watched Saturday’s disaster unfold. Alford couldn’t check himself into the game, though at times it looked as if he might be considering doing just that as his team thrashed around against a vastly outmanned opponent.
Iowa shot 36.7 percent from the floor. This was against a Wildcats defense that had been allowing Big Ten opponents to hit 49.6 percent.
Iowa didn’t fare much better against no defense, either, making only 12-of-20 free throws. Hard to blame poor free throw shooting on Recker’s absence.
For much of the afternoon the Hawkeyes looked like extras in a remake of “The Music Man,” waiting for professor Harold Hill to step off the train and strike up the band.
But I-o-way is fooling itself if it thinks one man can step up and replace Recker. Asked which Hawkeye might be up to the task, Hogan shook his head.
“It’s not a one-guy thing,” Hogan said. “It’s got to be a whole-team thing.”