I was ready to join the throng of angry hawkeyes demanding steve alford's head after the drake game, but after a couple confidence boosting blowouts of pernennial patsies at carver hawkeye arena we are looking good again and i think we are ready to be dangerous and surprise some people when big ten play begins on jan. 4th. we are such a young and inconsistent squad that it's hard to tell what kind of production we are going to get game in and game out, but those wins against georgia state, texas southern, and cornell are very valuable for building the young guys' confidence. that inconsistency is what you have to take when you have the kind of talent the hawks have this year, this is the most athletic iowa squad i have seen in a while, more than last year, but it will take a while before this squad surpasses last year's in quality. adam haluska has had 1 or 2 games when his shot has been off but his reliable scoring and three point shooting has carried us and he is the unquestioned leader of the team, while tyler smith has been a pleasant surprise with his ability to score with either hand and his boosts of athleticism. the return of mike henderson has been important in solidifying the point guard position, as he brings a tight handle and a veteran playmaker's calm to the point that noone else has on the roster. tony freeman has been a big disappointment so far, especially with shot selection, but he is a talented scorer no doubt. newcomer justin johnson has shown an impressive stroke from 3-point range, whle cyrus state has shown toughness, athleticism, and a willingness to bang, but he doesn't have much offensive skill and he can be a hack. the center position is our main problem and the major reason that we have such trouble rebounding the ball. seth gorney has good touch and can finish but his game is rooted to the ground and he is slow as molasses for a D1 center, while kurt looby has athleticism and long arms, but he is extremly skinny and gets pushed around quite a bit. as far as our positioning for the unofficial state championship we didn't do so well once again like last year, we beat iowa state pretty easily but lost a heartbreaker to northern iowa and got embarassed in that infamous drake game. iowa state is not very good this year, they don't play much defense, don't have an inside presence, or much of a go-to scorer, they just jack up shots. northern iowa was supposed to have a down year this season with the graduating of their big time scorer ben jacobsen but they have rode their post presence erik coleman to some big victories, with the main ones coming against MVC power witchita state and that come from behind victory over my hawks. drake is still playing the way all tom davis teams do, running up and down the court and pressuring like crazy, subbing in a new starting 5 every timeout, and we came out with no energy, no shots falling, and no efffort on the boards or on defense and we just couldn't keep up with their pace. i will be back with updates after the big michigan state big ten opener at home.