Freshman Matt Gatens was not in a jovial mood following Iowa's loss at Indiana last night. He expressed much frustration and despair. Here's what he had to say, courtesy of Pat Harty's article in the Press-Citizen. (Matt Gatens mug at left--Hawkeyesports.com).--------------------------------
"We've just got to come out with more competitive spirit," Gatens said. "It's just like we didn't want to be out there. We've got to come out stronger and want to take their throats and take their hearts.
"It's frustrating right now to be a part of. But we're making strides. Without Cyrus it hurts, but you don't want to make excuses.
"In the huddle I try to pump our guys up. And in the second half I got in some of our guys' faces. And we played better.
"And if I have to do that, whatever the coaches want me to do. Some senior leadership would be good. We don't have any seniors on the floor right now. But it doesn't really matter how old we are."
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It's nice to see that someone really cares. Gatens almost single-handedly led Iowa back with a huge 21-point second half in Bloomington. He plays with the passion, fire and heart that you just can't teach, and he's not used to losing.
Gatens is crying for some support. Would someone please give it to him?
Something like this is good to read. If you didn't see this, you'd think nobody on the team cared with their lathargic play.
ReplyDeleteYou can tell by the way he plays that he cares. I wonder if the lack of fans is getting into the players' heads.
ReplyDeleteI really like Gatens and he is going to be something during his college days at Iowa. I don't know about anybody else but despite the record I think that Iowa has been pretty impressive despite the youth on the team. They are missing Anthony Tucker and Cyrus Tate. Tucker is arguably their best shooter and Tate is a big man who can grab some rebounds, although not much of a scoring threat. I think people are being too negative on this team- they have hung around in a lot of ballgames and just couldn't finish it. Hawkeyes fans need to take the good with the bad and Lickliter is starting to put the pieces in place. This team could be dangerous next year and if not next year than definitely the year after.
ReplyDeleteIt sucks as an Iowa basketball fan to watch our team get led by a freshman. Okay, if he's our best player that's one thing, but you're absolutely right- he was the only one who seemed to be able to do anything against Indiana. That was definitely one of the more frustrating games I've ever watched.
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