Hawkeyes Working Through Lineup Options

Iowa Basketball Searching for Best Backcourt Combinations

The slow starts for Iowa in recent games made it likely that a starting lineup change was coming.

That change happened in Sunday’s 71-59 win over Minnesota, when Joe Toussaint was taking out of the lineup, Tony Perkins was moved in at the ‘2’ guard spot, and Jordan Bohannon shifted over to point guard, a position he has played through almost all of his six-season career with the Hawkeyes.

Keeping this lineup intact seems likely for the short-term, but assistant coach Billy Taylor said on Tuesday anything is possible heading into Thursday’s game at Maryland.

“We haven't talked about it yet,” said Taylor, who has been acting head coach since head coach Fran McCaffery tested positive for COVID-19 last week. “We were off yesterday. We'll go in and have practice these next two days and see how things progress.

“But again, we have the mentality, all hands on deck. Everybody be ready to go. So when your name is called, step up and perform. And if guys continue to have a good attitude whatever their role is for that particular game, that will go a long way for us.”

Much of the move had to do with getting a jump-start for Bohannon, Iowa’s all-time leader in 3-point goals and assists. Bohannon has struggled with his shooting — he was 0-for-7 from the field, 0-for-4 in 3-pointers, in the overtime loss to Penn State on January 31 — and the hope of getting the ball back into his hands would mean more spacing on the floor for Iowa’s offense.

“A lot of it is getting Jordan going again,” Taylor said. “ I think it goes both ways. And we lost a couple in a row. You never want to feel like it's one guy's fault, because Joe Toussaint plays hard and contributes in so many ways for us. But we thought maybe this change could help us offensively. We've been struggling a little bit with some of our offensive efficiency. So, getting Jordan back at the point pushing the basketball, maybe that will create some more space for (forward) Keegan (Murray) to get opportunities in and around the paint.”

Bohannon hit his first two 3-pointers of the game against Minnesota, but finished 2-of-7 from the field.

“For some reason, I’ve just had a hard time getting into a rhythm at the ‘2’ guard spot the last couple of games,” Bohannon said. “Point guard is really the place I’ve been at the last five, six years here at Iowa. When I was able to move back there and get some transition threes going, I’ve been able to feel a little more like myself. (Forward) Keegan (Murray) was getting the ball in some easier spots. I was just trying to find guys. I was just trying to do what I’ve done the last couple of years at Iowa.”

“We're fortunate that Jordan made a couple of 3s early which was good,” Taylor said. “So the defense really had to be picked up on him from Minnesota's standpoint. It gave more room for the other guys for Patrick (McCaffery) or Keegan to take advantage of that space.”

Fran McCaffery had made the lineup decision before he had to go into quarantine.

“He gave me a brief call,” Bohannon said. “We’ve always had a fantastic relationship. I’ve always trusted him in what he’s decided to do. He called me a couple of days before the Ohio State game (which was postponed on Thursday because of travel and weather issues), said what he was going to do. I simply responded, ‘I just want to win. Whatever you think is possible, I’m right there with you.’”
Any change was going to have a cost, and Toussaint was the one out of the lineup. He had started every game this season, but played a season-low six minutes against Minnesota. Sophomore Ahron Ulis got the bulk of the time with Bohannon at point guard, playing 21 ½ minutes.

Taylor said he appreciated Toussaint’s attitude after the change was made, and said he could play a key role against Maryland.

“It's huge to have Joe Toussaint have that great attitude, great energy cheering on his teammates,” Taylor said. “It is important. And really speaks to the culture of your program. And the last time we played Maryland, Joe Toussaint had nine points, nine assists. He did a good job for us.

“To have Joe that can still be a positive contributor for us, because he's going to have moments where he's going to play extremely well for us. Just like Ahron Ulis stepped up, we'll need different guys to step up. It's a unique roster, unique team that we have — a lot of different guys that can play and can impact the game for us.”

When Bohannon announced he was coming back for a sixth year, it was with the intention to have Bohannon at the ‘2’ and have Toussaint as the starting point guard. Bohannon reached out to Toussaint then, and has been encouraging him throughout this change.

“I’m just trying to keep him positive,” Bohannon said. “He’s a very hard-working guy, a guy who loves to play for Iowa and to continue trying to help the team win.

“He’s always been great about taking advice from myself, and other guys on the team. You’ve seen him always do great things at Iowa. There’s still a lot of basketball left for him. He’s going to continue to work as he always has.”

“Jordan has always been a team guy,” Taylor said. “Even as we saw in the Minnesota game, especially the last 15 minutes, he was on the ball quite a bit with Ahron Ulis. So I think whether it's Jordan, Ahron, Joe Toussaint, Tony Perkins, those four guards have the ability to play on or off the ball and play with different combinations of people.

“Whether it is Ahron Ulis at the point and Bohannon at the 2, Bohannon at the 1 and Ulis is at the 2, or Tony at the 2, or Joe T. is in with Ulis and whoever is on the ball, that kind of flexibility makes our offense a little more dynamic. We're not relying on one guy to kind of be the primary ball handler/decision-maker.”