Press Conference
Some highlights from Coach Alford's press conference on Monday:

"I think that's the area where we have the furthest to go," he said. "The two
areas that concerned us the most are our transition defense and our man-to-man
defense. Those were our two most glaring weaknesses on tape, and we're going to
spend a lot of time on those in the next two weeks."

And:

"Of the bigs, Erek was the most impressive, without question, hands down, in our
scrimmage," Alford said. "Erek had six blocks, but the thing that impressed me
the most in the practice was that he had 15 rebounds, and that's been a
concern."

Another comment I found interesting:

As far as his line is concerned, Hansen says he feels he could hit
double-doubles along with up to half a dozen blocks each game.
"That's what I'm shooting for," he said. "I've never been that strong at rebounding, so I've been trying to pick that up. I'd like to get my rebounds to about 10 a game and maybe 10 points a game."

I'll leave the double-double open to speculation, but I'd like to comment on the blocks. Six blocks a game sounds like a lot, but it's not too far-fetched. Consider this: Hansen played 253 minutes last year, during which he swatted 40 shots. At that rate (.158 blocks/minute), he would have to play 38 minutes to get those 6 blocks. If he comes anywhere close to that rate, he should easily lead the conference. Last year's leader, Courtney Sims of Michigan, blocked 68 shots in 750 minutes, or .091 blocks/minute, and averaged 2 blocks per game.

If Hansen plays in 30 games and averages 25 minutes per game, and maintains that rate from last year, he'd end up with roughly 119 blocks. Iowa's season record of 121, set by Acie Earl in the 1991-92 season, is within reach. Should be fun to keep track of.

Might Want to Read...
Hawkeye Nation has brief interviews with Pierre Pierce and Jeff Horner.

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