Oh what could have been. Happy for Nunge for having a great year so far but wish it was happening in the black and gold.
Xavier in the top 25
- Thread starter WestCoastHawkI
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I have watched several Xavier games and it makes me very sad to see what could have been at Iowa (Nunge's performances). He has really blossomed at Xavier and we are struggling at that position Iowa. Because of Nunge and the Xavier play I will be watching more of their games. Good team.
Frankly he was never appreciated by a lot of fans on here for what he brought in defensive intensity and rebounding when he was at Iowa. Whenever we were getting pounded on the defensive glass like we are seemingly nightly now, he was more often than not the guy that came in and put out the fire. I'm happy for him. It seems like he's in a good place.
He was appreciated, he was just snakebit. He showed great potential and I think most of us thought he would be really good if he could stay healthy. Good for him for getting himself healthy and playing well.
Jack was very much appreciated at Iowa,.. He was just a bit injury prone and always had to play in Garza's shadow,... I wish we could have kept him on...
I echo the 2 posts above. Fans liked Jack and stayed loyal to him personally even when he was injured and then transferred. His story was pretty sad. Happy that he is closer to family and having success. He deserves it.
No...jonesy is correct. Do you not remember how posters jumped all over Jack for not doing this or that (pick a skill) or like they are saying about CMac..."quit shooting the 3!" Selective memory I guess.
It was pretty bad and yes, the injuries hurt Jack and a reason for his play good or not so good but Fran did a great job recruiting both him and Garza....two very talented bigs and unfortunately, Jack is not with us today and should be.
I remember watching Jack in the Indiana State championship game which they lost against Ben Davis HS....and posted back then, this Nunge kid is a player and finally, he is showing his ability. Sometimes it takes some time too with B1Gs but Jack is good at BB.
Here is another player....a Fran committed kid that has a year to go yet but seems to be tearing it up....only going to get better too before he gets to IC. All good.
Wow. Quite an honor for a non starter.....Well done Jack..
I disagree with this and agree with the poster above who thought he was not appreciated. I got into it with a regular poster that I’m sure most on here are familiar with on Nunge.. I recall numerous posts calling him “soft”, “never should shoot a 3 again”, “we played better after he was hurt(2 seasons ago)“, “looks lost out there”, just to name a few I saw on here. I was wrong but early in his freshmen year I thought he would end up being a better player than Garza. I defended him quite a few times on here. Enough times that I disagree with “was very much appreciated“. I would say he was very much appreciated by some but hardly a majority from what I read on here.
Whats the old line? "You never know what you've got till its gone"? Jack Nunge the poster boy....
I don't remember many if any posts bashing Nunge. He was timid early on but seemed to be coming on as he gained experience.
If you can resurrect a post where he was bashed, I would be interested to see who did the bashing. I'll bet the posters were few and mostly trolls.
If you can resurrect a post where he was bashed, I would be interested to see who did the bashing. I'll bet the posters were few and mostly trolls.
You don't really have to go back to even last year to see what a fair number of people were still saying and a lot of them are regular posters on here.
This team with Nunge?
Seeing how much of a solid contributor off the bench Jack has been for Xavier makes me wonder if he was the one guy missing from this team that could've rounded things out. Yes, he's not a dominant post like Garza, but he has more size, and certainly more experience than any two posts we could...
iowa.forums.rivals.com
I resurrected a post that was bashing Nunge towards the end of last season. The person that posted it made it just before the season and continued to post negative things about Nunge throughout the season. I think he just refused to admit he was off in his “analysis“ of Jack. When I brought it up pointing out where he was wrong he pretty much went ballistic saying things like “I can’t believe I’m in your head that much”! If I brought up his name you would definitely know who it is. I actually enjoy his posts and agree with most of what he says I just happen to disagree with his “that dog won’t hunt” (exactly what he said) reference to Nunge. He even posted (paraphrasing) “I don’t care that his father died, it’s not an excuse for poor play”. THAT was why I resurrected his post last spring to throw it in his face. But really he was not alone, there were quite a few detractors.
4 out of what, 30+ posters. And those 4 are just what I said they would be, trolls. A lot of love for Jack in that thread.You don't really have to go back to even last year to see what a fair number of people were still saying and a lot of them are regular posters on here.
This team with Nunge?
Seeing how much of a solid contributor off the bench Jack has been for Xavier makes me wonder if he was the one guy missing from this team that could've rounded things out. Yes, he's not a dominant post like Garza, but he has more size, and certainly more experience than any two posts we could...
One thing a lot of people criticized Jack for over his Hawk career was his propensity to shoot threes (over two per game) at a low percentage. I know it’s something I was critical of early on, then walked back on (however, now looking at his stats over the course of his career, maybe I was right?)
Nonetheless, I’ve always said (at least going back to early 2019) that if Jack can stay healthy, he’s built like a prototypical modern NBA 5, and will have a legit chance to stick
Who cares what some people said about him? He didn’t leave because the fans didn’t buy his jersey enough lol. He wanted to be closer to family. Fran absolutely would have been glad to have him back. But he didn’t want to be so far from home and have the risk of only having another injury.
I do know early on in his development he had a tendency to have some silly turnovers but he really started showing off his top potential before his last injury.
I do know early on in his development he had a tendency to have some silly turnovers but he really started showing off his top potential before his last injury.
You’re right Jack‘s tendency for the ”silly turnover“ went from 1 turnover a game as a freshman to .9 turnovers a game last year in the same minutes per game.
Fran tried to play Jack out of position his first year, because he had no one else. I think some fans remembered how that experiment failed, and kept holding it against him. Jack would have made a huge difference this year, and also would have given us a much better team the last couple of years, if he had been healthy. Given the repeated injuries and his dad's death, I think a change was what he needed. Glad to see him doing well.
While I don't doubt that Nunge wanted to be closer to home, the fact is Xavier is still a 3 1/2 hour drive. It's not like campus is 15 minutes from his house. His friends and family can't just hop in the car, drive to the arena, grab a bite after the game, and arrive back home at a decent hour.
I suspect a lot of other elements came into play. The writing was on the wall that he would be playing center this year, and I don't think he liked playing center. I think he wanted to play a lot more outside as a stretch 4, and I'm pretty sure he felt that would give him the best chance of getting drafted.
Iowa already had one guy playing out of position in order to get PT. Keegan should have been JoeW's backup at the 3, but had to play the 4 to get on the court because both McCaffery boys needed their playing time, lest Fran would catch it from Margaret. We know Fran and Margaret have fought over the boys' playing time - Fran said as much in an interview. Clearly Margaret won the fight.
Nepotism in sports is a cancer I've experienced firsthand. I was a manager for my D2 mbb team, and we had a player whose father was athletic director. That AD was constantly pressuring the coach to play his son, and when the coach refused to cave to the pressure the AD actually fired him. Only a protest at the AD's sports hall of fame induction event got the firing rescinded.
If you think the McCaffery boys aren't playing more than they deserve, I think you're dreaming. No doubt in my mind Margaret is still pressuring Fran to play them. Just look at Kris Murray's per-40 numbers. Just behind Keegan in most categories, and one of the best 3pt shooters on this year's team. Why isn't he starting at the 3 and playing big minutes? Because that's Patrick's position, that's why.
Keegan should have been playing the backup 3 last year instead of Patrick, and Nunge should have been starting at the 4 instead of Connor. Instead Nunge was stuck getting most of his minutes backing up Garza at the 5.
Look at the stats - Nunge outperformed both McCafferys in almost every per-40 statistical category, yet played far fewer minutes than Connor and just a little more than Patrick. And the one thing Connor excelled at - assists to Garza with few turnovers - who's to say Nunge couldn't have done it too had he had more opportunity to play with Garza instead of mostly just backing him up?
I suspect a lot of other elements came into play. The writing was on the wall that he would be playing center this year, and I don't think he liked playing center. I think he wanted to play a lot more outside as a stretch 4, and I'm pretty sure he felt that would give him the best chance of getting drafted.
Iowa already had one guy playing out of position in order to get PT. Keegan should have been JoeW's backup at the 3, but had to play the 4 to get on the court because both McCaffery boys needed their playing time, lest Fran would catch it from Margaret. We know Fran and Margaret have fought over the boys' playing time - Fran said as much in an interview. Clearly Margaret won the fight.
Nepotism in sports is a cancer I've experienced firsthand. I was a manager for my D2 mbb team, and we had a player whose father was athletic director. That AD was constantly pressuring the coach to play his son, and when the coach refused to cave to the pressure the AD actually fired him. Only a protest at the AD's sports hall of fame induction event got the firing rescinded.
If you think the McCaffery boys aren't playing more than they deserve, I think you're dreaming. No doubt in my mind Margaret is still pressuring Fran to play them. Just look at Kris Murray's per-40 numbers. Just behind Keegan in most categories, and one of the best 3pt shooters on this year's team. Why isn't he starting at the 3 and playing big minutes? Because that's Patrick's position, that's why.
Keegan should have been playing the backup 3 last year instead of Patrick, and Nunge should have been starting at the 4 instead of Connor. Instead Nunge was stuck getting most of his minutes backing up Garza at the 5.
Look at the stats - Nunge outperformed both McCafferys in almost every per-40 statistical category, yet played far fewer minutes than Connor and just a little more than Patrick. And the one thing Connor excelled at - assists to Garza with few turnovers - who's to say Nunge couldn't have done it too had he had more opportunity to play with Garza instead of mostly just backing him up?
I said it at the time and I will say it again - the 2021 final four run was over the second Nunge got hurt. He was the final key to that season. And I would say he was not regularly "bashed" but he certainly was not appreciated. There were plenty of the stop shooting 3's posts and to start playing more inside. Glad to see him doing well. Pretty talented player.
Why doesn't it surprise me that in a post congratulating Nunge for having a great year, someone decides to take ANOTHER shot at McCaffery and his sons.
Maybe Nunge's leaving was a confluence of a number of factor, family being the most important and feeling a bit snakebit with injuries here at Iowa for another. The McCaffery boys weren't going to affect his play this year at all. He was definitely going to start and play big minutes and hopefully have the kind of year he's having at Xavier. I wish he was still here. and wish him continued success.
Maybe Nunge's leaving was a confluence of a number of factor, family being the most important and feeling a bit snakebit with injuries here at Iowa for another. The McCaffery boys weren't going to affect his play this year at all. He was definitely going to start and play big minutes and hopefully have the kind of year he's having at Xavier. I wish he was still here. and wish him continued success.
From https://www.indystar.com/story/spor...unge-attracting-high-major-interest/86748978/:
"Nunge, whose sister, Rebecca, is a sophomore on the Notre Dame volleyball team, said he watches how the programs recruiting him utilize their big men. A plus for Iowa is the similarity Nunge sees between himself and former Hawkeyes Jarrod Uthoff and Aaron White. The 6-10 Uthoff was a second-team All-American last year, and the 6-9 White was first-team All-Big Ten as a senior in 2015."
“They play like I play,” Nunge said. “I like to run the floor.”
No doubt Fran told him he'd be the starting center this year. Too bad that's not what Jack wanted to play. Maybe Fran would have let him continue to shoot 3's like Garza, but maybe not. Either way Fran probably wanted Jack in the low post playing back to the basket like Garza did most of the time. Simply not the style of play Nunge was interested in.
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I don't think this at all. We played Garza like that because that is how Garza played the 5. I have no doubt that Fran would utilize a big man who could stretch the floor and shoot.
Have you watched Xavier actually play this season? Have you watched the way Xavier uses Nunge? Do you think he is scoring all his points on outside jump shots?
Yes I have. Have you? I'd say he scores maybe 10% of his points on Garza-like post ups down low. He only seems to post up maybe 20% of possessions. He spends about 80% of them setting screens beyond the arc, and then rolling out beyond the arc himself being ready for a pick-and-pop 3 pointer, or rolling to the basket. Most of his points come off of cuts to the basket, getting easy layups/dunks from dishes when his man helps stop dribble penetration, offensive rebound put backs, and occasional give-and-goes and pick-and-rolls/pick-and-pops.
When he is down low, he only posts up maybe 25% of the time - the other 75% he is there for spacing purposes and not actively calling for the ball or banging for position.
To be honest, I don't think Nunge is very effective when he does get the ball posting up. Occasionally he hits his jump hook, but he generally seems to struggle with that approach.
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