Your first paragraph is wishful thinking.
Your second, if not facetious, is evidence you're smoking rocks.
2019-2020 Expectations
- Thread starter IowaHawkeyeFBnBB4Life
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Your first paragraph is wishful thinking.
Your second, if not facetious, is evidence you're smoking rocks.
There are too many unknowns to make that type of prediction. Not to mention there are a lot of shitty teams in the B1G.
I think he meant two years ago from last season. So Jok's senior year when Iowa lost to TCU.
We will be a great shooting team with very limited athletic ability and defense. Cant see us being any better than .500 in league and our stupid Fran cycle will continue.
Based on who they lost, Defense shouldn’t be much different. The key person to replace on that side is Baer. Cook and Moss were mediocre defenders at best and very inconsistent. Not that they will be a good defensive team but should not be any worse then this year.
Offensively, should be about the same but I believe will be more consistent and efficient. It will play itself out but I really believe people will underestimate, and this be surprised, by the jump Wieskamp will make after an off-season of evaluation, working on what he saw in his first year, and getting more stronger and confident. I really believe he is going to feel emboldened to be the go-to guy and that will be a very positive thing for the team.
It's going to come down to how well Iowa can defend, which is tough to predict.
Offensively we'll have enough weapons:
Defensively, Bohannon is always going to be a liability and the team will likely again struggle. Losing Baer, Cook, and Moss won't help our defense, but I'm not sure it should hurt our defense that much either as I wouldn't call any of those players lock down defenders. Defensive performance is tough to predict though, because it often doesn't boil down to individual players but rather how the team plays collectively. Case in point, after Jok graduated in 2017, our defense went from 123rd to 242nd in the country. I don't know how to explain that because Jok wasn't a defensive stopper by any means.
Offensively we'll have enough weapons:
- Bohannon is small and slow, but he is one of the best shooters to go to Iowa. His quick release and range make him a threat as soon as he passes half court. He's an efficient offensive player even if he can't dribble drive - he take extremely difficult 3-pointers and still hits them at a 38%+ clip.
- Garza has amazing touch down low and can hit outside jumpers as well. He's a serviceable 3 point shooter, but that's not where he's at his best. With Cook gone, I expect Garza will have more touches in the paint which is a good thing for him.
- Wieskamp was a very good perimeter shooter last year who showed flashes of being able to drive/slash. I expect his game to take a step forward.
- Kriener has a lot of offensive potential if he can find more consistency, which I think he might be able to do with more minutes. Like Garza, he can hit outside shots and has pretty good touch around the rim too.
- Pemsl has always been an efficient scorer in the paint so long as he can limit turnovers.
- CJF - still not sure what to expect from him, but as long as he can hit 3 pointers (which seems entirely realistic) then he's at least a suitable offensive replacement for Moss.
Defensively, Bohannon is always going to be a liability and the team will likely again struggle. Losing Baer, Cook, and Moss won't help our defense, but I'm not sure it should hurt our defense that much either as I wouldn't call any of those players lock down defenders. Defensive performance is tough to predict though, because it often doesn't boil down to individual players but rather how the team plays collectively. Case in point, after Jok graduated in 2017, our defense went from 123rd to 242nd in the country. I don't know how to explain that because Jok wasn't a defensive stopper by any means.
That is not good. And it was actually 29%. But that did boost his stats from 3pt land from 14%. To above 20% for the season. That does show improvement, I guess.
IMHO if Joe T plays anything close to his reel, and Connor continues to shoot horribly, then Joe deserves ALL of CMac's minutes. A lot on here liked Connor for his passing, and it is good. However a PG that cannot shoot, nor take it to the basket, poses near zero offensive threat, and that destroys your spacing.
That noted if he drastically improves his shot, he will be an entirely different player. Fingers crossed!
Why do people think that Connor can’t get to the basket? It’s one of his best attributes. There’s a reason he got to the line so much.
Same here as well.
Anything short of an NCAA tournament bid will be quite the disappointment though.
Hahahahaha
Less deluded than you?
I chalk it up to solid parenting, study, and clean living.
He is actually not that great at getting to the basket. Connor is good at drawing a foul though. I will give him that. Now if he can learn to get to the basket and finish, that would be excellent.
Joe W is our only player left that can do so, and he has a lot of work to do on that. I look for to him really step it up this year...
Basically once he got scouted he stopped getting to the line. He's not afraid of contact, which is good. He shot 5 FT's against UMKC, 8 against Green Bay, then 4 against Oregon and 11 against UConn, who were the dumbest team Iowa played all year. He also shot 10 FT's against Western Carolina and 8 against Iowa State (also a dumb team). In Big 10 play his most FT attempts were against Rutgers (6) and Wisconsin (4). Big Ten teams figured out he couldn't shoot and backed off.
There are some aspects of his game to like, but having your primary ballhandler when on the floor shot 20% from 3-point range impacts the entire team.
Agreed ... he’s not a prototypical penetrating PG but he got to the basket and finished or got to he line more then both starting guards.
I’m becoming really confused on the inconsistencies of fans and what they “see”. Is it just because they have such disdain for Fran? Connor not only got to the FT line MORE then Moss - in less time on the floor - he also finished more often then Moss did.
Yes, Moss’s one big plus was his shooting stroke (when he was engaged and confident) and he is a better shooter then Connor without a doubt. However, he was much more consistent in driving, finishing, and getting to the line then Moss.
Connor is not a world-beater and he’s not ready to be a starter (and he might never be). He is a better passer, ballhandler, decision-maker, tougher, and overall just as good defensive player (at least more consistent) as the starting SG a lot of people are so worried about being gone next year. Some people says things like Connor isn’t Big Ten material and doesn’t deserve to play, then what does that say about Moss?
With younger and inexperienced players you can expect games where they surprise and seem very good and other games where they are brutally flawed. The first half of the season will likely be difficult but the second half will show significant improvement. Just the nature of the game.
None of the players that left were good at finishing at the rim consistently either. Moss was awful at drawing fouls AND finishing at the rim. Connor was way stronger then Moss in this part of the game. In fact, Moss was a turnover waiting to happen anytime he dribbled more then 2-3 times. Cook had his moments finishing but often came up short. He definitely could draw fouls, which unfortunately was hindered by his FT shooting (which was even worse in big situations). Baer was non-existant attacking the rim in that way.
I agree but it is realistic to think the core players (the starters) won’t be too inexperienced. 7 of the 10 regulars will all have gone through the grind. If they can get 1-2 of the 3 new guys to be solid and reliable - and it should be reasonable to think they won’t be leaned on heavily - will have solid foundation.
Connor is a really really good element to have on this team.....he is a big, strong, intelligent guard that happens to be a good free throw shooter and a pretty good ball handler. IF and I mean IF, he adds a reasonably consistent outside shot you are looking at a really good 2nd or 3rd PG to come in and play relief minutes and to help finish off games. Because he is strong with the ball, a good passer, and a good free throw shooter he is particularly good when the Hawks have the lead late in the game.
I think his time spent playing/practicing baseball keeps him away from spending as much time working on his basketball game as he would if he weren't playing baseball.....and that gives other players on the team the chance to play minutes ahead of him (JBO obviously but also Joe T coming in)..in the end a net gain in my opinion. The coaches son playing an important role but in limited minutes....good for the team and good for the chemistry of the team. Now, someone will bring up Moss and losing minutes due to Connor....not good for team chemistry. Anyone who has read my posts on Isaiah knows that I was a big fan. As a big fan of Isaiah's I put losing minutes down the stretch on him......he had a lot of time (4 years counting the redshirt) to improve his handle, improve his defense, and assert himself more offensively....but down the stretch Connor was the better player at crunch time. Like I said, I like Isaiah a lot AND I think is is a very bad move for him to leave the team. Put in the work, do what you need to do to shore up your game, and come back and have a really strong year....going somewhere else he MIGHT get new coaching that corrects those issues, but most likely it is Isaiah who needs to correct those deficiencies.
Bottom line, Connor improves that outside shot and we have a really really good 2nd/3rd team PG. He did have key drives at key times. He was effective in getting to the basket, scoring or getting fouled.....very happy that we have him on this team.
This has been a huge problem in the Fran era, IMHO... Who was the last Hawkeye to be a finisher at attacking the rim? Marble? Dang.... We should have two, or more, on the team at any given year. Now we have just Joe. And I am saying that hoping that he develops that part of his game more.
I don't see reasons to be bullish or bearish based solely on what we know has left and what is coming back.
They may not drop off much, if any, offensively. But that's not really been their problem.
Will they be any better defensively? I have no idea. They lost guys that were not great defenders, except Baer's old man game and sneakiness will be missed. But two of the three big offensive weapons are not even average defenders. And neither Bohannon or Garza is likely to get any quicker on that end.
If they don't move their kenpom D ranking up much from the 130s it's not likely they'll be better than middle of the pack B1G.
When was the last time a bad defensive team finished top 3 in the league?
They may not drop off much, if any, offensively. But that's not really been their problem.
Will they be any better defensively? I have no idea. They lost guys that were not great defenders, except Baer's old man game and sneakiness will be missed. But two of the three big offensive weapons are not even average defenders. And neither Bohannon or Garza is likely to get any quicker on that end.
If they don't move their kenpom D ranking up much from the 130s it's not likely they'll be better than middle of the pack B1G.
When was the last time a bad defensive team finished top 3 in the league?
Although not quite as bad as Iowa’s D last year, Michigan won the B1G in 2014 by 3 games with an AdjD of 89. But, yes, it’s super rare to struggle at the D end of the court and finish in the top 3 in the B1G.
While that was not a good performance, Iowa would have to improve nearly 50 spots to get to that level.
If the Hawks make it into the 80s for kenpom D this year, and the offense doesn't fall off, that bodes very well for a possible top 5 showing in the league. It could happen, but I'll believe it when I see it.
Iowa finished 111 in AdjD last year so it’s closer than 50 spots. We can also guess that if that Michigan squad finished at 111 in 2014 they still would have finished top 3 since they won the league by 3 games. Regardless, Iowa needs to improve their D dramatically if they want to compete for Top 3 in the B1G and, more importantly to me, advance past that first weekend in the tournament.
Funny how a lot of posters here don't even mention Patrick Mccaffery. Is this forgetfulness? Or just an assumption that the fourth highest rated recruit in Fran's era will be so ineffective that he'll have to redshirt?
Fine, he's too skinny. But JoeT is 5'11, 165 lb. CJF is 6'4, 165 lb. Pemsl has a knee built from MacGyver scraps. These guys all have glaring physical flaws. It seems like Pat's biggest problem isn't his weight but his dad's unlikeability.
Agreed - that has been an issue. I am confident (optimistic) that Joe will improve on that and his mid-range game this year.
Maybe Touissant and Frederick can offer more then what they have been getting.
From having seen him play in-person a few times, I do have concerns about how he will handle the physicalness and grind in the Big Ten. However, I think a lot of the lack of talk about him is that the position he is going to play is the one of least need. Assuming he doesn't redshirt, he seems likely to fill in right behind Wieskamp in the back-up role. Wieskamp will likely be the team's best player and play the most minutes. So it is realistic to think that Patrick probably won't play much more then 10 minutes per game this year.
I do think he will bring some positives, especially picking up some of the things that Baer brought to the table. He could be a force at the top of the press with his length, athleticism, and high bball IQ. I think he will block some shots and get his fair share of steals as well. Also, he is good ball handler for a Forward and I think will sneak in for some garbage rebounds and points.
Therefore, I think it's more of a case of people just concentrating on next year, where he might not see a ton of minutes but I still think he will make some big contributions over his career.
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This is a fair breakdown. I don't think Iowa should be considered a Top 3 team at this point (need to see the improvements from returning players and how the new players fit in) but as I stated before, I think they will be just if good if not a little better.
Yes, Connor had a poor shooting season. His play fell off pretty considerably at the end of the non-conference. It was almost like he sustained a concussion or something…
Have not seen JoeT live but CJF has to be about 190 when I saw him play HS
I expect the OP will predict the Hawks lose every game in both basketball and football...
One aspect of the D next year that hasn’t been mentioned is shotblocking. Cook had 18 blocked shots this season averaging almost 31 mins/game (the worst per minute average of blocks in our front court players). Garza had 17 averaging 23.6 mins. Nunge, who I think will start at PF, had 25 blocks his frosh season playing under 16 mins/game. Patrick (averaging 1.4blks/game in HS) and Wieskamp (who had 16 blocks in 27.7 mins/gm) will help off set Baer’s production there. As you know, shot blocking can make your D seem quicker than it is.
I believe Iowa will miss Baer more than most people realize.
I am confident Joe will make the improvements. Nobody outworks Joe W. No one...
Joe T and CJ look to have the potential. Man that would be fantastic if all three could attack the basket. That would really change our game big time.
I think most of us realize how important Baer was. But others will fill in the gaps he leaves.
Nick Baer played 19 minutes a game last season. He played very valuable minutes. P-Mac will likely try to fill the exact same role as Baer.
I agree that Weezy should be our focal point next year, but we dont have anyone else on the roster who can play the 3. Injuries and fouls are always a problem for forwards. If P-Mac can ball, he will be crucial next year.
I am confident Joe will make the improvements. Nobody outworks Joe W. No one...
Joe T and CJ look to have the potential. Man that would be fantastic if all three could attack the basket. That would really change our game big time.
I agree on Patrick but I guess I am not expecting Patrick to completely take over Baer’s roles. I think that’s asking a lot but I think he can fill some of that void.
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