3-2-1: Hawkeye hoops underway
The Hawkeyes hope to get Luka Garza back on the court in a few more weeks.
Tom Kakert • HawkeyeReport.com
@hawkeyereport
This week in 3--2-1 with the Iowa football team on a bye and college basketball practice getting underway, we go heavy on Hawkeye hoops. We look at when Luka Garza is expected back on the court, a challenging early schedule, the potential starting lineup, if the defense can be fixed, and a bold prediction about freshman standout Joe Wieskamp.
THREE THINGS WE LEARNED
NEW PREMIUM SEATING
There’s a new addition to the seating at Carver-Hawkeye Arena this winter for basketball and wrestling. It’s what the University of Iowa is calling Terrace Tables and they are located at the top of the arena and will feature food and beverage service at all home basketball games and wrestling meets.
The seating won’t come cheap. The table seats four and will run you $6,500 for season tickets. For wrestling, it’s $2,250 bucks and both also include a parking pass and access to the Feller Club room. The big news is that this also includes food service (yes, even the famous Carver soft serve ice cream) and beverages (including beer and wine).
I think we all knew that this day would come to Carver-Hawkeye Arena. While they are “premium” seats, they are at the top of the arena, so the only advantage to those seats is a quick exit after the game ends. It will be interesting to see how the sales go in the first year for these tables. I think there’s a market for this type of seating for Iowa basketball, but I also believe that the fans who would take advantage of this are probably going to be attracted to it if it were close to the action.
LUKA GARZA SURGERY RETURN TIMELINE
It was a real surprise earlier this month when Iowa sent out a press release that Luka Garza would be sidelined due to the removal of a cyst from his abdomen. Thankfully the cyst was benign and that was the best news coming from the press release.
Now the question is when will the sophomore center who averaged 12.1 points per game be back on the court?
The press release on September 7th, just after his surgery, said the 6-foot-11 center would be out indefinitely and with any surgery of this nature, it’s always kind of undetermined. The cyst was ten pounds in size, so even for a big man like Gaza, that’s a rather large removal. The best guess right now according to sources close to the program is that Garza should be fully cleared six weeks post surgery, which will put him back on the court in late October.
I would suspect that Iowa will take a fairly conservative approach, at least initially, in getting him back and active on the court. The Hawkeyes first game is an exhibition against Guilford on November 4th, followed by the official season opener against UMKC on November 8th. By the time Iowa heads to New York City on November 15th for the 2K Classic to face Oregon and then either Syracuse or UCONN the following day, he should be closing in on being full strength.
EARLY SCHEDULE IS PRETTY CHALLENGING
While we are on the topic of the 2K Classic, I know it’s fashionable to attack Iowa’s early season schedule and say it’s not very challenging, particularly in the non-conference slate of games. However, for the second straight year and moving forward, there will be a pair of Big Ten games in early December and that’s going to impact how Big Ten teams schedule their non-conference slate of games.
As mentioned, on November 15th and 16th, Iowa will face a national ranked Oregon team that is one of the favorites in the Pac 12 this season. Then they potentially face a Syracuse team that should be pretty good this year or UCONN, who is in a transition year under a new coaching staff.
It gets even more challenging starting in late November into early December. The good news is Iowa will play most of those games at home. They open this stretch by hosting Pitt in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. Like UCONN, Pitt was really bad last year and they have a new coach starting his first year. Then they dive into Big Ten play on Friday night, November 30th by hosting Wisconsin, who many believe could be back in the top four of the Big Ten after a tough year last season. That is followed by a trip to Big Ten favorite Michigan State on December 3rd and then hosting a much improved Iowa State team on December 6th.
I know some folks will focus on the Alabama State, Savannah State, and Bryant’s on the Iowa schedule, but when you throw in a pair of games against two of the better teams in the Big Ten, the early season schedule is going to be very challenging for Iowa.
McCaffery's challenge...getting his team to play better defense.
TWO QUESTIONS
WHAT DOES THE STARTING LINEUP LOOK LIKE?
Most coaches will tell you that they are generally more concerned about the players that finish the game on the floor and not as much who starts, but fans really enjoy focusing on the starters.
With that in mind, Iowa will have some interesting decisions when it comes to the starting lineup.
I think it’s certain that three players are in the starting lineup. There’s virtually no way that Luka Garza (once fully healthy), Tyler Cook, and Jordan Bohannon aren’t in the starting lineup. Those are easy decision in my book.
So, Iowa has their starting point guard, power forward, and center. What about shooting guard and small forward? My sense is there are three players who could end up being starters. The first is senior Nicholas Baer. While he didn’t shoot the ball as well in his junior year after breaking his finger early in the year, Baer is a very consistent player. The second is shooting guard Isaiah Moss, who has been the starter at that position for basically the last two years. The third is four star true freshman Joe Wieskamp, who most believe is one of Iowa’s top three players on the roster this year.
My guess is that it’s either Baer at the small forward with Moss at shooting guard, at least early in the year or Wieskamp at the small forward and Moss at the shooting guard. There’s a chance that Wieskamp starts ahead of Moss at the two guard because he’s a dynamic offensive player and he would give Iowa a better rebounder at the position.
CAN THIS TEAM PLAY BETTER DEFENSE?
Iowa fans certainly hope so and frankly, I don’t think it’s possible for them to be worse than last year.
To refresh everyone just how bad it was, Iowa allowed 78.9 points per game last season. Opposing teams made 8.6 three’s against the Hawkeyes last year and shot 37.6% from beyond the arch.
According to KenPom.com, Iowa’s adjusted defense was ranked 242 out of 351 D1 schools. Only Washington State from the list of power five schools, was ranked worse than Iowa. Their three point field goal defense ranked 307th according to KenPom.com and 326th as far as turnovers created by their defense.
Iowa’s offense was actually very good last year, averaging almost 80 points per game. Their adjusted offense, according to KenPom.com was 19th in the country. If they can reproduce that level of offensive efficiency and become a middle of the pack defensive team, Iowa could move from 14 wins last year to pushing 20 in 2019.
The biggest question is can this team improve defensively?
Given that the entire team that actually played significant minutes is back, it means an impact and tone setting defender isn’t going to walk through the doors of Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Joe Wieskamp could and probably will help, but this really comes down to the returning players getting better.
The defensive end of the floor has been a focus for the Iowa coaches in the off-season. As we chronicled last year, the Hawkeyes haven’t been a good defensive team under Fran McCaffery when he hasn’t had Adam Woodbury, Mike Gesell, and Anthony Clemmons on the roster.
What can they change? It’s highly unlikely that McCaffery changes from being a coach who switches between man to man and zone defense. He’s probably not going to bring the pack line defense to Iowa City this year. I think it simply comes down to the coaching staff getting the players to buy into the idea that defense is just as important as offense. I think we will find out fairly early in the year if this year’s Iowa team will decide to become better defense or if it will be more of the same.
I think this group is capable of being better on the defensive end of the floor, but it will come down to effort and desire.
PREDICTION
Much has been written and said about freshman guard Joe Wieskmap. The four star prospect from Muscatine has already impressed everyone in Iowa City and I fully expect that he will be on the Big Ten’s All Freshman team at the end of the season.
The Hawkeyes hope to get Luka Garza back on the court in a few more weeks.
Tom Kakert • HawkeyeReport.com
@hawkeyereport
This week in 3--2-1 with the Iowa football team on a bye and college basketball practice getting underway, we go heavy on Hawkeye hoops. We look at when Luka Garza is expected back on the court, a challenging early schedule, the potential starting lineup, if the defense can be fixed, and a bold prediction about freshman standout Joe Wieskamp.
THREE THINGS WE LEARNED
NEW PREMIUM SEATING
There’s a new addition to the seating at Carver-Hawkeye Arena this winter for basketball and wrestling. It’s what the University of Iowa is calling Terrace Tables and they are located at the top of the arena and will feature food and beverage service at all home basketball games and wrestling meets.
The seating won’t come cheap. The table seats four and will run you $6,500 for season tickets. For wrestling, it’s $2,250 bucks and both also include a parking pass and access to the Feller Club room. The big news is that this also includes food service (yes, even the famous Carver soft serve ice cream) and beverages (including beer and wine).
I think we all knew that this day would come to Carver-Hawkeye Arena. While they are “premium” seats, they are at the top of the arena, so the only advantage to those seats is a quick exit after the game ends. It will be interesting to see how the sales go in the first year for these tables. I think there’s a market for this type of seating for Iowa basketball, but I also believe that the fans who would take advantage of this are probably going to be attracted to it if it were close to the action.
LUKA GARZA SURGERY RETURN TIMELINE
It was a real surprise earlier this month when Iowa sent out a press release that Luka Garza would be sidelined due to the removal of a cyst from his abdomen. Thankfully the cyst was benign and that was the best news coming from the press release.
Now the question is when will the sophomore center who averaged 12.1 points per game be back on the court?
The press release on September 7th, just after his surgery, said the 6-foot-11 center would be out indefinitely and with any surgery of this nature, it’s always kind of undetermined. The cyst was ten pounds in size, so even for a big man like Gaza, that’s a rather large removal. The best guess right now according to sources close to the program is that Garza should be fully cleared six weeks post surgery, which will put him back on the court in late October.
I would suspect that Iowa will take a fairly conservative approach, at least initially, in getting him back and active on the court. The Hawkeyes first game is an exhibition against Guilford on November 4th, followed by the official season opener against UMKC on November 8th. By the time Iowa heads to New York City on November 15th for the 2K Classic to face Oregon and then either Syracuse or UCONN the following day, he should be closing in on being full strength.
EARLY SCHEDULE IS PRETTY CHALLENGING
While we are on the topic of the 2K Classic, I know it’s fashionable to attack Iowa’s early season schedule and say it’s not very challenging, particularly in the non-conference slate of games. However, for the second straight year and moving forward, there will be a pair of Big Ten games in early December and that’s going to impact how Big Ten teams schedule their non-conference slate of games.
As mentioned, on November 15th and 16th, Iowa will face a national ranked Oregon team that is one of the favorites in the Pac 12 this season. Then they potentially face a Syracuse team that should be pretty good this year or UCONN, who is in a transition year under a new coaching staff.
It gets even more challenging starting in late November into early December. The good news is Iowa will play most of those games at home. They open this stretch by hosting Pitt in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. Like UCONN, Pitt was really bad last year and they have a new coach starting his first year. Then they dive into Big Ten play on Friday night, November 30th by hosting Wisconsin, who many believe could be back in the top four of the Big Ten after a tough year last season. That is followed by a trip to Big Ten favorite Michigan State on December 3rd and then hosting a much improved Iowa State team on December 6th.
I know some folks will focus on the Alabama State, Savannah State, and Bryant’s on the Iowa schedule, but when you throw in a pair of games against two of the better teams in the Big Ten, the early season schedule is going to be very challenging for Iowa.
McCaffery's challenge...getting his team to play better defense.
TWO QUESTIONS
WHAT DOES THE STARTING LINEUP LOOK LIKE?
Most coaches will tell you that they are generally more concerned about the players that finish the game on the floor and not as much who starts, but fans really enjoy focusing on the starters.
With that in mind, Iowa will have some interesting decisions when it comes to the starting lineup.
I think it’s certain that three players are in the starting lineup. There’s virtually no way that Luka Garza (once fully healthy), Tyler Cook, and Jordan Bohannon aren’t in the starting lineup. Those are easy decision in my book.
So, Iowa has their starting point guard, power forward, and center. What about shooting guard and small forward? My sense is there are three players who could end up being starters. The first is senior Nicholas Baer. While he didn’t shoot the ball as well in his junior year after breaking his finger early in the year, Baer is a very consistent player. The second is shooting guard Isaiah Moss, who has been the starter at that position for basically the last two years. The third is four star true freshman Joe Wieskamp, who most believe is one of Iowa’s top three players on the roster this year.
My guess is that it’s either Baer at the small forward with Moss at shooting guard, at least early in the year or Wieskamp at the small forward and Moss at the shooting guard. There’s a chance that Wieskamp starts ahead of Moss at the two guard because he’s a dynamic offensive player and he would give Iowa a better rebounder at the position.
CAN THIS TEAM PLAY BETTER DEFENSE?
Iowa fans certainly hope so and frankly, I don’t think it’s possible for them to be worse than last year.
To refresh everyone just how bad it was, Iowa allowed 78.9 points per game last season. Opposing teams made 8.6 three’s against the Hawkeyes last year and shot 37.6% from beyond the arch.
According to KenPom.com, Iowa’s adjusted defense was ranked 242 out of 351 D1 schools. Only Washington State from the list of power five schools, was ranked worse than Iowa. Their three point field goal defense ranked 307th according to KenPom.com and 326th as far as turnovers created by their defense.
Iowa’s offense was actually very good last year, averaging almost 80 points per game. Their adjusted offense, according to KenPom.com was 19th in the country. If they can reproduce that level of offensive efficiency and become a middle of the pack defensive team, Iowa could move from 14 wins last year to pushing 20 in 2019.
The biggest question is can this team improve defensively?
Given that the entire team that actually played significant minutes is back, it means an impact and tone setting defender isn’t going to walk through the doors of Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Joe Wieskamp could and probably will help, but this really comes down to the returning players getting better.
The defensive end of the floor has been a focus for the Iowa coaches in the off-season. As we chronicled last year, the Hawkeyes haven’t been a good defensive team under Fran McCaffery when he hasn’t had Adam Woodbury, Mike Gesell, and Anthony Clemmons on the roster.
What can they change? It’s highly unlikely that McCaffery changes from being a coach who switches between man to man and zone defense. He’s probably not going to bring the pack line defense to Iowa City this year. I think it simply comes down to the coaching staff getting the players to buy into the idea that defense is just as important as offense. I think we will find out fairly early in the year if this year’s Iowa team will decide to become better defense or if it will be more of the same.
I think this group is capable of being better on the defensive end of the floor, but it will come down to effort and desire.
PREDICTION
Much has been written and said about freshman guard Joe Wieskmap. The four star prospect from Muscatine has already impressed everyone in Iowa City and I fully expect that he will be on the Big Ten’s All Freshman team at the end of the season.
