If there is genuine interest, IMO it would be a huge mistake to quit recruiting Mack.
Ben Krikke-- 6'9 F COMMITS to IOWA / Rienk Mast-6'9 C visiting 4/6-7 / BJ Mack-- 6'8 C visiting 4/17-19
- Thread starter HawkHoops80
- Start date
I agree nu2u. I think both Minor and Mack should continue to be targets at PF who can play the occasional minutes at C if we are in a pinch or want to go small.
I think they are very much still recruiting Minor and plan to play him with Krikke. Moves Payton down to a more natural position, a tall 3, with talented freshmen ready to be the primary reserves at all three front court positions.
a less athletic Rebraca. Most all moves below rim level and very very left handed. This is no game changer by any means. Fran Needs a rim protector, every 2 points he saves is 2 less that need to be scored.
Give us the name of the game changer that's on the way? Cmon man.
I don't know anything, but Minor would be just what Iowa needs on the boards and the defensive end.
Who said that a "game changer" was on the way? With the prospect of having only Mulvey and two true freshman at 4 and 5, this definitely helps on the offensive end. We still need help on the defensive end and the boards, unless the freshmen are even better than expected.
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No, Iowa has gone into this with wanting to get 2 bigs/forwards. Heard on the radio today that Minor is apparently the Iowa coaching staff's number 1 target now.
My point is that we get a guy that's 19-6 and 1st team all conference and for some he's not enough of a rim protector or any kind of game changer. This is clearly a position of need and Fran has got himself a good one. Is he great, no. Will he help us and immediately start? Yes. We need to get more physical, I'd agree. Another year of Patrick at the 4 or whatever position he supposedly plays is going to be rough defensively. 100% agree. All I'm saying is this guys a good get.
Thanks, that's reassuring to hear. I think Krikke and Minor would be a terrific combo. Each of their strengths complements the other's deficiencies.
100% agree with you. There also seems to be this assumption that there's just a ton of rim protecting big men in the portal which just isn't true. You want to know what happens when I sort by block % in the portal? Jordan Minor appears in the top 5 and Even Brauns is in the top 20. There's a couple up on that list that Iowa contacted that they never got traction with like Shedrick. But there are also a bunch on this list that are so bad in other areas of the game that no high majors are even pursuing them. So this myth that Fran is only recruiting a certain type of player and actively ignoring others is just not true--I hate to break it to Iowa fans, but unfortunately bigs who are both exceptional rim protectors and competent offensive players are hot commodities and likely going way above Iowa's pay range. However, Iowa is in the top 4 of one of the best defensive bigs in the country and is visiting campus on Friday. Hopefully Iowa can land him.
I don't think anyone is arguing he's a good get, what were arguing is he's not a GREAT get. With Murray leaving we are missing a go to player that can impact a game.
Where things stand now:
2023-2024 Roster (11 on Scholarship; 2 scholarships available):
FRESHMEN: 4 players
6"10" C Owen Freeman
6'0" PG Brock Harding
6'7" SF Pryce Sandfort
6'8" PF Ladji Dembele
SOPHOMORES: 2 players
6'3" PG Dasonte Bowen
6'5" SG Josh Dix
JUNIORS: 2 players
6'7" F Payton Sandfort
6'11" C Riley Mulvey
SENIORS: 3 players
6'4" G Tony Perkins
6'9" SF Patrick McCaffery
6'9 F Ben Krikke
4 Notable Walk on players:
SENIORS: 1 player
Dante Eldridge (assistant coach Courtney Eldridge's son)--walk on.
JUNIORS: 1 player
Luc Laketa-- preferred walk on.
SOPHOMORES: 1 player
Carter Kingsbury--preferred walk on.
FRESHMEN: 1 player
Amarion Nimmers--preferred walk on.
So Illinois just picked up Marcus Donask from Southern Illinois. Another Valley school. I’ll take a Krikke over him. Murray is a top 20 player in the draft. You think we’re going to get a line for like player in the portal? Look, I’m far from a Fran defender, but if we get Krikke and Minor that’s a great haul from the portal.
Unless Nimmers is going to be getting some run next year, I really don't understand why we aren't also prioritizing a guard.
We essentially only have 1 guard on the roster that has played significant collegiate minutes. Dix played some good minutes here and there, but almost no crunch time minutes. Bowen was essentially MIA in the conference slate. Do we really feel confident that Dix, Bowen, Nimmers, and Harding can handle the reins of the team next year?
Krikke + minor, and only losing Ulis....that would be by Far Fran's best Spring portal work.
Krikke looks like quite an offensive player...no surprise Fran likes that....little bit soft on the rebound numbers.
Agreed. Gary Close had Acie Earl and he changed his mind on importance of aRebraca was listed as 6’9”, 230. Krikke is listed as 6’9”, 235. Essentially identical.
Garza was measured 6’10” (barefoot) and 243 at the nba draft - and was heavier than that in college.
Point being, I never would have considered Garza a “rim protector” but I did think he did a helluva job banging, positioning, and eating up space on defense. Done mostly through hustle.
I think Rebraca was much the same in the hustle department - but he sure gave up a lot of size (height and weight) to typical BIG centers. Krikke is going to have the same challenge. Not saying it can’t be done - but Rebraca did a pretty damn good job for being an underdog in most of those battles.
It would be nice to have a shot-blocking rim protector, but in the BIG I think I’d rather have a space eating enforcer type than a finesse shot blocker at center. Does Ed Horton have any sons!?
Shot blocker and would rather they rebound and defend.
I get a kick out of you people who think Fran can just go out and pick up a portal player like grabbing an apple off a tree. It’s much more involved than that. You complain he doesn’t use the portal and now when he does that person is not what you wanted. Go figure!
Agreed, Krikke is a very, very, very solid pickup. On paper, better than Filip - and look how impressive Filip became.
I do.
I think all 4 will be better than Ulis.
Frans just gonna have to suck it up and live with some turnovers and he'll be fine come February.
Sounds almost exactly like what I have been saying, except that I want Minor, or someone like him, too. I don't think Patrick has played 4, and seemed to go the other direct and was guarding guards after he returned last year.
Who do you have in mind? Personally, I would not be that interested in spending a lot of effort going after the Texas Tech big, who might be the most highly ranked. We want someone who wants to play and will be on the court.
RocknRoll - I find myself agreeing with you on basketball matters it seems. I'm curious, do you see Perkins running the point for any meaningful time or rolling with the 4 you mention?
Not to mention Perkins who can play either guard spot. The Sandfort brothers can play minutes at SG, if necessary, although I don't think it's their ideal position. I agree with RocknRollface. Ulis was just a game manager and that's always replaceable. We don't have a catastrophic need at guard.
That said, the real question isn't so much whether Ulis is better than those four but rather how many guys in the portal are better than those four. I'd say, right now, the answer to that question is quite a few. Bowen/Dix have shown promise but they aren't exactly known quantities the way a transfer with loads of on court production at the D1 level can be.
I think it is telling that Fran seems to be devoting almost all of his effort in the portal to bringing in 4/5s. He and the other coaches must have a lot of confidence that Bowen and/or Harding can be effective at PG, and that Tony can also play PG effectively. I don't see Dix as a PG, but he can also play limited minutes there. We have a lot of guys competing for time at 2/3, so that is less of a concern.
Tony will have the ball a lot but I hope there's no times wheres hes the only real guard on the court.
The more guards on the floor the better IMO.
I think Bowen will break out next year if Fran doesn't stifle his aggressiveness by pulling him for every TO. Hes got the tools to get where he wants to off the dribble more so than anyone Frans had IMO, he can finish and pass.
Im hoping for a Bowen Harding rotation at pg but Harding may take a year to adjust to the physicality.
Dix should play often but at the 2/3. Hes an all around good player. It wouldn't surprise me if he's the best all around guard next year.
I have no clue on Nimmers, everything about him and his situation is baffling. I'm incredibly anxious to see what he really is.
This group of guards has the most upside of any group Frans had by a large margin.
Nimmers is the wild card. Very excited to see what we got there
Iowa desperately needed a power forward going into the offseason and Fran gets a power forward who Rivals ranks as a TOP TEN TRANSFER IN THE COUNTRY and yet some here still wanna bitch about it. What miserable little dolts some of you are
The video of him really looks very intriguing. He might be one of those guys that comes out of nowhere to add major contributions to the Hawks program - ala Kent McCausland, the Murrays in their early years, etc,
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Don’t shoot the messenger but I’m hearing some chatter that Minor is a no go for Iowa. I don’t know if that was staff or player imitated. Iowa badly needs an athletic big so I hope they keep plenty of irons in the fire.
Love to transplant what I think is Harding's court vision (his video is great) into Bowen's body. Desonte gets himself in trouble by dribbling into double teams or getting trapped among the bigs. He also pretty much looks for his shot first. I think these are learnable skills, and sure hope so.
I wonder the same thing, I think we take both if Mast wants to attend. Krikke at 5, Mast at 4, bring the newbies down low along slowly sounds pretty good to me...
I thought Dasonte flashed good vision and passing ability. Not worried about anything to do with his passing.
His success will depend on making better decisions on when to attack the lane and most importantly just getting better at absorbing contact.
The stuff he wants to do isn't going to work unless he can play through getting bumped.
