Harding is better than I expected on defense, but Dix is by far the best perimeter defender, plus he can swing down a guard other team's forwards. When "his man" gets open, it is almost always because he is covering for someone not playing good defense. Harding's size will always be a challenge, but he makes the most of what he has.
Dasonte Bowen has entered the Transfer Portal (Commits to St. Bonaventure). He was supposed to be "the" PG that Fran finally landed
- Thread starter Franisdaman
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I would lock Harding in the gym for 6 months and tell him he can only shoot 3's.
But yes they should be a great Pick & Roll tandem for a few years.
If Tony and Dasonte do not come back next year, things will be interesting at PG.
As of now, we have 11 scholarship players on the roster for next season, where Dasonte (assuming he's back) & Brock are the only true PGs.
3 guards. 8 forwards/centers on next season's roster.
Freshmen
6'7" PF Cooper Koch
6'8" PF Chris Tadjo
Sophomores
6'10" C Owen Freeman
6'0" PG Brock Harding
6'7" PF Pryce Sandfort
6'8" PF Ladji Dembele
Juniors
6'3" PG Dasonte Bowen
6'5" SG Josh Dix
6'11" C Riley Mulvey-- on Nov 13, 2023 it was announced that Riley was redshirting the 2023-2024 season. He was originally scheduled to graduate in 2025
Seniors
6'7" F Payton Sandfort
6'9" F/C Even Brauns
Fran would desperately need another PG, or at least a combo guard.
Which means he'll probably bring in a 6'6ish "shooter". Possibly related to him.
It will be an interesting offseason.
Tony & PMac said preseason that they expected this to be their last year at Iowa.
Will Dasonte stick around? If not, we are down to 10 scholarship players.
Will Riley Mulvey stick around? If not, we could be down to 9 scholarship players. Obviously, Riley has not shown much, but the roster could really, really contract.
His shot needs a transformation. He shoots like a girl (& I don't mean CC), from the chest level push shot.
We have completely different viewpoints on his defense. He rarely stays in front of his man & gambles way too much. Yeah, he'll get an occasional steal from it, but more often than not his player will get by him which put his teammates in jeopardy of fouling or giving up an open three. It may seem like he's "active" but he's reaching too much & getting beat off the dribble drive.
I think Harding can improve quite a bit defensively. He has the quickness to stay in front of people so he should get better with experience and strength. You can't add inches, but the kid plays with a chip on his shoulder and that mentality can help offset some of those height mismatches that he runs into. There are plenty of smallish guards that excel at this level. He can too.
BirdistheWord
HR Heisman
I was not basing my observation solely on the steal stat but was only providing as evidence. He is the most disruptive on ball defender, which does involve some gambles. But his consistent effort is desperately needed. He will learn with experience but for a team with guys like Krikke and PMac, who log a shit ton of minutes and play zero defense, it is funny to see Harding get Nit picked.
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That would be the fans fault. Only 400 Swarm donors are season ticket holders in any sport according to Brad Heinrichs. I am both. More people should be.
I agree. His quickness allows him to stay in front or on the hip of his guy which is a plus defensively.
Yeah it is a weird shot, I swear sometimes the ball doesn't even do one rotation
I agree on the effort & he does have the quickness. Experience will help immensely. I only nit pick him because the Moline/QC guys seem to think he walks on water, turns it into wine, and serves loaves of bread to the masses... someone has to counter the Brock-sanity going on with some of these guys. lol
So Jack is going to forego his senior year of high school and join the Hawkeyes next year? YAY! lol
Curiosity question.....what happened to the guard that was not on scholarship and put a tape out there from a practice(s) that looked great....can't remember his name. I am not advocating his return. I was just curious.
I believe you are thinking of Amarion Nimmers. He is currently averaging 7.6 points a game for Indian Hills CC. Sixth highest on the team.
My point was Jack McCaffery could forgo his senior year (reclassify) of HS, like Riley Mulvey did & join the team next year. Of course I was joking.
All these facts are just confusing everyone....
i'll use the sarcasm font next time.
I believe that the guards on the current roster are probably the best group Fran has had.
BirdistheWord
HR Heisman
Also from the QC’s, so walks on water, water into wine, and loaves of bread to the masses.
Yes, I'm from the Quad Cities, particularly Moline, I graduated from Moline and have watched over 65 some years of Moline basketball. You what to know why I'm so high on Brock Harding? He is the best point guard that I've ever seen come threw Moline and that includes the rest of the Quad City area schools.
Was he a point guard that was destined to play for blue bloods, no, but pound for pound Harding has all the tools to eventually become all Big Ten and maybe lead Iowa to where they haven't been to in 25 years.
If you go back a few years ago, Tony Perkins had to go though the same growing pains playing limited minutes as veterans played the most meaningful minutes, Brock is going through the same path.
The young man just has the "it factor" and all he needs is more strength and experience. I have no doubt that if Harding was given the same opportunity that Freeman was given, he too would be a starter, but Iowa needs scoring and Perkins and Dix are starting and Brock is getting the right minutes of playing time. enjoy Brocks time on the court, it's only going to get better.
Was he a point guard that was destined to play for blue bloods, no, but pound for pound Harding has all the tools to eventually become all Big Ten and maybe lead Iowa to where they haven't been to in 25 years.
If you go back a few years ago, Tony Perkins had to go though the same growing pains playing limited minutes as veterans played the most meaningful minutes, Brock is going through the same path.
The young man just has the "it factor" and all he needs is more strength and experience. I have no doubt that if Harding was given the same opportunity that Freeman was given, he too would be a starter, but Iowa needs scoring and Perkins and Dix are starting and Brock is getting the right minutes of playing time. enjoy Brocks time on the court, it's only going to get better.
My post was jokingly referencing post #218 above.
I like Harding and think he has what it takes to run this offense. Not quite yet, but soon down the road. He’s not far off, IMO. His court vision is unseen in the college game and even more so for a freshman.
I’d go with Chasson Randle being the best QCA PG, but I get your point.
Dasonte did not play again tonight as Iowa wins at Michigan State, 78-71.
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