Evelyn

[paladinhawk]

I don't know a lot about him, but thought I heard that he was the top player at Valpo. So he's used to being THE guy and the ball in his hands? Maybe he just needed more minutes and time at PG?

He had a really good sophomore season, but didn't shoot as well last year. Hopefully he's finding his mojo.

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/player/_/id/3911894/bakari-evelyn

 

[crstuff]

Seems like Evelyn natural position is point guard so this could be very good for him and great for our team as a whole

 

[Ronman]

I think we all figured that there was a reason McCaffery brought a transfer in, we just hadn't seen the reason until last night. Now hopefully, this will be the norm from Bakari rather than the exception.

 

[The Deplorable Sleeping Dog]

Bakari could be one of those glue guys that bring maturity to an otherwise pretty young team. Another really likeable player on a really likeable team.

 

[Bulldogs1974]

Let’s all slow our roll. He didn’t look like he should be playing at all early in the season. He had his first really good game and joe had his first really bad game. These things tend to even out.

 

[Hawksfor3]

Is it his shoes?

And I thought Fran was joking about this during the presser.

 

[kceasthawk]

And I thought Fran was joking about this during the presser.

I was surprised he said anything, but the fact that he did tells me it was top of the mind awareness.

 

[Georgia_Hawk]

I haven't read thru all the threads, so this may have been mentioned before. But if so, it is worth repeating. With Joe T getting yanked early and riding the pine for a lot of the game, he could have easily gone into "pout mode". But he didn't, he cheered his team on and stayed engaged in the game. Big positive sign.

 

[Fran-Con-2]

Let’s all slow our roll. He didn’t look like he should be playing at all early in the season. He had his first really good game and joe had his first really bad game. These things tend to even out.

Without J-Bo, we only have about 6 players who meaningfully contribute. We can't compete in the B10 with only 6 viable players and 0 guards coming off the bench. It was CRUCIAL that someone else stepped up.

And Bakari stepped up.

Bakari proved he can fill that back-up role and give the team solid minutes when asked of him.

Yea, things probably will even out. Yea, we can't ask him to drop 15 every game. But if Bakari can give us 6-8 points, be a 3-point threat to keep opposing teams honest, and play good defense, then our chances of being competitive substantially increase.

Even if Bakari gives us 2/3's of what he gave us Saturday, it will be valuable to this team. That's something to be excited about.

 

[Hawkeyes4Life32]

I said this in a earlier thread about JBo sitting when taking about divvying up minutes.

In his prior appearances Bakari looked like he belonged on the court. He was doing things well on offense except he wasn’t looking for his shot and as such when he did shoot it he didn’t do it with confidence. Can you blame him when you have 3-4 great shooters on the floor with you at the same time? His ball movement and spacing were good. Plus his defense was good. He just was shooting like garbage in the limited shots he took.

Last night he had to be more assertive and hunt for his shots. First one goes in and his confidence goes through the roof. But he still knew not to force it. There was one offensive rebound that got kicked out to him wide open. But he knew CJ was wide open just to his right and is a better shooter, so he kicked it over for a nice assist on a 3 pointer.

I don’t think we want him playing 30 a game moving forward, but 25 or so could be very good if he keeps up the confidence. His minutes should help the defense though.

That pass to CJ really says a lot about Bakari as a player. He knows he has guys around him and can find shooters and feed the post. His minutes are going vary from game to game and I think we'll see games like last night and also games where Joe T takes the show and plays a ton of mins. They are both solid options at point guard going forward

 

[HoustonREDHawk]

Bakari was a lifesaver, given the moment seemed too big for JoeT. I expect Bakari to be more consistent than JoeT, but not to shoot as well as we saw last night. JoeT needs to get big minutes in the next game to help get his feet under him.

 

[unIowa]

Evelyn played fantastic last night when the team needed him to step up, good on him. JoeT seemed to be a bit amped up starting his first game, that is expected to happen time to time w a true frosh. I hope Fran continues to start JoeT but Evelyn showing he can stand in and deliver is HUGE for this team right now.

 

[amahawk]

One of his former team mates played for Cincy.

 

[Zildjian6868]

That was a big game for our depth. Especially after losing 3 players that would each receive between 20 to 30 minutes of playing time a piece. Pmac may be able to return but in the case that he has to sit this year Iowa does have a good potential 8 man rotation. Not only did Bakari prove that he can provide solid minutes, pemsl also played within himself and made some quality plays. We played the sloppiest game of the year with turnovers and missed free throws and still beat cincy on a neutral site. With new role players and all the injuries it’s almost like this team is restarting the season. They looked like they were playing there first game of the year against cincy and I think that is the sloppiest we will see them play the rest of the year. I am feeling better about the team not hitting a wall after see the good potential play out of pemsl and bakari.

 

[CanadaHawk]

Bakari was a lifesaver, given the moment seemed too big for JoeT. I expect Bakari to be more consistent than JoeT, but not to shoot as well as we saw last night. JoeT needs to get big minutes in the next game to help get his feet under him.

BK may not shoot that well every game, but his stats from his healthy season 2 years ago show he’s certainly capable of that.

Iowa could probably play the ball boys vs Kennesaw St and win. The problem will be not being sloppy. Hope BK and JoeT get plenty of minutes playing relatively efficient ball in that game.

 

[mstp1992]

I’m confident Toussant got some of those ‘first time starter’ jitters out of the way.

I was also confident Evelyn would play substantially better with consistent time on the court.

 

[Jizzer]

Let’s all slow our roll. He didn’t look like he should be playing at all early in the season. He had his first really good game and joe had his first really bad game. These things tend to even out.

Yes, nobody be excited about a transfer coming in and playing a huge role in a neutral court win last night. This is the bball forum after all, we need to always be pissed and upset.

 

[hexumhawk]

Bakari had one of his best games but I dont think you are going to be able to count on that every night going forward. I think we will need JoeT and his quickness and ballhandling as the season goes on. He just needs to settle it down some and relax.

 

[HawkRugged17]