First Time I have heard about that and I delivered a morning paper with the headlines about that game.
Has a single player been more important to an Iowa team in history?
- Thread starter General Tso
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No, they don't. Caitlin Clark has had a much larger impact on her sport than Ronnie ever did. By even insinuating such a thing hurts both Lester and Clark. They should never be compared. He was a great human being and a great basketball player, but he was not up to the standards of Caitlin Clark. Just check the record books and the awards.
My all-time top 10 Hawkeye Basketball list that I saw play in the flesh would look something like this in no particular order...
Caitlin Clark
Ronnie Lester
John Johnson
B J Armstrong
Keagan Murray
Roy Marle
Luka Garza
Meagan Gustafson
Sam Williams
Acie Earl
Caitlin Clark
Ronnie Lester
John Johnson
B J Armstrong
Keagan Murray
Roy Marle
Luka Garza
Meagan Gustafson
Sam Williams
Acie Earl
This year's Iowa women's team reminds me of the 1969-70 men's hoops team of John Johnson, Fred Brown, Glenn Vidnovic, Chad Calabria, Ken Grabinski, & 'Gentle' Ben McGilmer (sp). They all had their roles and played wonderfully. The Jax U. game v Gilmore, & Pembrooke Burrows III still reminds me of what could have been. Feel the same with our five starters and bench crew. The men's team though had no one like Caitlin, but Caitlin herself always puts the team first. Let's hope we have two more games to enjoy this team.
Consider myself fortunate to attend all of Lester's games. I still believe he was the best Iowa mens basketball player to ever wear the jersey.
That said. CC is far and away the most important player to her team than anyone I have ever seen. The only comparison I have, that is close, was Earvin Johnson @ Michigan St. Maybe Ralph Sampson at Virginia. Those two were unicorns, much like Clark.
Scary to think she will continue to get better before she leaves.
That said. CC is far and away the most important player to her team than anyone I have ever seen. The only comparison I have, that is close, was Earvin Johnson @ Michigan St. Maybe Ralph Sampson at Virginia. Those two were unicorns, much like Clark.
Scary to think she will continue to get better before she leaves.
Back from Seattle. What a glorious weekend.
Stats aside, here's what stuck out to me. Neutrals travelled to see Clark and Iowa. And they were not just locals.
We made the 3-hour trip but as alums, we are vested in the team. Easy decision to attend. But, come on. We chatted with fans from Spokane (4-hours) and Bend (6-hours) who had no connection to Iowa, or any team playing this weekend, but drove to see Clark and the Hawks.
They paly exciting basketball and Clark is special. She is drawing in fans to women's basketball. Not just a generational player, she will go down as a transformational player in women's basketball.
For those of you in the neighborhood of Iowa City, enjoy it to the fullest.
Stats aside, here's what stuck out to me. Neutrals travelled to see Clark and Iowa. And they were not just locals.
We made the 3-hour trip but as alums, we are vested in the team. Easy decision to attend. But, come on. We chatted with fans from Spokane (4-hours) and Bend (6-hours) who had no connection to Iowa, or any team playing this weekend, but drove to see Clark and the Hawks.
They paly exciting basketball and Clark is special. She is drawing in fans to women's basketball. Not just a generational player, she will go down as a transformational player in women's basketball.
For those of you in the neighborhood of Iowa City, enjoy it to the fullest.
I'm not sure about that. Bluder has a good thing going on the recruiting trail this year and the next. Solid class coming in and one of the top post players in the nation the 6'5" girl from Oregon. Clark is certainly a major factor, BUT its also the job that Jensen has done with the posts, and it IS getting noticed on a national level, both by recruits and by her peers. Megan G, and Monica were transformed into 1st team AA players. Iowa has had the conference player of the year, what, like 5 years in a row now? In a stacked B1G.
Clark is transformational and I can't think of anyone who compares. I loved Ronnie Lester. He was a big reason why I became a Hawkeye basketball fan. When healthy, Ronnie had a great impact on how well the team played, but Clark takes that to level I haven't seen. As mentioned, Iowa made the tournament without Ronnie and finished maybe third in the B1G. I am not a huge follower of women's BB, but I don't think Iowa would be more than a very mediocre team without Caitlin, although she is clearly having a positive impact on recruiting.
If you throw Magic in there you have to put his alter ego Larry Bird from that final as well. NO way in Hell that Indiana STATE University is playing at that level without the Bird man......
Pete Maravich might be a better outlier than those two. Averaged 44 pts per game and great passer. No 3-pt goals or shot clock back in the day. 6 '5" big for a guard at that time.
A healthy Ronnie and we win the NC that year..
But then if Brad Lohus is just 2 inches taller we win the NC that year as well.
Iowa was one of the two best teams and would have won the B1G with a healthy Ronnie. Louisville was also very good.
Brad Lohaus height had nothing to do with anything. He was 7' tall. They just choked away a game to a very good team.
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Only reasonable comparison is Troy Skinner, and I'm not ready to anoint Caitlin to that level.
Yet.
Yet.
Really. You do know that she hits less than 39% of her threes and less than 48% overall. She actually misses more shots than she takes. Just sayin.
Remember the score at the time of his injury? It's not like Louisville and Darrell Griffith weren't in the game.
Revisionist history says Lester and Hawks were "dominating" Louisville at the time. Actual history shows game was far from over or the results conclusive.
Ronnie Lester is the obvious answer that many have already mentioned. But it’s sad because there will never be another Lester for Iowa on the men’s side. Any player with generational type talent does not come to Iowa and if one ever did it’s 1 and done. This is what makes CC even more special, she’s a generational talent that will likely stick around.
Think it was tied.....but Lester was 4-4 and scored 10 pts before he went down at the 8 minute mark of the first half. Didn't say Louisville wasn't in the game....after Lester's injury the trajectory of the game changed.
Oh, it definitely changed. But some folks have turned it into a UNLV-type lead, and now have Berkmann diving straight at Ronnie's knee ala WWE story lines.
Agree. When I watched a replay of the game a few weeks ago it was painfully obvious Lester wasn't near 100% before he went down....and still scored 10 pts. Just a crying shame really.
I'd watch his games with the Bulls on WGN and he just wasn't the same player pre Dayton injury ever again. Unfortunately for him he didn't benefit from the advances in knee surgery which made that type of injury much less catastrophic.
It helps Clark, as it did Lester, that she has been able to play with the same players for a few years in a row. She can better use her skills to facilitate their talents, and they know where to move for her to set them up. They play together as a unit on both ends of the court.
As mentioned, we will probably never see that in the men's game, where top talents are unlikely to stay for more than a year or two. As much as I loved Ronnie's game, I actually believe that Keegan had the best all-round season (offense and defense) of any player I have watched at Iowa. We didn't get to see what that would have meant to the team this year with an improved Kris and Filip, and Connor playing better BB...
As mentioned, we will probably never see that in the men's game, where top talents are unlikely to stay for more than a year or two. As much as I loved Ronnie's game, I actually believe that Keegan had the best all-round season (offense and defense) of any player I have watched at Iowa. We didn't get to see what that would have meant to the team this year with an improved Kris and Filip, and Connor playing better BB...
Clark is the type of player that can carry the team to a championship. Like Carmelo taking Syracuse to the title. That's not a prediction, but this type of player can have that type of effect. Not to mention the amount of new fans it may bring. Myself included - I paid little attention to women's hoops before Caitlin.
Thanks for pointing out that correction. I guess I’ll need to pay more attention to her misses. That sounds like fun.
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Clark is the kind of player that makes you think she is going to hit every shot she takes...I have found myself being surprised when she does actually miss.
You dont mens team with a 42 game streak with essentially a bunch of tall kids who rebound every brick flying off the rim. It looked how a dominant 8th grade team won in the 90s.
Nope. Nobody else on that team can create their own shot and others anywhere near when she’s on the floor. When she was resting and Davis was in, I had zero confidence that they could run their offense against a defensive team like SC, or any other.
