Random notes:
1. Garza is who we thought he was. A beast.
2. Joe T reminded people of why we can't let our visions of his athleticism cloud our perspective of his current skill and experience level. He will bring a lot to the table this season, but he still showed examples of being out of control and still getting beat on defense. His decision making in transition or in the half court is not nearly as good as Connor, for example, even if he can get by defenders easier. It does appear his 3 point shooting has continued to improve which I find as a big positive to help with spacing for Garza.
3. Bohannon hasn't been sizzling out of the gate, but looks fine. I like that he looks in shape, but you can tell how his lack of height hurts his ability to keep people from shooting over him, especially on step backs. When he closes tighter, they go around him due to his lack of strength, He's very limited in space like in transition and is no threat once you get past him of challenging your shot. I do expect him to win some games late for us with his FT shooting, experience, ability to get 3's off even when the defense locks in on them, and due to the situation never being too big for him. But during the rest of the game he isn't much different than Joe W or CJF other than he's smaller and shoots it a bit deeper, and is more limited defensively.
4. CJF looks a bit thicker and heavier but perhaps my imagination - just hoping he hasn't lost a step. Still feel good every time he shoots it and he's strong with the ball and makes good decisions. Fundamentally the best perimeter defender (even over Joe T, who makes up for fundamentals with quickness).
5. Connor looks as expected. Fundamentally sound, a few more TO's than usual, but generally playing as expected. A bit more willing to shoot the 3's and jumpers this year.
6. Nunge - can't wait to see what he adds to the team. Depth behind Garza for sure, but when they are both in the game it will be interesting to see if it is better, or worse, than having Connor or Keegan playing PF.
7. Keegan - looks GREAT. You can tell he can score, but his ability to defend, block shots and rebound is really a bigger need on this team and he is great at getting position. For a freshman very good at knowing where to be on the floor. I'm assuming Kris is very similar and perhaps an even better defender and rebounder but perhaps without some of the other strengths. Both will help if they can defend and rebound.
8. Patrick - looks very strong on offense. Still deciding on defense as he struggles to block out and secure rebounds. His shot looks funky of course, but his outside jumper looks good. Can't tell if he's a 70% or 80% FT shooter yet as his makes look great but he's missed a few so I'm thinking 70-75% might be it. Don't recall his HS %.
9. Ulis looks the part physically and skill wise. Not a big need this year but he appears to move very well on the defensive end as well.
10. Perkins looks athletic, but not sure where he fits. He'd be great as a SF if he was 6'5" or 6'6" but he seems a bit short for SF and a bit less skilled for SG. We'll have to see how he develops.
11. Joe W still has a sweet looking jump shot and is rebounding well for a SF. He is one I think still has some defensive upside left but haven’t seen it yet. Strength is his liability as stronger defenders push him off his driving line and make him only a jump shooter. It also hurts him when finishing inside and on defense. He should look much more like Gatens by now but he doesn’t. His growth curve so far reminds me of Al Lorenzen - impactful as a freshman but not much growth after that.
Overall this team shoots 3's extremely well and so will give great spacing to Garza on offense and Iowa will make teams pay for double teams. Fran has his team doing post feeds very well, and I like the options in the offense to get him looks. He works so hard for position and the offense has been made to fit getting him the ball. I'm not sure enough has been made of Fran's offense adjusting to his players.
Defensively if I recall we started last season against DePaul looking like a slow Coe College team in all phases of defense, but were still able to put some good defensive performances on the floor later in the year. I hope we progress again this year, as it hasn't looked good. We can't let guys turn the corner as we also don't have great recovery on the baseline either. It will get better, but looks pretty weak so far. The 2nd game was better but the first team we played ran better offense imo and drove harder in transition. I think Keegan may be the only player who might make our defense better than last year's ~ 100 efficiency ranking, if he were to get 20 mpg or so. Otherwise it's essentially the same team except for Nunge and it's unclear if he will help or hurt us on that end.
I think the best lineup I can come up with right now might be:
PG: Connor
SG: CJF
SF: Joe W
PF: Keegan
C: Garza
I know this is unlikely to be a starting lineup, but I think Keegan helps us in all the areas we struggle in on defense - someone who can handle the pick and roll, block shots, defensive rebound and still recover and close out on shooters under control. I like this lineup better than one with Nunge in it, or with Bohannon in it. I also think Patrick doesn't defensive rebound like Keegan can - defensive rebounding requires lower and upper body strength to reserve the inside position otherwise everything ends up a jump ball and offensive players just tip it out on you. Having Connor at point is fine as his height allows him to stay 1 foot back from the PG relative to Bohannon, and he has the strength to deny you the corner when driving.
Lot's of talented depth. If Nunge looks good then we will have a true post again next year. Not sure how good a Nunge/Ogundele lineup looks next year but all other positions are loaded. If we took a transfer I'd think C might be it as Nunge can play both and we have a few other PF options but none at C.
1. Garza is who we thought he was. A beast.
2. Joe T reminded people of why we can't let our visions of his athleticism cloud our perspective of his current skill and experience level. He will bring a lot to the table this season, but he still showed examples of being out of control and still getting beat on defense. His decision making in transition or in the half court is not nearly as good as Connor, for example, even if he can get by defenders easier. It does appear his 3 point shooting has continued to improve which I find as a big positive to help with spacing for Garza.
3. Bohannon hasn't been sizzling out of the gate, but looks fine. I like that he looks in shape, but you can tell how his lack of height hurts his ability to keep people from shooting over him, especially on step backs. When he closes tighter, they go around him due to his lack of strength, He's very limited in space like in transition and is no threat once you get past him of challenging your shot. I do expect him to win some games late for us with his FT shooting, experience, ability to get 3's off even when the defense locks in on them, and due to the situation never being too big for him. But during the rest of the game he isn't much different than Joe W or CJF other than he's smaller and shoots it a bit deeper, and is more limited defensively.
4. CJF looks a bit thicker and heavier but perhaps my imagination - just hoping he hasn't lost a step. Still feel good every time he shoots it and he's strong with the ball and makes good decisions. Fundamentally the best perimeter defender (even over Joe T, who makes up for fundamentals with quickness).
5. Connor looks as expected. Fundamentally sound, a few more TO's than usual, but generally playing as expected. A bit more willing to shoot the 3's and jumpers this year.
6. Nunge - can't wait to see what he adds to the team. Depth behind Garza for sure, but when they are both in the game it will be interesting to see if it is better, or worse, than having Connor or Keegan playing PF.
7. Keegan - looks GREAT. You can tell he can score, but his ability to defend, block shots and rebound is really a bigger need on this team and he is great at getting position. For a freshman very good at knowing where to be on the floor. I'm assuming Kris is very similar and perhaps an even better defender and rebounder but perhaps without some of the other strengths. Both will help if they can defend and rebound.
8. Patrick - looks very strong on offense. Still deciding on defense as he struggles to block out and secure rebounds. His shot looks funky of course, but his outside jumper looks good. Can't tell if he's a 70% or 80% FT shooter yet as his makes look great but he's missed a few so I'm thinking 70-75% might be it. Don't recall his HS %.
9. Ulis looks the part physically and skill wise. Not a big need this year but he appears to move very well on the defensive end as well.
10. Perkins looks athletic, but not sure where he fits. He'd be great as a SF if he was 6'5" or 6'6" but he seems a bit short for SF and a bit less skilled for SG. We'll have to see how he develops.
11. Joe W still has a sweet looking jump shot and is rebounding well for a SF. He is one I think still has some defensive upside left but haven’t seen it yet. Strength is his liability as stronger defenders push him off his driving line and make him only a jump shooter. It also hurts him when finishing inside and on defense. He should look much more like Gatens by now but he doesn’t. His growth curve so far reminds me of Al Lorenzen - impactful as a freshman but not much growth after that.
Overall this team shoots 3's extremely well and so will give great spacing to Garza on offense and Iowa will make teams pay for double teams. Fran has his team doing post feeds very well, and I like the options in the offense to get him looks. He works so hard for position and the offense has been made to fit getting him the ball. I'm not sure enough has been made of Fran's offense adjusting to his players.
Defensively if I recall we started last season against DePaul looking like a slow Coe College team in all phases of defense, but were still able to put some good defensive performances on the floor later in the year. I hope we progress again this year, as it hasn't looked good. We can't let guys turn the corner as we also don't have great recovery on the baseline either. It will get better, but looks pretty weak so far. The 2nd game was better but the first team we played ran better offense imo and drove harder in transition. I think Keegan may be the only player who might make our defense better than last year's ~ 100 efficiency ranking, if he were to get 20 mpg or so. Otherwise it's essentially the same team except for Nunge and it's unclear if he will help or hurt us on that end.
I think the best lineup I can come up with right now might be:
PG: Connor
SG: CJF
SF: Joe W
PF: Keegan
C: Garza
I know this is unlikely to be a starting lineup, but I think Keegan helps us in all the areas we struggle in on defense - someone who can handle the pick and roll, block shots, defensive rebound and still recover and close out on shooters under control. I like this lineup better than one with Nunge in it, or with Bohannon in it. I also think Patrick doesn't defensive rebound like Keegan can - defensive rebounding requires lower and upper body strength to reserve the inside position otherwise everything ends up a jump ball and offensive players just tip it out on you. Having Connor at point is fine as his height allows him to stay 1 foot back from the PG relative to Bohannon, and he has the strength to deny you the corner when driving.
Lot's of talented depth. If Nunge looks good then we will have a true post again next year. Not sure how good a Nunge/Ogundele lineup looks next year but all other positions are loaded. If we took a transfer I'd think C might be it as Nunge can play both and we have a few other PF options but none at C.
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