Fran is answering questions live right now. Otherwise, use this link and watch the whole thing (28 minutes) at your convenience.
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Iowa Men's Basketball Media Day (Oct 5). Josh Dix going 5 on 5 & hasn't Missed a Minute of Practice Since Sep 1
- Thread starter Franisdaman
- Start date
Fran said Connor is in more basketball shape since he is now both healthy & 100% focused on one sport. Fran said that he is shooting the ball really well.
He's clearly a great leader both on and off the court.
He's clearly a great leader both on and off the court.
Good news for Dix. That was a gruesome injury and compliments to him for the rehab work he must have put in to get to this point so quickly.
So did Connor quit baseball totally? Its too bad, be probably had more upside in baseball.
Payton is playing the 2, 3 and 4. If he gets the defensive rebound, he can become the 1, where he takes off to the other end.
Payton has been impressed with Kris, Tony & Filip (he is shooting it more). He said the 2 freshmen have been good too.
Lots of positive info coming out of today.
Payton has been impressed with Kris, Tony & Filip (he is shooting it more). He said the 2 freshmen have been good too.
Lots of positive info coming out of today.
Want to see Josh step forward this year. The Big 10 tourney had to help his confidence.
My take-aways from the press conference...
1. Ulis is slightly ahead of Bowen at this point
2. Filip, Tony, Kris, Patrick, Payton looking really good
3. We'll be seeing Ulis, Bowen with Tony & Connor at the 1 spot periodically
4. Tony, Payton with possibly Bowen or Ulis at the 2 spot
5. We'll see a lot of inter-changeable lineups between Payton, Patrick, Kris, Filip at the 3-5 spots
6. Josh O ahead of Riley by quite a bit yet
7. Starters on Day One: Ulis, Tony, Patrick, Kris, Filip
8. Key bench on Day One (in order): Payton, Bowen, Connor
9. Josh O and Josh D situationally
1. Ulis is slightly ahead of Bowen at this point
2. Filip, Tony, Kris, Patrick, Payton looking really good
3. We'll be seeing Ulis, Bowen with Tony & Connor at the 1 spot periodically
4. Tony, Payton with possibly Bowen or Ulis at the 2 spot
5. We'll see a lot of inter-changeable lineups between Payton, Patrick, Kris, Filip at the 3-5 spots
6. Josh O ahead of Riley by quite a bit yet
7. Starters on Day One: Ulis, Tony, Patrick, Kris, Filip
8. Key bench on Day One (in order): Payton, Bowen, Connor
9. Josh O and Josh D situationally
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Gotta love Bowen's confidence in the 3rd clip, driving on Kris, getting to the basket
And quicker. Seemed to get up the floor better. Had a nice, quick, nifty little move on the feed down low around the 30 second mark on the third clip (didn't watch all of the practice clips, they're may have been more).
Payton keeps getting brought up. Filip said that Tony, Payton and Kris have shown the most improvement from last year. PMac's comments on Payton were great. He said Payton has no conscious and that if he's open, he's shooting. PMac said Payton is super confident. Payton missed 1 FT his senior year and 1 FT last year. Look for Payton to have a great sophomore season.
When Filip talks trash, it's in Serbian, so no one has any idea what he is saying.
Riley thinks this team is deep and that there will be 11 guys playing this season.
Riley said Filip has been more aggressive shooting the ball. Filip was more of a scorer his first 3 years at North Dakota; he had a different role last year. Man, Filip could add one more offensive weapon to Iowa's attack.
Interesting that Filip says he will be taking his defender away from the basket, forcing him to guard him outside.
Filip says Josh O & Riley have been really good, using their size and physicality.
Filip says Kris passes the ball a lot more than Keegan did. Too funny.
Connor said the gold team is Josh Dix, Dasonte Bowen, Nimmers, Connor and Riley or Josh O. Makes me wonder if Nimmers will see some meaningful playing time sometime during the season.
When Filip talks trash, it's in Serbian, so no one has any idea what he is saying.
Riley thinks this team is deep and that there will be 11 guys playing this season.
Riley said Filip has been more aggressive shooting the ball. Filip was more of a scorer his first 3 years at North Dakota; he had a different role last year. Man, Filip could add one more offensive weapon to Iowa's attack.
Interesting that Filip says he will be taking his defender away from the basket, forcing him to guard him outside.
Filip says Josh O & Riley have been really good, using their size and physicality.
Filip says Kris passes the ball a lot more than Keegan did. Too funny.
Connor said the gold team is Josh Dix, Dasonte Bowen, Nimmers, Connor and Riley or Josh O. Makes me wonder if Nimmers will see some meaningful playing time sometime during the season.
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Would love to see @Franisdaman with a media day credential next year.
Some other things that stood out to me:
Regarding different Lineup combinations:
Someone asked Fran about how he could go big (6'8 or taller) with Payton, PMac, Kris & Filip. Fran said he could also go small with Ahron, Tony and Dasonte.
As far as PG goes, Fran is very comfortable here. He said Ulis and Bowen have been really good. He said he could put Tony at PG and Payton at the 2. Connor can play the 1 as well.
Ulis' wrist was really bothering him at the end of last season where he had a hard time finishing & shooting the ball. He's healthy now.
Fran has not been shy on how high he is on Dasonte; he said that he is not playing like a freshman. He gets to the rim and finishes (something we have all been craving in a PG).
I agree with @skydog0784 in that Josh O is ahead of Riley at the moment; Fran said when we go up against guys like Edey, Dickinson & Cliff O (the Rutgers big), we will need Josh O. He said Riley has got to get to that level of play.
When it comes to potential All B1G players this season? Fran mentions Kris, PMac and Tony.
How can Iowa improve defensively, according to Fran:
* Put pressure on the ball
* Get in passing lanes, creating deflections
* THE BIGGEST WAY: Get the defensive rebounds (eliminating 2nd shots), because when you don't, how many times do we see either (1) an easy put back or (2) a kick out, wide open 3 make
We know that since Sep 1 Josh Dix hasn't missed a minute of practice; Fran says there have been days when he's been spectacular.
Fran comes out and says NIL is pay for play and that's not what it was supposed to be. He never has liked the transfer portal rule (where every player is essentially a free agent) and now the portal has been combined with NIL/pay for play.
Regarding different Lineup combinations:
Someone asked Fran about how he could go big (6'8 or taller) with Payton, PMac, Kris & Filip. Fran said he could also go small with Ahron, Tony and Dasonte.
As far as PG goes, Fran is very comfortable here. He said Ulis and Bowen have been really good. He said he could put Tony at PG and Payton at the 2. Connor can play the 1 as well.
Ulis' wrist was really bothering him at the end of last season where he had a hard time finishing & shooting the ball. He's healthy now.
Fran has not been shy on how high he is on Dasonte; he said that he is not playing like a freshman. He gets to the rim and finishes (something we have all been craving in a PG).
I agree with @skydog0784 in that Josh O is ahead of Riley at the moment; Fran said when we go up against guys like Edey, Dickinson & Cliff O (the Rutgers big), we will need Josh O. He said Riley has got to get to that level of play.
When it comes to potential All B1G players this season? Fran mentions Kris, PMac and Tony.
How can Iowa improve defensively, according to Fran:
* Put pressure on the ball
* Get in passing lanes, creating deflections
* THE BIGGEST WAY: Get the defensive rebounds (eliminating 2nd shots), because when you don't, how many times do we see either (1) an easy put back or (2) a kick out, wide open 3 make
We know that since Sep 1 Josh Dix hasn't missed a minute of practice; Fran says there have been days when he's been spectacular.
Fran comes out and says NIL is pay for play and that's not what it was supposed to be. He never has liked the transfer portal rule (where every player is essentially a free agent) and now the portal has been combined with NIL/pay for play.
First off THANK GOD THAT we got some Basketball news going on....
I think most of what we heard was expected....but there were two area's where my main concerns are/were for this team: Point Guard and Post.
Here's what I came away with from the press conference and interviews.
1) Fran feels pretty good about the PG position..AU and DB are the two primary guys there with Tony and Connor able to provide adequate play there as well. I feel a little better about this position after what we saw/heard yesterday. That said, I did not see interviews with AU or DB.
2) Post play....good and bad. I think Rebraca has/will take a good step forward. That is a fairly strong positive I came away with. The bad......apparently JO and RM have not REALLY stepped forward and made the significant improvement that we need. I think I heard they have both improved, but the message or lack of hype tells me that they still need to make significant progress to be where we need them. Hopefully we see something different, but I came away feeling disappointed with what I heard/saw here.
Other items that appear to be positives, a little better than what I expected, and these are assumptions or a little bit of a stretch/reach on my part. First, I think Tony is/will take even more of a step forward than he did down the stretch last year........he apparently has always been confident....but the read I get now is that he will be not only confident, but comfortable in asserting himself and being aggressive. Second, I think in spite of all the haters we finally get to see more consistent offensive production from Connor. I think he's always played smart, physical, and been that coach on the floor. I think his lack of off season time and physical stuff related to baseball have kept him from refining his skills to the level he is capable of....and we will now see that. His importance to this team, in addition to the intangibles, will be real quality depth capable of scoring.
Some other positives....I think Dix is further along than I anticipated and assuming things continue on the right track he could/should contribute at some level this year. In addition I think Nimmers is tracking on a successful path....appears to be playing ahead of the other walk-ons and fitting well with the team....not sure if he will contribute this year, but I think the potential is immense for a walk on.
I think most of what we heard was expected....but there were two area's where my main concerns are/were for this team: Point Guard and Post.
Here's what I came away with from the press conference and interviews.
1) Fran feels pretty good about the PG position..AU and DB are the two primary guys there with Tony and Connor able to provide adequate play there as well. I feel a little better about this position after what we saw/heard yesterday. That said, I did not see interviews with AU or DB.
2) Post play....good and bad. I think Rebraca has/will take a good step forward. That is a fairly strong positive I came away with. The bad......apparently JO and RM have not REALLY stepped forward and made the significant improvement that we need. I think I heard they have both improved, but the message or lack of hype tells me that they still need to make significant progress to be where we need them. Hopefully we see something different, but I came away feeling disappointed with what I heard/saw here.
Other items that appear to be positives, a little better than what I expected, and these are assumptions or a little bit of a stretch/reach on my part. First, I think Tony is/will take even more of a step forward than he did down the stretch last year........he apparently has always been confident....but the read I get now is that he will be not only confident, but comfortable in asserting himself and being aggressive. Second, I think in spite of all the haters we finally get to see more consistent offensive production from Connor. I think he's always played smart, physical, and been that coach on the floor. I think his lack of off season time and physical stuff related to baseball have kept him from refining his skills to the level he is capable of....and we will now see that. His importance to this team, in addition to the intangibles, will be real quality depth capable of scoring.
Some other positives....I think Dix is further along than I anticipated and assuming things continue on the right track he could/should contribute at some level this year. In addition I think Nimmers is tracking on a successful path....appears to be playing ahead of the other walk-ons and fitting well with the team....not sure if he will contribute this year, but I think the potential is immense for a walk on.
