Jok the leader

[icwesthawk]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sport...leader-go-to-role-big-ten-media-day/92018858/

He should be the leading scorer but I hope he's a lot more for the Hawks and leads us back to the tourney. .

 

[hawksense]

Complete leadership doesn't necessarily have to fall on his shoulders. Just a shining example of how to do things right and in a team framework. Set up the underclassmen to succeed immediately and for the future.

About 30 points a game should do it.

 

[hawkeyeguy69]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sport...leader-go-to-role-big-ten-media-day/92018858/

He should be the leading scorer but I hope he's a lot more for the Hawks and leads us back to the tourney. .

He has a tall task. But he is a good-to-great player. It will be an interesting & entertaining season for sure. One that will have its ups and downs.

 

[DanL53]

I think this may be one time my Hawkeye optimism is clouding the issue. But I get a sense that there are leaders on this team that are young, but each over 230 lbs and I wouldn't want to tick them off. I'm thinking of Cook and Wagner who each seem dedicated to the game and completely fearless.

Just my opinion and no intended knock on guys who brought us 89 wins the last four years, but I always felt like teams could get under Gesell and Woody's scalp and mess with their minds. But, they gave it everything they had and I'd take either back anytime. It is just going to be different when guys don't have to struggle to put the ball in the basket...just knock somebody out of the way and slam it!

 

[buttermypancakes]

I agree Dan. Gesell really struggled with the mental aspect of the game at times. Although we don't really know what we're going to be offensively I guarantee we will finish better at the rim and we will have guys on the floor that aren't afraid to shoot and will at least present a threat to the defense.

Fran did an unbelievable job the last few years getting what he did out of the offense. Woodbury, Gesell, and Clemmons were all reluctant shooters, and made Uthoff and Jok's job much harder than it needed to be offensively. It feels like we have a bunch of borderline cocky guys that are unselfish willing passers, and have high basketball IQ's. This year should be fun.

 

[EduNeerHawk]

I think this may be one time my Hawkeye optimism is clouding the issue. But I get a sense that there are leaders on this team that are young, but each over 230 lbs and I wouldn't want to tick them off. I'm thinking of Cook and Wagner who each seem dedicated to the game and completely fearless.

Just my opinion and no intended knock on guys who brought us 89 wins the last four years, but I always felt like teams could get under Gesell and Woody's scalp and mess with their minds. But, they gave it everything they had and I'd take either back anytime. It is just going to be different when guys don't have to struggle to put the ball in the basket...just knock somebody out of the way and slam it!

Really agree here Dan and with butter above. I am expecting this offense/defense to get sideways early on. Most young talented teams and players do but to have Peter with this team, imo, means sooo much.....which is why it was so big to have him back for his senior year

When Pete shoots and if he misses a shot it is not by much. He is such a great shooter and every shot looks like it's going in plus he is a great FT shooter but there are other things he is doing defensively.

Pete's play can steady this team as the talent find itself. Players like Baer and Uhl and I hope Jones can help but players like Wagner, Williams and Ellingson have great experience playing D-1 and in this conference too so the hope is those players are ready to take their play to another level?

 

[PhantomFlyer]

I agree Dan. Gesell really struggled with the mental aspect of the game at times. Although we don't really know what we're going to be offensively I guarantee we will finish better at the rim and we will have guys on the floor that aren't afraid to shoot and will at least present a threat to the defense.

Fran did an unbelievable job the last few years getting what he did out of the offense. Woodbury, Gesell, and Clemmons were all reluctant shooters, and made Uthoff and Jok's job much harder than it needed to be offensively. It feels like we have a bunch of borderline cocky guys that are unselfish willing passers, and have high basketball IQ's. This year should be fun.

I hope you are correct about the finish of games. With all the young kids it might take a while before they learn how to close games out. Still, would be hard for them to be much worse than the past few years.

The key will be PG play. I think we can all agree it will be nice not seeing the play clock tick down and then MG trying to go 1 on 1 where he forces up a bad shot. Even if the PG's can't drive past anyone they should be able to drive and shoot over their defender, given the size of Williams.

I don't expect much from this team but they should have a little more athleticism.

 

[buttermypancakes]

I hope you are correct about the finish of games. With all the young kids it might take a while before they learn how to close games out. Still, would be hard for them to be much worse than the past few years.

The key will be PG play. I think we can all agree it will be nice not seeing the play clock tick down and then MG trying to go 1 on 1 where he forces up a bad shot. Even if the PG's can't drive past anyone they should be able to drive and shoot over their defender, given the size of Williams.

I don't expect much from this team but they should have a little more athleticism.

I didn't mention the end of game situations but I agree that it couldn't get any worse. My opinion on that is those situations come down to a player that can get his own shot. It hard to run a set play while still trying to get the last shot. From the way Fran has been talking about Cook he may just put it in his hands. Gesell definitely didn't want the ball in those situations but even as good as Jok and Uthoff were, they have never been great in isolation situations and creating for themselves off the dribble. We will definitely have better options this year.

 

[PhantomFlyer]

I didn't mention the end of game situations but I agree that it couldn't get any worse. My opinion on that is those situations come down to a player that can get his own shot. It hard to run a set play while still trying to get the last shot. From the way Fran has been talking about Cook he may just put it in his hands. Gesell definitely didn't want the ball in those situations but even as good as Jok and Uthoff were, they have never been great in isolation situations and creating for themselves off the dribble. We will definitely have better options this year.

I think better PG play, especially at the end of games, would allow Jok to be the go to guy. If the PG can drive the ball and demand a double team then a shooter will be left open. The problem with MG is that he never demanded a double team, therefore, the defense always had the shooters covered up. Williams size should not only allow him to get shots off but it should make it easier for him to pass on the drive and kick out.