Today was a really big day for Dix. He's always had the goods physically and mentally but the ISU game was a setback psychologically for him. He became much more tentative after that and I was beginning to wonder how he'd get right. Nebraska was big and tonight could have gone either way for him in yet another start. The first few minutes looked like an ISU replay. Thank God Fran left him in there, something he didn't do against ISU and Josh found a way to pull it together and play another superb game. He needed it. This right now is the best set of guards by far that Fran has had. I hope he continues to give them the minutes.
Josh Dix
- Thread starter jonesy5960
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Dude was ballin' tonight. Great to see and hope we can continue to see!
Yeah, he's doing a fantastic job the last few games. Really great work by him and has continue to run with his opportunity.
Josh should just get stronger and better. The gruesome injury he suffered in HS could have threatened him having to sit out much more than he did. It was a testiment to his work ethic how he was able to even hit the court last year. Josh is a very humble young man from a great family. I've spoke to his HS coaches and AD a few times. Everybody I've spoke to has said what a gym rat and hard worker he was in HS - seeing the injury when it happened I wondered if he would be able to play at a high level again. So happy to see him in a Hawk uni and back to playing at such a high level. As the B1G crew said after the game - Josh should just get better and better, and is full of talent.
I’m seeing rumblings on Twitter that Iowa is likely to lose one more. Some people -not reputable sources-think Dix might be leaving for a place like Creighton (basically his hometown).
Anybody have any info?
Anybody have any info?
I think we all hope the Dix rumor is false.
If another player is going to leave, I think/hope it's Mulvey ...with his frame he's probably got some value for a program back east close to home.
If another player is going to leave, I think/hope it's Mulvey ...with his frame he's probably got some value for a program back east close to home.
Really hoping we keep Josh. Helluva 2-way player.
No info but just observing the timeout huddles this year, Dix and Perkins seemed to be the favorite targets of Fran's wrath. I am not saying I think Josh will transfer, but that has to get old.
Hmmmm, did not notice that. I can see it when Tony was playing out of control though.
Never really felt Dix played out of control to receive Frans rage.
Fran better be kissing that kid's butt from now until the portal session is over, and hope we have at least enough $$ to keep him here if Creighton makes a modest run at him...if they make a major push to sign him, then he's probably gone.
The team will pretty much be trash next year without him, Dasonte and Perk and no quality NIL transfers brought in to replace them...which I doubt would happen, if you connect the dots (i.e. not enough NIL funds to keep current players here)
Guy seems to be relatively in the know.
That being said, the talk about Dix specifically seems to be more speculation and comes from non-reputable sources
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Have you ever seen Tom Izzo yell at his players? I understand it's hard to coach anymore, but coaches yell at their players.
Some coaches have built the street cred to get away with that, just say'n
If you've played any degree of organized ball, you've had a coach yell at you. If this bothers you that much, I'm sure there are openings in the chess club.
Fran's been around a long time and I don't recall hearing anything from anyone other than message board posters having an issue with how he treats his players.
Heard kakert today say he is not hearing of any more departures from Iowa roster.
I would be shocked had Dix left. Fran and staff stuck with him after that horrible leg injury.
Not only that, but it doesn't take a genius to figure out that he has to know he's got a starting spot on lock down.
Unless Fran pulls a rabbit out of the hat in the transfer portal this 'offseason', Dix will be swimming in playing time next season.
BirdistheWord
HR Heisman
And it’s hard to ignore the individual success of Garza, Keegan and Kris very recently. Dix will get every opportunity to be a star for us. Especially his senior year after Payton is gone.
I see mediocre bball in our Hawkeye hoops future; Franball is ok and attracts certain players but our recruitment network/base is weak and arbitrary and our persona is white guy dominant and focused on long and lean athletes that don’t really like the weight room.
Arguably our best all-round player over the last month of the season. Fran still needs to pull a rabbit out of the hat, because we are way to short on guards. Imagine if Dix or Harding were unavailable
Dix matches our program perfectly. Good jump shooter that unfortunately cannot create his own shot and will typically get shut down by more athletic/stronger guards when the competition/stakes are higher. That is Iowa BBall to a tee.
I think you’re in for a surprise next year. Sandfort worked out pretty hard last offseason and it showed in his work at the boards and I believe he’s going to be stronger next seaso. I’d expect similar changes to Harding, Pryce, Ladji, and Owen. Conditioning wasn’t bad but strength is where I’m expecting improvement. If not then maybe they aren’t taking their basketball careers seriously enough and time to transfer out
It’s not necessarily about having too many White players - though I certainly understand your point.
Purdue has White players all over the court, but they’re ’killers’… Legit ballers that want the ball to get buckets consistently.
Creighton? Same thing. Skilled dudes with legit talent. Notice dudes is plural. Can’t just have one ‘killer’ on the court.
We haven’t had ‘it’ for 14 years under Fran. We won’t have ‘it’ next year under Fran. When are we going to do something about it?
I thought he created pretty well , second half of the season
Josh seemed to be able to create a mid-range jump shot pretty well, when he wasn't deferring to Tony or Payton to score, even against elite defenders like Illannoy's guards. That said, I think he is a better player if he is not the number one option most of the time. He expends a lot of energy on the other end, unlike some of Iowa's players.
BirdistheWord
HR Heisman
That is a fair point, though he has enough athleticism to be really good, not NBA draft good though. Not elite quickness.
Watching these tournament games crystallizes where the Iowa program is lacking; a true tough capable PG that can truly control the game in the last quarter. Our core players for next year would be fine with that needed element. Without an upgrade at PG we will get beat in crunch time all year.
Zactly, higher end role player for sure! Perfect add to teams like Illinois and ISU that have the other pieces that allow a Dix to come in as a sixth man and kill it.
Don’t get me wrong, Dix progressed for sure. Tournament time both in the Big and NIT exposed my point; the next level of competition shows the weaknesses I’m referring to.
BirdistheWord
HR Heisman
His defense is solid and serves as a tiebreaker which would thrust him into a starting role on some teams, but 6th man for others, agree.
Totally disagree. If you watched Dix in Big play he has a killer 15 foot fadeaway jump shot from the free throw line that is unstoppable. He also is able to drive and shoot over smaller guards. He absolutely is a shot creator, he just needs to be more selfish.
Dix was not the problem in the post season. Tony was pretty lousy the last few weeks of the season.
I do think Iowa is missing an athletically elite guard, who would make Dix an even better player. Josh is definitely not a PG.
BirdistheWord
HR Heisman
We have to recruit better depth and athletes. With the guys we tend to recruit it is like threading the needle, development, execution have to be damn near perfect. We rarely can fall back on God given raw talent. (There are a few exceptions)
For whatever reason, Fran and his assistants have been unable to establish a beach head in any market for consistent recruitment success. This has been evident in the random successes he’s had and the holes our teams have consistently had in terms of a lack of pipeline for Dean Oliver level guards and better.
