Just when I think Mike Gesell can't possibly....
- Thread starter SJeagleEye
- Start date
I counter that dunk with his decision making at the end of the first half. He's back to even in my book.
Personally the end of the 1st half should of been a Time-out. Fran said he was yelling at his players to call a TO, someone should of seen him and called it. that was just plain bizarre basketball, it actually looked like a MS girls game.
MG had a couple bonehead plays, but I'll take that performance from him every game.
His steal when Michigan was coming back was also huge. Pretty much sealed the game.
11assists and 1 turnover, that was pretty darn good.
I have loved Mike Gesell as a Hakeye and I will really miss him next year.
He took off from a ways out on that dunk. I didn't think he would get to the rim there. Great play along with the steal at the end. Good for Mike and Iowa.
Have I been sleeping or has Mike always had these kind of hops?
Two really impressive dunks in the last two games. Dude is pretty darn athletic.
The steal and finish was a great as mentioned above. Someone finally made a play when it mattered. Continue, please ...
Two really impressive dunks in the last two games. Dude is pretty darn athletic.
The steal and finish was a great as mentioned above. Someone finally made a play when it mattered. Continue, please ...
MG's biggest problem is Sapp. Sapp's biggest problem is MG. These two guards do not compliment one another. No synergy exists between them. Rather, they expose each other's deficiency; neither is a natural scorer.
If either played alongside a 'scoring' guard, MG or Sapp would shine.
If either played alongside a 'scoring' guard, MG or Sapp would shine.
Last edited:
He tried blocking a shot earlier in the game and I didn't realize at first it was him. Serious hops.
It's clearly the shot he has the most confidence in right now. I hope he keeps taking it.
He has gotten more athletic every year....wish Woodie could have...if MG could shoot better and make wiser decisions at the end of games he would be all B1G....
I wouldn't say he's gotten any more athletic than he's always been. He could always dunk like this since he arrived on campus. I've seen him do it in the PTL a few times.
MG is a pretty good PG when he is running the offense and they are aggressive and attacking. However, he is not particularly good when they go into the "freeze" and he tries to create in the last 10 seconds of the clock. Fran needs to let them continue to play aggressively until at least the last 2 minutes or so as the slow down tactics take them completely out of rhythm.
You're right. Mike dunked with ease in high school as well. He's a terrific athlete.
11 assists and a game winning steal and subsequent score. Yeah, he is pretty good and in my book the 2nd or 3rd best pg in the B1G
Pretty sure Gesell participated in the dunk contest a couple years ago at the Black and Gold Blowout. Think he had a couple impressive dunks
I think we need RevKev to weigh in on this. He's always been a staunch supporter of Mike (and Woody). What happened to good old Rev, anyway?
This is pretty accurate, but some posters seem to think Mike is why they start milking the clock. Fran really needs to work on this strategy. It isn't just Mike who fails in this offense, because he is usually stuck with the ball because the other players don't know how to make themselves available when Mike finally starts the offense.
For all the complaining about Gesell, there aren't very many better PGs in the B1G. As bad as Melo has played over the past month, Yogi is the only clearly better PG IMO. He is especially good on the defensive end.
There will be many, many people on this board and elsewhere in the Hawkeye Kingdom who will miss Gesell next year. Some of his alleged shortcomings -- not enough scoring, questionable decision-making at the end of games -- are in fact team shortcomings.
To my point, look at how a lot of the Hawks' opponents have struggled against Iowa's pressure this year, throwing the ball away, looking confused. Gesell and Clemmons manage whatever the other teams throw at them more than competently, with few meltdowns. Next year, get ready to re-learn what it's like to have an inexperienced backcourt.
Agree people will miss Gesell bigtime next year.
BUT, I am not sure if that is because he was that great, or simply because we don't have ANY experience at PG next year.
BUT, I am not sure if that is because he was that great, or simply because we don't have ANY experience at PG next year.
Agree. I've been saying this for over 2 years. Give me a Ulis or above avg SG playing aside either of them and they'd shine. The odd man odd would make the bench much better. They just are clones of each other, so their weaknesses are magnified. They should not be starting together, but what other option does Fran have since he's done a terrible job of recruiting quality guards post MG and AC.
He doesn't have the handles. A 2G would eat him alive defensively. He's just not quick enough or have good enough handles to go up against most shooting guards.
Assists is probably the single most overrated stat in basketball. It is directly related to the talent level around you. Little Lick could pile up good assists numbers passing to Uthoff and Jok. It's akin to the RBI stat in MLB. It's a bad stat to measure a players value or worth to a team. I'm not saying MG is a bad player, I'm just saying assists is a poor stat to prove the case that he's a good player, imo. I'd prefer to look at shooting percentage or better yet, advanced metrics. MG rates very well defensively when looking at the advanced metrics.
I think he dribbles a little better than the credit he gets, or not. He could, and should, be listing dudes up. Kid can be flat out lazy, still.
Not according to the advanced metrics. MG ranks around the middle of the B1G for PGs and well behind Melo. Melo ranks as the 6th best player in the conference based on win shares (which takes into account both offense and defensive value). Yogi, Melo, Forbes/Valentine, Walton, Koenig, and he ranks evenly with Tre Demps. In other words, MG is very, very, avg.
Against the 3's he's fine, but his handles aren't very good for a 2. He'll make too many turnovers.
Assists are a two-way street. It is true that Mike doesn't get many if Jarrod or Pete aren't hitting, except for Woody rolling to the basket. On the flip side, Jarrod has some creativity, but he and Pete (even more) get most of their points off feeds to them spotting up. Pete especially needs to get the pass delivered so he can shoot in rhythm or he won't make. Mike does that very well.
Besides his defense, which is good on ball and even better helping off his defender, Mike doesn't turn the ball over, which is an extremely important PG stat. If Fran could figure out a better way to handle the end of half and end of game milking the clock, Mike's turnovers would be even less and his shooting percentage would be quite a bit better.
I hope that Williams has learned well from Mike and Sapp.
Besides his defense, which is good on ball and even better helping off his defender, Mike doesn't turn the ball over, which is an extremely important PG stat. If Fran could figure out a better way to handle the end of half and end of game milking the clock, Mike's turnovers would be even less and his shooting percentage would be quite a bit better.
I hope that Williams has learned well from Mike and Sapp.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying assists is an irrelevant stat, only that it's greatly overrated imo. A PG could make the sweetest setup passes you've ever seen and if his teammates miss all the shots he gets no assists. Just because he had no assists doesn't mean he didn't play a great game. I think the TO stat is much more important because it's directly related to the player, not the play of his teammates. MG does tend to make boneheaded turnovers at the most crucial times (end of halves and end of games), which to me shows the mark of a mentally weak player or possibly a player with a low basketball IQ. Based on his poor FT shooting, and shooting in general at the end of games, I believe the former applies more than the latter.
