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Keegan is Special. Check out Kenyon Murray's Posts in this Thread, where he Evaluates His Sons' Basketball Skills

Keegan has earned more minutes for sure and as long as the effort and court smarts continue to shine, he'll continue to be a big part of our rotation. He's such a pleasant surprise and adds another dimension to this team on both ends of the court.

That being said, don't elevate him to the detriment of his other teammates. I'm not giving up on Jack or any of the other guys on the squad. We'll need them all at different points in the season, but some Hawkeye fans feel the need to drag down other guys when they have an off night. We're quick to jump down guy's throats when they stumble a bit and overall that negative attitude is toxic to the team concept, I can guarantee our players aren't thinking this way.
 
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When you have a team with depth, it is a challenge to get everyone the right minutes all the time. Keegan is definitely one of my favorite players on this team, and LOVE when he goes in the game. Hard to criticize his minutes, when you see who is in front of him. Hopefully he can squeeze a few more minutes in, though!
 
Franisdaman said:
is it just me or has Jack not been the same since his dad's death?

I feel really bad for Jack; 2020 has sucked but it really has sucked for him
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Definitely agree. Poor guy - hopefully he is having fun with the game, and will find a way to not think too much on the court and let the game come to him. He has the potential to be a special player.
 
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He has been getting more minutes. But he has decent veteran players ahead of him so I am fine with bringing him along gradually. He has been making plays but he has also had a few "OOPS" moments. Not enough to bench him but enough to keep him humble.

I think he'll be playing 20+ minutes/game by the end of the B1G season. That is very good for a kid that started out 3rd-4th string.
 
Northwestern played a bunch of 4's and 5's that could play on the perimeter so that really hurt our slow footed centers Garza and Nunge. This was the perfect game to go a little smaller and play Keagan and Pat more minutes and leave Nunge on the bench. When we need a big banger backup center to go against the likes of Cockburn or Miles Johnson (next game) Nunge will be needed.
 
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PHawkKenyon said:
What do you want to know about their skill sets? Ask away. I am one who has evaluated them as a coach, not as a dad.
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Ok if I were just guessing,( and I most certainly am) , from what I’ve read I’d take a leap and say Keegan, more of instinctive at rebounding and Kris a bit better handles with the ball????
 
Hawksfinal4 said:
Ok if I were just guessing,( and I most certainly am) , from what I’ve read I’d take a leap and say Keegan, more of instinctive at rebounding and Kris a bit better handles with the ball????
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My coaching advice for both of them going into this year was defense and rebounding will get you on the floor. That being said, Kris came into this year as a better rebounder than Keegan. He has always averaged more rebounds than Keegan. While both have practiced well, Keegan has been very consistent day to day in practice. Both continue to grind, but Kris is odd man out. If he is slotted at the 3, he is behind Joe W and Patrick. If he is slotted at the 4, he is behind Connor, Jack and Keegan. Kris is in a position similar to Ahron and Tony as being the odd men out on a top 10 team. My observations on his shot in warmups is it is a lot better. I went to drop off some things to them and Kris was in lifting and getting extra workout in before practice. They both are grinders with bright futures. Kris is one of the toughest players I have ever coached and when his number is called, he won’t disappoint!
 
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PHawkKenyon said:
My coaching advice for both of them going into this year was defense and rebounding will get you on the floor. That being said, Kris came into this year as a better rebounder than Keegan. He has always averaged more rebounds than Keegan. While both have practiced well, Keegan has been very consistent day to day in practice. Both continue to grind, but Kris is odd man out. If he is slotted at the 3, he is behind Joe W and Patrick. If he is slotted at the 4, he is behind Connor, Jack and Keegan. Kris is in a position similar to Ahron and Tony as being the odd men out on a top 10 team. My observations on his shot in warmups is it is a lot better. I went to drop off some things to them and Kris was in lifting and getting extra workout in before practice. They both are grinders with bright futures. Kris is one of the toughest players I have ever coached and when his number is called, he won’t disappoint!
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What are their biggest strengths and weaknesses — tangibles or intangibles — and is one more aggressive than the other on the court?
 
fezzador said:
*Kris, but he will get his time to shine soon enough.

I have a hunch that while Keegan might not necessarily be a regular starter this season, I think his time on the court will increase as the season goes along. He has that "something" that nobody else on the court (except for LG) can match.
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its interesting; he & PMac seem to have some chemistry, although Keegan has really stood out by far
 
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Did I hear the announcers right when they said Keegan only had one other offer and that was Western Illinois? Dang, everyone missed on him except Fran the Man! And thanks Kenyon for working hard to get the boys their offers, along with Kris and Keegan doing their part too! Very happy they are Hawks!
 
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WARHAWK said:
Did I hear the announcers right when they said Keegan only had one other offer and that was Western Illinois? Dang, everyone missed on him except Fran the Man! And thanks Kenyon for working hard to get the boys their offers!
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Yes. But after their first jamboree at DME, they had over 50 schools call. Florida St, Tennessee, Memphis and Florida to name a few.
 
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Im almost looking forward to next year as much as the rest of this year.

Iowa is going to go from a poor defensive team to a long, athletic, good and possibly excellent defensive team.

When you add Kris, Aaron, Tony and more Patrick into the mix.

Thats a team that can play tight man ball denial defense and switch every screen.

Thats something Fran has never been able to do before.

Its so much easier to be good at defense when you can play man and switch everything.
 
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WatWest00 said:
What are their biggest strengths and weaknesses — tangibles or intangibles — and is one more aggressive than the other on the court?
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Their biggest strength is their bball IQ. They have had a number of great coaches along the way, so they are very cerebral. Their growth spurt has been crazy, but not unexpected. They were projected to be 6’7. They have cousins on my mom’s side of the family that were 6’11-7’0. They are both scorers, Keegan has always been a great catch and shoot player and Kris has always been able to score a multitude of ways, but they both rounded out their games at DME last season. Biggest weakness (if it is a weakness) for both has been their tendency to let the game come to them, where as a player I always looked to force my will on a game either on offense or defense. Now I feel their biggest weakness is experience.
 
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The problem with Nunge is beyond inconsistency. He's had a couple of nice games this season, although in both games the stats did not include the big mistakes on defense, a lot of Hawks make them but not so many mistakes in so few minutes. Nunge plays no real defense outside the lane.

The real problem is he is no better than mediocre. He doesn't have any game outside the lane. But, as is often the problem with dumb people, although I don't think Jack is dumb, is their lack of self awareness; they don't think they're dumb. Jack shows that kind of lack of self awareness with the gunning. Admittedly, we saw only a little of that last night-he got pulled from the Purdue game right after taking another terrible shot. He is clearly not a shooter.

Part of this is a coaching blunder. The Nunge as a "4" experiment has failed badly. Cannot score from outside a few feet, cannot defend out of the same area and, what is worse, due to spacing issues three defenders basically get to defend Luka because Jack is not much of a scoring threat.

Very rarely do I dispute the coaches decisions about PT and team roles, but this is a different animal. It is obvious that Ke Murray is a much better basketball player than Jack. Its obvious that team play is superior with Ke Murray on the floor. Jack should play the 3 or 4 minutes Luka sits and pretty much no other time. Jack needs to accept his role is a center and develop the best low post game he has. Maybe gaining some confidence from inside scoring will help the terrible jump shooting. The simple fact is Nunge is big net negative at the four or playing anywhere out of the lane. Ke Murray and P Mc are both better options than Jack-they make experience mistakes but are nonetheless absolutely superior players.
 
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The Deplorable Sleeping Dog said:
The problem with Nunge is beyond inconsistency. He's had a couple of nice games this season, although in both games the stats did not include the big mistakes on defense, a lot of Hawks make them but not so many mistakes in so few minutes. Nunge plays no real defense outside the lane.

The real problem is he is no better than mediocre. He doesn't have any game outside the lane. But, as is often the problem with dumb people, although I don't think Jack is dumb, is their lack of self awareness; they don't think they're dumb. Jack shows that kind of lack of self awareness with the gunning. Admittedly, we saw only a little of that last night-he got pulled from the Purdue game right after taking another terrible shot. He is clearly not a shooter.

Part of this is a coaching blunder. The Nunge as a "4" experiment has failed badly. Cannot score from outside a few feet, cannot defend out of the same area and, what is worse, due to spacing issues three defenders basically get to defend Luka because Jack is not much of a scoring threat.

Very rarely do I dispute the coaches decisions about PT and team roles, but this is a different animal. It is obvious that Ke Murray is a much better basketball player than Jack. Its obvious that team play is superior with Ke Murray on the floor. Jack should play the 3 or 4 minutes Luka sits and pretty much no other time. Jack needs to accept his role is a center and develop the best low post game he has. Maybe gaining some confidence from inside scoring will help the terrible jump shooting. The simple fact is Nunge is big net negative at the four or playing anywhere out of the lane. Ke Murray and P Mc are both better options than Jack-they make experience mistakes but are nonetheless absolutely superior players.
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I think he has two years left after this if he wants. His time will come at the 5 but he's just not a 4 in today's game.

Especially not with another guy who is a traditional big.

I think Jacks probably a better shooter than hes showing right now too, but he just never seems to be on balance or in rhythm.

If Fran is going to use them together it really makes more sense to post Jack and let Luka spot up.

That might be something that confuses the D into leaving Luka open for a 3.
 
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PHawkKenyon said:
Their biggest strength is their bball IQ. They have had a number of great coaches along the way, so they are very cerebral. Their growth spurt has been crazy, but not unexpected. They were projected to be 6’7. They have cousins on my mom’s side of the family that were 6’11-7’0. They are both scorers, Keegan has always been a great catch and shoot player and Kris has always been able to score a multitude of ways, but they both rounded out their games at DME last season. Biggest weakness (if it is a weakness) for both has been their tendency to let the game come to them, where as a player I always looked to force my will on a game either on offense or defense. Now I feel their biggest weakness is experience.
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thank you for contributing to the conversation here...this is really interesting stuff, especially for those who watched you play

my favorite part about basketball is rebounding, because if you don't have the damn ball, you can't score. And I remember how you and Tom Davis teams rebounded. Rebounding, unfortunately, has always been an issue with Fran coached teams.

and as always....GO HAWKS!!!
 
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Love the athleticism from Keegan, when he finishes with a dunk so that he isn’t goi g to get blocked, etc. man he has that spring in his legs that the old man had!!! 😁
 
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PHawkKenyon said:
Their biggest strength is their bball IQ. They have had a number of great coaches along the way, so they are very cerebral. Their growth spurt has been crazy, but not unexpected. They were projected to be 6’7. They have cousins on my mom’s side of the family that were 6’11-7’0. They are both scorers, Keegan has always been a great catch and shoot player and Kris has always been able to score a multitude of ways, but they both rounded out their games at DME last season. Biggest weakness (if it is a weakness) for both has been their tendency to let the game come to them, where as a player I always looked to force my will on a game either on offense or defense. Now I feel their biggest weakness is experience.
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Hawkeyes are a family ... just saying.
 
hawk263344 said:
He should play more. He doesn't doing anything poorly.
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Ok, i'll nitpick :)

Mind you, i love his game but the one area to improve is Assist to Turnover. He's been hesitant to feed the post at times so as confidence grows I expect that to change and assist numbers to rise.

Strange stat for sure but Keegan and Kris are the ONLY 2 players on the team that have recorded at least 1 assist or turnover that do not have more assists than turnovers.

 
2432Hawk said:
Ok, i'll nitpick :)

Mind you, i love his game but the one area to improve is Assist to Turnover. He's been hesitant to feed the post at times so as confidence grows I expect that to change and assist numbers to rise.

Strange stat for sure but Keegan and Kris are the ONLY 2 players on the team that have recorded at least 1 assist or turnover that do not have more assists than turnovers.

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Okay, I will nitpick. If you watch the offense, most times when Keegan is handling the ball, he is used as “reverser”. In the motion offense, he usually starts as a screener, pops out and if he receives the ball, it is usually to reverse the ball to run their set to where the motion is supposed to go. Most times a post up for Garza. If they are supposed to run a play, the one thing my boys will do is run that play. That was drilled all the time under the coaches they have had. Small thing, but you will probably see a difference as his offensive roll expands.
 
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2432Hawk said:
Ok, i'll nitpick :)

Mind you, i love his game but the one area to improve is Assist to Turnover. He's been hesitant to feed the post at times so as confidence grows I expect that to change and assist numbers to rise.

Strange stat for sure but Keegan and Kris are the ONLY 2 players on the team that have recorded at least 1 assist or turnover that do not have more assists than turnovers.

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He is probably more concerned about not turning the ball over at this point in his career. Enough of those will get you a faster seat next to Fran. Ha!
 
PHawkKenyon said:
Okay, I will nitpick. If you watch the offense, most times when Keegan is handling the ball, he is used as “reverser”. In the motion offense, he usually starts as a screener, pops out and if he receives the ball, it is usually to reverse the ball to run their set to where the motion is supposed to go. Most times a post up for Garza. If they are supposed to run a play, the one thing my boys will do is run that play. That was drilled all the time under the coaches they have had. Small thing, but you will probably see a difference as his offensive roll expands.
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do you have any free time to teach boxing out? ;)
 
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PHawkKenyon said:
What do you want to know about their skill sets? Ask away. I am one who has evaluated them as a coach, not as a dad.
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Thanks for all your insight, I’ve read your other replies and now I’m even more excited to get them both on the court when their times come.
By the sounds of it, the title is right and Keegan is a special player. It also sounds like we don’t know lucky we are as hawks fans yet because Kris sounds like he fits the description too, he just hasn’t had his chance to show it yet.

Oh, and how do they compare in terms of overall defensive intensity? Because I’m really liking Keegan’s defense so far.
 
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HungryHawk said:
Thanks for all your insight, I’ve read your other replies and now I’m even more excited to get them both on the court when their times come.
By the sounds of it, the title is right and Keegan is a special player. It also sounds like we don’t know lucky we are as hawks fans yet because Kris sounds like he fits the description too, he just hasn’t had his chance to show it yet.

Oh, and how do they compare in terms of overall defensive intensity? Because I’m really liking Keegan’s defense so far.
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it is pretty cool to have a former player & current players' dad adding his insight & knowledge
 
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HungryHawk said:
Thanks for all your insight, I’ve read your other replies and now I’m even more excited to get them both on the court when their times come.
By the sounds of it, the title is right and Keegan is a special player. It also sounds like we don’t know lucky we are as hawks fans yet because Kris sounds like he fits the description too, he just hasn’t had his chance to show it yet.

Oh, and how do they compare in terms of overall defensive intensity? Because I’m really liking Keegan’s defense so far.
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Kris always guarded the other teams best perimeter player. He can guard 1-4. Keegan has been the better post defender which probably has helped him this year for sure. But they both can switch multiple positions. Their length makes them potentially better defenders than I was!😉
 
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Obviously Oblivious said:
Keegan has earned more minutes for sure and as long as the effort and court smarts continue to shine, he'll continue to be a big part of our rotation. He's such a pleasant surprise and adds another dimension to this team on both ends of the court.

That being said, don't elevate him to the detriment of his other teammates. I'm not giving up on Jack or any of the other guys on the squad. We'll need them all at different points in the season, but some Hawkeye fans feel the need to drag down other guys when they have an off night. We're quick to jump down guy's throats when they stumble a bit and overall that negative attitude is toxic to the team concept, I can guarantee our players aren't thinking this way.
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Keegan brings a next level athleticism that will pay big. Fran had him in during crunch time and Keegan has forced the hand in terms of minutes. He is going to be a star.
 
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PHawkKenyon said:
Kris always guarded the other teams best perimeter player. He can guard 1-4. Keegan has been the better post defender which probably has helped him this year for sure. But they both can switch multiple positions. Their length makes them potentially better defenders than I was!😉
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I kind of find that hard to believe. You were a bulldog on D! If they come close they will be Hawkeye legends like you are.
 
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