I doubt Fran will do that although I wouldn't be against it, but I would say he needs to be the first off the bench in about all situations.
Keegan Murray needs to start
- Thread starter jonesy5960
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I doubt Fran will do that although I wouldn't be against it, but I would say he needs to be the first off the bench in about all situations.
Keegan strengthens the defense of the starting unit. The undersized starting unit with
Connor at PF means we give up easy looks/poor defense to start games. If the offense is not clicking, we end up behind. I don't think it makes sense to ever have a poor defensive unit out at one time except when you are closing games and have a lead.
I do think either JBO or Connor should be out there at all times because they are the only two guys
that feed Garza in the post at exceptional levels.
Connor only played 3 minutes and we still got the road W. If we had gotten 3 minutes out of Jbo or Garza or Keegan this game vs Rutgers, it would have been a loss. Connor is nice role player but no reason he has to be penciled in as starter or 30 minute per game player given he doesn't score and is undersized if he is playing the PF spot.
I like Keegan and look forward to watching him grow as a Hawkeye. Keegan did play 21 minutes against Northwestern and has now played more than 20 minutes in back to back games without starting.
It's just hard to say who he should start for. I know some will say Connor, but our offense really depends on him. His exit was the primary reason Luke didn't get going in the fist half and our offensive execution wasn't as tight IMO. He doesn't really replace CJF or JBo positionally or skill-set wise and we need to surround Garza with shooters. Probably the best argument is against Weiskamp but Weiskamp should be our second best player even if he doesn't always play like it.
Regardless, it's almost dumbfounding how good he is already and how high his ceiling appears to be given how lightly recruited he was. I have to give @TomKakert lots of credit because he was about the only one of us appropriately excited when we offered the Murray boys.
Regardless, it's almost dumbfounding how good he is already and how high his ceiling appears to be given how lightly recruited he was. I have to give @TomKakert lots of credit because he was about the only one of us appropriately excited when we offered the Murray boys.
Garza was actually more efficient today without CMac than he was the last 3 games with Cmac starting. 9-11 today for 25 points while facing a top 25 defensive team on the road. He was 7-14 for 22, 6-14 for 18 and 11-27 for 32 the 3 prior games while facing much quicker double and triple teams. He definitely had fewer touches but he was able to do more with them.
Except the majority of that production occurred in the final 10 minutes of the game after he decided he needed to start doing things himself and Fran coached the other guys up a little bit. Obviously he still had a great game, but he went long stretches, probably more than 10 minutes at one point, without seeing a quality post feed. That should never happen and wouldn't with Connor in. Even if he doesn't score as much like against NW the offense needs to run through him to be efficient. We have great shooters but not a lot of creators from the perimeter and if Garza isn't pressuring the defense from the post our perimeter guys don't get the same quality of looks--a problem we saw a lot of in the first half.
No one on the team is anywhere near as good as Connor at creating angles to feed the post.
This idea that it doesn't matter who starts is entirely illogical. Starters get the most minutes because they are the most effective players. Against Minnesota CMac played 34 minutes and Keegan played 9. He had 6 assists, 3 rebounds and 3 points. It was a pretty typical outing for him. Keegan played 9 minutes. A starter doesn't get nine minutes. Keegan is playing at a level that makes him one of the top 3 players on the team. His minutes should reflect that.
I'm not saying Connor can't feed the post. I think he does a great job of that. I would say that Garza faces a LOT more resistance when the man guarding Connor spends more time double teaming Garza than guarding his own man. That's what we saw the last 3 games prior to today. He'd have a lot more than 4 assists per game if that weren't the case.
good points but I have one question. Who is this Luke character you speak of? 😉
certainly KM should be playing over Nunge because he’s playing strong. Nunge seems physically overmatched, yet Fran must see something because he’s determined to give JN minutes.
Cmac does things that don't show up in the stat sheet and is the best on the team at feeding Garza. We've had this discussion before so no need to rehash. Let KeMu come off the bench and bring energy like Baer did.
He is the best NBA prospect on the roster. Perfect 3 and D guy
Maybe Rutgers with their long-armed/athletic guards dropping back preventing the entry pass had something to do with trouble getting Garza the ball? Maybe Garza was highly efficient because there was room to operate because Connor's man wasn't sagged off on him.
Connor averages 4 assists and about nothing else. Ulis came in and got 4 assists in half of Connor's normal playing time. Keegan blew away what Connor normally contributes.
I agree Connor is great passer, but he is made out to be the key to Iowa offense and guaranteed 30 minute per game guy. He is a role player. Connor can play positions 1 thru 4..let his PT come out of those positions, not just Connor playing 4 and small ball.
That's why our other guards had a hard time with entry passes, sure, but it's just not debatable that Connor is at another level with entry passes. We had a number of turnovers with other guys attempting passes that I think Connor would have made. A lot of it is just his length--he has access to angles that JBo and our other guards just don't from the same position. He's also better at using the dribble to create better angles. Not that he's an elite ballhandler or anything, but he seems to have a better grasp at how using one or two dribbles can dramatically change angles and open Garza up for the feed.
I don't know that he's the "key" to our offense, at least at all times, but I think he's a valuable part and especially against a good defensive team like Rutgers. One of the gripes about our team is that we don't have a lot of quickness and guys that can pressure the paint from the perimeter. That's absolutely true, but we can accomplish the same thing with a good post feed forcing defenses to rotate and react to Garza. Connor starts the offense that gets us a lot of open shots without getting assists because he gets the ball to Garza in a good spot, the defense collapses and Garza kicks it out and then we rotate it around to the open shooter. That's how we've built a hyper-efficient offense without great athleticism at most positions. The entry passer doesn't get an assist on the stat sheet for that (or even Garza, because usually it's at least one more pass to rotate to the shooter), but it was an invaluable part of the play.
That's not to say it wouldn't be helpful if Connor was a better shooter or that in all cases he's the key cog, but our offense this year is built around getting the ball to Garza and he's simply the best we have at doing that.
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Yeah, he sure does, and it looks like he's on the way to getting them.
There is no perfect answer or scenario, and it's a good thing to have good players on your bench that can push the "should he start" debate.
These games are marathons, not sprints, but I do believe it is always best to get off to a good start if you can. And that usually involves putting your 5 best players on the floor.
Granted, if 2 of those 5 are 7 footers or 5'9" point guards then you might have an issue, but that isn't true in Iowa's case.
I think we are better if Keegan Murray is one of those 5 starting the game, but not something that keeps me up at night.
Managing minutes when the team is this deep is a difficult task for the coach, but I'm comfortable with Fran's decisions. Having KM coming off the bench means he's probably matched up against an opponents sub, which is going to be advantage Hawks. The ball moves better when CMac is in the game, plus he's tough as nails and he doesn't turn the ball over. I like him in the starting role.
Jbo has shown why he deserves minutes in the last 2 games, but he's been turnover prone as well.
Jack has been up and down, but he needs minutes to get back to form (whatever that is). How many real games has he played the two years?
Joe T needs minutes too. He's also up and down and needs more floor time to smooth out his game.
PMac is a wildcard IMO. But I don't think he should be buried on the bench. The Hawks are going to need him this season IMO.
We've seen guys get hurt. We are in a pandemic. We need a big roster of guys that can play to keep winning.
Jbo has shown why he deserves minutes in the last 2 games, but he's been turnover prone as well.
Jack has been up and down, but he needs minutes to get back to form (whatever that is). How many real games has he played the two years?
Joe T needs minutes too. He's also up and down and needs more floor time to smooth out his game.
PMac is a wildcard IMO. But I don't think he should be buried on the bench. The Hawks are going to need him this season IMO.
We've seen guys get hurt. We are in a pandemic. We need a big roster of guys that can play to keep winning.
Good points made....
as long as Keegan is getting starter type minutes, and on the game at the end ( like for the Rutgers play) then starting is irrelevant, as you only have 1 ball and when 1 or more started are out, then Keegan has a greater opportunity to get the ball, get to the ball and make plays.
it’s seems 24-28m make sense for the next allotment of minutes....
