+/- Lineup Predictions

[ObeseMuffins]

Welcome to the offseason!

This upcoming season Fran will be tasked with numerous lineup tinkerings. So prediction time - What 5-man lineups will provide us the best +/- ratings? What will be our best offensive rating lineups? What will be our best defensive rating lineups? My predictions to come later during my lunchbreak.

 

[Ihawkhoops]

Touissant -PG
Evelyn-SG
Wieskamp-3
Pemsl-4
Garza-5

Not buying into the hype on Frederick and Nunge. Kriener should take a big step forward. Connor is who he is IMO. PMac can be the Baer energy guy and be disruptive on D. Any offense he provides will be a +. It will be interesting to see an Iowa team with two guards capable of scoring and breaking guys down.

 

[unoHawkeye]

Imo, best offensive lineup:
Evelyn
Fredrick
Wieskamp
Nunge
Garza

Defensive:
Toussaint
Evelyn
Wieskamp
Pemsl
Kriener

 

[87alum87]

Offense

Toussaint the distributor
Fredrick +40% 3
Wieskamp +40% 3
Nunge near 40% 3, a true stretch 4 game.
Garza operates in an unclogged lane, occasional 3

Defense

Toussaint the in-your-jersey defender
Evelyn - hopefully another in-jersey defender
CMac - just plain tough
Pemsl - ditto
Kreiner - ditto

 

[L. Wade Childress]

I am really surprised (or maybe not surprised at all) by the expectations for Evelyn. I see him as a role player who probably isn’t as good as other guys on the roster. Expecting much from him is a big stretch in my opinion.

 

[unoHawkeye]

I am really surprised (or maybe not surprised at all) by the expectations for Evelyn. I see him as a role player who probably isn’t as good as other guys on the roster. Expecting much from him is a big stretch in my opinion.

A fair opinion. Mine is that experience goes a long ways. He has it, and Iowa’s other back court options don’t, so I’d expect that he will be, if nothing else, consistent, and hopefully not somebody who makes a ton of mistakes

 

[The Deplorable Sleeping Dog]

At this point it seems Bakari will be the mature player that comes in to settle ruffled younger players. Basically there are four guys for the two guard positions (assuming Joey W remains where he has excelled). C McC doesn't have much experience and he's a hot head. CJF & Joey T have no experience. I can see any of those guys having some really shaky spells both in games and perhaps over hopefully short stretches of games.

It probably wont be next season but I think Joey T and CJF are going to be a really good backcourt. Probably their junior and senior seasons.

Based on what we've actually seen the best line up is going to be:

C McC
CJF
Joey W
The Big C
Luka

Also think we'll be known as a team with quality depth, especially in the front court where we'll get some highlight plays out of Ryan, Jack and P McC. Predict next season's record will be exactly the same as last season's record.

 

[HoustonREDHawk]

I need to see many of the guys play, before I can make predictions. Garza will be the best interior offensive threat. JoeW is our best overall player. PG could go three ways, CMac, JoeT, and even Evelyn. Garza and Kriener have the 5 covered. I hope Nunge gets more minutes than Pemsl, because he definitely has more upside and fewer limitations. Experience counts, and if Evelyn is healthy, he will definitely be in the lineup, mostly sharing time with CJ at the 2. CJ, Nunge, JoeT, PMac, and Evelyn are all wild cards for me, until we see them play against B1G level teams.

 

[littlez]

I have no idea what to think about Evelyn. In 2 games last year against Drake he was 4-21. I know Moss was pretty much 1 dimensional, but the 1 thing he was good at was shooting 3’s. I’m hoping Evelyn’s poor shooting was due to him being hurt. We are going to need good minutes from him.

 

[CanadaHawk]

I like the tandem of JoeT and Connor at PG with Bakari and CJ at 2G. That’s 4 guys who can handle and pass, which fits in well with the 2 leading scorers being in the front court. The pundits I’m sure will have Connor and CJ starting because anything else is speculative. But I like JoeT’s talent better starting at PG. He seems mature for a frosh and his NYC background might help as well. If he shoots better than Connor, I definitely like him starting. Connor would be a good steadying bench influence. CJ has more upside than Bakari. But I like Evelyn’s penetrating ability and his experience would be better beside the frosh JoeT. If he returns to his soph shooting form, Bakari could be a better choice to start this year.

In the front court, I like Cordell’s energy and scoring vs less athletic and/or similar heighted players. But that scenario is seldom the case in the B1G. Think Jack will be a better defender at PF too.

Garza Nunge Wieskamp Evelyn JoeT
Kriener Pemsl Patrick CJ. Connor

 

[ObeseMuffins]

We know Weisy can rebound - will he get any minutes at the 4? Would be very intriguing

 

[Ballhawk1221]

We know Weisy can rebound - will he get any minutes at the 4? Would be very intriguing

In a small-ball lineup, maybe, but I'd be shocked if we see much of that. Our four bigs are too good, and Wieskamp is too good on the wing.

 

[CanadaHawk]

We know Weisy can rebound - will he get any minutes at the 4? Would be very intriguing

Against those small, quick, pesky teams that often aren’t rated in the preseason, JW could go to the 4 with Patrick at the 3. Beyond that, it depends on how well the front and back courts develop and what the matchups are. JW could play 2-4 if necessary. It’s nice to have that flexibility in your best player, isn’t it?

 

[Ballhawk1221]

The good news is, I think Wieskamp and Garza will be solid on both ends of the floor. They should be in most lineups and will produce solid +/- numbers this season. The bad news is, we just lost one of the team's most important players in terms of +/-. Do you know who it is? It's not Cook, or Moss. It isn't Bohannon, either.

It's Nicholas Baer. He was, without fail, one of the top +/- guys on the team his entire career at Iowa. He could work the top of the press, generate steals, crash the boards, always made smart passes, could hit the three or drive and dunk when the opportunity arose. And he'd run his butt off for 20 minutes a game.

The guy on the roster I can see filling that role? Patrick McCaffery. If he can keep his weight up, this is a lineup that really intrigues me:

Joe Toussaint
CJ Fredrick
Joe Wieskamp
Patrick McCaffery
Luka Garza

This group has 3-point threats at every position, length in the middle, quickness at the point of attack and a whole lot of basketball smarts. If Joe T., CJ and Patrick can get up to speed quickly, this might be a lethal lineup in the right situations.

 

[Zildjian6868]

Cmac
Bakari
Weezy
Nunge
Garza

I think there is a 90% probability that we see this line up. The only players that I could see breaking the starting lineup are Fredrick and pemsl. If pmac hits his target weight there is also the option that weezy moves to the 2, but I still see pmac coming off the bench.

 

[HoustonREDHawk]

The good news is, I think Wieskamp and Garza will be solid on both ends of the floor. They should be in most lineups and will produce solid +/- numbers this season. The bad news is, we just lost one of the team's most important players in terms of +/-. Do you know who it is? It's not Cook, or Moss. It isn't Bohannon, either.

It's Nicholas Baer. He was, without fail, one of the top +/- guys on the team his entire career at Iowa. He could work the top of the press, generate steals, crash the boards, always made smart passes, could hit the three or drive and dunk when the opportunity arose. And he'd run his butt off for 20 minutes a game.

The guy on the roster I can see filling that role? Patrick McCaffery. If he can keep his weight up, this is a lineup that really intrigues me:

Joe Toussaint
CJ Fredrick
Joe Wieskamp
Patrick McCaffery
Luka Garza

This group has 3-point threats at every position, length in the middle, quickness at the point of attack and a whole lot of basketball smarts. If Joe T., CJ and Patrick can get up to speed quickly, this might be a lethal lineup in the right situations.

Don't disagree with most of your post, but Luka has not been a good defender and his lack of quickness will limit him to a decent position defender at best. Kriener is better on the defensive end. Also, your lineup isn't going to work against B1G teams, who would maul PMc, if he plays the 4 this year.

Our strength is JoeW, who should be an all-B1G player, and center (Luka and Kriener is a strong combination). The potential at 4, rests with Nunge, who we haven't seen with his new improved body playing at 4. Pemsl's attitude and toughness are his strength, but he has no outside game. CJ and Evelyn could be a really good combo at 2, but again, I need to see to believe it. I love what JoeT might bring and CMc is at worst a heady, tough, really good back up at PG. Our potential has me excited, but there are a lot of unproven pieces.

 

[BBHawk]

I think that Nunge and Garza are the current centers. No one else on the team has that capability (Pemsl is NOT a center!) except Kriener, and he picks up fouls much too easily to be relied on as steady center or center backup.

I would have my rotations like this:
1 - Connor, Joe T
2 - CJ, Bakari
3 - Weezy, P Mac
4 - Pemsl, Kriener
5 - Garza, Nunge

If/when JBo can play, he becomes the #1 option at the 2. Riley Till could provide some relief at the 3, too. I think he has some Baer-like potential that I hope we see this year.

 

[HoustonREDHawk]

I think you are selling Kriener short. He was critical in a bunch of games last year, because Luka can't move his feet on defense and gets in foul trouble, especially if he tries to close out on a shooter. Nunge could probably play 4 or 5, but I hope he is good enough to play more minutes than Pemsl.

 

[BBHawk]

I think you are selling Kriener short. He was critical in a bunch of games last year, because Luka can't move his feet on defense and gets in foul trouble, especially if he tries to close out on a shooter. Nunge could probably play 4 or 5, but I hope he is good enough to play more minutes than Pemsl.

Not really. I think he is great but he is probably going to have to fill in quite a bit across the 4 and the 5. Pemsl has to play the 4 and has been just as vital when healthy. We will need all 4 of them.

 

[Ballhawk1221]

Don't disagree with most of your post, but Luka has not been a good defender and his lack of quickness will limit him to a decent position defender at best. Kriener is better on the defensive end. Also, your lineup isn't going to work against B1G teams, who would maul PMc, if he plays the 4 this year.

True, Garza has limitations on the defensive end, but if we're talking about +/- then his scoring ability should more than make up for that. And I expect Luka will take a big step forward in his Jr. year, offensively and defensively. Kreiner has been better on defense though.

And like I said in my post, that lineup will be successful in the right situations. So, probably not when we take on MSU, or a similar team who wants to bang inside. But if we're up against a smaller team, or if we want to push the tempo, that group might be very effective: their length and quickness could generate turnovers, and since all 5 guys can shoot the three there's a lot of scoring potential as well. If Nunge is quicker than Garza and still can hit the three at his new playing weight, he might be a better option for that lineup.

 

[mtdew_fever]

Can we assume Pemsl is not healthy, but able to still play at a high level? He is athletic enough, but those injuries are catching up with him.

With that, I have always thought he should have had more minutes as I like his game. However, I think Nunge and Kriener have both passed him.

Play Pemsl, but do it in short spurts to keep him engaged and healthy.

Touissant -PG
Evelyn-SG
Wieskamp-3
Pemsl-4
Garza-5

Not buying into the hype on Frederick and Nunge. Kriener should take a big step forward. Connor is who he is IMO. PMac can be the Baer energy guy and be disruptive on D. Any offense he provides will be a +. It will be interesting to see an Iowa team with two guards capable of scoring and breaking guys down.

 

[SDHawkDoc]

Against those small, quick, pesky teams that often aren’t rated in the preseason, JW could go to the 4 with Patrick at the 3. Beyond that, it depends on how well the front and back courts develop and what the matchups are. JW could play 2-4 if necessary. It’s nice to have that flexibility in your best player, isn’t it?

They at least have a potential small ball lineup where they might be able to match up better. More so than last season.
In talking about JW at the 4 I'm assuming the opponent would have a similar 4. I think he can hold his own on D against most players he would face of a similar size

 

[The Deplorable Sleeping Dog]

In an off season filled with questions perhaps The Big C's situation is the biggest question. If Cordell hasn't been too injury impaired he could be an outstanding player. He's not very tall for his position and relies on inside quickness to get high percentage shots and secure good rebounding and defensive position on the taller opponent Cordell will likely face.

 

[go-hawks37]

We had some great minutes last year with Kriener and Garza in the game. Strong chance, senior Kriener gets the nod ahead of Pemsl and Nunge. With 20 minutes a game Kriener can get the team 10 points/game. He has shown he can score at the Big Ten level with a variety of moves and shooting touch from mid range and deep. Also liked that he drove the ball more effectively last year.

 

[BBHawk]

In an off season filled with questions perhaps The Big C's situation is the biggest question. If Cordell hasn't been too injury impaired he could be an outstanding player. He's not very tall for his position and relies on inside quickness to get high percentage shots and secure good rebounding and defensive position on the taller opponent Cordell will likely face.

Cordell has long arms and is very strong. He is that pugnacious rebounder that Iowa needs. I just don't see that in the other interior players as much as I do in Cordell. We really don't need him to step out and hit the 3 - he is a pick-and-roll kind of player, and he does it very well. And if his shot is back, then great. But I would rather have his intimidating presence inside. I think that he paired with Garza, Kriener or Nunge would give Iowa a really good inside combination.

 

[HoustonREDHawk]

Pemsl's strength is attitude and toughness. Besides his injuries, unless something has changed, Pemsl biggest weakness is his very limited skills outside of about 10 ft. He has some crafty moves near the basket, but taller, quality defenders seemed to realize that he ALWAYS finishes with his left. If he improved his shot and worked on being able to shoot with his off hand, he could be really good on offense. He is ok defending near the basket, unless the opponent is a lot quicker or taller.

 

[SDHawkDoc]

Pemsl's strength is attitude and toughness. Besides his injuries, unless something has changed, Pemsl biggest weakness is his very limited skills outside of about 10 ft. He has some crafty moves near the basket, but taller, quality defenders seemed to realize that he ALWAYS finishes with his left. If he improved his shot and worked on being able to shoot with his off hand, he could be really good on offense. He is ok defending near the basket, unless the opponent is a lot quicker or taller.

Pemsl is good for the roster exactly as you stated: toughness and attitude. Most teams have a role for a garbage man like that. 10 ish minutes a game is what I'd like to see from him on average. He gets exposed if he has to defend too far away from the basket and he has virtually no offensive game beyond 10-15 ft. Given his lack of hops, he can be essentially shot over by more athletic posts. But his old man game down low, both on O and D, is valuable.

 

[BBHawk]

Cordell does more that score and rebound, but he does those pretty well, too. Just look at his line in his last game last year when he was basically playing on one leg - 16 minutes, 8 pts, 6 boards, an assist and a block. He was "credited" with 3 TOs but some of those were probably due to rust more than anything.
If he is healthy, he is one of the most productive Hawks on the floor. He knows how to screen, how to pick and roll, block out, etc. You shouldn't under value that.

 

[mazda1]

With more playing time I see Cordell being an easier scout, thus making his inside moves not as effective against the higher quality, bigger posts that he’ll encounter in the B1G. I see Cordell as a very positive leader that will bring more intangibles than anything else.

PG is still the big question mark. I think we have enough pieces to play competitively at the other positions. I like the match up flexibility we seem to have elsewhere. Different guys will excel against teams tho and Fran will get second guessed a lot.

I like a three headed monster of Nunge, Garza, and Kriener at the 4/5 with Cordell available to help us with foul trouble.

 

[pocha444444]

Not encouraged by the number of times I'm seeing Pemsl or Nunge penciled into the starting lineup. I'm hoping these posters are wrong and the young McCaffrey can steal those minutes. Assuming he's ready of course. Also would hope to see Weiskamp at the 4 for stretches during games.

 

[HoustonREDHawk]

Not encouraged by the number of times I'm seeing Pemsl or Nunge penciled into the starting lineup. I'm hoping these posters are wrong and the young McCaffrey can steal those minutes. Assuming he's ready of course. Also would hope to see Weiskamp at the 4 for stretches during games.

Need to see what Nunge brings playing the 4, after growing a year and developing his skills, before we can conclude anything negative from his freshman year, when Fran was forced play him out of position. I hope you are wrong, because I see Nunge as one of the three guys, along with CJ and JoeT, who could step up and help Iowa become a really good team. Fran is due to have some players exceed expectations. Ifs and buts...

 

[pocha444444]

Need to see what Nunge brings playing the 4, after growing a year and developing his skills, before we can conclude anything negative from his freshman year, when Fran was forced play him out of position. I hope you are wrong, because I see Nunge as one of the three guys, along with CJ and JoeT, who could step up and help Iowa become a really good team. Fran is due to have some players exceed expectations. Ifs and buts...

True, need to see more of Nunge as a big. He never had a chance when Fran told him to go out and try and stay in front of other team's guards.

 

[SDHawkDoc]

Given Fran's history of touting practice all-stars I'll hold my judgment until there's a reasonable body of game action to assess.

Nunge was ineffective and out of position in his court time prior to last year's redshirt. I don't find that very useful in predicting what he'll bring to the team this season if he will be playing on the interior.

 

[twindman]

I think most of you are overestimating Pemsl' offense as out to 10-15 ft. I would say more like out to 6-8 ft. I only remember him making a jump shot against ISU last year. The defense DARED him to shoot when he was 15 ft. out.
I also think his height seems exaggerated at 6'8". I am pretty sure Kreiner is more than 1" taller then Pemsl.
I guess you can tell I have never really been a fan. I will give him credit for being tough and works well inside, but I think defenses figured him out inside as well.

 

[The Deplorable Sleeping Dog]

Gotta say I think Cordell is more like 6'7" and RK is more like 6'10".

Think people are underestimating his ability to finish right, inside. Anything outside of 10 feet is kind of an adventure but Big C's had a lot of time where he basically could only shoot. Since shooting is a very learnable skill let's hope he can push that shot out to the free throw line, a huge improvement over both he and TC's play at the four-neither were much of a shooting threat.

Nunge at the 3 was terrible. Nunge at the 4 was not so terrible and he made some nice offensive and defensive plays. Since guy's 6'10" and above should spend most of their time around the basket let's hope he's muscled up for real without losing quickness. The kid has a big frame so there's room to grow into that frame.

P McC, on the other hand, is just a skinny kid. He has a small frame. P will gain some muscle mass while at Iowa but he's always going to be a Utoff kind of build rather than a Whitey kind of build. White was skinny but clearly had room to grow. Ute was skinny and, albeit with some improvement in strength never was very big or strong. P's a 3 and I suspect he will stay primarily in that position for 4 seasons.

 

[HawkTex]

At this point it seems Bakari will be the mature player that comes in to settle ruffled younger players. Basically there are four guys for the two guard positions (assuming Joey W remains where he has excelled). C McC doesn't have much experience and he's a hot head. CJF & Joey T have no experience. I can see any of those guys having some really shaky spells both in games and perhaps over hopefully short stretches of games.

It probably wont be next season but I think Joey T and CJF are going to be a really good backcourt. Probably their junior and senior seasons.

Based on what we've actually seen the best line up is going to be:

C McC
CJF
Joey W
The Big C
Luka

Also think we'll be known as a team with quality depth, especially in the front court where we'll get some highlight plays out of Ryan, Jack and P McC. Predict next season's record will be exactly the same as last season's record.

Your first two are big ?. One has limitations and the other has not played one second.

 

[HoustonREDHawk]

Gotta say I think Cordell is more like 6'7" and RK is more like 6'10".

Think people are underestimating his ability to finish right, inside. Anything outside of 10 feet is kind of an adventure but Big C's had a lot of time where he basically could only shoot. Since shooting is a very learnable skill let's hope he can push that shot out to the free throw line, a huge improvement over both he and TC's play at the four-neither were much of a shooting threat.

Nunge at the 3 was terrible. Nunge at the 4 was not so terrible and he made some nice offensive and defensive plays. Since guy's 6'10" and above should spend most of their time around the basket let's hope he's muscled up for real without losing quickness. The kid has a big frame so there's room to grow into that frame.

P McC, on the other hand, is just a skinny kid. He has a small frame. P will gain some muscle mass while at Iowa but he's always going to be a Utoff kind of build rather than a Whitey kind of build. White was skinny but clearly had room to grow. Ute was skinny and, albeit with some improvement in strength never was very big or strong. P's a 3 and I suspect he will stay primarily in that position for 4 seasons.

 

[HoustonREDHawk]

I cannot remember even one time that Pemsl finished with his right hand. My memory isn't great, so maybe that is a slight exaggeration I also think that you can probably count on one hand the number of shots he has made outside 10 ft (not counting free throws). He has some really crafty moves and he is strong and pretty good at using his big butt, but if anyone can find even one instance where Pemsl finished with his right hand, I would love to see it.

 

[Ballhawk1221]

We have three bigs who can hit 3-pointers. We have three guards who can shoot and drive. We have two extremely versatile and athletic wings. If CP has a one-dimensional game, I think I can live with that.

 

[BBHawk]

I cannot remember even one time that Pemsl finished with his right hand. My memory isn't great, so maybe that is a slight exaggeration I also think that you can probably count on one hand the number of shots he has made outside 10 ft (not counting free throws). He has some really crafty moves and he is strong and pretty good at using his big butt, but if anyone can find even one instance where Pemsl finished with his right hand, I would love to see it.

For God's sake, you do realize that he also shoots a high percentage, right? He doesn't need to shoot 10 - 15 foot shots, nor 3-pointers, but he does need to stay near the basket to rebound, get put-backs, and defend. That is his forte. Anything outside of that is gravy!