***Luka Garza commits to Iowa***

[91hawki]

I don't think the comparisons to Woody are unfair from a perspective of Garza being a 4 year project. Most big men are. Lets not forget that Garza has lost a lot of weight recently, so he's just figuring out what he can and can't do with his body. Being able to shoot the rock from 3pt range is nice for a big man but you have to be a threat to take the ball to the rack or it does you very little good. I don't see Garza breaking anyone down off the dribble but maybe he can and we just haven't seen it.
I haven't seen anyone "trashing" Garza or being unfair.

You don't need big men to or shouldn't expect a post player (especially a true post like Garza) to "break anyone down of the dribble." That is what you want from your PG and wing players

If he has a back to the basket game, thats great. Need a balance of inside/outside threats. Its been a long, long time since Iowa has had an inside threat. Now maybe with Cook and Garza, we will have the post threat.

If he can hit a 3 ball from time to time and pull the opposing shot blocker away from the lane, then that is icing on the cake.

 

[ScoutRefugee]

You don't need big men to or shouldn't expect a post player (especially a true post like Garza) to "break anyone down of the dribble." That is what you want from your PG and wing players

If he has a back to the basket game, thats great. Need a balance of inside/outside threats. Its been a long, long time since Iowa has had an inside threat. Now maybe with Cook and Garza, we will have the post threat.

If he can hit a 3 ball from time to time and pull the opposing shot blocker away from the lane, then that is icing on the cake.

Agreed. People kept bringing up his 3 pt shooting ability. I wanted to dispel or temper their expectations of that part of his game. Even with his back to the basket, Garza is a project in my opinion. He's not going to come in and play much in his first season. Maybe not even his second season, unless an injury happens.

 

[HawkAssassin]

Is there any extensive highlight video besides the one in the OP available?

It looks like they want a front court shooter to compliment Cook/Wagner. Garza will probably be competing with Kriener in that regard. At the very least, all the competition in the front court should hopefully raise everyone's level of play.

 

[Scott559]

Welcome to Iowa Luka, Pleased you decided to join the Hawkeye family. Nice work Fran & staff!

 

[TopHawkeye]

He reminds me a lot more of Jon Leuer from Wisky than he does Woody in terms of play style. Great get.

 

[SDHawkDoc]

The few short clips I saw what stood out most to me was a nice looking shot from 15 feet and the ability to look smooth and hit from the 3 line. Add that to a decent offensive post game and he will give them a true offensive presence at the 5.

 

[Fan In Black]

Sorry. I dont see any similarities outside of being tall and white, but that is normally all it takes. As Jim Morrison once said, comparisons are a shortcut to thinking.

This is a great get for the basketball program.

 

[tumorboy]

Reminds me of some of the Wisconsin big men over the years.

 

[slipHawk]

Supposedly he's the opposite of Woody in that he has longer arms than his height... so he has that going for him re: blocking, etc.

 

[slipHawk]

From the brief clip he seems to have a smoother shot than Woody...

 

[slipHawk]

I like the get. He looks like the kind of material that Coach McC can mold into an interesting weapon. Also, a DC get so we are expanding our recruiting radius(!!). I really don't see anything to dislike - we absolutely needed another big man and we just got a quality one.

 

[hawkfan1963]

I like the get. He looks like the kind of material that Coach McC can mold into an interesting weapon. Also, a DC get so we are expanding our recruiting radius(!!). I really don't see anything to dislike - we absolutely needed another big man and we just got a quality one.

Absolutely, nothing to dislike about this.

 

[colfaxhawk24]

Georges Niang.

 

[hooper56]

Georges Niang.

If Georges were 5 inches taller and not fat.

 

[hawkbleeder]

If Georges were 5 inches taller and not fat...and not grabbing other guys' junk.

Fify

 

[hawkbleeder]

Woodbury 2.0

I'll need to see the young man dunk before we give him this title.

 

[spbc7]

Being able to shoot the rock from 3pt range is nice for a big man but you have to be a threat to take the ball to the rack or it does you very little good.

So pulling shot blockers away from the basket does little good? The threat of a big man that can knock down the three is huge for driving lanes.

 

[GoHawks2009]

Woodbury 2.0

So he's gonna have a buzzer beater to win an NCAA tourney game?

F*** yeah!

 

[The Sleeping Dog]

Weird thing on ESPN. They don't have Luka in the top 100, although he's a four star 82 in their system. I went through the position by position and counted only 96 boys at 82 or higher in all five positions that ESPN categorizes.

I could be wrong but I seem to recall he was on their top 100 list before. Maybe this is part of the history of downgrading Iowa recruits. He's not listed in order on the center page-there were a few lower rated guys before him but that seems to be the case with some other boys as well.

Either way it looks like we're getting a very good center. The kid is obviously also top 150, and probably closer to top 100, That is a very good result for the Hawks.

 

[hooper56]

A team of top 150 guys is a damn good team usually. With Weiskamp and Patrick still to come we will be stocked for a long while.

 

[ScoutRefugee]

So pulling shot blockers away from the basket does little good? The threat of a big man that can knock down the three is huge for driving lanes.

Depends on what kind of defense the other team is running. I wasn't suggesting it was a bad skill to have. I'm suggesting that his skill with the basketball 20' from the rim are not what he was recruited for.

 

[ScoutRefugee]

Weird thing on ESPN. They don't have Luka in the top 100, although he's a four star 82 in their system. I went through the position by position and counted only 96 boys at 82 or higher in all five positions that ESPN categorizes.

I could be wrong but I seem to recall he was on their top 100 list before. Maybe this is part of the history of downgrading Iowa recruits. He's not listed in order on the center page-there were a few lower rated guys before him but that seems to be the case with some other boys as well.

Either way it looks like we're getting a very good center. The kid is obviously also top 150, and probably closer to top 100, That is a very good result for the Hawks.

Rivals has him a 3* - prospect #134 nat rank
247 has him a 3* - #164 nat rank
Scout has him a 3* - #30 rank Center (didn't see nat rank)
ESPN has him a 4* - #17 rank Center

 

[QChawks]

He is a much better offensive skilled player than Woody IMO.

can he dunk?

 

[DanL53]

Great get for Iowa! My thinking is we've just found a clone of Steve Krafcisin!



Well, on the court that is. When I did my long evaluation of Garza last June the thing that stood out to me is how he went toe to toe with some of the top prep centers in the country in AAU ball and completely stood his ground. An equalizer, is what comes to mind. Not only that but in some cases he was drawing fouls Ala Aaron White and putting some top names on the bench.

This is a kid that gets the most out of his talent and will be somewhere in the mix of guys like Kevin McHale, Ethan Happ, not saying he'll reach those heights but I think he can. Between Garza and Kreiner the thing that I really like is it may move Cook, Pemsl, Wagner, further from the post and maybe for a change Iowa will be doing the pushing around if we have to.

Welcome, Luka, it's great to have you as a Hawkeye!

 

[hooper56]

Great get for Iowa! My thinking is we've just found a clone of Steve Krafcisin!



Well, on the court that is. When I did my long evaluation of Garza last June the thing that stood out to me is how he went toe to toe with some of the top prep centers in the country in AAU ball and completely stood his ground. An equalizer, is what comes to mind. Not only that but in some cases he was drawing fouls Ala Aaron White and putting some top names on the bench.

This is a kid that gets the most out of his talent and will be somewhere in the mix of guys like Kevin McHale, Ethan Happ, not saying he'll reach those heights but I think he can. Between Garza and Kreiner the thing that I really like is it may move Cook, Pemsl, Wagner, further from the post and maybe for a change Iowa will be doing the pushing around if we have to.

Welcome, Luka, it's great to have you as a Hawkeye!

Dan, it is about time you weighed in! I was starting to wonder if you were on board with these new guys. Personally I am super pumped about them. We are really going to have some toughness on the court for years to come.

 

[2432Hawk]

I'll need to see the young man dunk before we give him this title.

I think it is the lack of seeing dunking in his game that gives him that title

 

[hawkbleeder]

I think it is the lack of seeing dunking in his game that gives him that title

Whoosh

 

[Taiwan Football]

Great get for Iowa! My thinking is we've just found a clone of Steve Krafcisin!



Well, on the court that is. When I did my long evaluation of Garza last June the thing that stood out to me is how he went toe to toe with some of the top prep centers in the country in AAU ball and completely stood his ground. An equalizer, is what comes to mind. Not only that but in some cases he was drawing fouls Ala Aaron White and putting some top names on the bench.

This is a kid that gets the most out of his talent and will be somewhere in the mix of guys like Kevin McHale, Ethan Happ, not saying he'll reach those heights but I think he can. Between Garza and Kreiner the thing that I really like is it may move Cook, Pemsl, Wagner, further from the post and maybe for a change Iowa will be doing the pushing around if we have to.

Welcome, Luka, it's great to have you as a Hawkeye!

I agree with Dan. The competition he went up against goes along way in seeing his potential to excel at the next level.

 

[Carlton]

He reminds me a lot more of Jon Leuer from Wisky than he does Woody in terms of play style. Great get.

Not familiar with Luka but if your comparison is even close to accurate, the Hawks have found a 4 year contributor, all B1G caliber player.

 

[hawk_it]

Dan I think you are right that he does have some of Kevin Mchale's style. Haven't seen the fade away that McHale had though.

Very hard working. When facing the basket great catch and shoot with a quick release. Teams will have to respect that ability and pull out to cover him. He has some nice foot work around the bucket with pump fakes and can use both hands on occasion. He gets it done.
With Garza and Nunge I think Iowa now has a lot of different types of offensive weapons in the front court.

 

[Skidlt]

Does anyone know what his free throw % might be?

 

[SDHawkDoc]

Kevin McHale comparison may be a bit too much. I was never a Celtic fan, but that guy was a HOF power forward and a much better athlete than he is often given credit for.

Hard to say from what I saw on video that he has that athletic ability that McHale possessed, but patterning his game after him wouldn't hurt.

 

[Tunadog]

Kevin McHale comparison may be a bit too much. I was never a Celtic fan, but that guy was a HOF power forward and a much better athlete than he is often given credit for.

Hard to say from what I saw on video that he has that athletic ability that McHale possessed, but patterning his game after him wouldn't hurt.

Exactly. McHale was much, much more athletic than than Garza is or ever will be. We're talking about a member of what many believe to be the best front court of all time, and a player about who Charles Barkley said was "the best player I played against."

I'm sure Luka will have a fine career at Iowa, but I think it's unfair to place unnecessary expectations on him long before he sets foot in Carver. Give the kid some breathing room.

 

[DodgerHawki]

A team of top 150 guys is a damn good team usually. With Weiskamp and Patrick still to come we will be stocked for a long while.

This. I have no idea which of these new players ends up being good, average, etc. But the more good players you bring in, the better the odds that you get 7-9 of them who can play at a winning, high level on your roster. Out of Pemsl, Kriener, Garza, Nunge, odds and history tell us that not all of them end up being really good. Can't predict the future. But the odds that at least 2 of them are good B1G players is pretty good.

 

[CyberJJ]

Kevin McHale comparison may be a bit too much. I was never a Celtic fan, but that guy was a HOF power forward and a much better athlete than he is often given credit for.

Hard to say from what I saw on video that he has that athletic ability that McHale possessed, but patterning his game after him wouldn't hurt.

McHale didn't LOOK athletic, partly because he had a body that resembled a dairy cow more than say a Karl Malone. He had some of the best footwork I have ever seen in a post player. He looked awkward with all the step unders and fade-aways. He was very skilled, and not just tall but also long armed. On offensive rebounds he could always put them back up so fast without fully bringing them down to collect himself. And the dude could shoot.

 

[TicoHawk]

McHale didn't LOOK athletic, partly because he had a body that resembled a dairy cow more than say a Karl Malone. He had some of the best footwork I have ever seen in a post player. He looked awkward with all the step unders and fade-aways. He was very skilled, and not just tall but also long armed. On offensive rebounds he could always put them back up so fast without fully bringing them down to collect himself. And the dude could shoot.

McHale also had very long arms. FWIW

 

[DanL53]

Exactly. McHale was much, much more athletic than than Garza is or ever will be. We're talking about a member of what many believe to be the best front court of all time, and a player about who Charles Barkley said was "the best player I played against."

I'm sure Luka will have a fine career at Iowa, but I think it's unfair to place unnecessary expectations on him long before he sets foot in Carver. Give the kid some breathing room.

Understood but I hope I didn't sound like I was trying to place that kind of expectation on him when I spent much of my post saying he reminded me of Special K. Playing styles. Playing styles. Playing styles. And, "Not saying he'll reach those heights (Ethan Happ, Kevin McCale) but I think he CAN. (Could would have been better...as in possibly, maybe, who knows.)

 

[SDHawkDoc]

Agree with the observation about looking athletic vs. being physically skilled.
McHale did not possess a chiseled physique. But, he did have great post footwork and a reasonably quick first step. And, he knew how to use the physical tools he did have to maximum effect. There have been plenty of somewhat awkward big men, even in the NBA, who just didn't have the body control of someone like a McHale.

 

[FairfIowafan1984]

I like this guys video great addition. A year to year and half ago there was a photo of him posted when he was first getting talked about he had a 3rd arm out of his back, does he still have that arm? Anyone remember what I'm talking about?

Welcome to Iowa Luka we need somebody with your size and skillset!!!

 

[eyesofhawk]

But too many skillets could mean too much size