Many Benefits to this year's August Trip to Germany (including 10 xtra practices, 4 exhib games)

[Franisdaman]

Iowa, which finished 19-15 this season, will benefit from having 10 extra practices this summer in preparation for a trip to Germany in August. That will also give McCaffery four exhibition games to make some preliminary judgments about his roster before fall practices.

Incoming post players Jack Nunge and Luka Garza figure to demand playing time alongside 11 established Hawkeyes. And McCaffery’s son, Connor, has verbally committed to join the program after a standout career as a guard at Iowa City West

“It’s going to be hard. I’ve thought about it a lot,” McCaffery said of doling out minutes next season.

“I just am a firm believer in that all will get solidified as we have an opportunity to go through that process,” McCaffery said.

McCaffery said he had postseason discussions with each of his players and there were “no issues at all” related to potential transfers.

“The thing about me, I’m very direct,” he said. “But I’m very direct all year so it’s not like I’m going to hit them with something at the end-of-the-year meeting that they’re going to be completely shocked by.”

http://www.hawkcentral.com/story/sp...hannon-luka-garza-connor-mccaffery/100261848/

 

[Jumpshot00]

I think the fact that nobody is leaving is a solid testament to the chemistry on this team. They must want to be here and want to be part of the team. Clearly some players are going to ride the bench and a few players are going to get minimal playing time. Fran must also believe in these guys otherwise I am sure he would have said they should look at other options.

 

[HeRKeYHoPeFuL]

I'm really curious to get a first look at how the newcomers mesh with the existing players. I think we'll likely see a more interior focused offensive attack (with our guards always ready to launch on any inside-out opportunities that are created). Hopefully this translates into better rebounding by having 3 frontcourt players on the floor more often. That will insulate us from any poor shooting nights and help our defense limit second chance opportunities to take advantage of poor shooting from our opponents.

Ideally we can parlay our depth into the endurance advantage it should be as well, getting our players to stay fresh throughout the game and punish opponents who leave their shorter rotations out a few series too long and either give up fast break points or silly fouls to the Hawks.

 

[CanadaHawk]

Iowa, which finished 19-15 this season, will benefit from having 10 extra practices this summer in preparation for a trip to Germany in August. That will also give McCaffery four exhibition games to make some preliminary judgments about his roster before fall practices.

Incoming post players Jack Nunge and Luka Garza figure to demand playing time alongside 11 established Hawkeyes. And McCaffery’s son, Connor, has verbally committed to join the program after a standout career as a guard at Iowa City West

“It’s going to be hard. I’ve thought about it a lot,” McCaffery said of doling out minutes next season.

“I just am a firm believer in that all will get solidified as we have an opportunity to go through that process,” McCaffery said.

McCaffery said he had postseason discussions with each of his players and there were “no issues at all” related to potential transfers.

“The thing about me, I’m very direct,” he said. “But I’m very direct all year so it’s not like I’m going to hit them with something at the end-of-the-year meeting that they’re going to be completely shocked by.”

http://www.hawkcentral.com/story/sp...hannon-luka-garza-connor-mccaffery/100261848/

The first McCaffery quote you had bolded: "It's going to be hard, I've thought about it a lot," referring to doling out minutes next year, is something that's a good problem to have but a tough one, particularly when a talented son would be in the mix at a key position. There was something very important that you didn't note in that article:
"As for his oldest son, who also intends to play baseball at Iowa, McCaffery said his status remains unchanged, but that HE EXPECTS A FINAL DECISION SOON ABOUT WHAT THE NEXT YEAR HOLDS FOR CONNOR."
In other words, all the speculation about what Connor is doing next year will soon have some tangible, public form. I assume that means before the summer. Does CW's return perhaps indicate part of that decision?

 

[4th & 9 inches]

And the chance to drink some REAL beer

 

[Douglas C. Neidermeyer]

Dom has the 411 on all the good schnitzel places.....

 

[mazda1]

As a walk on would Conner be included on the trip to Germany? I would assume so, but don't know the rules on this.

It will be interesting to see how much time the freshman get and how close they are to being ready to contribute. With everyone having experience and the trip I would expect our out of conference record to be much better this year.

 

[MooMooLover]

If we're going to play 11 to 13 guys, we should be pressing hard all the time.

 

[RocknRollface]

If we're going to play 11 to 13 guys, we should be pressing hard all the time.

Id like to see more pressing. Its harder with JBO.

Theres definitely enough pieces to come up with a pressing unit though.

Williams, Moss, Baer, Wagner and who ever on the back end, maybe Uhl? That wouldn't leave much for offense but it could be interesting. Not the 3/4 trap either but a full court press.

 

[HoustonREDHawk]

Dom has the 411 on all the good schnitzel places.....

Could get some good wiener schnitzel and sauerbraten in the Amana Colonies when I was in Iowa City.

 

[dandh]

Do the incoming players get to go on the trip?

 

[CanadaHawk]

Do the incoming players get to go on the trip?

Yes

 

[HawkinCarmel]

Going to be able to play fast. It will be difficult to establish minutes. The D effort will have to be there or you will sit. Four quality bigs and two huge small forwards. The D should be much better than last year. The only thing I see lacking is the ability to go with an agressive man to man D. Great opportunity for guys that can get on the lane driving the rock. Looking forward to it.

 

[DodgerHawki]

Going to be able to play fast. It will be difficult to establish minutes. The D effort will have to be there or you will sit. Four quality bigs and two huge small forwards. The D should be much better than last year. The only thing I see lacking is the ability to go with an agressive man to man D. Great opportunity for guys that can get on the lane driving the rock. Looking forward to it.

Agree. There should be no excuse for not giving effort on D. If you don't want to compete for loose balls and defend, then you can watch the game from the bench. Playing time tends to get sorted out by who is playing well and who isn't. Still not an easy roster to manage.

 

[DodgerHawki]

Id like to see more pressing. Its harder with JBO.

Theres definitely enough pieces to come up with a pressing unit though.

Williams, Moss, Baer, Wagner and who ever on the back end, maybe Uhl? That wouldn't leave much for offense but it could be interesting. Not the 3/4 trap either but a full court press.

Pressing all the time sounds good in theory but is more difficult to commit to full time. Louisville is about the only team that will use some form of press all the time. A host of reasons for that. In the 1986-87 season when Dr. Tom took Iowa to No. 1, college basketball was different. Most teams had 1 primary ball-handler, then an off-guard who wasn't great at handling the ball and then big guys. In general today, more teams have multiple players on the floor who can pass, dribble and shoot. And if you commit to full-court pressing against a team with superior athletes, it can become a layup line/dunk drill for the opponent.

On the current roster for Iowa, the lineup you mentioned has attributes that could be effective at a press. But you need more than 5 players to play like that all the time. Are Ellingson, Bohannon, Pemsl, Kriener, Garza best-suited to that type of game? I have my doubts.

Fran seems to handle it about right. He will press at some point in most every game. If it's working, he'll stay with it. If the other team is carving it up, he'll stop. As long as the defensive intensity improves next year, I don't really care if it's pressing, man, zone.

 

[CanadaHawk]

Fran seems to handle it about right. He will press at some point in most every game. If it's working, he'll stay with it. If the other team is carving it up, he'll stop. As long as the defensive intensity improves next year, I don't really care if it's pressing, man, zone.

It's exciting that the defensive intensity is bound to increase with as young as we were. Plus, with at least one center added to the regular rotation, the interior size will make changing defenses generally more effective.

The O will take a hit with Jok's departure. But starting with an inside/out combo that's already averaging double figures, combined with the offensive potential of Moss and Baer, we're likely to catch up fairly quickly and wouldn't be surprised to see us again close to 80ppg with an improved D giving us a better scoring margin.

I'm thinking that there are times, especially in the fall, as other players are getting used to a heavier scoring load, when we'll see an offense reminiscent of a version of Stockton/Malone- JB passing to Cook in transition or on the block, or shooting it when the D packs it in.

 

[jdob3435]

Can we leave Uhl there?

 

[Douglas C. Neidermeyer]

Can we leave Uhl there?

Maybe the new travel ban will already take care of that....

 

[ABall 420]

Can we leave Uhl there?[/QUOTE
If you have the nuts why don't you ask Fran that question big guy ?

 

[mazda1]

The full time press has lost some of it's luster with all the tv time outs, the reviews, and so on. Teams, even with limited benches, just don't normally reach the point of exhaustion anymore. A lot of bigs can handle the rock and that was a rarity years ago. A solid trapping d still gets turnovers, but the game has changed.