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MBB players met with Media Today. Drew Thelwell looks really impressive. Owen Up 20 Lbs. Seydou Traore a starter at the 4? Koch can "do everything."

LukaDuka said:
pretty damn high, would love to see them match Ames team with Barnes & McDermott
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That team also had Bubu Palo, who played at ISU.

Gatens team at City High smoked the Barnes Ames team in a holiday scrimmage, although Barnes team was younger.

City was loaded though. Although not the starting lineup, they had Gatens, Lickliter, Malcom Moore (UTEP/Wisc-Mil), and the Derby brothers (both NFL).

So many great teams to choose from though. A lot of teams without the multiple college names that probably would have even smoked City High, Ames, and Waukee
 
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One challenge with Traore at the 4 is that, of the Dembele / Tadjo / Traore group he is the best suited to play minutes at the 3 I think, rather than the other 2 who are more 4/5 players whereas he's a 3/4 player I think.

So starting him at the 4 could bungle rotations, unless they see one of Dembele or Tadjo being the backup Center perhaps.

Koch is the most traditional Fran recruit - longer, highly skilled combo forward. He could back up Sandfort at the 3, with Traore/Dembele at the 4 and Freeman/Tadjo at the 5 perhaps.

That pushes Pryce's minutes to mainly backup behind Dix at the 2 (maybe only 10 mpg there), so perhaps Pryce and Koch are fighting for minutes at the backup 3 spot in a sense, at least in that scenario.

I still think Tadjo could be 3rd or 4th of that group of forwards just due to needing to build his basketball IQ / awareness up with reps at this level. Athleticism can only go so far and against Top 25 teams if your mental game and subconscious instincts aren't there - especially defensively - you will get exposed. I think they can find a role on offense that will suit him, and actually the 5 spot might work. He's not a polished low post back to the basket guy though - more of a perimeter screen and roll guy and a guy who sits in the dunkers spot for rebounds and dump offs.

I think either PG can get 25 mpg in one game, then 15 mpg in another, just based on matchups and how each of them are playing. Harding hitting the 3 at a 35% clip or so would go a long way towards his minutes.
 
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the new players are not exactly skin and bones....

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I admit - I was freaking out a little when Perk left and Sandy took a hard look at the NBA. But I feel a lot better today.

You can't be good defensively or rebounding with Krikke/PMac on the floor. Replacing/upgrading those guys was Job #1, and it appears successful.

I don't really understand Mulvey. Maybe he just wanted to get a free education and doesn't care that much about basketball, or simply isn't very good. But here we are in year 4 of a 7 footers career and he's not even in the discussion. Strange.

Anyway - so it looks like the Hawks can put 5 good basketball players on the court for 40 minutes. It will be fun to see if that leads to W's.
 
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First, thank you @Franisdaman for all the great content.

Second, this team is very intriguing to me. I have no idea how they will do in terms of wins and losses, but it’s tempting to think Fran has his most complete team in terms of diversity of skill sets.

The question, as it always seems to, boils down to how good point guard play can be. Harding is a unique player who could actually be a step up from what we’ve seen under Fran. We’ll see what Thelwell can do. At the very least, he seems to be an upgrade also. So, depending how good those two are determines how successful this team will be IMO.

Last, athleticism should be vastly improved. Hope that shows up on the boards and defensive end of the court. But, yeah, this Iowa team could be a pleasant surprise in the Big Ten. Time will tell.
 
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AmericaNeedsMe said:
You write this and then post a vid of the guy doing something that literally 98% of high major players do routinely.

It's just stupid.

I'm not knocking traore. I hope he's great. That clip does not say "athletic beast" to me. lol
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Well, yeah, let’s be honest: Highlights make about any prospect look elite. I’m sure there were highlight videos out there of Maishe Dailey looking like Jayson Tatum. Shit, there were times I could hit 20+ 3s in a row shooting with no one around. I can promise you not a single P5 coach in America was taking notice. So, yes, you’re right a :03 second clip is yawn inducing.

With all of that said, outside of the Murray twins and Tyler Cook (and now Owen Freeman), it’s been a long time since Iowa had anyone in the front court with even a modicum of athleticism and power. Now they have a few players on the same roster who can fill that role. So, yes, it’s not unique for P5 teams, but sadly it is unique for Iowa teams under Fran, which means it is noteworthy and a welcome change.
 
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RagnarLothbrok said:
First, thank you @Franisdaman for all the great content.

Second, this team is very intriguing to me. I have no idea how they will do in terms of wins and losses, but it’s tempting to think Fran has his most complete team in terms of diversity of skill sets.

The question, as it always seems to, boils down to how good point guard play can be. Harding is a unique player who could actually be a step up from what we’ve seen under Fran. We’ll see what Thelwell can do. At the very least, he seems to be an upgrade also. So, depending how good those two are determines how successful this team will be IMO.

Last, athleticism should be vastly improved. Hope that shows up on the boards and defensive end of the court. But, yeah, this Iowa team could be a pleasant surprise in the Big Ten. Time will tell.
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Payton, Owen and Josh Dix could have all entered the transfer portal and gotten paid hundreds of thousands. That would have been devastating. Hat tip to Fran for running a program where these key players would rather stick around than leave & get paid.
 
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DanHawkPella said:
One challenge with Traore at the 4 is that, of the Dembele / Tadjo / Traore group he is the best suited to play minutes at the 3 I think, rather than the other 2 who are more 4/5 players whereas he's a 3/4 player I think.

So starting him at the 4 could bungle rotations, unless they see one of Dembele or Tadjo being the backup Center perhaps.

Koch is the most traditional Fran recruit - longer, highly skilled combo forward. He could back up Sandfort at the 3, with Traore/Dembele at the 4 and Freeman/Tadjo at the 5 perhaps.

That pushes Pryce's minutes to mainly backup behind Dix at the 2 (maybe only 10 mpg there), so perhaps Pryce and Koch are fighting for minutes at the backup 3 spot in a sense, at least in that scenario.

I still think Tadjo could be 3rd or 4th of that group of forwards just due to needing to build his basketball IQ / awareness up with reps at this level. Athleticism can only go so far and against Top 25 teams if your mental game and subconscious instincts aren't there - especially defensively - you will get exposed. I think they can find a role on offense that will suit him, and actually the 5 spot might work. He's not a polished low post back to the basket guy though - more of a perimeter screen and roll guy and a guy who sits in the dunkers spot for rebounds and dump offs.

I think either PG can get 25 mpg in one game, then 15 mpg in another, just based on matchups and how each of them are playing. Harding hitting the 3 at a 35% clip or so would go a long way towards his minutes.
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Good analysis Dan. I think either Dembele or Tadjo will be the backup 5. Based on Coach Spurlock’s recent podcast comments, Mulvey isn’t expected to contribute anything. And there doesn’t seem to be any buzz about Brauns stepping up this year.

I think the rotation breaks down as:

Thelwell - Harding
Dix - Pryce
Payton - Koch
Traore - Tadjo and Dembele splitting time
Freeman - Tadjo and Dembele splitting time
 
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Hawk_4shur said:
I admit - I was freaking out a little when Perk left and Sandy took a hard look at the NBA. But I feel a lot better today.

You can't be good defensively or rebounding with Krikke/PMac on the floor. Replacing/upgrading those guys was Job #1, and it appears successful.

I don't really understand Mulvey. Maybe he just wanted to get a free education and doesn't care that much about basketball, or simply isn't very good. But here we are in year 4 of a 7 footers career and he's not even in the discussion. Strange.

Anyway - so it looks like the Hawks can put 5 good basketball players on the court for 40 minutes. It will be fun to see if that leads to W's.
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I've talked to 2 of the Iowa players that said Mulvey will see playing time, It's up to him on how much he sees.
He has to take advantage of every minute on the court to impress Fran and to show he deserves more minutes, but if Iowa is going to advance up the ladder in the Big Ten, his height & length could be what Iowa needs to improve it's defense and rebounding.
We'll see this fall if the newbies are capable if replacing his height, length, and his 3 years at Iowa against other teams that play players that are 4 to 5 inches taller then they are, but as of now he's the tallest player on the roster and only the players and coaches know how good he is, as very few outsiders even mention him as a viable commodity.
It's going to be a fun season and I'm looking to see how all the pieces go together in the puzzle that Fran has before him.
 
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IllQChawk said:
I've talked to 2 of the Iowa players that said Mulvey will see playing time, It's up to him on how much he sees.
He has to take advantage of every minute on the court to impress Fran and to show he deserves more minutes, but if Iowa is going to advance up the ladder in the Big Ten, his height & length could be what Iowa needs to improve it's defense and rebounding.
We'll see this fall if the newbies are capable if replacing his height, length, and his 3 years at Iowa against other teams that play players that are 4 to 5 inches taller then they are, but as of now he's the tallest player on the roster and only the players and coaches know how good he is, as very few outsiders even mention him as a viable commodity.
It's going to be a fun season and I'm looking to see how all the pieces go together in the puzzle that Fran has before him.
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I like the looks of this team and for some reason I feel Mulvey will backup Freeman and surprise people and do a good job.
 
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NI hawk said:
I like the looks of this team and for some reason I feel Mulvey will backup Freeman and surprise people and do a good job.
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Again, Fran has too many 3's & 4's on the roster and getting enough minutes for everyone is going to be a challenge for Fran. There are some players that like Harding and Pryce last year, will have to deal with limited minutes and do the best with what they get.
As of now, we know that Freeman, Payton, Dembele and Dix are going to get the majority of minutes at the 5, 4, and 2. Harding and Thelwell will see the most minutes at the 1. That leaves Pryce, Traoye, Koch, Tadjo, Mulvey, and Brauns as the other 3 and 4 position players that will have to deal with what minutes Fran sees fit. Mulvey may back up Freeman or could play along side him, but only Fran can see the light at the end of the tunnel that is determined by what transpires from game to game.
As we have seen in the past, Fran has played and started players that didn't deserve the minutes and that has cost Iowa many games in the past 14 years. With the up tick in athleticism on this team it will be interesting to see how all the pieces of the puzzle that is in front of Fran pans out,
I just hope he can make the right choices and avoid losing games that Fran has had a history of losing unnecessarily by playing players that don't warrant the minutes.
 
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IllQChawk said:
As we have seen in the past, Fran has played and started players that didn't deserve the minutes and that has cost Iowa many games in the past 14 years.
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His boys are gone so I'm hoping that players that get minutes but don't deserve them diminishes
 
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IllQChawk said:
Again, Fran has too many 3's & 4's on the roster and getting enough minutes for everyone is going to be a challenge for Fran. There are some players that like Harding and Pryce last year, will have to deal with limited minutes and do the best with what they get.
As of now, we know that Freeman, Payton, Dembele and Dix are going to get the majority of minutes at the 5, 4, and 2. Harding and Thelwell will see the most minutes at the 1. That leaves Pryce, Traoye, Koch, Tadjo, Mulvey, and Brauns as the other 3 and 4 position players that will have to deal with what minutes Fran sees fit. Mulvey may back up Freeman or could play along side him, but only Fran can see the light at the end of the tunnel that is determined by what transpires from game to game.
As we have seen in the past, Fran has played and started players that didn't deserve the minutes and that has cost Iowa many games in the past 14 years. With the up tick in athleticism on this team it will be interesting to see how all the pieces of the puzzle that is in front of Fran pans out,
I just hope he can make the right choices and avoid losing games that Fran has had a history of losing unnecessarily by playing players that don't warrant the minutes.
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I guess I'm not seeing what you're seeing in regards to Dembele.

The way I see it, the starting 5 will be Thelwell at point, Dix at the 2, Payton at the 3, Traoye at the 4 and Owen at the 5.

Brock will back up Thelwell (boy, we better not have any injuries at PG cuz we are razor thin there), Pryce and Cooper will intermix backing up Josh and Payton, and Tadjo and Dembele will intermix backing up Traoye and Owen. Mulvey and Brauns will play when we're up 20.
 
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HawksRule73 said:
I guess I'm not seeing what you're seeing in regards to Dembele.

The way I see it, the starting 5 will be Thelwell at point, Dix at the 2, Payton at the 3, Traoye at the 4 and Owen at the 5.

Brock will back up Thelwell (boy, we better not have any injuries at PG cuz we are razor thin there), Pryce and Cooper will intermix backing up Josh and Payton, and Tadjo and Dembele will intermix backing up Traoye and Owen. Mulvey and Brauns will play when we're up 20.
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Dix is the back up to the back-up point guard. So we have that going for us..
 
sober_teacher said:
Really hope there’s legs to that, but they’ve told us that before.

Taking the same approach here as with the offense in football tho.

On paper, this might be the most athletic team Fran has had.
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Imagine if we simply got better at rebounding/boxing out. When we get the rebound, we have more opportunities to score and we all know Fran's system results in a lot of points.
 
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ObeseMuffins said:
That form is looking excellent. Gatens worked with him on his form?
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Nailed it. Brock's shot looks totally different and Matt is largely responsible for the improvement.

Click on the link below to watch the video of the players being interviewed.

Otherwise, here is the written version from WHBF TV:

‘Every one feels like it’s going in’: Brock Harding’s shooting ready to take off​

by: Blake Hornstein
Posted: Jul 8, 2024


A 20 minute portion of Iowa’s practice was made available to the media. But the first thing that jumped out the gym -literally – as everyone made their way in was Brock Harding’s shooting.

Harding, shooting three pointers around the world, sunk shot after shot. The undersized guard’s mesmerizing stroke was no accident.

“Since the offseason started last year me and Coach Gatens have worked pretty hard on moving my pocket up so I can get my shot off against a close out.” Harding revealed.

As a freshman Harding shot 37.5% from distance; he says the adjustment has led to improvement in the gym.

“It’s been a good summer so far,” Harding said. “It feels more comfortable out of my hand. Every one feels like it’s going in and that’s a good feeling.”

“Stepping into his role as a leader, it’s nothing that I didn’t expect from him. Owen Freeman said. “Just the way he’s playing, his competitiveness has been taken to a whole new level.”

“He’s shooting the ball and he’s creating for his teammates and just getting to the rim. So you’re going to see a lot of special things out of him this year.”

“He brings a ton of fire and a ton of enthusiasm to every practice, which I love,” Payton Sandfort said. “You never want to have just one or two leaders on a team. You want everybody to hold each other accountable. He’s done a good job of motivating others to do that.”

“I’m proud of him. I’m excited to see what what he can do this year.”


 
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eyesofhawk said:
That team also had Bubu Palo, who played at ISU.

Gatens team at City High smoked the Barnes Ames team in a holiday scrimmage, although Barnes team was younger.

City was loaded though. Although not the starting lineup, they had Gatens, Lickliter, Malcom Moore (UTEP/Wisc-Mil), and the Derby brothers (both NFL).

So many great teams to choose from though. A lot of teams without the multiple college names that probably would have even smoked City High, Ames, and Waukee
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How many Iowa high school teams have had 2 NBA players on them? And Barnes has been a consistent NBA starter for 10 years now? And look at the numbers McD put up at Creighton. I think you’re pushing it here.
 
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