Men's Practice video

[RocknRollface]

My hope is that Payton will be the worst defender on the floor most of the time, and he will be better if there are better defenders around him. I think Dembele or Traore get most of the minutes at the 4, and that alone will be a huge step up on defense and the boards. Just not playing 4 on 5 on defense for 25 min a game has to help.

I understand your skepticism.

My uneduacated guess is Traore will end up playing at both forward spots. I think he can defend both spots but offensively it will be questionable.

His rebounding will probably make him hard to keep on the bench though.

Also guessing one of Dembele or Tadjo becomes the backup 5, the other plays the 4. Or more likely each do some of both.

If that ends up happening it's going to look really weird that he kept Mulvey instead of trying for another guard because Brauns will probably be ahead of Mulvey too.

I like the pieces I just don’t know how they fit together, especially with a coach that prefers shooters to defenders.

I really hope Fran can tolerate the poor shooting in exchange for better defense instead of just playing all his shooters together like normal.

 

[Quintana]

He needs a Scottie Pippen type growth spurt. That'd be helpful.

not for his tats

 

[IllQChawk]

Harding is going to end up as one of the best point guards in the conference, I have no doubt!

 

[LukaDuka]

Harding is going to end up as one of the best point guards in the conference, I have no doubt!

you have no common sense....

 

[jerbob36]

I want to believe so badly the defensve will be respectable. Trust me.

And I've wanted to believe so badly many previous years.

I would love nothing better than to be proven wrong and this team develops a toughness on the defensive end that's never really been there before.

At the same time, offensively we will score, and there's a reason Fran has beaten great defensive coaches like Izzo and others: he can flat out coach the offensive end.

 

[icwesthawk]

3 out of the 4 new guys play the same position and the more athletic ones can't shoot so who knows how any of this is going to work and who Fran will let play and where.

Players do get better in some basketball worlds. The idea that our "athletic ones" can't shoot may not be accurate. I'm not worried about shooters, I worry about slashers that can take their man one on one and beat them to the hoop. I think we have more of them than usual, at least I hope so.

 

[LukaDuka]

I want to believe so badly the defensve will be respectable. Trust me.

And I've wanted to believe so badly many previous years.

I would love nothing better than to be proven wrong and this team develops a toughness on the defensive end that's never really been there before.

At the same time, offensively we will score, and there's a reason Fran has beaten great defensive coaches like Izzo and others: he can flat out coach the offensive end.

Defense & rebounding need vast improvement. Iowa gave up 11 offensive rebounds last year. Probably resulted in opponents gaining an extra 10 points per game. Cut this in half & Iowa will be a tourney team.

 

[Willin]

Harding is going to end up as one of the best point guards in the conference, I have no doubt!

Hope you're right. That would be awesome!

 

[RocknRollface]

Players do get better in some basketball worlds. The idea that our "athletic ones" can't shoot may not be accurate. I'm not worried about shooters, I worry about slashers that can take their man one on one and beat them to the hoop. I think we have more of them than usual, at least I hope so.

I tend to agree with that but the coach has tended to not agree with that.

Frans top priorities have always been shooting, ball security and moving the ball via the pass.

 

[HoustonREDHawk]

My uneduacated guess is Traore will end up playing at both forward spots. I think he can defend both spots but offensively it will be questionable.

His rebounding will probably make him hard to keep on the bench though.

Also guessing one of Dembele or Tadjo becomes the backup 5, the other plays the 4. Or more likely each do some of both.

If that ends up happening it's going to look really weird that he kept Mulvey instead of trying for another guard because Brauns will probably be ahead of Mulvey too.

I like the pieces I just don’t know how they fit together, especially with a coach that prefers shooters to defenders.

I really hope Fran can tolerate the poor shooting in exchange for better defense instead of just playing all his shooters together like normal.

Personally, I think Payton, Dix and Freeman can be options 1a, 1b, and 1c on offense, allowing the PG to be primarily a facilitator, which has been a long time coming. The PG still needs to hit open shots, if the defense plays off him. Harding and Thelwell both seem to be pretty good at orchestrating an offense, and I hope they can at least hold their own on defense. I think that leaves open the 4 to be primarily a interior defense and rebounding position, which fits Dembele and Traore. If bench centers can't play some meaningful minutes behind Freeman, my guess is that Dembele splits time at 4/5, with Traore, and maybe Tadjo getting most of the time at 4. I think Koch will be primarily Payton's back up, with Pryce splitting time between off guard and 3. I hope the bulk of the minutes at guard will be split between Dix, Harding and Thelwell.

 

[RocknRollface]

Personally, I think Payton, Dix and Freeman can be options 1a, 1b, and 1c on offense, allowing the PG to be primarily a facilitator, which has been a long time coming. The PG still needs to hit open shots, if the defense plays off him. Harding and Thelwell both seem to be pretty good at orchestrating an offense, and I hope they can at least hold their own on defense. I think that leaves open the 4 to be primarily a interior defense and rebounding position, which fits Dembele and Traore. If bench centers can't play some meaningful minutes behind Freeman, my guess is that Dembele splits time at 4/5, with Traore, and maybe Tadjo getting most of the time at 4. I think Koch will be primarily Payton's back up, with Pryce splitting time between off guard and 3. I hope the bulk of the minutes at guard will be split between Dix, Harding and Thelwell.

Koch is a 4 anywhere but Iowa but you are most likely correct that Fran will use him at the 3.

He will really struggle to stay in front of the type of guards that most big ten teams have at the 3 spot.

 

[LukaDuka]

Koch is a 4 anywhere but Iowa but you are most likely correct that Fran will use him at the 3.

He will really struggle to stay in front of the type of guards that most big ten teams have at the 3 spot.

Most of the team will struggle on defense. Besides Dix, I'm not certain we have any good on ball defenders. Hoping the new transfers are decent on ball. If not, I see a lot of zone defense being played. Which Iowa hasn't been very good at covering the three ball in their zones in the past. They need to work on defensive rotations.

I know.... Fran doesn't work on defense in practice.

 

[IllQChawk]

you have no common sense....

You've seen him for approximately just over 9 games total minutes played, I've seen him play over 90 games plus multiple YouTube videos of MidPro AAU games with Freeman. You're the one that has no clue, trust me, you'll change your tune come this fall, and if not many on here here know your distain for short white players. That's something you can't hide from.....
I'll bet you think Purdue could do better with someone other then Braden Smith?

 

[LukaDuka]

You've seen him for approximately just over 9 games total minutes played, I've seen him play over 90 games plus multiple YouTube videos of MidPro AAU games with Freeman. You're the one that has no clue, trust me, you'll change your tune come this fall, and if not many on here here know your distain for short white players. That's something you can't hide from.....

And you can't hide your love for sniffing the jocks of your Moline boys. Your infatuation / loyalty for Brock is admirable from someone who obviously has followed him for years. But for your own sanity sake you need to tone down the fandom. I swear you pick up his used chewing gum off the gym floor and gnaw on it like a dog on a piece of rawhide...

I get it, you love him like a grandson. But he's not the 2nd coming of Ronnie Lester. Not even Steve Carfino.

 

[RocknRollface]

Most of the team will struggle on defense. Besides Dix, I'm not certain we have any good on ball defenders. Hoping the new transfers are decent on ball. If not, I see a lot of zone defense being played. Which Iowa hasn't been very good at covering the three ball in their zones in the past. They need to work on defensive rotations.

I know.... Fran doesn't work on defense in practice.

I expect most of the team besides the Sansforts and Koch to be potentially capable individual defenders but it's the communication needed to play team defense that I assume will still be poor.

That usually only comes through repetition and intentionality in practice and Frans teams are never good at those things.

The defense will be much better than last year but still probably not better than average and no where near what it could be with a different approach to repetition in practice.

 

[IllQChawk]

And you can't hide your love for sniffing the jocks of your Moline boys. Your infatuation / loyalty for Brock is admirable from someone who obviously has followed him for years. But for your own sanity sake you need to tone down the fandom. I swear you pick up his used chewing gum off the gym floor and gnaw on it like a dog on a piece of rawhide...

I get it, you love him like a grandson. But he's not the 2nd coming of Ronnie Lester. Not even Steve Carfino.

No, he's Brock Harding and you will find that out come this fall. You still haven't replied to my comment about Purdue's Braden Smith, why is that?

 

[DanHawkPella]

If you look at last year's stats compared to the year before, our defensive FG% defense was actually better, but our defensive ranking was worse. The reason was that both our offensive and defensive rebounding were a lot worse - that was the biggest issue last year, at least relative to the year prior.

Losing Krikke and Patrick does help a lot in that regard, and getting Payton back. I am very high on Dembele and would rank the PF's this way as I think Sandfort would technically be a SF this year:

1. Dembele - the most well rounded, and can score at all 3 levels even if not elite at any one of them. Not a top shelf athlete but good and physical. Very good basketball IQ imo. Can back up Center in a pinch, so against smaller teams would play C when Freeman is out, but against bigger teams may see Braun.
2. Traore - looks like a PF/SF hybrid so could back up both spots
3. Koch / Tadjo - one is more skilled and can space the floor; one is more athletic but is raw - can neither space the floor or post up well, but could just out athlete certain teams (but disappear against others).

My lineup is probably:

1. Thelwell 20 mpg / Harding 20 mpg - may come down to Harding's 3 point shot efficiency and turnovers. If he improves he starts, if not I think Thelwell is the better defender and can also score and create. He may have the edge, but Harding may be brining some leadership elements that are hard to factor in, as someone in the program longer.

2. Dix 25 mpg / Pryce 15 mpg - I'm VERY high on Dix.....his mid-range fade away is unstoppable and he got much better finishing near the rim. Sandfort should take a big jump also, and is a very well rounded player. Thelwell may be able to play this spot too if needed.

3. Payton 30 mpg / Traore 5 mpg / Pryce 5 mpg - Payton should eat up most of the minutes here. Don't have a ton of pure SF's on the roster. Traore at only 6'7" hopefully can play her too, and Pryce can also.

4. Dembele 15 mpg / Traore 10 mpg / Tadjo 10 mpg / Koch 5 mpg. Maybe Koch gets his limited minutes at SF and Traore stays only at PF, hard to say. Koch is a lot better 3 point shooter than any of these 3, with Dembele 2nd and Traore 3rd.

5. Freeman 25 mpg (foul trouble) / Dembele 10 mpg / Braun 5 mpg

TOTAL MINUTES:
Payton 30 mpg
Dix /Freeman / Dembele 25 mpg
Thelwell / Harding / Pryce 20 mpg
Traore 15 mpg
Tadjo 10 mpg
Koch / Braun 5mpg (maybe some Kingsbury)

I think people are underestimating Dembele slightly, as well as Koch. Tadjo will get love due to his athleticism, but against talented, athletic, well coached teams his lack of skill will hurt the overall offensive spacing and continuity so I think Koch is a dark horse to eat into minutes. Traore has a bit more of a perimeter game and so offensively helps space the floor much better than Tadjo, as does Dembele. If we don't want people double teaming Freeman we need floor spacers.

This team has depth everywhere but Center. Hopefully Freeman learns to avoid those 1-2 dumb fouls a game.

The real key here though is that this team has more length, rebounding and athleticism across the board than last years team, so even if they won't be an elite defense we should be able to get back into that 60-90 defensive efficiency range, instead of 110-130 or whatever it was.

 

[BrewHawk]

Dix is going to have to play 30-35 minutes per game.

 

[DanHawkPella]

Dix is going to have to play 30-35 minutes per game.

Payton and Perkins only played 30.5 and 30.9 mpg last year and everyone else after Krikke was below 25 mpg (Dix at 24.4).

I could see Dix getting to roughly 29-30 mpg as he's one of our best players, so perhaps I have Pryce slightly too high. Doesn't seem that Dix would be playing PG much this season compared to prior years.

 

[BrewHawk]

Payton and Perkins only played 30.5 and 30.9 mpg last year and everyone else after Krikke was below 25 mpg (Dix at 24.4).

I could see Dix getting to roughly 29-30 mpg as he's one of our best players, so perhaps I have Pryce slightly too high. Doesn't seem that Dix would be playing PG much this season compared to prior years.

I sure hope not (PG).

I see Dix as our best all-around player, both this year and last. He's gotta be in the game for us to have a chance.

 

[Hawkeye Marching Band]

I get it, you love him like a grandson. But he's not the 2nd coming of Ronnie Lester. Not even Steve Carfino.

Time will tell for Harding, but he's clearly better than Carfino already regarding dribble penetration and passing.

 

[Nagarunja]

Pryce has better lateral movement than his brother. I think he’ll be fine playing some 2 guard.

Overall I think he’ll be the most improved player on the team, similar to Payton’s second year.

 

[LukaDuka]

No, he's Brock Harding and you will find that out come this fall. You still haven't replied to my comment about Purdue's Braden Smith, why is that?

Didn't see it. Braden Smith is much better than BH at both ends of the court. But he's benefited from having a 7ft4in beast operating in the paint, opening up opportunities around him & making up for mistakes on defense. I believe he's also slightly taller(?) & much stronger than BH.

.

 

[IllQChawk]

What we think means nothing, Brock Harding will prove you wrong, in any case, when Brock becomes the starting point in the fall you can always gravitate to St. Bonaventure where your favorite ex-Hawkeye Desonte Bowen bolted to. He couldn't hack the competitions and as I said early in the season, that he was just Ahron Ulis 2.0 which he proved me right in the end.
It seems your basketball expertise and talent evaluation rests solely on whether a player is black or white, seem about right.
It would be nice if you would make a comment about a player that you really know something about, instead of insulting your intelligence by just flapping your gums, but what ever, you're not the only one that has a low opinion of Brock, but that will change by the end of the year.

 

[DanHawkPella]

I'm a huge fan of Brock because it's very hard to keep him out of the interior of the defense, and he keeps his dribble and keeps his head up and can find all the passing lanes and players better than anyone we've seen in a long time.

But in order to set up his passing game, he needs to hit the 3 at about 33% or better and have his mid-range game improve (floaters, contested layups). He shot around 35% from 2 which needs to be north of 40% for a guard at minimum. He did shoot 37.5% from 3 but on a very small sample as I didn't think his form indicated that he was really that good if he had shot 200 3's instead of only 40. His Turnover rate of 17% wasn't awful but likely needs to be in that 12-15% range. Defensively he's quick and was able to get steals but can be exploited by teams due to his size but height and strength. Once B10 guards get into his body driving into the lane he's in big trouble, and bigger guards can shoot 3's over him. He got better as the season went on with his decision making.

All that being said, he apparently is a tireless worker, and one of the most important things you need on a team is someone who can draw a 2nd defender and get the defense in rotation. This he is very, very good at. If the rest of the team can learn to play off of him the way Freeman does (note that Dembele wasn't nearly as good with him last season) then he'll be even better. Can imagine some of the dunks Tadjo will get working with him.

Just needs to keep working defensively and with his shot so that it sets up his super powers. I like that our other PG brings some different things so that the staff has options based on matchups.

 

[fivecardstud14]

What we think means nothing, Brock Harding will prove you wrong, in any case, when Brock becomes the starting point in the fall you can always gravitate to St. Bonaventure where your favorite ex-Hawkeye Desonte Bowen bolted to. He couldn't hack the competitions and as I said early in the season, that he was just Ahron Ulis 2.0 which he proved me right in the end.
It seems your basketball expertise and talent evaluation rests solely on whether a player is black or white, seem about right.
It would be nice if you would make a comment about a player that you really know something about, instead of insulting your intelligence by just flapping your gums, but what ever, you're not the only one that has a low opinion of Brock, but that will change by the end of the year.

Ulis and Bowen were nothing alike. Completely different players on both ends of the floor.

 

[LukaDuka]

What we think means nothing, Brock Harding will prove you wrong, in any case, when Brock becomes the starting point in the fall you can always gravitate to St. Bonaventure where your favorite ex-Hawkeye Desonte Bowen bolted to. He couldn't hack the competitions and as I said early in the season, that he was just Ahron Ulis 2.0 which he proved me right in the end.
It seems your basketball expertise and talent evaluation rests solely on whether a player is black or white, seem about right.
It would be nice if you would make a comment about a player that you really know something about, instead of insulting your intelligence by just flapping your gums, but what ever, you're not the only one that has a low opinion of Brock, but that will change by the end of the year.

coming from someone who also thinks Ryan Mulvey will turn into a perennial NBA All Star... And I never once brought up race, that's on you ya hillbilly

 

[LukaDuka]

I'm a huge fan of Brock because it's very hard to keep him out of the interior of the defense, and he keeps his dribble and keeps his head up and can find all the passing lanes and players better than anyone we've seen in a long time.

But in order to set up his passing game, he needs to hit the 3 at about 33% or better and have his mid-range game improve (floaters, contested layups). He shot around 35% from 2 which needs to be north of 40% for a guard at minimum. He did shoot 37.5% from 3 but on a very small sample as I didn't think his form indicated that he was really that good if he had shot 200 3's instead of only 40. His Turnover rate of 17% wasn't awful but likely needs to be in that 12-15% range. Defensively he's quick and was able to get steals but can be exploited by teams due to his size but height and strength. Once B10 guards get into his body driving into the lane he's in big trouble, and bigger guards can shoot 3's over him. He got better as the season went on with his decision making.

All that being said, he apparently is a tireless worker, and one of the most important things you need on a team is someone who can draw a 2nd defender and get the defense in rotation. This he is very, very good at. If the rest of the team can learn to play off of him the way Freeman does (note that Dembele wasn't nearly as good with him last season) then he'll be even better. Can imagine some of the dunks Tadjo will get working with him.

Just needs to keep working defensively and with his shot so that it sets up his super powers. I like that our other PG brings some different things so that the staff has options based on matchups.

It seems most of his assists were to Freeman, which makes sense they already had chemistry. I wonder how many (50%) or more were to Freeman?

 

[Franisdaman]

From this afternoon:

 

[HoustonREDHawk]

I expect most of the team besides the Sansforts and Koch to be potentially capable individual defenders but it's the communication needed to play team defense that I assume will still be poor.

That usually only comes through repetition and intentionality in practice and Frans teams are never good at those things.

The defense will be much better than last year but still probably not better than average and no where near what it could be with a different approach to repetition in practice.

Fran's early teams with Woody, Gesell, Sapp... were pretty good defensively as a team, but I agree with you that communication between players seems to have been missing most of the time since. This team has the potential to be pretty good defensively. We will see if the coaches take advantage of that.

 

[iabcuda]

Tadjo fan here.
Would like to predict (but mostly hope) he will be the backup center once he gets his feet wet and his rebounding & motor take hold.
Gerry Wright’s hands on Tyler Cook’s body with a 7 ft wing span.

 

[LukaDuka]

Fran's early teams with Woody, Gesell, Sapp... were pretty good defensively as a team, but I agree with you that communication between players seems to have been missing most of the time since. This team has the potential to be pretty good defensively. We will see if the coaches take advantage of that.

This starts from the back line. Woody was great at it. Freeman & Dembele need to give good direction from the back. Call out screens, etc.

 

[RocknRollface]

Fran's early teams with Woody, Gesell, Sapp... were pretty good defensively as a team, but I agree with you that communication between players seems to have been missing most of the time since. This team has the potential to be pretty good defensively. We will see if the coaches take advantage of that.

Frans only good defensive teams involved Woodbury and Gessel.

Those guys had already built defensive chemistry together.

Fran didn't teach them how to defend a ball screen they already had their way of doing it, and the important thing is they did it the same way every time for four years.

Ironically, the thing that so many people complained about was the exact reason those teams were good defensively.

If you watch the way they defend screens now it's chaotic. They try to do different things game to game and the players are confused on who's doing what more often than they execute correctly.

So much of offense is initiated with the ball screen that if you can't consistently defend it you're not going to get many stops.

 

[monoman3232]

Entering year #15 with the Fran regime. Which means I have zero expectations and I should just be happy if we make the big dance.

Oh what a sad program we have become on the MBB front …

Iowa is a bottom 3 job in the new Big Ten. There are going to be seasons where we don't qualify for the Big Ten tournament. Whether fans want to admit it or not, getting to tournament is going to be considered a success for Iowa moving forward. There are too many challenges to win here even if fans are in complete denial about it. Maybe another Lickliter type coach after Fran leaves would wake fans up and motivate them to supporting the program more, but I doubt it. What happened 30 or 40 years ago is completely irrelevant to the future of Iowa basketball.

 

[HoustonREDHawk]

Frans only good defensive teams involved Woodbury and Gessel.

Those guys had already built defensive chemistry together.

Fran didn't teach them how to defend a ball screen they already had their way of doing it, and the important thing is they did it the same way every time for four years.

Ironically, the thing that so many people complained about was the exact reason those teams were good defensively.

If you watch the way they defend screens now it's chaotic. They try to do different things game to game and the players are confused on who's doing what more often than they execute correctly.

So much of offense is initiated with the ball screen that if you can't consistently defend it you're not going to get many stops.

You are right. If they don't have a coach who can teach defending pick and roll, Fran needs to find one. Often, Iowa's big man is caught over-hedging, leaving the rolling big man for an easy layup, or they end up with two mismatches that doesn't usually end well. This was a problem for both Freeman and Dembele last year. I think it will get a lot better, if for no other reason, the players will adjust. I think Freeman and Dembele have the tools to be plus defenders and if they get more time together on the floor, they could give Iowa a very solid interior defense. That sure isn't what we saw this past year.

 

[RocknRollface]

You are right. If they don't have a coach who can teach defending pick and roll, Fran needs to find one. Often, Iowa's big man is caught over-hedging, leaving the rolling big man for an easy layup, or they end up with two mismatches that doesn't usually end well. This was a problem for both Freeman and Dembele last year. I think it will get a lot better, if for no other reason, the players will adjust. I think Freeman and Dembele have the tools to be plus defenders and if they get more time together on the floor, they could give Iowa a very solid interior defense. That sure isn't what we saw this past year.

Agree, they both have mobility to be good defenders.

At this point I think Iowas problems on defense and excellence on offense are probably both a result of what the practice time is spent on.

Getting better at defensive is probably more a matter of focused repetions rather than a lack of understanding.

The concepts aren't hard but it requires two individuals to have a chemistry and communication.

 

[HoustonREDHawk]

Agree, they both have mobility to be good defenders.

At this point I think Iowas problems on defense and excellence on offense are probably both a result of what the practice time is spent on.

Getting better at defensive is probably more a matter of focused repetions rather than a lack of understanding.

The concepts aren't hard but it requires two individuals to have a chemistry and communication.

Yep. I was never a good BB player, and that was SEVERAL decades ago when BB was a very different game. We spent as much time practicing defense, as we did offense. Our coaches demanded being in shape, always hustling, learning and executing your assignment, and working together. We didn't have a lot of size, so we ran a lot of full court and 3/4 court presses, and exclusively switching man defense in the half court. Keeping pressure on the ball and communicating were key. This was Jr High and HS, and guys 6'5" were considered tall. The size differences at the college level today would make switching much more difficult.

 

[RocknRollface]

Yep. I was never a good BB player, and that was SEVERAL decades ago when BB was a very different game. We spent as much time practicing defense, as we did offense. Our coaches demanded being in shape, always hustling, learning and executing your assignment, and working together. We didn't have a lot of size, so we ran a lot of full court and 3/4 court presses, and exclusively switching man defense in the half court. Keeping pressure on the ball and communicating were key. This was Jr High and HS, and guys 6'5" were considered tall. The size differences at the college level today would make switching much more difficult.

The beauty of the switch is its so much simpler and it forces the opponent to play iso instead of going downhill off the screen but, yeah, it's pretty tough for most college big men that's why you see the hedge and the double/trap more often.

I do think Iowa has some pretty mobile bigs now so they may be able to pull off a switching defense. Harding is probably a bigger issue than the bigs though.

 

[kceasthawk]

I imagine both Sandforts will be at the "2" frequently.

They're going to get cooked trying to defend guards.

Absolutely which we've been discussing for the last 6 months. We we're short handed last year in the backcourt, and then lost 2 starting guards and had zero guards recruited. Fran managed 1 transfer so we're still even more short handed then last season. I'd agree Fran will once again stick a square peg in a round hole and play the Sandforts in the back court a lot, and we'll pay for it on defense.

 

[doughuddl2]

A hard and fast rule like this is just plain stupid. Use it as a guideline, sure, but usage should take opponent, momentum, individual, score, etc. into account. To sit a guy every time is just idiocy. Sorry.

Don't foul Dr. Basketball.