Your right nobody has to be those guys but guys still need to step up and grab that one rebound that matters, get to the foul line when it matters, make some shots, come off the bench and give Iowa a solid 5 minute stretch in the post when the team needs it and so on. We didnt have a deep bench last year but it was productive. Nobody is going to be Gabe but somebody has to give this team life off the bench when this team is struggling or going through a dry patch. You can't count on your starters the entire game. One of the reasons we lost the Dayton game was that we were out rebounded. In the ND game we couldnt get the the FT line and we shot like crap, we only got 3 bench points. I'm not overreacting just pointing out things this team needs to work on if they want to beat some top 40 teams and pull out some close games. Its ok to evaluate games. that doesnt mean someone is overreacting.
Need more from the SO and FR classes
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Your right nobody has to be those guys but guys still need to step up and grab that one rebound that matters, get to the foul line when it matters, make some shots, come off the bench and give Iowa a solid 5 minute stretch in the post when the team needs it and so on. We didnt have a deep bench last year but it was productive. Nobody is going to be Gabe but somebody has to give this team life off the bench when this team is struggling or going through a dry patch. You can't count on your starters the entire game. One of the reasons we lost the Dayton game was that we were out rebounded. In the ND game we couldnt get the the FT line and we shot like crap, we only got 3 bench points. I'm not overreacting just pointing out things this team needs to work on if they want to beat some top 40 teams and pull out some close games. Its ok to evaluate games. that doesnt mean someone is overreacting.
I do agree with those though that say the SR's need to step it up too and put more on their shoulders. Its hard to find any scoring improvement since Gesell and Clemmons were FR. Their shot hasnt really gotten better. Gesell is better at running the O he just hasnt improved as a scorer. Woody has improved a little this year but overall he has taken small steps throughout his career. Those three all need to find a little more scoring this year and shoot the ball a little better.
Gesell may not have improved from a scoring perspective, but he runs the offense much more effectively and efficiently than he did as a freshman. Point guards aren't always scorers. If he can give us around 10 ppg (which he is this year) and 7 assists per game (which he is) while limiting turnovers (1.8 per game) then I am happy with that. Mike is one of those players I think people will appreciate more after he is gone than they will now.
I agree with this. I just wish MG understood his strengths as well as you do. Stop shooting, at least from beyond the arc, and run the offense, which he does very well. To me, him shooting from beyond the arc is almost like a TO. It's a missed opportunity in the possession. I don't mind him taking up pull up jumpers, because he's good with that shot, he's an excellent passer, but he's a poor shooter (3 pt) and he's an avg/slightly below avg FT shooter for a guard. If MG played to his strengths he could be very solid, but when he tries to do too much in the offense he hurts the team.
Marble contributed very little his FR season. He cracked the starting line up towards the end of the year mostly because May was not 100% healthy.
You want a guy who is currently shooting 40% from 3 to stop shooting 3's? He has only shot 10 3's in 6 games so it's not like he is jacking them up every time he gets the ball. I think it's safe to say Mike understands this offense quite well.
Maybe because I understand small sample sizes a little better than you do. He's shot .317, .315, .267 from beyond the arc his first 3 seasons. He's a terrible 3 pt shooter. His shot is way too flat. He's also not a very good FT shooter (for a guard). He's much more valuable to the team, not shooting, and giving the ball to others (getting assists).
As to you last comment. Who's claiming MG doesn't understand the "offense quite well"? I never claimed he didn't, in fact I claimed the opposite. However, if you need to erect strawmen to score points, knock yourself out.
MG hurt them in the Dayton game because he tried to do too much. He shot the ball too much and then at the end of the game he wasn't even aware of the game situation. They needed 3's and he kept driving in for layups.
I guess I am fine with him taking 1.5 3 point attempts per game even if he hits them at a rate around 31%. If he does not shoot any 3's at all the defense will sag on him and not allow him to drive at all. This goes for all of our guards. I agree that he is no Steph Curry, but you still need to keep the defense honest at times and by shooting one or two threes a game if hes open is fine.
Mike isn't perfect, but he is a much better point guard than some on here give him credit for and I am not implying you. Yes, he isn't a great shooter, but I fear there will be a significant dropoff at the pg spot next year. That's another conversation for a different day though.
Unfortunately, it appears for the second year in a row, that Iowa will get less production from their freshmen class than any other team in the Big Ten.
That may be a good thing in the sense that a team like Iowa only does well when we have experienced upperclassmen. Wisconsin rarely gets production from any freshman. When they do, like this year, its not a good thing.
Wow, there have been so many good posts lately by many posters. I think this is an excellent point srams. The freshmen we signed from the 2015 class all have good to very good potential, but the only one that I thought had a major chance to contribute right away was Fleming.
Wagner has been a big surprise (to me), but is caught in a logjam with Uhl and Jones for minutes off the bench. I do expect his minutes will increase.
And I'm not giving up on Fleming either. He's just got to get himself under control a bit.
The other guys, Williams is learning the point guard role. I might have gone completely loco but I still see all the natural talent to expect him to be a very good one down the road. And Moss, Hutton? I don't have any less expectations than I ever had just because they are redshirting.
Again with my boring motto: Recruit, Retain, Develop. It's what a team does when it is in a small state, low population, and must out play other teams. It's what we do.
This isnt really true. Wisconsin is a team built on upperclassmen but they do get good production from FR every once and a while. Hayes is one of those guys. Also Wisconsin typically has a couple guys on their bench that are experienced upperlassmen as well. Iowa doesnt really have that this year so we need FR and SO's to step up or guys we recruited from this last large recruiting class. Not saying they won't but the OP was about how its been a mixed bag so far and the team needs that group to step up.
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I will add this Iowa doesnt really need the the FR this year to step up just as long as Uhl, Ellingson and Jones can step up and be solid and consistent B1G style bench players.
Its going to be a problem for Iowa however if it takes 3 years to get most of our recruits ready for the B1G and playing against other top teams. Ellingson and Uhl are hit and miss right now as 2nd year players. Even Jok took a season and a half before he got going and even now he is still inconsistent and doesnt seem to get it against some good competition. I think Iowa's recruiting is improving to where they might get some production from next years class but Iowa is long ways away from building a Wisconsin like pipeline where there are back to back to back classes coming in always resupplying them with expereinced and good JR and SR basketball players. Iowa has to many gaps.
Its going to be a problem for Iowa however if it takes 3 years to get most of our recruits ready for the B1G and playing against other top teams. Ellingson and Uhl are hit and miss right now as 2nd year players. Even Jok took a season and a half before he got going and even now he is still inconsistent and doesnt seem to get it against some good competition. I think Iowa's recruiting is improving to where they might get some production from next years class but Iowa is long ways away from building a Wisconsin like pipeline where there are back to back to back classes coming in always resupplying them with expereinced and good JR and SR basketball players. Iowa has to many gaps.
Wisconsin had the rare thing happen where a guy left early for the draft putting a kink in their pipeline for year. Wisconsin is a top 25 basketball team if Dekker is on this team still. Next year Wisconsin could be scary good. That Happ kid looks like a star in the making right now as a RSFR. This years team could be like last years Hawkeye team. I think Wisconsin will start to peak towards the 2nd half of the season.
One of Uhl or Jones we certainly need more of as the year goes on. We'll see how that develops. Wagner will get better but don't know if he'll get the minutes to be a major force this year. Jok had better start shooting more consistently or it's going to be a long year. I've been encouraged by Woody's rebounding. He's obviously not a big scorer. But I see signs of him becoming a rebounding force this year.
I'm not sure who else is going to step up and be a scorer this season. Uthoff will be the primary but Jok is so inconsistent. Clemmons, Gesell and Woody have never been scorers and rarely have they shown they can take over a game and then that leaves us with our bench which as we have seen can score us 20pts or 3pts against good teams. Scoring could be a problem this year with some of the teams we have on our schedule. It might just have to be a special guest of the week type of thing where all of those guys step up on different nights to be the secondary scorer.
Wow. Mike Gesell has been playing great basketball. He is not Steph Curry, but there are a bunch of teams that wish they had an experienced PG who runs the offense and plays good defense.
My memory is not great, but I thought Mike sat on the bench most of the Dayton game. I would argue that is the main reason that Iowa lost. My recollection is that he was the one who led the comeback, which might have been successful with a couple of better calls from the zebras.
Agree but most of those guys on those type of teams are also natural scorers or they play on teams that are all-around great at passing and ball movement. Iowa doesnt have a lot of natural scorers so I think they will go for the "great passing team" approach. With the exception of Jok the rest of the starters are pretty good passers and at ball movement. The bench has been iffy in that department.
There aren't really a lot of freshmen who come in and contribute quality play in heavy minutes. Our new guys look like new guys at Iowa usually look, but unlike many of the Alford and Lickliter years we don't need freshmen to contribute quality play in heavy minutes.
We do need three guys to be able to give us some quality play over limited minutes. One of those guys has to be able to play Woody's bench minutes without the Hawks getting killed inside by the bigger boys of the B1G.
I share the opinion above that we should go big. Move AC to the bench and PJ to guard. Start Wagner and Ute. Move Uhl to 5 when Woody's on the pine. Use Jones and/or Uhl for the 4 in some kind of regular rotation (allows each new guy to learn a position before learning a second, like Uhl has to master) with Wagner. Baer fits nicely into the very few minutes that Ute should ever be off the floor.
There's 200 minutes to divide. The four seniors and Jok need to play about 140 to 150 of the 200 in every competitive game. Of course, I'm going with the Coach's opinion should McC's rotation and mine diverge.
We do need three guys to be able to give us some quality play over limited minutes. One of those guys has to be able to play Woody's bench minutes without the Hawks getting killed inside by the bigger boys of the B1G.
I share the opinion above that we should go big. Move AC to the bench and PJ to guard. Start Wagner and Ute. Move Uhl to 5 when Woody's on the pine. Use Jones and/or Uhl for the 4 in some kind of regular rotation (allows each new guy to learn a position before learning a second, like Uhl has to master) with Wagner. Baer fits nicely into the very few minutes that Ute should ever be off the floor.
There's 200 minutes to divide. The four seniors and Jok need to play about 140 to 150 of the 200 in every competitive game. Of course, I'm going with the Coach's opinion should McC's rotation and mine diverge.
He was 2-4 against Dayton from the field, 2-3 from the line (the miss being late in the game, front end of 1 and 1). 3 assists, 2 TO's. He was 5-15 in the ND game.
I'm not saying MG is bad. I'm not saying anything heretical. All I'm saying is MG should play to his strengths, which are running the offense, driving and shooting pull up jumpers, playing defense, not shooting beyond the arc. He's an avg B1G point guard, which is fine given his experience.
