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Next Year's Starting Lineup

H

HellaHawk

All-Conference
Sep 30, 2002
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I am ready on to move on to next year. Here is one possible attempt at a starting lineup:

PG: Williams
SG: Jok
SF: Baer
PF: Jones
C: Uhl

Why this lineup might work. Jok, Baer, Jones, and Uhl all shot over 40% from three this year. This team should be able to put up points, especially if Williams can drive the ball to the hoop, which he showed some prowess at late in the year. Also, the lineup is super long everywhere so hopefully we could rebound the ball. Why the lineup might be a disaster. Defense could be a major issue. Williams and Jok are longer than Gessel and Clemmons, but slower too. Jones isn't a shot blocker like Uthoff and unclear how he'll recover from injury. Uhl can't play post defense like Woodbury.

Second unit:

PG: Bohannon
SG: Moss/Ellingson/Flemming
SF: Hutton
PF: Wagner/Pemsl
C: Cook/Kriener

I think there's a decent change that at least one of Bohannon, Moss, Wagner, or Cook end up starting. If Cook is starting, that is a great sign. We need someone strong that can defend, rebound, and slam home the occasional miss. Wagner is capable of doing that too, but Cook has a bit better size. Kriener should probably red shirt, but we may have no choice but to play him. I've heard positive buzz about Moss. If he can start at the 2, that will allow Jok to remain at the 3 where he excelled this year. If Ellingson or Flemming step up their game that would be great, but not necessary for us to have a good season. Hopefully, Bohannon can handle backup duties at the point. Hutton should be solid on defense. I'm honestly not sure how Pemsl fits in. Could redshirt or be a solid contributor. Hard to say.
 
I know nothing about Hutton or Moss personally. I have not heard anything good or bad out of camp and only saw one highlight of Hutton throwing down a nasty dunk.

I think the starting 5 will look something like this. Just a guess as I do not know anything about what we are returning.

1. Williams
2. Jok
3. Hutton/Moss/Uhl
4. Jones/Wagner
5. Cook

I think this group will be more up-tempo and more athletic than our current line-up. Our ppg might go down, but this team will be exciting to watch in terms of athleticism. But personally next year the expectations will be low for this group.
 
Alot will depend on what Fran decides to do with Uhl. He had to back up Woody at 5, but he really seemed overmatched out there defensively. Offensively, he can be a real problem for opposing centers, but what is the trade off exactly?

1: Williams/Bohannon
2: Moss/Fleming/Ellingson (assuming he is here)
3: Jok/Jones/Hutton
4: Uhl/Baer
5: Wagner/Cook/Kriener

RS: Pemsl

I think we'll be undersized in terms of muscle, but overall more athletic. The number positions will be fluid because Jok could play 2, Jones/Uhl/Baer can all float between 3 and 5. Lots of ??? coming into next year.
 
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I don't know about the other positions, but I don't think Fran will be able to keep Cook off the floor next year in the 5 or perhaps the 4. I've seen him in person, and of course, while his teammate Tatum got most of the touches and the press, Cook is raw, very talented, and can really play. In the state championship, Tatum and Cook did the jumping chest bump thing a couple times and both times Tatum got inadvertently got knocked on his butt. Cook is stronger than he looks. Can't wait to see what he can do in Iowa City.
 
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Here's my .02 looking at next year's starting lineup compared to this year's:

Center: Lose Woody, Gain Uhl/Jones/Wagner/Cook. There will be an offensive upgrade at the 5 next season. Woody was a lot of things, but a threat to score was not one of them. Uhl/Jones will give the 5 position a legitimate 3 point threat. There will also be an upgrade in athleticism at the 5. Rebounding production and perimeter defense probably goes down.

Power Forward: Lose Uthoff, Gain Uhl/Baer/Jones/Pemsl. Uthoff was very productive from the 4 spot and he will be missed. If the rotation at the 4 can match 75% of his production I think Fran will be in good shape. Again, I think athleticism increases at the 4 next year. Replacing 3 blocks per game will be tough to do.

Small forward: Jok/Baer/Hutton/Moss. Depending on the starting 5 Fran decides to go with, I think Jok starts at the 3. Lots of options here and they will need Jok to take the next step and be the guy. Will he be able to create his own shot? Defenses were able to shut down his spot up shooting for the most part late in the season.

Shooting guard: Lose Clemmons, gain Jok/Moss/Fleming/Ellingson. Fran should have a sniper from this spot. Will they be able to hit the shot? Offense should improve from the 2 spot. On ball defense will decline.

Point guard: Lose Mike, gain Williams/Bohannon. Williams showed that he has the drive to want to be the spark and the ability to score. Can he do that game in and game out? He really doesn't strike me as a true PG. Mike was very good at getting the ball to move and running the half court sets but, like Woody, he was not a threat to score. Hopefully scoring from the 1 spot will go up next season.

Recap: Huge losses in experience. Huge gains in scoring threats and athleticism. Can these young guys improve enough in time to be consistently good will be the question we as fans will be waiting to get answered. The talent is there to finish in the top half of the B1G. Fran will have lots of options and may run an 11 man rotation.

Starters
PG: Williams
SG: Moss
SF: Jok
PF: Jones
C: Uhl

Bench
PG: Bohannon
SG: Fleming/Ellingson
SF: Baer
PF: Cook
C: Wagner
 
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I think there will be 1-3 transfers out of the program. And they need to look at a grad transfer who can come in and start.
 
Your 5 was my original 5 until Uhl went AWOL. Maybe Wagner or Cook in place of him.
 
Looking at that imho after so many years with Fran, I don't like how we are built. It's become a shooters game for pretty much everyone except the blue bloods.
 
Too early to tell what the starting line-up will be for the season opener next season. We know for certain that Peter Jok will start, probably at SF. Seems to me that everything else is TBD.

My wild guesses:

-- Williams likely PG starter, Bohannon back-up.

-- Fleming vs. Moss for a starting position at SG to begin the season. Ellingson off the bench.

-- Tyler Cook will start right away. The more I hear and read about Cook makes me believe he is not only physically B10 ready but will be productive as well. I believe he will be one of the best new freshman players in the B10 next year. I have a hunch that, with Woody gone, Fran heavily sold him on the starting opportunity (short of a guarantee) and that he will give him that shot right away.

From here Fran has many options between Uhl, Baer, Wagner, and Jones. Personally, I like Wagner as a starter paired with Cook down low.

-- Guessing Pemsl redshirts.

-- I anticipate that Ellingson rebounds from a tough rFr year and
provides around 10 minutes off the bench.
 
nu2u said:
Too early to tell what the starting line-up will be for the season opener next season. We know for certain that Peter Jok will start, probably at SF. Seems to me that everything else is TBD.

My wild guesses:

-- Williams likely PG starter, Bohannon back-up.

-- Fleming vs. Moss for a starting position at SG to begin the season. Ellingson off the bench.

-- Tyler Cook will start right away. The more I hear and read about Cook makes me believe he is not only physically B10 ready but will be productive as well. I believe he will be one of the best new freshman players in the B10 next year. I have a hunch that, with Woody gone, Fran heavily sold him on the starting opportunity (short of a guarantee) and that he will give him that shot right away.

From here Fran has many options between Uhl, Baer, Wagner, and Jones. Personally, I like Wagner as a starter paired with Cook down low.

-- Guessing Pemsl redshirts.

-- I anticipate that Ellingson rebounds from a tough rFr year and
provides around 10 minutes off the bench.
Click to expand...
what leads you to believe ellingson is going to give 10 min a game. ellingson is a 2 yr player granted he's been in hurt one yr. but maturity wise he has a additional yr. He is more of the same slow feet. We just had 4 yrs. of this. He doesn't seem to fit what fran is trying to build to me.
 
CuttyDoesIt said:
Sure could have used a pure shooter during the last 2 months
Click to expand...

I agree. Ellingson had a tough season, he struggled no doubt about it. Fran gradually lost confidence in him but I don't at all believe he has given up on Brady. If Brady puts in the work, which I believe he will, I think he makes his way back to playing time next season.
 
Gary-Waterloo said:
I think they had some pure shooters, they just did not have anyone who could take the heat off of them. They need a slasher or real post threat to open it up for the shooters.
Click to expand...
This is where having no scoring threat from Woody or Mike really hurt this team. Defenses could really focus their efforts solely on Uthoff and Jok knowing no one else was going to beat them.
 
I don't think you can start Wagner and Cook together. Two frontcourt players that can't shoot would kill the spacing imo.
 
Agree that Cook will start and split time with Kriener. I think Williams is the PG and can be an impact player with Bohannon as the back up. The 2 spot is where it gets interesting. Lots of bodies here for limited PT. Will everyone stay? Jok as the starting 2 backed up by Moss, Fleming, Ellingson. Baer / Wagner combination at the 3 with Hutton and then Jones / Uhl / Pemsl at the 4. Wagner seems undersized for a 4, but he may be better suited to that spot than Jones.

Has the potential to be a very athletic lineup with more shooters than we have seen in a while.
 
crHawkeye92 said:
I don't think you can start Wagner and Cook together. Two frontcourt players that can't shoot would kill the spacing imo.
Click to expand...

What is your basis for claiming that Cook cannot shoot? Consider the biased source but his HS coach said that Cook would have had a 30 point, 20 rebound season if the top-ranked prep basketball player (Jayson Tatum) wasn't on his team this year (side note: Tatum is already projected as the No 1 pick in the 2017 NBA draft)

re: Wagner. I think the jury is still out on Wagner's shot. I see Ahmad more as a Melsahn Basabe type scorer close to the basket with lots of put backs off of offensive rebounds.
 
nu2u said:
What is your basis for claiming that Cook cannot shoot? Consider the biased source but his HS coach said that Cook would have had a 30 point, 20 rebound season if the top-ranked prep basketball player (Jayson Tatum) wasn't on his team this year (side note: Tatum is already projected as the No 1 pick in the 2017 NBA draft)

re: Wagner. I think the jury is still out on Wagner's shot. I see Ahmad more as a Melsahn Basabe type scorer close to the basket with lots of put backs off of offensive rebounds.
Click to expand...
From what I've heard, Cook is more of an inside scorer and doesn't have much of an outside shot, which is fine but I like basketball teams that can put 4 three pointer shooters on the floor at the same time and space the floor (basically like how Indiana is built). That's why I don't know how much room there will be for driving lanes if you have Cook and Wagner in the game at the same time.
 
crHawkeye92 said:
From what I've heard, Cook is more of an inside scorer and doesn't have much of an outside shot, which is fine but I like basketball teams that can put 4 three pointer shooters on the floor at the same time and space the floor (basically like how Indiana is built). That's why I don't know how much room there will be for driving lanes if you have Cook and Wagner in the game at the same time.
Click to expand...

Got it, thanks. You probably won't see plays run for Cook beyond about 12 feet or so so yeah Uhl or Jones would be a better option if you want another outside shooter on the floor.
 
0418hawkguy1001 said:
You will not be able to keep Cook out of the starting line-up.

Here is how I project the starting 5 next year.

PG- Williams
SG- Moss
SF- Jok
PF- Uhl
C- Cook

2nd unit
PG- JBo
SG- Fleming/Ellingson
SF- Hutton
PF- Baer
C- Wagner

I think Kreiner and Pemsl redshirt.
Click to expand...

I don't think we have the luxury of redshirting kriener. We lack size underneath and while uhl has length, he does not rebound all that well. I'm afraid cook and kriener will be desperately needed from day 1.
 
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Some guys really progress over the summer and early fall. Others not so much but the offseason is always key for a program like Iowa has. At the beginning of the season this is the lineup I expect to see.

1. Williams
2. Jok
3. Baer
4. Wagner
5. Uhl

Again, this is what I see for the start of the season. By the time the B1G season rolls around it might look very different. I am anxious to see what Moss and Hutton bring to the court.
 
C/Seahawk said:
I don't think we have the luxury of redshirting kriener. We lack size underneath and while uhl has length, he does not rebound all that well. I'm afraid cook and kriener will be desperately needed from day 1.
Click to expand...
If you're depending on Kriener being 'desperately needed from day 1', Fran is in trouble. Having seen both in person, Kriener doesn't look any bigger than Pemsl. Kriener's profile lists him at 6-9 240. Pemsl is listed at 6-8 235. Cook is listed at 6-8 240. It sounds like Cook is the best athlete of the bunch and will probably get the nod to play right away. Kriener would benefit greatly from a RS season.
 
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HellaHawk said:
I am ready on to move on to next year. Here is one possible attempt at a starting lineup:

PG: Williams
SG: Jok
SF: Baer
PF: Jones
C: Uhl

Why this lineup might work. Jok, Baer, Jones, and Uhl all shot over 40% from three this year. This team should be able to put up points, especially if Williams can drive the ball to the hoop, which he showed some prowess at late in the year. Also, the lineup is super long everywhere so hopefully we could rebound the ball. Why the lineup might be a disaster. Defense could be a major issue. Williams and Jok are longer than Gessel and Clemmons, but slower too. Jones isn't a shot blocker like Uthoff and unclear how he'll recover from injury. Uhl can't play post defense like Woodbury.

Second unit:

PG: Bohannon
SG: Moss/Ellingson/Flemming
SF: Hutton
PF: Wagner/Pemsl
C: Cook/Kriener

I think there's a decent change that at least one of Bohannon, Moss, Wagner, or Cook end up starting. If Cook is starting, that is a great sign. We need someone strong that can defend, rebound, and slam home the occasional miss. Wagner is capable of doing that too, but Cook has a bit better size. Kriener should probably red shirt, but we may have no choice but to play him. I've heard positive buzz about Moss. If he can start at the 2, that will allow Jok to remain at the 3 where he excelled this year. If Ellingson or Flemming step up their game that would be great, but not necessary for us to have a good season. Hopefully, Bohannon can handle backup duties at the point. Hutton should be solid on defense. I'm honestly not sure how Pemsl fits in. Could redshirt or be a solid contributor. Hard to say.
Click to expand...


I'll give you the first 4. Baer needs to start. He has drive, leadership, good ball handling, a decent shot and plays good defense. Plus He ain't soft. We need his energy on the floor. The guy played great yesterday. He will be even better his sophomore year with just the added weight alone.

Uhl could be the other PF position. But I still see that as being up in the air. He may start the season, but will he finish there, we will see.

Jones could be the starter. It will depend on his recovery. He may start, but probably not until late December. I like the guy's game. If we had him all year, this slump might not have happened.

Moss, Cook and Hutton are the question marks. Moss & Hutton are said to be doing well. With Moss reportedly out playing Williams. That is good if true. Neither will be soft. Being from Chicago, they will bring it. They should double our toughness with just the two of them. Philly Fran will like that... Cook looks like an animal. He is not a small player. He is 250+ and looks to have zero body fat.
I think Fleming steps it up and snags some PT. Call it a feeling. But the guy does have some heart. He looks to have some eagerness and drive to him. And that's just sitting on the bench. ;)
 
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Based on what we have right now I'd guess Williams, Jok, Baer, Wagner, Uhl. However, with the guys coming in (including the redshirts), and the terrible play of Uhl lately, I'm hoping for something more like:

Williams
Jok
Baer/Jones
Wagner
Cook

or

Williams
Moss
Jok
Wagner
Cook
 
Can't see Baer starting and not really sure we need him to. His excellent energy was an asset off the bench. Not sure he has the athleticism to hang for 25-30 minutes against B1G athletes night in and night out.

He seems like a career 6th man. Which is pretty valuable on any good team.
 
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StormHawk42 said:
Can't see Baer starting and not really sure we need him to. His excellent energy was an asset off the bench. Not sure he has the athleticism to hang for 25-30 minutes against B1G athletes night in and night out.

He seems like a career 6th man. Which is pretty valuable on any good team.
Click to expand...


Baer played 25 minutes against Villanova, who would be top 3 in the B1G, and he did quite well. He was one of our best players of the game. He has one of the highest basketball IQs on the team. He is long and has a sneaky quickness to his game. That and he will probably add another 10+ pounds of muscle. Jus sayn...

But I do like your idea of his energy coming off the bench. We need that spark. That said, I am hoping we have several others bringing that energy off the bench next year. Jones, Hutton and Fleming will, assuming they are not starting. Jones and Fleming, from what little we saw, are energy guys. Hutton must be from the way he talks about wanting to be the best defender on the floor. That is by no means a soft, low energy player. Looking forward to seeing him play.

However it works out, if Baer doesn't start that means he got beat out by someone. That certainly isn't a bad thing!
 
I kind of like the Hawk Central take:

Projected starters
As mentioned, the starting five will be very fluid. But here’s one early forecast.

Point guard: 6-6 Christian Williams (soph.) — He got valuable experience down the stretch and showed versatility and is capable of being an excellent defender.

Shooting guard: 6-6 Peter Jok (sr.) — Jok has always flexed from the 2 to the 3, but either way, he could be Iowa’s first 20 ppg scorer since Adam Haluska in 2007.

Small forward: 6-9 Dom Uhl (jr.) — The German can play the 3, 4 or 5 and can be great if he finds consistency. He shot 45 percent from 3 last season and can be a 10-12 ppg scorer as a junior.

Power forward: 6-8 Tyler Cook (fr.) — McCaffery’s most heralded recruit since Gesell/Woodbury, Cook is an athletic, powerful player. Fresh off a big-school Missouri state championship, he'll have a shot to make an instant impact.

Center: 6-7 Ahmad Wagner (soph.) — He plays big and fast, perfect for the Big Ten and McCaffery’s up-tempo style. An excellent defender who needs to polish his offensive game and free-throw accuracy.
 
Changed my mind after looking at efficiency stats.

Williams
Jok
Baer
Uhl
Wagner

With Bohanon, Fleming, Jones and Cook as the main reserves. Uhl really wasn't that great for his second year in the program. If you look at the efficiency stats Baer was the best underclassman and it wasn't close. Wagner second with Uhl third. Jones in his limited 6 games showed that he is one of the top shooters and rebounders on the team and I think he will have a huge role even if he doesn't start. Ellingson just doesn't look like power 5 material.
 
David1979 said:
Changed my mind after looking at efficiency stats.

Williams
Jok
Baer
Uhl
Wagner

With Bohanon, Fleming, Jones and Cook as the main reserves. Uhl really wasn't that great for his second year in the program. If you look at the efficiency stats Baer was the best underclassman and it wasn't close. Wagner second with Uhl third. Jones in his limited 6 games showed that he is one of the top shooters and rebounders on the team and I think he will have a huge role even if he doesn't start. Ellingson just doesn't look like power 5 material.
Click to expand...

That's to my liking as well. With potentially Jones & Cook rotating into the starting lineup for Uhl & Wagner by B1G season.
 
0418hawkguy1001 said:
You will not be able to keep Cook out of the starting line-up.

Here is how I project the starting 5 next year.

PG- Williams
SG- Moss
SF- Jok
PF- Uhl
C- Cook

2nd unit
PG- JBo
SG- Fleming/Ellingson
SF- Hutton
PF- Baer
C- Wagner

I think Kreiner and Pemsl redshirt.
Click to expand...
 
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