Nunge

[GOHOX69]

Let me start by saying he seems like a great guy and has experienced physical and mental tragedies at such a young age.

That being said, why do you people think he'll be a good basketball player? Assuming his body holds and he can rehabilitate his injuries, he seems frail, slow and limited with a game that isn't either back to the basket or facing the basket. He's tall, I'll give you that but he isn't even project material Ala Lohaus or Jepsen who were much bigger physically speaking.

 

[Hawkeyes4Life32]

Well I mean he was on track to be 6th man of the year in the conference before the injury... he was streaky but I could definitely see him stepping into a starting role if he’s able to get healthy

Edit: Also STAY healthy. I don’t think he really hit his groove until a few games into the conference schedule

 

[longliveCS40]

Let me start by saying he seems like a great guy and has experienced physical and mental tragedies at such a young age.

That being said, why do you people think he'll be a good basketball player? Assuming his body holds and he can rehabilitate his injuries, he seems frail, slow and limited with a game that isn't either back to the basket or facing the basket. He's tall, I'll give you that but he isn't even project material Ala Lohaus or Jepsen who were much bigger physically speaking.

He definitely has great talent. He's not Garza but nobody is.

He steadily improved this year and was playing really good basketball prior to his injury.

A 6'11" guy that has good post moves, can shoot the 3, and passes well is very hard to find.

Also Lohaus and Jepsen were not bigger. Nunge is 6'11" 245 pounds.

 

[GOHOX69]

He definitely has great talent. He's not Garza but nobody is.

He steadily improved this year and was playing really good basketball prior to his injury.

A 6'11" guy that has good post moves, can shoot the 3, and passes well is very hard to find.

Also Lohaus and Jepsen were not bigger. Nunge is 6'11" 245 pounds.

Nunge seems very slight compared to the other two. More Matt Bullard esque. I haven't seen Nunge in person. I've seen the other three. Jepsen and Lohaus had bigger frames.

 

[kcgolfer]

Trying not to insult the OP but he could not be more wrong. If you don’t understand how important losing Nunge was, then you don’t understand basketball.

 

[Slim45]

Let me just start by saying, you seem like a nice enough guy...but you obviously dont know shit about basketball

 

[icantfindausernamethatisntused]

Nunge was the best rebounder on this year's team and had the second highest player efficiency rating (https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/iowa/2021.html). While he's not an athletic freak, he moves a lot better than Garza and is a better defender. He's skilled and can hit open 3s (he has questionable shot selection), and made 83% of his free throws this year. I see him as a better version of Ryan Kriener, who himself was a very valuable player. There's a lot of reasons to think Nunge is valuable.

 

[ChiPackHawk]

For all intents and purposes, the season was over the second Nunge went down. While they were still a very good team, their potential to go deep in the tournament was finished. At the very least, Nunge gave the team 5 more fouls down low. He was a good rebounder, influenced shots, and at times was very good offensively. Though I do not have the statistics to back this up, his loss also forced Keegan to play a different role and caused his production to dip. And while Keegan was still effective, not like he was when Jack was in. And finally, he's almost 7ft! He is plenty "athletic" for a big man.

 

[Willin]

Hawkeyes4Life32 mentioned Jack being on track for 6th man of the year, and this is true according to many experts. Then, think of the amount of practice and off-season individual development Jack had missed due to his injuries prior to this season. Jack could become VERY good if he remains healthy.

 

[Mohawkeye]

Nunge was the best rebounder on this year's team and had the second highest player efficiency rating (https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/iowa/2021.html). While he's not an athletic freak, he moves a lot better than Garza and is a better defender. He's skilled and can hit open 3s (he has questionable shot selection), and made 83% of his free throws this year. I see him as a better version of Ryan Kriener, who himself was a very valuable player. There's a lot of reasons to think Nunge is valuable.

Jack averaged 5 rebounds and one blocked shot in just 16 minutes a game, which is fabulous. I think he’s a better 3 point shooter than his numbers showed, he definitely improved after an atrocious start. 3 point shooters need playping time, it’s hard to be consistent in short spurts of play.

Agree that losing him cost us dearly. He’s a much better defender than Garza, and Garza had to become much less aggressive on defense when we lost Nunge. I think we beat Oregon with him and Garza playing together.

Size wise, Nunge is every bit as “big” as Lohaus and comparable to Acie Earl. He did better in defending Robbins and Cockburn than Garza did. If Nunge is healthy next year, I expect he will be 2nd or 3rd team all Big, a double double guy who blocks shots.

 

[perryhawk]

Let me start by saying he seems like a great guy and has experienced physical and mental tragedies at such a young age.

That being said, why do you people think he'll be a good basketball player? Assuming his body holds and he can rehabilitate his injuries, he seems frail, slow and limited with a game that isn't either back to the basket or facing the basket. He's tall, I'll give you that but he isn't even project material Ala Lohaus or Jepsen who were much bigger physically speaking.

I'm trying to read this with an open mind....struggling to understand where you get that he is slow? Is there a post player in the B10 that is notably faster than Jack? Luka was slow. In my opinion, Jack is able to get up and down the court pretty quickly...he is athletic and can run with most of them...in my opinion.

 

[moondog24]

For all intents and purposes, the season was over the second Nunge went down. While they were still a very good team, their potential to go deep in the tournament was finished. At the very least, Nunge gave the team 5 more fouls down low. He was a good rebounder, influenced shots, and at times was very good offensively. Though I do not have the statistics to back this up, his loss also forced Keegan to play a different role and caused his production to dip. And while Keegan was still effective, not like he was when Jack was in. And finally, he's almost 7ft! He is plenty "athletic" for a big man.

So why is Michigan still playing after losing their 2nd leading scorer? Iowa didn’t lose yesterday because Nunge didn’t play. They lost because 3 starters were scoreless. Against Oregon’s athleticism, Jack would have made very little difference at all.

 

[David1979]

So why is Michigan still playing after losing their 2nd leading scorer? They didn’t lose yesterday because Nunge didn’t play. They lost because 3 starters were scoreless. Against Oregon’s athleticism, Jack would have made very little difference at all.

And this is the key, without a national player of the year in the post, Iowa really needs to upgrade the guard position.

 

[GOHOX69]

I'm trying to read this with an open mind....struggling to understand where you get that he is slow? Is there a poster player in the B10 that is notably faster than Jack? Luka was slow. In my opinion, Jack is able to get up and down the court pretty quickly...he is athletic and can run with most of them...in my opinion.

I've only seen limited footage of him and he didn't seem to be defensively set against premier centers of the Big Ten. That being said, do you honestly think he'll be a 100% with his latest injuries and rehab? I honestly feel for him but I wonder if an upgrade there is needed. Also, we need a point guard with speed but one that can play under control. Joe T has great speed but sometimes he reminds me of the comedian Kevin Hart--funny but a bit too much. Joe T, one too many passes, bad passes to tall centers etc. At any rate, I wish Jack the best in his recovery.

 

[Hans81]

Nunge seems very slight compared to the other two. More Matt Bullard esque. I haven't seen Nunge in person. I've seen the other three. Jepsen and Lohaus had bigger frames.

I don’t think I would ever hear someone say that Les Jensen has a “bigger frame” in comparison to other tall dudes. Jepsen was a bean poke.

 

[hawkeyeinmo]

I don’t think I would ever hear someone say that Les Jensen has a “bigger frame” in comparison to other tall dudes. Jepsen was a bean poke.

Jepsen 7’ 235 lbs, Lohaus 6’11 225 lbs, Nunge 6’11’’ 245 lbs.

 

[TampaHawkfan]

Nunge can play - I just question if he's going to be able to stay healthy for a full season. It seemed like when he got hurt this year, it looked like his knee just kind of gave out more than anything. That's my only real concern. He seems a little fragile.

 

[the24fan]

Trying not to insult the OP but he could not be more wrong. If you don’t understand how important losing Nunge was, then you don’t understand basketball.

I agree nunge is a nice piece of the puzzle , but he wasn’t saving Iowa yesterday. Him not there wasn’t the reason we were blown out . It comes down to G play and ours flat out isn’t good enough

 

[perryhawk]

I've only seen limited footage of him and he didn't seem to be defensively set against premier centers of the Big Ten. That being said, do you honestly think he'll be a 100% with his latest injuries and rehab? I honestly feel for him but I wonder if an upgrade there is needed. Also, we need a point guard with speed but one that can play under control. Joe T has great speed but sometimes he reminds me of the comedian Kevin Hart--funny but a bit too much. Joe T, one too many passes, bad passes to tall centers etc. At any rate, I wish Jack the best in his recovery.

I think that Jack is much more talented than he is given credit for by a significant segment of our fan base....in watching him, he is clearly athletic compared to most post players....running, jumping, even lateral quickness compared to other posts (not wings where he started out).

His injuries are a concern....yet that Langford kid from MSU missed two years and played all or most of this year. So, is Jack's durability a concern? Yes. Is it a guarantee that he won't play an entire season next year? No. Would I like us to add some depth in the Post for next year? Absolutely in 100% agreement with you.

I think that Joe T needs to improve on his weaknesses in this offseason as well. I may be wrong, but I feel like A Ulis is a capable PG given a year in the program and significant playing time next year. What little we did see him this year it reinforced what I had seen of his HS & AAU videos....very smart and under control. Average athlete that plays smart and is skilled as well as stronger than most think or understand.

Fran, get us some post depth and improvement in the outside shooting for next year. Once that is done I think next years team will be a competitive team that might make the NCAA Tournament....and is a year away from being really good.

 

[QChawks]

So happy for the guy!

 

[HawkRugged17]

 

[TheTruthTheWholeTruth]

Let me start by saying he seems like a great guy and has experienced physical and mental tragedies at such a young age.

That being said, why do you people think he'll be a good basketball player? Assuming his body holds and he can rehabilitate his injuries, he seems frail, slow and limited with a game that isn't either back to the basket or facing the basket. He's tall, I'll give you that but he isn't even project material Ala Lohaus or Jepsen who were much bigger physically speaking.

You’re pretty good at evaluating talent.

 

[MonmouthHawk]

The kid was 19th nationally in offensive efficiency this year. A good re bounder and a top student. Yeah I have no idea what Fran was thinking.

 

[TheTruthTheWholeTruth]

The kid was 19th nationally in offensive efficiency this year. A good re bounder and a top student. Yeah I have no idea what Fran was thinking.

?

 

[Mohawkeye]

Way to go, Jack!