The move he made between the 12-13 minute mark says so.
Okay, NOW Bowen is really good
- Thread starter hawksense
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Some of the veteran frontcourt players on the Iowa roster could learn a thing or two from Bowen about taking the ball aggressively to the basket.
Pretty embarrassing when a true freshman in his first month of college basketball is more assertive than guys who have been playing for years.
Pretty embarrassing when a true freshman in his first month of college basketball is more assertive than guys who have been playing for years.
That’s one way to look at it. Another is that Bowen is a talent and beyond his years.
I have never seen a Fran era guard make that first move.
Nope, we haven't seen skills like that on display since Lil Lick.
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Bowen is quicker than the defense and skilled at finishing. So his first talent allows him to use his second talent and be agressive.
Correct. People think that there's some button to just turn on to just "be more aggressive" and make impressive reverse layups or get by defenders. Bowen has more talent than some of the older guys. If it were a matter of "just trying harder" or "concentrating more" those older players would have done it already. The reason Bowen can do it is he has better body control and athleticism than some of the other players. As he refines it, he will continue to play more and improve.
Wouldn't mind seeing him start over Sandfort
There is a button to be more aggressive. What Bowen has is ability mixed with being agressive. Some people have one, the other, none or both.
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I agree with the premise of your post but have a different perspective. You are right about there not being an on/off button for aggression, but any sport requires adjustments based on the team you are playing and your opponent. Take Pmac for example. Prolific high school scorer who sees himself as a driver/slasher. I would estimate his successful outcomes from driving/slashing would be in the single digits percentage wise. Conversely, his probability of success skyrockets when he slides to the open spot on the floor and becomes a catch and shoot guy or uses the bounce to create space to use his length and hops to get a clean look for a mid-range shot.
I know Fran wants guys to be aggressive and drive it, but as you and others have mentioned, you need innate athletic abilities and basketball acumen to pull that off successfully. Pmac driving into traffic does not play to his strengths IMO. Sandfort last year was a great example of someone recognizing what he is and isn't good at--he used the floater, step back and up and under move to create space/angles to get his shots off against more athletic defenders. Hopefully he can get back on track this year.
lol
How would you rank him among B1G guards right now? 1st tier? 2d? 3d?
Have you seen any other B1G guards play? Can you name 3?
Yes, the second half was not as kind to Bowen. Once the TCU guards took him seriously, his second half was 0-2 with 2 free throws. Not surprising at all. He is improving as he gets PT, but fans need to realize his next game against good competition he might not be very good. It doesn't mean he's trash, just he needs experience, which he is getting.
He's likely to be a good Big 10 guard, just will take time for it to happen on a regular basis.
Right, almost like why he is rated higher than some of the other guys on the team who can't do that
.I can't believe Junior Jim Braddock couldn't do the same thing that Freshman Michael Jordan could do when he got to North Carolina? I mean had two years more experience in college basketball.
Correct, he also has been blocked on drives 3-4 times this year, likely thinking he could do the same move that he was able to do in HS where the competition was less experienced and athletic.
People need to understand he is going to be inconsistent but his potential looks really good.
This is spot on....kid obviously has talent, but he is just a freshman and needs strength and experience. As he plays better and is more visible to opponents they will game plan and defend him physically, subsequently he will have some bad games.......as fans we have to give the kid time to mature and then the end product looks like it will be really good.
Luka and Keegan were exceptional players for Iowa on a historical level......each of them had games where they weren't quite as good as normal..but they were consistently good with very few exceptions.
As we've already seen, as talented as Kris, Patrick, and Payton are........they are going to have off games or slumps. At the same time, they are also going to have outstanding games....we have to hope for consistency of high level play, but that depends on a lot of different factors. Judging other players based on the level of play that Luka and Keegan demonstrated doesn't seem like a good measure.
You bring up a good point Perry. I am not sure people (including me) realize how good Garza and Murray were. So good and so consistent that you start to think that everyone should be like that. When in reality we MIGHT go decades without seeing players as good as they were.
Just a couple of examples.
In Garza's 2020-21 season, he made 69% of his close 2-point shots and 44% of his 3-pointers. And he attempted more than 8 close 2-point shots per game, and he shot that 44% on more than 3 3-point attempts per game. Oh and he shot 71% on free throws on over 6 FT's per game. A truly great, efficient scorer. It is just nearly impossible to be that good.
Murray's 21-22 season was also crazy good. Murray made 71% of his close 2-pointers and 40% of his 3-pointers. And he tried almost 8 close 2-pointers per game, and he attempted 4.6 3-pointers per game. And he had nearly 2 dunks per game. And he shot 75% on free throws of over 5 attempts per game.
Those 2 seasons are just ridiculously good. We seriously might never see seasons like those again in our lifetimes. Nearly 70% on close 2-point shots! That is so hard to do, especially with the volume of shots they both took. To your point of not judging players based on the level that Keegan and Luka were at is wise. We were spoiled with consecutive players like that. Just because a player or players aren't as good as those 2, it doesn't mean that the player in question is not having a good or great season.
Yep. Fans need to have perspective, and have been spoiled by the Luka and Keegan's performances the past few years. I believe Keegan might have had the best year ever (at least going back to the mid 70s) by a Hawkeye BB player last season, considering he was among the very best offensively and defensively in the entire country. Luka was as good offensively his last couple of years as anyone has ever been in a Hawkeye uniform.
We will see with Bowen, but I'm excited about the future backcourt...
Your post reminds me of when Dean Oliver was playing as a freshman. He would make a drive to the basket and get stuffed and I would think "you're not in Mason City any more, Dean". He improved greatly over the years and so will Bowen.
Totally agree, it is just a learning experience for some of these guys. Bowen is probably used to getting to the rim at will and doing whatever he wanted on drives. No reason to think Bowen isn't going to be a pretty good Guard for Iowa at this point.
Bowman over Sanfort makes some interesting thought. Peyton does bring rebounding and I like his floor game, but I see him as a streaky shooter much like Patrick from three.
Moving Perk to the two and platooning the point would give Peyton a bigger role with the two’s and improve our guards from a defensive standpoint.
I wouldn’t make the move yet, but I’d have the proposed unit on the floor to see how they play together for more minutes.
Moving Perk to the two and platooning the point would give Peyton a bigger role with the two’s and improve our guards from a defensive standpoint.
I wouldn’t make the move yet, but I’d have the proposed unit on the floor to see how they play together for more minutes.
Personally, I think Ulis has earned the opportunity to start and really liked how he has played so far. Having him at PG and moving Perkins to SG would be what I would like to see.
You can still have Bowen play plenty of minutes off the bench and continue to learn/grow without the pressure of running the team as the overall competition gets stronger.
Plus, would allow Sandfort to maybe settle down and get his stroke back coming off the bench.
IMO, of course this will never happen, you start Ulis at point, Perkins at the 2, and Sandfort at the 3. This would provide the best rebounding and ball handling. It will not happen because FM will not bring PM off the bench even though PM does not rebound and thinks he is a point guard too often. JMO
Yeah, spelling was never a long suit and it’s not any better since my stroke. Thanks. Warning I probably won’t remember.
Much much better than what I posted…..you actually backed it up with evidence!
I agree with this. Many make too much out of who starts. Total minutes and who plays during crunch time matter more. Bowen can still get about 20 min, playing mostly 1 and a little two. Sandfort also can get his minutes, even if Patrick starts, playing mostly 3 and some 2, or even 4 in a pinch. Patrick is much better in a full-court, up and down game, but should get fewer minutes in games that are mostly half-court street fights. Connor should get more minutes in those games and at crunch time.
6min’s tonight for Bowen is a travesty. Especially with the way ulis was playing. And perkins for that matter. The kid needs minutes!
A travesty I tell ya!!!! The world’s coming to an end! Oh yeah, we won
Probably would have won with just about any combination. That’s not the point. Bowels play in the tcu game alone earned him more minutes.
That wasn’t my point either…. I just don’t see the need to go drama queen over his PT….he played well in the last game and could have played more in this game….but Fran used a rotation that he was comfortable with to get a win in a game where honestly, we were a little out of sync playing a team with a very different style.
Bowen drives to the basket for 2 points.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/X3HfB5txPi4
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/X3HfB5txPi4
Admit it. The game never felt in jeopardy.
Its not dramatics. 6 minutes for a kid that could/should really contribute this season makes very little sense. He needs as many minutes as he can handle to get acclimated to college ball. When he came in during the first half we extended the lead, and I would argue it was actually the best the team looked all night. It made very little sense not to play him at all in the 2nd half
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