Perkins.

[Sett1997]

Very impressed with his limited minutes, came in with fire in his eyes.
Looked like one of the athletic monsters from some of the teams we play against.
Excited to see him develop!

 

[Hawksfinal4]

Next year he’ll be a good gauge of where we are at. He’ll be looking to score hopefully it will be in a good way and he does efficiently.

 

[HotelAlphaWilcoKilo]

He plays with fire every time he gets in.

Somebody clue in Francis.

 

[Stormn Norman]

Just seems like there were spots all season long to get him more minutes... he can defend and get the the rim! Hang in there!

 

[Sett1997]

He plays with fire every time he gets in.

Somebody clue in Francis.

Have to get Connor those minutes. 🙄
No f*ng way Perkins shouldn't be getting more minutes.

 

[jamesvanderwulf]

Both him and Conner got backdoored this game...

 

[HawkRose]

I agree, hard to ever know but I feel Iowa made a crucial mistake not seeing what they had with Perkins, JT and Ulis.

Our ceiling in tourney is an athletic matchup. Unless we shoot out of our minds against an athletic team we are cooked.

Is what it is at this point. I’ve accepted that we are rolling with our veterans.

 

[Sett1997]

I agree, hard to ever know but I feel Iowa made a crucial mistake not seeing what they had with Perkins, JT and Ulis.

Our ceiling in tourney is an athletic matchup. Unless we shoot out of our minds against an athletic team we are cooked.

Is what it is at this point. I’ve accepted that we are rolling with our veterans.

Spot on.

 

[VicHawkeye]

Great nickname, Saucy T.

 

[innercircle287]

He was a noticeable upgrade when he got his chance today. Flashed some great potential.I hate that we are playing 4 on 5 when we have 3 or 4 pretty good guys on the bench.

 

[drew_hawk]

Perkins really needs to work on his shot in the off-season; if he can develop a dependable good jumper and learn to knock down his free throws, then he may have the opportunity to develop into a complete package type of player.

 

[ICWestfan]

He was a noticeable upgrade when he got his chance today. Flashed some great potential.I hate that we are playing 4 on 5 when we have 3 or 4 pretty good guys on the bench.

Spot on but TP made a couple of gaffes that really hurt. He wasn't the only one in game, but he got ahead of himself after a couple of made baskets.

 

[Stormn Norman]

I agree, hard to ever know but I feel Iowa made a crucial mistake not seeing what they had with Perkins, JT and Ulis.

Our ceiling in tourney is an athletic matchup. Unless we shoot out of our minds against an athletic team we are cooked.

Is what it is at this point. I’ve accepted that we are rolling with our veterans.

I struggle with accepting it but as hard of a pill as it is to swallow Fran has shown that it’s not changing.. when you get beat three times by the same team the same way running with the same core that kinda nails it on home..

 

[Dargo]

Have to get Connor those minutes. 🙄
No f*ng way Perkins shouldn't be getting more minutes.

Exactly. Connor shouldn't even be on the floor.

 

[JEDN]

Yup, Perkins needs to add a jump shot.

 

[Ihawkhoops]

Connor is 0 factor offensively. From the 2 guard spot you cannot have that period. You can throw the gritty, gutty player and assist to turnover ratio stuff at me and I will grant you both. At the end of the day he has scored what 3 points in two games playing major minutes and does nothing to keep his defender honest. Being a good post feeder only goes so far.

 

[anon_b29nm7v7dwp6r]

Connor is 0 factor offensively. From the 2 guard spot you cannot have that period. You can throw the gritty, gutty player and assist to turnover ratio stuff at me and I will grant you both. At the end of the day he has scored what 3 points in two games playing major minutes and does nothing to keep his defender honest. Being a good post feeder only goes so far.

But he’s a really good post feeder!

 

[Hawksfor3]

I like what I saw from Tony today. He hustled, defended, and scored in the 5 minutes he got. Like our other freshmen, he's going to be really good. I also like the nickname:

Great nickname, Saucy T.

 

[Hawksfinal4]

Both him and Conner got backdoored this game...

Good catch

 

[BBHawk]

Both him and Conner got backdoored this game...

Some miss that. Perkins has potential but he is not there yet.

 

[HoustonREDHawk]

Perkins is confident, talented and aggressive,, but I believe that for the dance, we really need JoeT to be on the floor to make a deep run. Both players are going to be important to Iowa BB for the next few years.

 

[ROCKY MOUNTAIN HAWK]

I agree, hard to ever know but I feel Iowa made a crucial mistake not seeing what they had with Perkins, JT and Ulis.

Our ceiling in tourney is an athletic matchup. Unless we shoot out of our minds against an athletic team we are cooked.

Is what it is at this point. I’ve accepted that we are rolling with our veterans.

Good post & I agree.

 

[CO_hawk]

Also agree that Fran is letting this starting 5 ride it out all year, this was their year to show out.

Unfortunately for those young guys, the core of their team won't have a NPOY on it.

 

[Slappy Pappy]

Yup, Perkins needs to add a jump shot.

So does Connor.

 

[pocha444444]

I agree, hard to ever know but I feel Iowa made a crucial mistake not seeing what they had with Perkins, JT and Ulis.

Our ceiling in tourney is an athletic matchup. Unless we shoot out of our minds against an athletic team we are cooked.

Is what it is at this point. I’ve accepted that we are rolling with our veterans.

Yep, there's gonna be a whole lot of "what could've been" comments in the coming years when Murray/Toussaint/Perkins/Ulis all look great and we look back and wonder why Conner was getting 30 mins in critical tournament games.

 

[nu2u]

Yep, there's gonna be a whole lot of "what could've been" comments in the coming years when Murray/Toussaint/Perkins/Ulis all look great and we look back and wonder why Conner was getting 30 mins in critical tournament games.

Can't do that, man. Can't take the play of upperclassmen Hawk players and automatically assume that is how they would have performed as freshman in the NCAA tourny. Also, Murray replacing CM doesn't make sense. I do agree that Toussaint should get more minutes but with a short leash if he is getting reckless.

 

[IllQChawk]

So does Connor.

Connor is hopeless and will never develop a jump shot and Tony has been told to defer to others.

 

[Stormn Norman]

So does Connor.

💯 and he’s a junior on the basketball team

 

[Kurt Warner]

So does Connor.

I can't believe how bad of a shooter the coaches son is. He had one good shooting game all year and that's it!! I'm not trying to be mean it's just the truth.

 

[pocha444444]

Can't do that, man. Can't take the play of upperclassmen Hawk players and automatically assume that is how they would have performed as freshman in the NCAA tourny. Also, Murray replacing CM doesn't make sense. I do agree that Toussaint should get more minutes but with a short leash if he is getting reckless.

I know you can't assume their play as upperclassmen is how they would play this year, but I'd say we already have enough evidence to say especially Murray and I'd argue Toussaint and possibly Perkins as well add more to this team than Connor. Yes, I know he's an amazing "post feeder", but that's really all Connor adds, and Garza usually gets such great position that it doesn't matter who's throwing him the ball. I don't get why you say Murray for Connor doesn't make sense. Connor ends up guarding other team's 4s most of the time anyway, and he rarely runs the point on offense over Bohannon. Murray adds a better three point shooter when the ball always swings to Connor wide open for nothing. He also adds rim protection on defense to help Garza. Connor single handedly let Illinois separate at the start of the half yesterday with his bad offense and lackluster D.

 

[silasstarr]

Have to get Connor those minutes. 🙄
No f*ng way Perkins shouldn't be getting more minutes.

The analytics say otherwise. That being said, it’s a small sample and he was never given enough consistent playing time to improve those numbers.

 

[mooresville hawk]

Connor is hopeless and will never develop a jump shot and Tony has been told to defer to others.

Has Tony told you that he has been told to defer to others? This line of thinking astounds me. Tony is a freshman playing with upperclassmen. He is naturally going to defer to the upperclassmen. Fran has faults, but I have never heard that he criticizes players for shooting. He is not happy with turnovers, but not taking good shots. Have you seen any players removed from the game because they took a shot that Fran did not like?

 

[Hawksfinal4]

Yup, Perkins needs to add a jump shot.

Haven’t seen if he has one, maybe he does but rarely if at all seen any of the freshman other than a few by Keegan taken.

 

[pocha444444]

Haven’t seen if he has one, maybe he does but rarely if at all seen any of the freshman other than a few by Keegan taken.

I remember he had a nice step back 17 footer in one of the early games. Could have been dumb luck but at least it looked smooth. I'm guessing he doesn't have a shot right now, but I liked his aggressiveness

 

[HawkLogic]

Curbello is a difference maker for Illini. At Iowa under Fran, there is good chance he would have ended season sitting next to Ulis.

Keegan/Perkins/JoeT/Ulis/Kris.... Fran could have found more time for them than he did this season. Perkins did do a lot better on Ayo than any of the other Iowa players.

 

[nu2u]

I know you can't assume their play as upperclassmen is how they would play this year, but I'd say we already have enough evidence to say especially Murray and I'd argue Toussaint and possibly Perkins as well add more to this team than Connor. Yes, I know he's an amazing "post feeder", but that's really all Connor adds, and Garza usually gets such great position that it doesn't matter who's throwing him the ball. I don't get why you say Murray for Connor doesn't make sense. Connor ends up guarding other team's 4s most of the time anyway, and he rarely runs the point on offense over Bohannon. Murray adds a better three point shooter when the ball always swings to Connor wide open for nothing. He also adds rim protection on defense to help Garza. Connor single handedly let Illinois separate at the start of the half yesterday with his bad offense and lackluster D.

Fair point with Murray. You undervalue Connor's entry passing IMO because we are increasingly seeing other players sagging their man to double Garza - its more difficult. The pass needs to be precise or you end up with a TO. There is no doubt that CM is the most skilled passer. He has his deficiencies, I agree. Nevertheless, I am holding out hope that Connor will step up and make more shots in the tournament to make our opponent's defense more honest which, in turn, will make entry passes less difficult for any passer.

 

[pocha444444]

Fair point with Murray. You undervalue Connor's entry passing IMO because we are increasingly seeing other players sagging their man to double Garza - its more difficult. The pass needs to be precise or you end up with a TO. There is no doubt that CM is the most skilled passer. He has his deficiencies, I agree. Nevertheless, I am holding out hope that Connor will step up and make more shots in the tournament to make our opponent's defense more honest which, in turn, will make entry passes less difficult for any passer.

I hope so too. I don't feel I undervalue his passing, I recognize his skill and it's importance. I just think when taking all aspects of the game into account, he doesn't bring as much value to the court as Murray and even Toussaint. I was a Cmac defender on these boards in past years. I always felt he was underappreciated on here. With more talent on the bench this year though, I feel his minutes should be coming down now, and instead they are increasing these past few games. I'd like to see him more around 15-20, give Murray closer to 30 and give Joe T at least 5 more.

It all depends on the game though. If Cmac is hitting that open 3 then you can obviously ride him more. I just don't get though how Fran could watch the first three minutes of that 2nd half yesterday, and decide it was best to give that group (and especially Connor) more run. That was frustrating.

 

[walleye hunter16]

I agree, hard to ever know but I feel Iowa made a crucial mistake not seeing what they had with Perkins, JT and Ulis.

Our ceiling in tourney is an athletic matchup. Unless we shoot out of our minds against an athletic team we are cooked.

Is what it is at this point. I’ve accepted that we are rolling with our veterans.

Sooooo, when is it NOT a matter of how one team matches up athletically, shoots or how the game is called by the refs?

 

[IllQChawk]

Has Tony told you that he has been told to defer to others? This line of thinking astounds me. Tony is a freshman playing with upperclassmen. He is naturally going to defer to the upperclassmen. Fran has faults, but I have never heard that he criticizes players for shooting. He is not happy with turnovers, but not taking good shots. Have you seen any players removed from the game because they took a shot that Fran did not like?

Let's analyze your statement....Garza, Bohannan, Wieskamp, Fredrick, Keegan Murray, and PMac take 90+ shots taken in a game. Keegan and PMac are freshman and take the fewest of the 4 upperclassmen. When Ahron and Tony get in a game they hunt to pass off to the upperclassmen 99% of the time. Those 2 players plus Toussaint didn't average over 20+ and game during their senior years in High School by converting only layups 🙄 the only other reason none of the 3 hunt shots is that they have a leash put on them.
Fran is never going to pull a upperclassmen starter for taking a bad shot not even his oldest son who only makes a shot when he closes his eyes...

 

[33hawkfan]

Curbello is a difference maker for Illini. At Iowa under Fran, there is good chance he would have ended season sitting next to Ulis.

Keegan/Perkins/JoeT/Ulis/Kris.... Fran could have found more time for them than he did this season. Perkins did do a lot better on Ayo than any of the other Iowa players.

And then people would complain Fran had too big of a rotation again. We’re a top five team and will be a two seed in the NCAA tournament. I would say things have worked out alright.