I expect 11-12 guys will play during pre-conference, The 5 returning vets are set to play major minutes.. The challenge is to see which 4-5 of the 8 new players will make the rotation cut. I hope Fran settles with a solid 8 rotation and adds a couple more for specific roles .... say Ellingson as a regular zone buster and Hutton as a lockdown on an opponent with a hot hand. Yeah, I guess 10 players on a consistent basis sounds about right.
It might be really tough to keep guys happy with their minutes this year. Heck, even last year with only ten scholarship players (not counting Denning) available we had three different guys approach McCaffery to talk about increasing their minutes, Jok, Clemmons and Dickerson. We've got eighteen guys on the roster. At the end of blowouts we could see five walkons on the court.
Even if we redshirt two guys, I don't know how the twelve vying for minutes can all fit. Fortunately, we'll probably have five games where we play at home against teams that we should be able to get guys into the game early. And maybe the Drake game as well. What is weird is we can ask players to be patient, but the openings next year are for positions that most of our guys won't fill. Something has to give and I've a feeling that we're going to see some transfers out of the seven freshmen we have (counting Ellingson and Baer in the seven).
It might seem like we need to try to get guys in the games. But I suppose the right thing to do is play the best players and let the chips fall where they may. Six returnees from last season. Gesell, Uthoff and Woody will get all the minutes they can handle. Clemmons, Jok and Uhl will see the court but could see their time challenged by some newbies. Odds are, to me, those six get no less than 140 mpg, and probably more like 150.
Going off comments guys have made about what position they expect to play, it looks as if shooting guard will be wide open. I suppose Fleming, Ellingson, Moss, Hutton even Williams will make their case in practice. Then the decision who redshirts comes into it. Jones, Wagner and Baer? If Jok moves to the wing they are looking at four guys with experience ahead of them.
Get the guys on the bench as many minutes as possible in games we've put away to see what they can do. By the Big Ten, cut the "guts" of the team to eight regulars and maybe there is a little time here or there after that. Ten guys? Probably? But not ten guys getting twenty minutes each, more like three getting a bunch, five getting similar, and a couple getting spot duty.
And unfortunately, I like the potential of all of our guys, we're probably going to see the herd thin itself in the next couple of years.[/QUOTE]
Dan,
No doubt that playing time will be a tough fight going forward. The good news for the incoming players is that four seniors leave after this year. You could field a starting lineup of Williams, Flemming, Jok, Uhl and Jones in two years and you could insert Brady for Flemming, Hutton for Jok and Wagner for Uhl/Jones.
Even if we get a stud point guard and two stud bigs these Freshman and Jones should see a lot of playing time next year. I bet practices are going to be intense and if chemistry is good, look out!!! The talent seems to keep getting upgraded. Iowa basketball is going to continue to be very fun to watch under Fran's tutaledge.
I would redshirt Wagner and Williams this year. Wagner because I think if this guy can take a year to work on his offense with college coaching he will be a stud (his defense and rebounding is pretty good already) and Williams because we have two Senior point guards already. I think we can man the 4/5 spot with Woody, Jones, Uthoff, Uhl, Baer, and even Hutton if we went small.
Other than that, the game was on a par with the old PTL days when many Ex-Hawkeyes would return and the talent level was noticeable.
