We don’t hear a lot of talk about Riley. I think he will be one of the more pleasant surprises for next season. He is starting to grow in to his body and definitely has some skills. He would definitely have been a 4 star if he didn’t reclassify. He works hard and wants to get better. Hawks will be lucky to have him.
Riley Mulvey
- Thread starter Longgrover1
- Start date
I remember this jinx when Garza committed, so I shall use it now.
Woodbury 2.0
Woodbury 2.0
Found some highlights posted by his mom. Certainly appears to have a diverse offensive game. Granted, they are highlights, but he makes some mid-range jumpers and 3's. Moves his feet well and good help defender with shot blocks. Nice show of athleticism in the clip where he goes between the legs in mid-air punctuated with a dunk.
Forgot to say, I get the joke Central. Good one.
Riley's offensive game is already ahead of where Woody finished. Woody was a great defender that just couldn't block shots. Riley appears to be a very good shot blocker and appears vocal on D, like Woody.
Woody did what he did very well. He just lacked the more complete game Riley appears to have.
That sounds good and I sincerely hope Riley turns out to be a diamond in the rough. What I am looking for in Riley is the work ethic. Luka became who he was from hard work in the off season. If Riley has something close to Luka's level of commitment to improve, then I am looking forward to watching him perform on the court.
I think his defensive ability in the post is going to be a huge value add, maybe as soon as next year. Don’t think we’ve had a post shot blocker like him since Olaseni
I don't think he's "in the rough".
Hes considered a solid D1 prospect.
Dont expect other players to have Garzas motivation to work and besides, theres really no way to know how hard he works in his off time anyway.
The only reason we knew what Luka did in the off-season is because his dad tapped it and put it on Twitter.
Like I said in other threads, he's been playing good competition for the last couple years. Even two years ago he played well against some good bigs. I don't think the big 10 will intimidate this young man.
I think he will be solid a couple of years down the road. I am not expecting any meaningful contribution this season
Woodbury actually played defense
Watch his videos (most >1 year old) if you want to see his vertical. He's grown and is stronger since, too.
His dunks show a decent vertical. Of course when you're 6'11" you don't need much of a jump to be a good shot blocker. It does look like he keeps his position with arms up and then uses mostly just uses his hands and wrists to execute the block rather than the sweeping down motion that always draws a foul if if it isn't. I would compare him to a stronger Erek Hansen with offensive skills and Woody's ability to see the floor and be the MLB on defense. Although his grade dropped by three he's still listed as an ESPN 4* with a grade between about 90-120.
It is not unusual for a player to drop after committing to Iowa (83 to 80). If he does have Luka's on floor hustle he will be very good in a league that requires a good big man.
But most other D1 bigs don’t have half the work ethic Luka did.
Or 10% of the offensive skill.
Garza wasn't just good because he worked hard, he had elite of the elite shot making ability. Not quite Larry Bird level but just a notch below.
If Mulvey worked even harder than Garza he still would probably not be anywhere near as good offensively.
Garza was a unique player and theres no sense in comparing him to other Iowa bigs from here out.
Compare them to their peers. Garza is not their peer just because he played for the same school.
I think Mulvey will be very good on defense after his first year or two. Not as sure about his offense, but he moves pretty well. Mulvey's arms might be 6" longer than Woody's. I almost feel like I know what to expect from Mulvey more than I do the Big O. I wish I heard more about how he has looked in practice.
Woody just had those little T-Rex arms, and small hands, the ball slipped when he was shooting inside. Riley will not have that problem. I'd say a 12" wingspan differential is about right and Riley's hands are huge.
Riley might not even be done growing.
Much more video on Riley. Ogs didn't have much video. Then with no spring ball or training, no summer ball sitting around his folks eating home cooked food and basically quarantined in the house he wasn't really able, or really needed, this season past. So we really do know more about Riley.
Although, the summer video shows Ogs working in a what I think was a big man's clinic. He clearly has lost a lot of baby fat and was seen flashing a nice mid range soft jumper with a little Luka turn around. That shows commitment to improvement, very nice to see.
Counting Ogs, we'll have three lefties in the rotation. Clearly that means great success awaits.
Riley might not even be done growing.
Much more video on Riley. Ogs didn't have much video. Then with no spring ball or training, no summer ball sitting around his folks eating home cooked food and basically quarantined in the house he wasn't really able, or really needed, this season past. So we really do know more about Riley.
Although, the summer video shows Ogs working in a what I think was a big man's clinic. He clearly has lost a lot of baby fat and was seen flashing a nice mid range soft jumper with a little Luka turn around. That shows commitment to improvement, very nice to see.
Counting Ogs, we'll have three lefties in the rotation. Clearly that means great success awaits.
This is probably my favorite video Riley. It shows how much he grew from his freshman year. Lots of defense in these clips, too!
we'll be lucky if he is 1/2 as good as Woody.
and Woody is a better dunker.
Those asking about his vert check out the block at 18 seconds. Not bad at all.
Found some highlights posted by his mom. Certainly appears to have a diverse offensive game. Granted, they are highlights, but he makes some mid-range jumpers and 3's. Moves his feet well and good help defender with shot blocks. Nice show of athleticism in the clip where he goes between the legs in mid-air punctuated with a dunk.
Ok, I gotta ask...what the hell is up with that gym? I get there are likely crowd limitations because of COVID, but there doesn't look to be any place for a crowd besides a 3 row set of bleachers on one side?
1A farm schools in Iowa have WAY bigger gyms than that. It looks like something you'd see in an elementary or small Jr High.
Nice highlights though.
My daughter's high school gym here in Mesa Az, (where state tourney was held) only had about 6 rows of bleachers per side, I think. Probably had a capacity of 500. My school (Muscatine) had cap. of 2500!!! And Muscatine is not a large town.
Thought about this and it really raises a very good point. None of the centers next year, and probably never again in this generation, are going to have the offensive game Luka showed the world. It is unfair to the incoming guys at that position to discuss their offense and probably their floor hustle as well. Their isn't going to be another Luka, that chapter is closed.
Riley, however, might become a kind of dominant defender and a good, no Luka but good, scorer. I'm thinking ceiling is Big Ten shot block leader, 15-20 point scorer with big rebound numbers. Acie like numbers, which would be a very good career, just not Luka's.
Luka was definitely one of those guys you feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to see play. Not sure which is more improbable-another player like Luka (regardless of school) going from relative obscurity to NPOY or this player staying at the same school for his entire career and not going pro or transferring.
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Yeah that was my point.
Theres nothing good that can come of trying to measure new guys against Luka.
We will never see another big who can score like him.
And that's fine, neither will anyone else most of the time.
We just need big guys to do normal big guy stuff. Rebound, defend, score at a decent clip in the lane.
Theres stuff Luka wasn't good at too and guys like Mulvey and Josh can be better in those areas.
While I understand your point, so theres no point in comparing players. But , we don't know that we'll never have another Luka. We NEVER expected what he did either, but it happens, and records get broken. Of course part of the issue now is that kids don't stay in one place very often for a four years. Something to remember though, as long as Frans the coach at Iowa we're going to see numbers put up. Probably half of all the top ten scorer's for Iowa have played for Fran. Also top freshman play early and often start for Fran if there's a need for them, so its possible for them to play for four years. Jbo will move into that group and already holds the all time assist and three point records. Fran runs a system that puts up numbers, and feeds the alpha dog in that system. Never say Never......
Always thought Luka had the best hands. Caught every pass thrown near him and ever shot near the basket was laid up softly and more often than not would bounce & tumble in.
Painter recruits nothing but giants for his Big's. That might be a tall order.
The more I see of Riley, the more I like. I think he and Rebaca are going to be on the floor together quite a bit next year.
He looks awfully bouncy, especially for his size.
I know what you are trying to say, kind of, but saying Luka Gaza is just a notch below Larry Bird's shot making ability is pretty far reaching. Bird went an entire game shooting left handed just because. Bird had Dirk Nowitski's step back before Dirk. And all of the moves off it. While Bird was not an explosive athlete, he was completely ambidextrous, deceptive with quick reflexes, and Luka is none of those. If the emphasis on the 3 was anyway near what it is today, Bird's outside shooting would have been even more insane.
It may have been a bit of an exaggeration but Lukas ability to get shots off from weird launch angles by just moving his arms away from shot blockers without moving his body is something I've never seen anyone besides Bird do.
Hes clearly not on Birds level of creativity but I couldn't think of another comparison.
Luka wasn't just making great post moves he was consistently throwing up crazy looking off balance shots that no one else makes.
My point was that Garza was way more than just hard work. He had unteachable instincts to get shots off and touch to make them.
Thats why I don't think its fair to start saying things like "if he just worked as hard as Garza" because the results aren't going to be the same even with all the work in the world.
I agree with your optimism, but I might be even more optimistic about the 3/4s we have available next year. We are stacked at the 3/4 position, although moving Rebraca there at times could be very effective, IF Mulvey and/or Big O are ready to play significant minutes.
I too like Mulvey and am not sleeping on Ogundele either. But I'm not expecting a lot of big lineups with Rebraca at 4 this season.
I think a strength of the team could be really pushing the pace in transition. And that largely being forged by the motors of the group of forwards, including Rebraca.
With Rebraca on the bench, I think the primary plan will be to go small, with Keegan, Kris, and Patrick prepared to play the roll of center. Which is to say they will guard the other team's center, but won't become a center on offense.
At certain times, with Rebraca in foul trouble, or facing an opponent with a lot of size, either Mulvey or Ogundele will get some minutes. But I think if Fran is hoping to fast track anyone into the rotation it will be Sandfort, based on the team's need for shooting
I think a strength of the team could be really pushing the pace in transition. And that largely being forged by the motors of the group of forwards, including Rebraca.
With Rebraca on the bench, I think the primary plan will be to go small, with Keegan, Kris, and Patrick prepared to play the roll of center. Which is to say they will guard the other team's center, but won't become a center on offense.
At certain times, with Rebraca in foul trouble, or facing an opponent with a lot of size, either Mulvey or Ogundele will get some minutes. But I think if Fran is hoping to fast track anyone into the rotation it will be Sandfort, based on the team's need for shooting
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