If Gabby keeps shooting well in the ncaas then she is a 4th player playing really well to add with Clark. A great starting 5 and if McCabe and Fuerbach give really good minutes along with another big like OGrady today just for short minutes then the hawks have a very strong team
Sydney Affolter
- Thread starter Hawkfan_08
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They DO have a strong team…and AO has picked up her game as well. We also saw yesterday Gabbie’s shooting is nice, but she is on the floor for different reasons.
What can you all tell me about McCabe? Every time I see her she comes in and makes threes and seems like a great floor spreader to me
Warnock, the last 9 games last year, Big 10 and NCAA Tournament was 47% from 2, 31% from 3, 70% FTs and averaged 6 RBs. I haven't looked up each that you mentioned, but it seemed to me there was some all of them were better lately. Plus, Warnock got THE REBOUND against USC to basically lock the way to the championship game. And Gabbie got THE BLOCK against Nebraska.
Ol' Doodle has been singing Molly D's praises all year, and you never want to see someone get Wally Pipped. But that said, even if MD is healthy enough to get back on the court during the tourney, Affolter absolutely should stay in the starting lineup from this point forward. Don't mess with what's working.
Personally, I think she’s the typical player that many fan bases lock onto. Shes high energy, bounces around and can shoot like crazy. Not the same range but likely at least as accurate if not more so than CC….
Buuuutttt, that’s all people pay attention to and so they naturally think she needs to be on the floor more.
But I, along with several others have noticed she doesn’t always seem to be playing the same game out there that everyone else is… Kind of bounces around unconnected, looking to shoot three-point bombs…
I do not, in any capacity, nor have I at any time during the season been upset she wasn’t playing more and I’m baffled at how some people struggle understanding the importance of keeping a player like Gabby Marshall focused in & connected.
And then another player, older, like Feurbach, engaged and slowly getting more minutes….
I don’t for a second think Taylor McCabe would’ve made the heady decisions that Gabby Marshall did down the stretch to win this game for us…
But if dome of our fans had their way, Gabby Marshall would’ve been sent towards the bench 20 games ago…
It’s why I struggle reading what some of these guys post!
I just think that especially during the season when Gabbie and Kylie were struggling with their shot that Taylor should have at least got a couple minutes or so each half. She is a long ways from their defense, but I guess I would like to see her get a little more experience for when she's really needed. I hope she stays because she could be a big part of our offense next year.
I’d be shocked if she went anywhere. It’s her time to shine. When you’re barely a top 100 kid, and you pick a school that can competes for titles, you have to be aware that you might not get to play as an underclasswoman. Plenty of kids who choose places like Stanford, South Carolina, etc make similar choices.
If she wanted more playing time (as many kids do, if they don’t wanna ride pine), she would/should have left last year, since our entire back court was returning. Now, 4 of our 6 top guards are graduating. No one is going to come in and jump Taylor — Bluder rewards loyalty. It’s obviously Taylor and Kylie’s turn.
I think she has been happy to wait her turn while also working hard. I’m excited to see her take the floor next year, even if I do believe she has a long way to go on D — as well as ball-handling — to really become a star.
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I was just thinking this. As much as I like Molly I hope she comes off the bench in the tournament. This team is a hell of a lot more dangerous with Syd on the court.
I think Taylor will be a future captain for Iowa. However, this season all I can think of is a game late in the season, or maybe it was against Penn State where she got the ball and literally had no clue what she needed to do with it. She stood there holding the ball and was very confused. I think she ended up traveling with it. Now, that's obviously a freshmen mistake and there is no doubt in my mind that she will improve and eliminate those mistakes in the future, but I thought that was a pretty good reason why we haven't seen as much of her this year.
That said, since that moment when I have watched her play she seems to have a far better idea of what she is doing out there and has looked much, much, much better. I'm actually excited to watch her next season. Between her, Affolter, and Stuelke, Iowa has a team that can finish in the top third of teams next season.
Depends on how bad KJ's injury is as well.....
I don't think anyone is going to mark them up to be a threat to win everything again, but they shouldn't be terrible. And from my understanding their incoming freshmen are really good as well, right?
And AJ has stayed so far and I hope she will be able to contribute next year. It's impossible to know what goes on in anyone's mind regarding transferring. Some players are happy being a part of a team and contributing in practice and maybe get a few minutes.
I'm still not holding out much hope of Molly playing significant minutes in the tourney, but we'll see....
McCabe is not a freshman, but YES she does look confused at times on BOTH ends of the court, which is why she's not playing more....
I don't know enough about ACLs but it seems to me those usually take at least 10 or more months. Maybe there is some variance of ACL injuries, don't know.
I could see AJ going either way. She is clearly behind Stuelke and O’Grady in the rotation. I think Bluder will make clear that she may also end up behind Heiden. Many kids in that situation would understandably seek a transfer. But she also earned some non-garbage time as the season went on and looked good doing it, so things are looking up. She likely never starts but she may be get to play more next year. Depends if that’s enough for her. I think it will be but I wouldn’t be mad if she wanted to be on the court (somewhere else) her senior year.
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Me neither actually….and as you probably know, I’m a huge fan. But, we are fine…forcing us (completely fine with Lisa’s roster management) to use McCabe and O’Grady more is ok and better now than later. If she can play, that’s plus, plus…..More Feurbach and more All-folter, ALL-the time is good…😊
Top 10 class but may end up more like #12 or #13 in the end depending how a few remaining unsigned elite recruits shake out at the blue bloods.
If Bluder can hit her targets for 2025 and 2026 tho, both of those incoming classes could be closer to Top 5. Lots of very warm irons in the fire with Top 25 kids in those 2 classes — Bluder definitely has a seat at the table with a couple Top 10 prospects.
Really hoping we see the impact of these past few seasons on those two classes. The 2024 class is great but it doesn’t have any stars. It’s a sweet 16 caliber group if you will (thinking about their ceiling, not a prediction) — definitely not a Final Four one.
As we know, you need a game-changer to go that far. Bluder is working overtime on a couple of superstars currently in their sophomore / junior year to hopefully fill that role. It’ll be a big test to see if she can seal the deal with one or more.
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They'll be a top 18-25 team next year I think which is still a very good program. If we can stay on it recruiting-wise, as I fully believe in Bluder to do, I could see us being perennially top 10 going forward. It's very possible and I'd love it. CC doing what we expect in the pros will really help. We very much could become a national name that always has a legitimate shot at a title yearly I think, or, at least I hope this is the direction we're going.
The team will not be Top 25 without a true PG from the portal. We have no one to run the offense with Guyton and Johnson out. We cannot rely on one of our reserve freshman — the only option we have — to rise to the occasion. If Stremlow or Affolter have to run the Point, we’ll have some fun and be competitive in a lot of games, but a true, ready-to-go PG is necessary for our offense to function. If we can get a talented, veteran PG in the portal, this team could go pretty far IMO. We have all the other pieces in place.
Who knows, those kids out of the woods of Wisconsin might just turn into another Megan Gustafson
To be clear a team with a ceiling of a Sweet 16 isn’t bad. The future is bright! I’ve never been one to believe its Final Four or failure.Who knows, those kids out of the woods of Wisconsin might just turn into another Megan Gustafson
But with all the success this program has had, being unable to elevate our recruiting would be a regression — or at least a plateau — after a very positive trajectory over the last 6 years. As a reminder, Gustafson was a project — her first two years she was rather unremarkable and the team didn’t even make the NCAAT. Her junior year they were bounced by Creighton (yep) in the first round. The next four years were bumpy but certainly exciting, and most importantly trended up in the end. But we were far from an elite team most of that stretch. We’ve now basically hit the zenith of Bluder’s career thanks to Clark and that affords certain opportunity.
However there is a finite window to strike while the iron is hot in order for this program to take the next step. By the next step, I mean become a program that isn’t as vulnerable to early upsets or missing the tourney all together, bc we can recruit more athletic kids that are ready and able to succeed earlier in their career. A team that is deeper than just one 5 star athlete and a handful of role players that need 3-4 seasons to become impact players. Deeper than a team with 3-4 scorers and 1-2 streaky role players.
If Bluder can seal the deal with some of the kids she has her eye on for 2025 and 2026, we could have a very talented, very deep program that can compete with anyone for the next half a decade. I’m cautiously optimistic Bluder can do it…but we can only wait and see. Fortunately 2025 commitments are about to kick into high gear and 2026 commitments will start sprinkling in as well…
I can recall a TV color person commenting that Tania Davis never really recovered her lateral movement following her tear, and I think Goodman has said she still isn't 100%.
I haven't seen anything on what happened to Johnson, just that she's done for the season. Seems like she's walking around fine, and is in good spirits.
Yeah recovery is a broad spectrum. I don’t think Sharon ever really recovered. Faith Masonius at MD is another example of a player that never rly bounced back. Even their own fans admit that. It’s nuts how quickly and smoothly Kylie recovered tho. Like wow.
I know not to challenge you with predictions as you're usually right about these things from my experience. Still, the team as a whole, in my opinion, is a top 25 team. Is Guyton out for sure next year?
She tore her ACL in January. Best case scenario is she can work out again in November. For a lot of kids, it’s more like a full year. So even in the best scenario, it’s rly not ideal for a freshman who usually spends a lot of time learning the system in the summer and fall. She will also lose a year of lifting, conditioning, etc which is also key to transitioning from HS to college. If it was her soph year it’d be a different story — maybe she could get back into the rotation by January, bc she would already know the system. But missing all that time as a freshman? I just don’t see how she can make it back on the court in any meaningful way.
Let's set the record straight for the Gabby cult. She gives great effort usually on defense. But is not a great defender (that means you still get beat despite effort due to limitations) She is a great team person. The reason she would have (and should have been the 6th player)
lacks aggressivness.
does not rebound...at all. Never attacks the boards.
does not score other than a stand all alone 3.
cannot create any offensive shots if stand alone 3 is not available,,,,normally passes safely back the ball.
S. Affolter similar to Warnock enough said.
Best lineup:
Stulke
Affolter
Martin
Davis
Clark
Marshall - 6th player
Next year my prediction is that Stulke will be the 4 postion as team goes towards a bigger lineup (change from this years speed lineup)
Stulke
Affolter
Ogrady/Edinger/Freshman from Oregon share the 5 position
McCabe/Feurback
and a big question for PG
lacks aggressivness.
does not rebound...at all. Never attacks the boards.
does not score other than a stand all alone 3.
cannot create any offensive shots if stand alone 3 is not available,,,,normally passes safely back the ball.
S. Affolter similar to Warnock enough said.
Best lineup:
Stulke
Affolter
Martin
Davis
Clark
Marshall - 6th player
Next year my prediction is that Stulke will be the 4 postion as team goes towards a bigger lineup (change from this years speed lineup)
Stulke
Affolter
Ogrady/Edinger/Freshman from Oregon share the 5 position
McCabe/Feurback
and a big question for PG
Well you certainly proved accurate with some of your points. Prescient.
Deal has to inked in as the starting PG in 2025. IMO a grad transfer would be ideal. Iowa's system has to attractive to players, so hopefully they can land a big fish.
Deal is not a PG. She is a W. She could certainly play the PG bc she is a very versatile player but Guyton should be healthy by then and that is the position she was recruited to play.
Guyton - Houston - Deal - Stuelke - Heiden is a SCARY lineup!
Having a helluva NCAA Tournament, too.
.........................Min...Pts...Reb...Ast...Stl...Blk
Holy Cross.......29......9.......7........3........2......0
West Virginia...35.....13......7........2,,,,,,,,0......0
Colorado...........33....15......5........1.........0......0
Hadn't looked at the box score yet. I didn't realize she only had 5 rebounds. Felt like more. She does everything. So glad she's a Hawk.
