I’ve always touted guard play in the college game as the most important. In my opinion, it’s the difference between The good teams and the also-rans. And while I was alright with our guards to start the season, Tony’s late season play puts that guard play squarely in a much better place. Whether its a 18 point scoring day or 6 assists or 5/6 rebounds or a tip dunk or timely 3, his fearlessness puts the entire team on another level and stocks the cupboard for next year, also. He’s got some Kent Hill and some Ray Thompson in him, for those who know those players. I’m a little older. Go get some, Mr Perkins.
The Perkins emergence
- Thread starter hawksense
- Start date
Yeah JBo moving to point was the first step in the right direction but when Perkins started to play with confidence everything clicked.
If you compare the starting guards to January vs now its almost like its a completely different team.
TP is starting to take on more of the playmaker role at guard in the half court too which is opening up more of what this group can do.
Its really cool to see.
I was one of the skeptics when Fran moved jbo back to pg and perk to starting lineup. Assuming fran would play jbo 35mpg (like he was at the 2) and joe/ulis time would be cut dramatically. It’s actually went the other way, Fran is doing a great job playing the matchup game. Illinois is a good example, jbo played like 13-14min’s because Illinois guards were a tough matchup for him.
Fran has really figured out what lineups work well together. Didn’t see much of ulis/joe on the floor together at all early in the season, now late they’ve played quite a bit together and it’s proven to be a good duo.
This without doubt (at least in my mind) is Frans best coached season, hands down
Turning around the rebounding and getting the team to be a lot more dialed in on defense makes this Fran's best coaching job. He's always been able to get his teams to score but they've usually been at very bottom in B1G in defense.
Perkins flashed early in season and then he had a huge 3pt shooting slump and kind of dissappeared. So when he was put int starting lineup, it was little bit surprising, especially because the guy he replaced ( JoeT ) is a good player.
Tony and Keegan were interviewed on BTN post Rutgers. Tony was all smiles...you could see he was really enjoying playing so well and winning in front of a lot of hometown people. Indiana has a lot of talent and Purdue and Indiana can't take them all. I don't remember Iowa having much success cracking Indianapolis for recruiting.
Iowa has has a lot of guys that can create their own shot off the dribble this year,
Perkins flashed early in season and then he had a huge 3pt shooting slump and kind of dissappeared. So when he was put int starting lineup, it was little bit surprising, especially because the guy he replaced ( JoeT ) is a good player.
Tony and Keegan were interviewed on BTN post Rutgers. Tony was all smiles...you could see he was really enjoying playing so well and winning in front of a lot of hometown people. Indiana has a lot of talent and Purdue and Indiana can't take them all. I don't remember Iowa having much success cracking Indianapolis for recruiting.
Iowa has has a lot of guys that can create their own shot off the dribble this year,
When he gets the ball I'm anxious to see what he can do next!
Perkins has developed an all-around game. Powerful dribble and finish to the basket and his long range shot has really improved. Great rebounder for his size, good defender, and he is starting to pile up the assists too. You can just see the confidence. He also has good quickness which makes him a danger for a steal at any time.
You can't discount what Keegan has meant to this team but the emergence of Perkins together with Connor's suddenly hot shooting has really propelled this team much higher. Great time to be a Hawkeye BB fan.
Perkins has developed an all-around game. Powerful dribble and finish to the basket and his long range shot has really improved. Great rebounder for his size, good defender, and he is starting to pile up the assists too. You can just see the confidence. He also has good quickness which makes him a danger for a steal at any time.
You can't discount what Keegan has meant to this team but the emergence of Perkins together with Connor's suddenly hot shooting has really propelled this team much higher. Great time to be a Hawkeye BB fan.
Love his game, we haven't had a guard with his toolset for such a long time. This is the type of guard you need tournament play.
