Updates on Team. Per Fran, Connor is 6th Man. Starters are Joe, JBO, Patrick, Keegan, Filip.
- Thread starter Franisdaman
- Start date
Correct me if I am wrong but didn't the young guards (talking about Ulis and Perkins, specifically) get thrown into a few games early last season and do pretty well? I seriously can't remember them ever appearing to be overwhelmed at any point.
I get that there is more overall athleticism by position when you looked at the depth, but that may not be the case given who is on the floor at the time. Sliding J-Bo to the 2 may increase the athleticism at the 1, but doesn't at the 2. Let's see how many minutes Connor is able to play post surgery. I have no idea how much that limited him last year, but seeing the time it took J-Bo and Naz Long to come back from hip surgery, it is hard to imagine Connor will be more athletic this year, but we shall see. I think Joe's athleticism was sometimes underrated, so will be interesting to see at the three. Certainly Patrick was aggressive there last year, but you lose him as the back-up when he slides into a starting role (assuming he does) and then you have to ask if the back-up will be as effective in that role as he was last year.
I think the big question will be is do the fans have confident in Fran's ability to put the right combinations for the right minutes on the floor to leverage the skill sets he has with the added depth. Many have questioned that on this board in the past. His defensive coaching was also questioned at times. It will be interesting to see if, as he suggested in the OP's article, he tries to use the athleticism/depth to play more up-tempo D, he will need more of the depth. Those questions and shaping the young athletes to answer them must be what keeps coaching fun and interesting, and makes for an interesting season.
What worries me is Fran said to expect Connor to shoot more (in his new role). Ummm....
And Joe T has an inconsistent jumper, as we have all seen.
We may be more athletic but name a team in the B1G that is not.
And you still have to put the ball in the hole. And in today's game, you have to hit 3 point shots. JBo is the only known threat from 3.
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Perkins came on late in the year and of course we have been told that he has taken his game to a new level in the off season.
Ulis looked really good last year in the two games he got to play in crunch time...one was at Rutgers and the other was MSU at home. I have been really impressed with this young man...VERY different game than Joe T. Ulis seems like he is under control at all times and is a smooth PG running the offensive sets in text book fashion...not as quick as Joe T but very very smart and under control.
I understand what you're saying. While I know knocking down 3's is important, so is the ability to take guys off the dribble, to have cutters and quick ball movement when opponents are playing man. So much of our offense ran through Garza last season. IMHO, that takes others out of the offensive flow at least some of the time. I am excited to see what adjustments are made.
Those two proved themselves, but there wasn’t a reliable backup at either guard spot. Whatever backup PG we have will be an improvement over Ellingson who was playing wildly out of position. Bohannon has proven he can play the PG spot, but he wasn’t at the level necessary to carry an entire position on his own.
5 of the top 10 guys in the rotation in 17-18 would’ve played center at 95% of D1 programs. I get what you’re trying to say in terms of experience, but the teams are pretty different. You can’t win playing with a bunch of centers and 1 good, but flawed, PG. That was extremely poor roster construction.
That should worry everyone.
I believe there were a couple games Ulis had bad games, but for the most part played solid.
Not that I recall. He had few if any turnovers and did a decent job defending.
Ulis had a strong game at Rutgers and at home against MSU.
i wish reporters could watch practices and tell us what they see
Good for them. I’m amazed that all can’t do the same, to be honest. If you apply yourself, if only for an hour or two a day, you can succeed in college.
Perhaps one game, he was a liability and was pulled. I can’t tell you which game though. Either way, no biggie. I look forward to seeing what Ulis can do with extended minutes. I think he can be a really solid dependable player.
Good options at point guard I think. I am in the Joey T is going to be a very good point guard. Ahron will get quality minutes. Expect good things at that position.
Many very good reasons to be optimistic.
Joey T played well as a freshmen starter. Just a sophomore slump based on reduced minutes this season. We will be very happy with what we see out of that kid this season.
Here's an 18 minute podcast where Fran discusses Luka and Joe making the NBA and next season.
I demand that you all listen. To not do so would be im- @Moral
Direct Link to Listen: http://collegehoopswatch.com/2021/0...s-episode-686-iowa-head-coach-fran-mccaffery/
I demand that you all listen. To not do so would be im- @Moral
Direct Link to Listen: http://collegehoopswatch.com/2021/0...s-episode-686-iowa-head-coach-fran-mccaffery/
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Here's an 18 minute podcast where Fran discusses Luka and Joe making the NBA and next season.
I demand that you all listen. To not do so would be im- @Moral
Direct Link to Listen: http://collegehoopswatch.com/2021/0...s-episode-686-iowa-head-coach-fran-mccaffery/
Great listen. Thanks for sharing.
Iowa could be pretty solid on D this year and really struggle to score. I also think the better athletes on the wing will allow Iowa to look more like the 5 out look you saw from Oregon. More space to drive but you have to make buckets and create good looks for shooters.
I’m just curious why he mentions depth when jbo and Connor will play the whole game anyway.
also to mention of Austin ash??? 😂
also to mention of Austin ash??? 😂
I'm not worried
I'd expect to see better shooting numbers from C-Mac if he is in fact "looking" for his shot more. Often times Connor was forced to take shots he wasn't looking for.
Same thing happened a lot with Mike Gesell.
When you're looking to take a good shot, vs pressed into taking a forced shot late in the clock that will impact numbers.
Same thing I expect from Keegan, Joe T, Ahron, and Tony. They're going to get more opportunities to take good shots.
If AUSTIN ASH sees significant or meaningful minutes, we are F'd.
He hasn't shot much the last couple of years to get into any kind of rhythm
I hope you’re right. He shot below 30% from 3 last year, so that has to improve.I'm not worried
I'd expect to see better shooting numbers from C-Mac if he is in fact "looking" for his shot more. Often times Connor was forced to take shots he wasn't looking for.
Same thing happened a lot with Mike Gesell.
When you're looking to take a good shot, vs pressed into taking a forced shot late in the clock that will impact numbers.
Same thing I expect from Keegan, Joe T, Ahron, and Tony. They're going to get more opportunities to take good shots.
Well we won nearly every game he played in so..........
I’m not going to believe any hype at this time. I am pretty certain the team will be more athletic but I’m not convinced they’ll be very good at basketball. Defense should improve, offense should regress quite a bit. We shall see how things go but my sense is this team won’t be in the top half of the B1G… and I’m not thrilled about that on year 13 of our “coach”.
I think that's a pretty realistic perspective....but I guess I didn't see any real hype. Fran talked up a few players, but I actually felt his comments were devoid of team hype.....almost like Fran was downplaying any hype which is out of the norm for him. Being paranoid it even causes me to worry a little bit.
I see it just the opposite. Fran gets offense from unexpected guys over his career. What he hasn't showed is the ability to get his guys to play defense. We need to run and jump with the guys we have this year. I want to see ally oops and driving to the bucket a lot more than in previous years. I'll believe in the defense when I see it, not worried about offense.
The only bad game I remember is where he got baited by the defender into driving (defender being super aggressive out top) and then got in too deep and got it blocked or turned it over. This happened twice within a 2 min stretch I think.
Sometimes you just have to handle the aggression and still get into the offense rather than going ad-hoc like that, especially as the PG who just brought the ball over half court. A typical learning lesson - didn't see it repeated the rest of the season.
I agree with Perry that Ulis is a very calm, competent PG who appears good at everything but perhaps not great at any one thing. Contrast that with Connor (height, IQ vs shooting, quickness) and Joe T (quickness, aggression vs shooting, decision making) who have serious strengths and weaknesses.
What’s interesting is that in Connor’s first two seasons he was 75% and 78% from the line. So, he has it in him to shoot FTs at s better clip.
Here is what hawk fans need to do with the upcoming season…….
realize we lost 2 of our best players to the NBA, so temper expectations with the idea that this is a “rebuild year”. It is going to take awhile for Fran to find a few rotations that work best. I figure anything above .500 ball in the BIG is gravy. Don’t set yourselves up for disappointment with lofty expectations. That being said, I wouldn’t be surprised in the least if this team surpasses national expectations. The Murray twins alone give me a ton of hope.
realize we lost 2 of our best players to the NBA, so temper expectations with the idea that this is a “rebuild year”. It is going to take awhile for Fran to find a few rotations that work best. I figure anything above .500 ball in the BIG is gravy. Don’t set yourselves up for disappointment with lofty expectations. That being said, I wouldn’t be surprised in the least if this team surpasses national expectations. The Murray twins alone give me a ton of hope.
Here are pictures from yesterday's practice.
We look very fast, long, and athletic. And I am pretty sure no one missed!!!
And there are a couple Big O sightings!
LINK to the Full Gallery:
hawkeyesports.com
We look very fast, long, and athletic. And I am pretty sure no one missed!!!
And there are a couple Big O sightings!
LINK to the Full Gallery:
Photos: Iowa Men’s Basketball Practice – 09/29/2021
hawkeyesports.com
