Wagner is rising to the top among the Freshmen?
- Thread starter LaoHawk
- Start date
I only watched about 2 of the 4 halves this weekend, but Wagner reminded me of Jarryd Cole. A guy who is going to do the dirty work, get some stick backs and rebound the ball, especially early in his career.
If you're comparing him to former Hawkeyes, he's got more strength than anyone since Cole, with athleticism like Basabe. But he attacks the basket better than either. Like those 2, he's going to benefit from developing a midrange game.
We benefitted from a lot of White's back door dunks and steals in transition. Hopefully Uhl will get some energy and confidence as the season goes along.
Wagner has been very impressive for a true freshman, and might have Fran leaning toward more minutes with Uthoff at the 3. I think this helps with the team's biggest weakness, rebounding. I don't think Wagner will start, but I see him likely to get about 10 minutes, giving us great energy off the bench. His aggressiveness will cause him to be foul-prone, but he will average more rebounds/min than any player we have had since Evans.
If Sapp comes off the bench, I think Uhl will start. He can be an interchangeable 3/4 with Uthoff, allowing Fran to go with match ups he thinks are most favorable. As Fran noted, Uhl mainly needs to figure out how to go 100% all of the time.
It also looks like Jones will be a nice weapon off the bench, giving us someone to stretch the defense and help on the boards. He still needs work on the defensive end, which might limit him to 8-10 min/game.
Ellingson has bee impressive, but we need to see if he can perform as well against higher-level competition. He is definitely more than just a shooter, and will be the first 2 guard off the bench for now.
I think Fran wants to keep giving Fleming some minutes, because he has no fear and can do a lot of things. He still doesn't know how to fit into the team concept yet on either end, but that will begin to improve as he gets time on the court.
I see Baer as kind of a "plug in where needed" guy, whose time will depend a lot on how well the other younger players are playing. He is a nice fallback at the wings or at the 4.
I am looking forward to the game at Marquette. It should be a very good indicator of how good this team will be.
If Sapp comes off the bench, I think Uhl will start. He can be an interchangeable 3/4 with Uthoff, allowing Fran to go with match ups he thinks are most favorable. As Fran noted, Uhl mainly needs to figure out how to go 100% all of the time.
It also looks like Jones will be a nice weapon off the bench, giving us someone to stretch the defense and help on the boards. He still needs work on the defensive end, which might limit him to 8-10 min/game.
Ellingson has bee impressive, but we need to see if he can perform as well against higher-level competition. He is definitely more than just a shooter, and will be the first 2 guard off the bench for now.
I think Fran wants to keep giving Fleming some minutes, because he has no fear and can do a lot of things. He still doesn't know how to fit into the team concept yet on either end, but that will begin to improve as he gets time on the court.
I see Baer as kind of a "plug in where needed" guy, whose time will depend a lot on how well the other younger players are playing. He is a nice fallback at the wings or at the 4.
I am looking forward to the game at Marquette. It should be a very good indicator of how good this team will be.
Great post Red.....agree all around and I am really looking forward to the Marquette game too.
Yes.....Reggie Evans is who I thought of first. It almost seemed like he had watched Evan's old film.
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