Pete was sneaky. He blocked passing lanes well. And was good for a steal or three every game.... However, he did space off on occasion. And not stay with his guy. ADD perhaps....
Will Nunge be an overall upgrade for the team?
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Pete was sneaky. He blocked passing lanes well. And was good for a steal or three every game.... However, he did space off on occasion. And not stay with his guy. ADD perhaps....
It's been awhile since anyone at Iowa has had that description attached to their name...
That’s great news if true. Be nice to have one of those Badger-like big guys that redshirt and grow as a player and become an impact player.
Nunge will can be many things, but a 5 minute a game player doesn't strike me as one of those things.
Upgrade is probably the wrong word, but he might be a better fit.
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Nunge will not be able to dominate like Cook, but I would argue he can be much more efficient on O and D than Cook
Shooting: Jump Shots/Stretch Floor will be better, around bucket will not
FT's: Likely Better
Passing: Better
Shot Blocking: Better
Turnovers: Likely Better
Rebounding: Worse, Initially
Match Up D: Likely Worse
Ability to Fire Up Team: Worse
Maybe I'm missing something but shouldn't a power forward in his third season with an NBA body average 20% of the defensive rebounds? I mean its a stretch to say that Cook was a really good rebounder given his minutes played. I know that everybody is not going to be Reggie Evans but saying he was our best rebounder, isn't that big of a compliment.
Some of the characterizations in the thread of Cook are way off base. Didn’t run the floor? Cook ran all the time. Didn’t work back to basket? Of course he did. Didn’t rebound? Wasn’t he our leading rebounder most games? I feel like Iowa fans have ‘Iowa colored lenses’ when it comes to high expectation players like Cook. He doesn’t take us to the promised land so he suddenly sucks and is a net negative or something.
Nunge seemed like a very different player to me, more of a forward but it will be interesting to see if he plays as a 5 next year.
Nunge seemed like a very different player to me, more of a forward but it will be interesting to see if he plays as a 5 next year.
Cook has been a very mediocre rebounder. If he happens to be in the right place, someone isn't going to jump over him, but he doesn't have the instincts or "want to" that great rebounders (e.g., Jordan Murphy) have. My biggest complaint about Cook is that you can often see him standing flat footed around the basket, sometimes when he is only a step away from impacting the play. That said, his defense was usually much better this year than last. What is most frustrating is that you see stretches where he looks like a potential All-American, but it isn't sustained...
Well of course a Junior Cook is better than a Freshman Nunge,.... Just wait Jack is going to be very good....
Jack looked unfairly bad at times because he was guarding much smaller players. I feel like he will be a much better defender over time then Tyler is. He certainly has much more desire and instinct when it comes to defending shots.
In pure athleticism it will be a downgrade compared to Cook...don't expect put back dunks and coast to coast plays. For as athletic as Cook was he was lazy on defense and didn't protect the rim an ounce.
He will do these things better than Cook:
Shooting- all the way to the 3 PT line and beyond
FT- Great that Cook went to the line a lot but doesnt matter much if you dont make any.
Passing
Catching the ball
Dribbling
Turnovers - Cook was a TO waiting to happen. Think of all the close games that we could have used the extra 4-6 possessions that went off Cook's hands.
He will do these things better than Cook:
Shooting- all the way to the 3 PT line and beyond
FT- Great that Cook went to the line a lot but doesnt matter much if you dont make any.
Passing
Catching the ball
Dribbling
Turnovers - Cook was a TO waiting to happen. Think of all the close games that we could have used the extra 4-6 possessions that went off Cook's hands.
Interesting if you look at their Per 40 Minute stats.
Cook as a Junior 51% 2 pt FG, 64%FT, 9.9 RB, 3.1 asst, .9 stl, .7 blk, 3.6 TO, 3 F, and 18.8 points on 13 shots per game.
Nunge as a freshman 51% 2 pt FG, 76% FT, 7 RB, 2.6 asst, 1.6 st, 1.9 Blocks, 2.5 TO, 3 F, and 14.5 points on 7 shots per game.
Same FG%, better FT%, 3 less rebound Per game, less TO, more assts, steals, and blocks. One is a Junior the other a Freshman.
YIKES!
Nunge could be a huge addition, along with JoeT, but we won't know until they play a few games. Would be nice to see some players exceed expectation when recruited, like we saw with White and Marble.
Nunge isn't an upgrade over Cook. However, I do think he has the chance to minimize the downgrade moving on without Cook next year. I also think Sr. Nunge has a great chance to be better overall than a Sr Cook would be.
But make no mistake, Iowa is losing it's best player.
But make no mistake, Iowa is losing it's best player.
Happened constantly. Most people don't pick that up and just look at stats.
I've never seen a player stay away from the action like him. Even in position to make a play he just wouldn't jump most of the time.
I’m sorry but if you watched all the games, the re were definitely example where he didn’t run all the time, he definitely didn’t hustle after loose balls, he definitely let people out compete him for rebounds. I would say if you didn’t see that then you are looking through Iowa colored lenses.
To be fair, you have to consider that when Nunge was in the game, he was going against other end-of-the-bench players, whereas Cook matches up primarily with other teams’ starters
Nunge started for a while, but out of position at 3. We really don't know what he is going to bring next year and beyond, but he is either a 4 or 5 with some skills.
Those numbers do not seem right - where did you get them? Per this site, Nunge averaged about 16 min/game (and I know he had lower minutes against tougher opponents). He averaged about 45% overall shooting, with about 34% from the 3, for only about 6 ppg. His other per game averages were 3 rbs, .7 steals, .8 blocks, but for a big man he had an excellent A/T ratio of 1.1/1. All this is considering that his minutes went down in B1G games. I don't think he was anywhere as productive as Cook. Not even close.
They would be losing their most athletic player, not their best player!
That's if he actually leaves, only a rumor as of now.
I agree it’s not really fair to compare their stats but you’re wrong in thinking Nunge’s minutes were “garbage time” against the opposition’s bench players.
Yup.
Hard to know what they're going to get from a guy that was a relatively thin, gangly out of position 3 as a true freshman who now has a reportedly transformed body and will almost surely be playing the 4/5.
It was a bit disingenuous of me to use “end of the bench” (never said “garbage time”) as Nunge did get minutes against significant contributors on other teams.
That said, my overall point that the quality of competition between the two is not the same, even if Jack did start a few games, is accurate. For much of the year, he was second or third man off the bench (and playing out of position, obviously)
Edit: there’s also a difference in having a bit of success as a relative unknown and being one of the focal points of opposing game plans
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This is a thread about Jack Nunge, and looking back at his high school video's on youtube I noticed something that could play into Jack's attitude going into his RS/SO season, or maybe not.
Last week a story came out that former player Jack Seaberg, is allowing incoming freshman Patrick McCaffery to wear Seaberg's retired number 22 for as long as Patrick is at Iowa and then the number is to go back into retirement.
I wonder how Jack Nunge has taken the news of this, considering that throughout his high school days his number was, you guessed it, 22.
As a freshmen at Iowa he took the number 2 as the number 22 was one of 10 or so retired by the university.
You think this might be an issue going forward or is this just a fishing expedition...
I really like Nunge's game and thought that as a freshmen he was put into a position playing small forward that didn't suit his game or physical abilities against quicker players. He played timid at times and missed a lot of close in shots because he was not strong enough, but showed flashes of what he could be.
A year taking a redshirt to work on his game, to get stronger and more mature can only help him take his game to the next level or we can hope that is the case.
Really looking forward to seeing Jack along with Luka, Joe, Cordell, Ryan, and Patrick.
And if Tyler Cook returns for his senior season that would be icing on the cake.
Minutes could be at a premium and how well they play on the court offensively, and defensively should be the determining factors on playing time.
Last week a story came out that former player Jack Seaberg, is allowing incoming freshman Patrick McCaffery to wear Seaberg's retired number 22 for as long as Patrick is at Iowa and then the number is to go back into retirement.
I wonder how Jack Nunge has taken the news of this, considering that throughout his high school days his number was, you guessed it, 22.
As a freshmen at Iowa he took the number 2 as the number 22 was one of 10 or so retired by the university.
You think this might be an issue going forward or is this just a fishing expedition...
I really like Nunge's game and thought that as a freshmen he was put into a position playing small forward that didn't suit his game or physical abilities against quicker players. He played timid at times and missed a lot of close in shots because he was not strong enough, but showed flashes of what he could be.
A year taking a redshirt to work on his game, to get stronger and more mature can only help him take his game to the next level or we can hope that is the case.
Really looking forward to seeing Jack along with Luka, Joe, Cordell, Ryan, and Patrick.
And if Tyler Cook returns for his senior season that would be icing on the cake.
Minutes could be at a premium and how well they play on the court offensively, and defensively should be the determining factors on playing time.
Name me the "END of bench" players you speak of that are not walk-on's? Fredrick who redshirted this last year and was Kentucky's Gatorade player of the year his senior season and led his high school to the states one class state championship., or Joe Toussaint, a point guard from New York that some consider a key player coming into the program, Jack Nunge, or a 4 star player that is the son of our head coach in Patrick McCaffery.
I'm sure in Fran's mind, all 13 players returning next year, and I'm including Tyler Cook for now, will see playing time and we know this because of past seasons under Fran.
2 years ago that philosophy didn't work out so well, but I'm sure that Fran will again incorporate that philosophy again. Hopefully with better results...garbage time is a term used if the game is out of reach, or in hand, Fran really only plays walk-ons in games under a minute left or in case of this last year when the bench was short.
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This is my biggest question. Will he play with confidence? I don't know if it's confidence or focus, but Moss hasn't lived up to his potential, and Ellingson was never comfortable with his role. I thought Nunge played really tentatively as a freshman. Was it getting up to speed with the college game, working on his strength, or playing out of position? From a skill prospective he reminds me of Uthoff. I know we'll see a stronger version of Nunge next season. I think his role will depend on whether he can bring more confidence and aggressiveness to the court.
Okay great, I already conceded my poor choice of words. You put “garbage time” in quotes as if it was something I said. It was not. In an effort to present the difference between Cook/Nunge’s situation, I made a misrepresentative overexaggeration of Nunge’s role, and was already called on it by @HoustonREDHawk. Clearly I wasn’t trying to liken Nunge to a walk-on who never saw the court his freshman year - just somebody not relied on heavily for minutes.
This seems like a ridiculous discussion to be having considering we both agree on my overarching point
LOL. I’m not sure why the heck you quoted my post. I was replying to the post that said Nunge only played against “end of bench” guys and I responded saying “end of bench” players are the “garbage time” players who yes are the walk ons who Nunge did not exclusively play against. I have no idea what the point of your post is because it had nothing to do with who Fran’s “end of bench” guys was.
This. Too many people are judging a guy that played out of position 85% of the time. We do not know how he is going to stack up against players more his size. But adding 25lbs of muscle should help.
In hindsight playing the 3 might have actually been good for him. Jack was playing against smaller, quicker competition. That would make for some good experience when he goes up against bigger and mostly slower players.
Nunge should be a good one to have on the roster, regardless if he is starter material.
Very interested to see what CJ can do. He can handle the ball well, and supposedly was one of the best outside shooters on the team this year...in practice. Hopefully that translates.
It is? So you just like saying, "hey, Player A averaged more points and rebounds then player B, so he's better", while ignoring that maybe Player A played and shot more?
