I don't recall Woodbury ever cleanly blocking a ball. I know he can barely jump but that's a shame he can't get some blocks being 7ft.
Woodbury never blocks
- Thread starter wbrhawkeye
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It's never been his game. He is a solid defensive player and works hard on the glass. I think we saw last year that with a guy like Olaseni, Fran could play Woodbury more / less based on the matchup. This year, Woodbury was the guy and from a hustle, effort, and rebounding perspective, he did a nice job. He hasn't been a scorer or shot blocker, so Fran needed to get a 3rd scorer on the floor, but didn't. His FT shooting improved dramatically, but he doesn't get touches to get fouled.
Shot blocking is more about jumping than height. Woody can't jump over a flattened Coke can.
Iowa will miss him on the boards and defensively, however.
I won't miss his stone hands and missed layups.
No debate from me on the above, but I don't blame Woodbury for being who he is and has been since a freshman. Fran has to get another guy in here post-Olaseni not hope Uhl can add 25 pounds and turn into a post player. Again, go find a juco PF with hops who can defend the rim and rebound....not asking for a polished offensive player. When you put a guy out there for 30 minutes a game who cannot score, block shots, or deter the drive by altering shots, you aren't getting much out of the 5.
My disappointment has waned over Woodbury's time in the program.
It's not his problem that recruiting services missed on his ranking; he's hardly the first player that's happened to.
He became a better post defender over time and made significant strides in rebounding this year notching some very solid double digit rebound performances. He was also an above average passing big man when given the opportunity.
His lack of any semblance of an offensive post game, inability to finish with power at the rim, and no rim protection against opposition drives to the hoop are major shortcomings for a center. I'd place him in the category of OK, relatively undistinguished, Iowa big men.
It's not his problem that recruiting services missed on his ranking; he's hardly the first player that's happened to.
He became a better post defender over time and made significant strides in rebounding this year notching some very solid double digit rebound performances. He was also an above average passing big man when given the opportunity.
His lack of any semblance of an offensive post game, inability to finish with power at the rim, and no rim protection against opposition drives to the hoop are major shortcomings for a center. I'd place him in the category of OK, relatively undistinguished, Iowa big men.
So what do do we do in the post next season? Uhl has not looked at all like a 5 this season backing up Woodbury and speculation has him possibly leaving the program. To me it won't matter one way or the other because I don't see him playing center effectively nor anybody else we will have on the roster other than Kreiner who probably needs to redshirt.
And I wont miss you if you never post here again.
Very good post. I'll just add he led the Big Ten in defensive rebounds in conference games. Was second in offensive rebounds in conference play. Costello had 7 more offensive rebounds then him in conference play. Him and Costello really had a wide gap compared to the 3rd place rebounder in offensive and defensive rebounds in conference play. Costello only beat him out by 2 rebounds for overall rebounding. If you ask me that's pretty impressive.
Costello has great footwork and post moves despite being much shorter than Woody. Costello is an asset on offense...Woody is just a garbage basket/occasional wide open layup guy.
Woody does a lot of things well. Playing above the rim is not one of them. I heard one of the 'experts' recently refer to him as a rim protector and shot blocker. That 'expert' has probably never watched Woody play a minute of basketball in his life.
Yeah, that "expert" probably couldn't pick Woody out of a lineup. He obviously just saw a guy listed as 7'1" 4-year starter who plays 30+ min a game and made those stereotypical assumptions.
We as a fan base have missed the chance to call him T Rex for 4 freakin years. He claws like a T Rex as well. What is wrong with us?
We have a Juco PF his name is Dale Jones. He was our best rebounder on the team until he got hurt.
Cook, Kreiner and Pemsyl.will help next year as far as scoring, rebounding and blocking shots.
I agree that Uhl isn't a PF or C he is a 3.
Our biggest need isn't a shot blocking big, it's a true PG.
Good points. First two years I thought Woodbury needed to practice against someone his size to hone his post moves. Olaseni arrives and I thought both would prosper from squaring off in practice. Olaseni developed on both ends and Woodbury remained the same player. AAU numbers and hype had people thinking Zeller when he arrived and that just isn't who he is.
Odd for a guy who runs the floor fairly well for a big to have such bad feet down low. You look at Ethan Happ's footwork for WI relative to AW and there is no comparison. Happ is not 7'1, but just saying, freshman vs. senior--Happ has some of the best footwork in the post I have seen in a while.
Not sure if Jones was Iowa's best rebounder, Woody was very good hitting the boards. What Jones would have given Iowa that would have been very helpful is a threat to score at the 5, especially from 3. Jones would have forced teams to stretch the floor and opened things up inside. Teams don't even bother guarding Woody more than 12 feet from the hoop.
Where is this "speculation" of uhl leaving the program? First I've heard of this.
There are plenty of good teams that do not have a true post player. I like the 3 guard 2 forward set that many teams are using. It allows more athletic players on the floor. Fran seems to like this as well because he has focused on this in recruiting.
Positioning himself at the top of the key trying to set up screens with his big body hinders our guard play. He was never a good center prospect/IMO, never met his potential as a good, effective center. He is just tall......that's all. He looked lost manytimes.
It looks like he may never was taught/coached how to play the center position which requires the ability to play effectively, positioning/repositioning himself depending upon the ever-changing positions of the others players during the game. Guarding, positioning himself, rebounding, are the areas of [coaching] need IMO that he did not receive....I am not blaming him, because he has impressed me as a guy that is a dedicated, hardworking Hawkeye.......too late now, it is unfortunate.
Fran has no history of coaching a true center, as that's not his game. AW might have developed better in a different program. Glad he is a Hawkeye though......
Did you watch Gabe O grow in his time at Iowa? I'd say Fran did a pretty good job coaching him up. Basabe was committed to Siena and came to Iowa with Fran. He played some Center and played well for a Siena type talent. Woody doesn't have the talent to score 25 points a game but he is a very good defender and rebounder so that's what Fran asks him to do. Not sure why you say Fran can't coach a center?
Gabe was not a true center. Instead, he was a forward sometimes playing as a center.
Gabe did great. Probably one of my favorite Hawks of all time, but he was never what I would consider to be a traditional center. Gabe was super athletic for his size and that's why he excelled. Fran's preferred game plan simply doesn't revolve around a traditional number 5.....
AJ Hammons or Jakob Poeltl from Utah. A true center can play with his back to the basket on offense.
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Acie Earl blocked a lot of shots but he gave up a ton of rebounds as well. Can't believe how dumb some people are in this thread... Woody will most definitely be missed
You would need to check recent threads but doing some reading yesterday a poster suggested hearing of some tension between Fran and Dom. That doesn't seem hard to imagine but I don't make much of rumors like that until we see an official announcement or hear from the player himself.
The configuration of next season's team does look like we will play without a true center which I know many teams do now but I have some reservations about it. Big Ten coaches have learned how to stop or significantly slow down Fran's transition game. In the half court I think our offense flows so much more smoothly when we get the ball into the post and play inside out even without a scorer down low. Defensively I think we will have our hands full with the big men and beefier power forwards we see in conference play. I think Jones will help with the rebounding if we get him back healthy but we will likely have to win getting out-rebounded more games than not. If Fran wants to play with a three guard/two forward set-up I would say we go into next season with more question marks than answers in the back court which seems a key.
The added athleticism next season seems a plus but not sure how the pieces fit together with the one in the post missing.
Iowa will miss Adam's rebounding next year for sure. Watch how many offensive rebounds they give up when he isn't in the game. Too many people only focus on scoring to say if a player is valuable or not.
Purdue is one of the few teams left that utilizes a 5 as a 5. They feed the post whether it is Hammonds, Haws, or Swanigan. Swanigan has incredible potential and it would not surprise me if he is the go to person for them next season.
With respect to Iowa, I haven't seen anything credible pointing to Uhl wanting to leave. Fran clearly gets frustrated with him and keeps the hook handy, but in fairness to Uhl, I doubt he came here expecting to be a backup post player. Per my other threads, these experiments Fran tries make me crazy and have yet to work (see heavier Basabe, Gatens, May, and Cartwright).
Cook reminds of Happ for WI and Bryant for IU. He has the physical tools, but will have to learn the offense and adjust to the physical play. I hope by the time big ten season starts, he is feeling more comfortable and developing some chemistry with his teammates. If Cook and Kriener can collectively give us a decent post presence, I think we will see an upgrade on both ends at this position.
With respect to Iowa, I haven't seen anything credible pointing to Uhl wanting to leave. Fran clearly gets frustrated with him and keeps the hook handy, but in fairness to Uhl, I doubt he came here expecting to be a backup post player. Per my other threads, these experiments Fran tries make me crazy and have yet to work (see heavier Basabe, Gatens, May, and Cartwright).
Cook reminds of Happ for WI and Bryant for IU. He has the physical tools, but will have to learn the offense and adjust to the physical play. I hope by the time big ten season starts, he is feeling more comfortable and developing some chemistry with his teammates. If Cook and Kriener can collectively give us a decent post presence, I think we will see an upgrade on both ends at this position.
I frankly agree about the credibility issue as far as Uhl leaving- mentioned it in a previous post as seeing the speculation surprised me somewhat. If Kreiner comes in ready to play next season and has grown to at least 6'10" or so with good wingspan I see that really helping us. I like traditional post play and see it really helping us in the half court offense where we have to play much of the time now. With this team I really like playing inside out because I consider Woodbury as fine of a passer as you will see at his size. That has always seemed an under-appreciated part of his game and something Fran has never taken full advantage of as I always thought we would run more of the offense through him than we have. Next season with different skill sets on the floor becomes a different ball game.
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