Winners & Losers from Overseas Trip

[NikeHawk21]

First I'll preface by saying the competition wasn't great and nobody on our team played bad per say.

Winners:
Garza: See Hype train thread

Moss: Was extremely efficient offensively. May have separated himself further from Ellingson at the 2.

Williams: appeared to have regained some confidence in his game.

Losers:
Kriener: This one will take some explaining. RK had a great PTL and played fine on this trip. Here is the issue I see for him. The first two games of this trip Cook was actually the "5" man or center of his group. That has lead me to believe that he will still spend time there this year. I would expect Garza to start at the 5 alongside Cook at the 4, but if Cook is playing the backup 5 minutes that spells trouble for RK's minutes. Logically this makes sense because it allows Fran to play Cook, Pemsl, and Garza (IMO our 3 best bigs) the majority of the minutes at the 4 & 5 positions. Next up is Nunge who has the height of a 5 and the foot speed of a 4, whereas RK as the height of a 4 and the footspeed of a 5. RK's main strength over the others is his outside shooting, but how much of a factor is outside shooting for your 4th or 5th big man? I feel bad for the kid because he is good enough to play at this level, but quite frankly Cook, Pemsl, Garza, and likely Nunge are better players.

Ellingson: see Moss

 

[InGoodCo]

First I'll preface by saying the competition wasn't great and nobody on our team played bad per say.

Winners:
Garza: See Hype train thread

Moss: Was extremely efficient offensively. May have separated himself further from Ellingson at the 2.

Williams: appeared to have regained some confidence in his game.

Losers:
Kriener: This one will take some explaining. RK had a great PTL and played fine on this trip. Here is the issue I see for him. The first two games of this trip Cook was actually the "5" man or center of his group. That has lead me to believe that he will still spend time there this year. I would expect Garza to start at the 5 alongside Cook at the 4, but if Cook is playing the backup 5 minutes that spells trouble for RK's minutes. Logically this makes sense because it allows Fran to play Cook, Pemsl, and Garza (IMO our 3 best bigs) the majority of the minutes at the 4 & 5 positions. Next up is Nunge who has the height of a 5 and the foot speed of a 4, whereas RK as the height of a 4 and the footspeed of a 5. RK's main strength over the others is his outside shooting, but how much of a factor is outside shooting for your 4th or 5th big man? I feel bad for the kid because he is good enough to play at this level, but quite frankly Cook, Pemsl, Garza, and likely Nunge are better players.

Ellingson: see Moss

Nice - I like this. I think RK played pretty well over there and to an extent, so did Ellingson.

I think the biggest losers were Uhl, Wagner and Dailey

 

[QChawkness]

He's by no means a loser but it looked like JB struggled a little. Based off box scores I'd guess his 3pt % was around 30.

 

[Tierney]

Nice - I like this. I think RK played pretty well over there and to an extent, so did Ellingson.

I think the biggest losers were Uhl, Wagner and Dailey

It will be interesting to see if Iowa has any transfers since the euro trip is over with. I'm sure Fran wouldn't of mind taking them on the trip if they were going to transfer for next year. Hopefully they will all stay.

 

[NikeHawk21]

Nice - I like this. I think RK played pretty well over there and to an extent, so did Ellingson.

I think the biggest losers were Uhl, Wagner and Dailey

Everyone played well for the most part. I actually almost included Wagner as a winner. Not because of his stats, which were poor, but because it appears the coaching staff is set on him playing the 3, which assures him minutes.

 

[InGoodCo]

It will be interesting to see if Iowa has any transfers since the euro trip is over with. I'm sure Fran wouldn't of mind taking them on the trip if they were going to transfer for next year. Hopefully they will all stay.

Seems like if anyone was going to leave for THIS season - that ships sailed. I think it will all get revisited again.

 

[PCHawk]

It will be interesting to see if Iowa has any transfers since the euro trip is over with. I'm sure Fran wouldn't of mind taking them on the trip if they were going to transfer for next year. Hopefully they will all stay.

It crossed my mind that Dailey is transferring and that's why he's "injured".

 

[InGoodCo]

Everyone played well for the most part. I actually almost included Wagner as a winner. Not because of his stats, which were poor, but because it appears the coaching staff is set on him playing the 3, which assures him minutes.

I was just going on stats - i am not really looking that hard at minutes. I mean, Nunge and Garza played more than everyone I think and that's because they are playing catch up and need the reps. Wagner probably played a TON at the 3 because that's where he needed the most work and reps. Just because they played a ton on minutes on this trip doesn't reflect what we see come November IMO - but it will be hard to deny those who did put up good stats in the time they got if that makes sense?

 

[InGoodCo]

Also - Winner - Connor Mac. I think he got a glimpse at what his roll could be and saw that he could contribute right away to this squad. I am positive that he's ok with the RS as it will give him a year to explore baseball and give him more years to play with Patrick. BUT...and this is just my opinion and theory (which I also thought there was no chance he RS this year,so take it with a grain of salt) - but IMO - Connor is finally here. He's grown up the last 7 years of his life around the Iowa team and has probably been talking/thinking and working towards this moment since he was old enough to dribble a ball. He's never been one of the guys, he's just been the coaches kid who has hung around the program. I bet he's loving it. I bet he's as excited about the future of the program as anyone. I think there's NO WAY he ONLY plays baseball like so many have suggested. He wants to play for dad, he wants to play for Iowa and I think he's gonna be pretty good. I've thought about this a lot - if Jbo goes down, would they pull his RS?

I just get this feeling that after this trip - his familiarity with the program and always wanting to be a player in it is going to push him to concentrate on hoops.

 

[PCHawk]

Also - Winner - Connor Mac. I think he got a glimpse at what his roll could be and saw that he could contribute right away to this squad. I am positive that he's ok with the RS as it will give him a year to explore baseball and give him more years to play with Patrick. BUT...and this is just my opinion and theory (which I also thought there was no chance he RS this year,so take it with a grain of salt) - but IMO - Connor is finally here. He's grown up the last 7 years of his life around the Iowa team and has probably been talking/thinking and working towards this moment since he was old enough to dribble a ball. He's never been one of the guys, he's just been the coaches kid who has hung around the program. I bet he's loving it. I bet he's as excited about the future of the program as anyone. I think there's NO WAY he ONLY plays baseball like so many have suggested. He wants to play for dad, he wants to play for Iowa and I think he's gonna be pretty good. I've thought about this a lot - if Jbo goes down, would they pull his RS?

I just get this feeling that after this trip - his familiarity with the program and always wanting to be a player in it is going to push him to concentrate on hoops.

His dad was white frickin magic so he's gotta be good. It is hard not to stereotype him but there is a very good chance he is nothing like the stereotypical Iowa white boy.

 

[InGoodCo]

His dad was white frickin magic so he's gotta be good. It is hard not to stereotype him but there is a very good chance he is nothing like the stereotypical Iowa white boy.

I just get the vibe that there's NOTHING that's gonna keep him from playing basketball for his dad and this program that's become part of his upbringing. This RS year just turned out a convenient timing situation that would allow him to sit a year and get better, play with his brother, and also explore playing baseball.

 

[BrueCrew3]

I just get the vibe that there's NOTHING that's gonna keep him from playing basketball for his dad and this program that's become part of his upbringing. This RS year just turned out a convenient timing situation that would allow him to sit a year and get better, play with his brother, and also explore playing baseball.

I'm not so sure.

Don't get me wrong. I'd love to see Connor on the basketball court. If memory serves, most recruiting services had him as a 4-star/top 100 recruit. It would be fantastic to have him be a part the Iowa team the next 4 to 5 years.

The problem is that from what I've read, both on this board and other sites, baseball is his passion. While playing for his dad and with his brother might be a draw for him, baseball may still be his siren.

Just my 2¢ .. .. GO HAWKS!!!

 

[revkev73]

If you are great at both...baseball is the way to make some coin...

 

[BrueCrew3]

If you are great at both...baseball is the way to make some coin...

I was thinking the same thing, I just didn't put it down in my post.

30 teams with 12 players each = 360 players
30 teams with 25 players each = 750 players
. Not to mention minor league rosters

You've got a better chance of making a MLB roster than you do a NBA roster.

That doesn't take away from the fact I want Connor on the Iowa basketball roster, but when you look at the numbers, you have a better chance of making it in baseball then you do in basketball.

Just my 2¢ .. .. GO HAWKS!!!

 

[Hawkalum2002]

He's by no means a loser but it looked like JB struggled a little. Based off box scores I'd guess his 3pt % was around 30.

He was 4-19 (21%) on 3s, 6-25 (24%) overall. 10 assists, 8 turnovers in 3 games. I'd say Iowa will struggle if he puts up those numbers but we were 1-3 when he scored 20 last year, and 1-2 when he had a double-double so less is really more with him when it comes to wins and losses. If CW can play during the season like he did on the tour, he should be able to eat up more of JB's minutes and that could help a lot defensively. It'll be more like it was supposed to be last year. Even though JB didn't start the first seven games, he still played more minutes than CW in 6 of the 7 anyway, so CW was basically playing backup minutes even when he started the game much like Baer played starter minutes even off the bench.

 

[BigD]

I was thinking the same thing, I just didn't put it down in my post.

30 teams with 12 players each = 360 players
30 teams with 25 players each = 750 players
. Not to mention minor league rosters

You've got a better chance of making a MLB roster than you do a NBA roster.

That doesn't take away from the fact I want Connor on the Iowa basketball roster, but when you look at the numbers, you have a better chance of making it in baseball then you do in basketball.

Just my 2¢ .. .. GO HAWKS!!!

Your comments and analysis is correct IMHO, but the chances of playing at the next level in either sport are very slim at best unless you are exceptional at one of them. He should just go with his heart and play what he enjoys most. Hoping like crazy it's basketball.

 

[revkev73]

Playing for dad, on teams that could be really good, at home...priceless. I hope...

 

[InGoodCo]

Does anyone think that any McCaffery is worried about money? For the rest of their lives? I don't. I am telling you - I'll be shocked if he's not playing basketball. Shocked. Those boys and that family have been around the Iowa program for close to a decade. It's all they know. They've traveled with the team before they were on the team. The bond that they've made with it and their dad has to count for something. I think he'll play baseball this year, but I think he already knows that he wants to be a part of Iowa basketball and it won't be much of a decision.

 

[deanvogs]

I guess I try to look at this and not make too many sweeping conclusions, as the competition was really bad. At the same time it does mean something, but I don't want to go overboard. Here are a few that are hard to ignore though.

-Garza really had to impress the coaches and his teammates. It isn't like he did all that because he played 40 minutes every game, he actually did that in limited minutes.

-Moss, those are good shooting numbers, and if he can carry that over to the season, and play 25-30 MPG then that bodes will for the upcoming season.

Those who didn't impress were Ellingson, Uhl, and Wagner. I just don't see how they are going to get minutes when they can't perform better against such bad competition.

 

[InGoodCo]

Those who didn't impress were Ellingson, Uhl, and Wagner. I just don't see how they are going to get minutes when they can't perform better against such bad competition.

exactly - even if the competition was bad, you want to see the more talented player dominate that. I just don't think Uhl or Wagner have the offensive game to dominate even poor competition. That said, I think all 3 are gonna play - just smaller roll position type players. Our first team guys need blows.