NikeHawk21
Well-Known Member
The last 5 games of the season, Iowa was playing its best ball and was in every contest.
Luka Garza:
16.8 PPG / 6.4 RPG / 59.3% FG / 50% 3p
2019 Recruiting: Big Board
- Thread starter NikeHawk21
- Start date
Luka Garza:
16.8 PPG / 6.4 RPG / 59.3% FG / 50% 3p
HawkGold
Well-Known Member
I've been known to change my mind...
I don't think he is any less athletic than Woodbury was. I also think he stands to benefit the most of anyone on our roster from the strength and conditioning program. And I'll throw this out there, he's already better than Kaminsky was at this point.
I'll also add that I don't think he's the best Kaminsky Comparison on the roster...
Last edited:
If that was what he looks like after getting comfortable at the college level, he's gunna be really good.
ArvadaHawk
Well-Known Member
he is also going to benefit the most, in my opinion, of Cook returning.
NikeHawk21
Well-Known Member
I’m not as bullish on Garza going forward, but hear me out. I love his heart and motor And I do think he will continue to be a great piece.
I just feel that his athleticism will hold him back some, as players realize they can challenge his jump shot without any threat of being dribbled by.
With that being said if he can improve his defense that would be just as important for this team.
I wouldn’t be surprised if you hear some “sophomore slump” around here if he has a few tough games.
But overall I think he will be in that 12ppg level and if his defense continues to improve I think that’s a pretty quality player. Not to mention his ability to shoot the 3 can spread the floor and take big men away from the basket.
Garza can be a heck of a player I think. He's got 15/7 written all over him. With potential for more. His defense leaves a lot to be desired and I hope he works on that like the rest of the guys. But there's going to be teams we play where he'll just matchup really well with and we should go to him more. This year especially with Cook still around. Most teams don't have two versatile post defenders. One maybe but not two.
SteveGarvey1
Well-Known Member
I don't think he is any less athletic than Woodbury was. I also think he stands to benefit the most of anyone on our roster from the strength and conditioning program. And I'll throw this out there, he's already better than Kaminsky was at this point.
I'll also add that I don't think he's the best Kaminsky Comparison on the roster...
I think he's a good solid player and will be the rock for Iowa the next three years. Glad we have him. I just don't see a huge upside is all.
I think this whole discussion of Garza stemmed from the fact that he was a top 3 player for us last year and we're looking for hope in the future. A good argument could be made for him being a middle of the pack center. Personally, I already see end of season Garza as a top 3 center in the league, though perhaps those are my black and gold tinted glasses. That said, if he can start contributing on the defensive end like Woodbury did, I wouldn't take anyone over him at that spot, because his offensive repertoire is already larger than any Hawkeye center I can remember going back to the late 90's.
More importantly for the future, I don't think Garza will be our best player going forward. I don't even think he'll be top 3 by his Junior year and that's not a knock on him, I'm just looking at Wieskamp, Nunge, and Moss. Not to mention Senior year Bohannon. I also wouldn't discount Dailey from any discussions involving potential for improvement.
The main key will be how the players and coaches respond to adversity this off-season. The talent is there and the coaches have taken us to the tournament with less. It's not a foregone conclusion we'll get there, but it's silly to think we absolutely won't make it. McCaffery wasn't speaking completely out of his butt when he pointed to his "body of work". Two years ago, he replaced everyone and almost made the tournament. Last year, you can blame on a number of reasons, but mainly injuries and bad luck at the guard spots (Which we added 3 players to in the off-season). But before that we were dancing 3 years in a row after being led from bowels of basketball hell by none other than Fran himself.
More importantly for the future, I don't think Garza will be our best player going forward. I don't even think he'll be top 3 by his Junior year and that's not a knock on him, I'm just looking at Wieskamp, Nunge, and Moss. Not to mention Senior year Bohannon. I also wouldn't discount Dailey from any discussions involving potential for improvement.
The main key will be how the players and coaches respond to adversity this off-season. The talent is there and the coaches have taken us to the tournament with less. It's not a foregone conclusion we'll get there, but it's silly to think we absolutely won't make it. McCaffery wasn't speaking completely out of his butt when he pointed to his "body of work". Two years ago, he replaced everyone and almost made the tournament. Last year, you can blame on a number of reasons, but mainly injuries and bad luck at the guard spots (Which we added 3 players to in the off-season). But before that we were dancing 3 years in a row after being led from bowels of basketball hell by none other than Fran himself.
HawkGold
Well-Known Member
I agree about Moss especially and maybe W and Nunge. But, it will depend on how they receive the ball. Much of Garza's numbers I'm guessing came off of misses and failures (put backs). If those decrease I would expect Garza numbers to go down. It still gets down to the much discussed and disagreed upon pt guard position and the ability to distribute the ball in effective ways from which they can use it.
NikeHawk21
Well-Known Member
In order to be top 3 in the B1G he will have to be better than Watkins (PSU), Wesson (OSU), Fernando (MD), and Haarms (PU). Hard to see him better than Happ (UW) or Ward (MSU) at this point. I think he can hang with that first group though which is solid.
I think he can hang with any of them at this point. After a quick look back through the season, I see plenty of reason for hope. Almost every game it was our guards who were outscored and outplayed.
Purdue: Haas and Haarms scored 9 points combined against Garza's 19. Our guards were torched to the tune of 48-26.
PSU: Steven's 17 and Watkins 19 to Garza's 13 and Cook's 19. Bohannon Moss and Dailey combine for 11 points while PSU gets 36 from their starting guards. (Also, Watkin's was arrested this summer I believe?)
MD: You've got me here. Garza and Cook combined for 13 while Fernando and Huerter got 33. I'll blame it on being early January.
MSU: Ward and JJr combine for 28 while Garza and Cook get 9 and 26 respectively.
OSU: Wesson 10 and 18 to Garza's 15 and 8.
WIsc: Happ 21 Garza 17 (with 16 boards!) and the W
Also of note, Michigan: Garza's 3 games against Mo Wagner: 6, 22, 13 vs Wagner's 4, 14, 11.
I think Garza will be potentially very good on offense, and in fact could be top 10 in a lot of Iowa basketball categories if you project out his career. (For example, he scored 400 points last year. If he scores 450 for 3 more seasons, he'll be #5 all time in points in Iowa history). The question with Garza is how much can he improve on defense. Synergy had him as an extremely poor defender and I don't think that's debatable. I don't think you can put him above some of the listed players above until we see the improvement on that side of the ball.
lightning1
Well-Known Member
5* kids don't pay their way for anything.
lightning1
Well-Known Member
I'm a Garza fan. Anyone that plays that hard, I'm a fan of. Not sure how much better he's going to get on the defensive end.
trj
Well-Known Member
I think he can get to the point where Woodbury was defensively. He has to figure out how to hedge on screens, but the mindset and work ethic is there. He may never be one of Iowa's best players; however at some point, he will definitely be one of the leaders of this team before his career is done.
Woody was way better defensively but didn't seem to have more athleticism. Do you think Garza is less athletic than Woody or just doesn't have the natural smarts to play good defense?
Most of the time your right with some of the cheating blue bloods out there. I doubt that Fran is bending rules to pay for his unofficial visit. That's the whole difference between officials and unofficials is who's paying for the travel. My hopes aren't nearly as high as they were prior to Carton committing to OSU. If we could have landed him than I think we had an even money chance at Brooks. Now I think it's a pipe dream.
