6/20 PTL Thread

JDavis11

Well-Known Member
Sorry it's long... hope you can skim!

Alright here's my report I only saw the first half of Basabe/Moore/Murphy against Gatens/Brommer/Stubbs and the second half of Cougill/Duez Henderson/Marble vs Farokmanesh/Moore/Archie. The stats are end game stats that I did not take fyi.

Melshan Basabe: (38 pts, 13 rbs)
He was the guy I came to see and his athleticism was clear the second he started warming up. During the game it was clear he had an "attack" instinct and always went/cut to the hoop which is a nice change from guys just pulling up and shooting jumpers. Overall I was a little disappointed in his first half performance. He was reckless at times and would get doubled teamed, wouldn't look for the pass and ended up having some circus shot that would miss. I believe he was trying moves that would work in high school and just weren't as effective here. By the end of the half he was learning and looking to pass and that was starting to open up his offense. Just a disclaimer his team was down 20-ish at the half and I heard he ended up having a great second half and comeback win in OT that I missed (I'm sure the second half reports are more optimistic I heard cheers in the other gym!). His potential is very high but even with a monster second half I can tell he's going to have an adjustment period --like you'd expect a Freshman. I wasn't blown away by his speed but he is quick. His shot is goofy and I couldn't tell if it was a low release or what was going on. Definitely excited for his future though!

Malcolm Moore:
I was pleased with his performance in the first half he had some nice post moves and at least 1 block and a steal on the defensive end. He had one great alley oop (courtesy of Jason Price) and he really got up. I don't think he'll get a scholarship but he would be a GREAT walk-on addition.

Andre Murphy:
Didn't play a whole lot in the first half. He is very quick with the dribble and gets the ball down the court fast. He is small but I would imagine he would be a good walk-on player. Honestly didn't see enough to fairly comment on anymore than that. Fun to watch.

Matt Gatens: (25 pts, 8 rbs, 5 asts)
He didn't have the greatest first half of his life but his team was up big anyways. I thought he missed a couple of shots he could have made and had a couple passes that resulted in turnovers but I couldn't always tell if those were his fault. The thing with Gatens is he's not going to drive and finish at the hoop a lot but he has a good shot --with range-- and good basketball IQ. If we can get other players on the team who can drive it could really open up his game. I'm glad he no longer has the ankle problems he had last season.

Andrew Brommer: (8 pts)
He was a little frustrating had a couple balls he bobbled and wasn't too strong in any single category. He tried hard though and I enjoyed seeing that, he hit the wall behind the hoop three times in the first half trying to save balls! Ended up with 8 points. Would be interested to hear more about his second half.

Branden Stubbs:
He played decent and has good ball handling. I knew nothing about him coming in and he will be a good walk-on with potential for minutes in a couple of years.

Matt Morrison:
He actually played really well that half. Good range and a lot of hustle plays. Just to give you an idea of the level of competition.

Overall that half was somewhat frustrating.

Devon Archie: (14 pts, 8 rbs)
Just as I wasn't as optimistic about some people I wasn't nearly as negative with Archie. He is really athletic and had 1 big dunk and fouled on two other attempts. His ft's are terrible but he is a decent ball handler and has good speed. He also had a lot of nice post moves but needs to work on finishing a little better. I thought his defense was pretty good as well as his awareness was improved. I see Archie getting minutes at the PF spot, much improved.

Brennan Cougill: (18 pts, 7 rbs)
I was not sure if Cougill was sick (he kept leaving the gym) or really out-of-shape. His game was fast paced and I did only see the second half but he was struggling at times and I believe at one point needed to ask for a breather. Saw some nice things too but I wish he would use his body down low more, he took some 3's still. He may have lost weight but it's hard to tell. He does have soft hands things going for him but if he wants more minutes he needs to be able to run for longer periods of time.

Devyn Marble: (24 pts, 7 rbs, 8 ast)
Marble impressed me. I thought he was going to be a timid ball handler who had an above average shot but he proved me wrong. He finished at the rim 3-4 times and played smart. He had great defense --against Ali Farokamensh-- and all around played solid. Definitely made some freshman mistakes and his shot wasn't falling consistently but you can tell he will play.

That's all I got. Please add or comment if you noticed things differently!!
 
Thanks for the write up. I'm glad to see Basabe's performance in the first game wasn't a one-hit-wonder. I'm also very pleased to hear about Marble's play thus far. It's scary how excited these few PTL games have me about Iowa Basketball again!!
 
Basabe looked much better in the second half. Didn't turn the ball over as much in the second half. He got a lot of foul calls going to the basket that I'm not sure he will get in the big ten. He is very aggressive with the ball. He knocked down a lot of free throws. Murphy also looked better in the second half, he has very quick hands but will called for reaching in a lot, as he does it often. He can give us a solid ten minutes or so off the bench. Morrison went very cold in the second half and that had a lot to do with the comeback, along with a lot of Basabe free throws. I was also impressed with McCabe, he has a game a bit like Gatens.
 
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Brennan Cougill: (18 pts, 7 rbs)
I was not sure if Cougill was sick (he kept leaving the gym) or really out-of-shape. His game was fast paced and I did only see the second half but he was struggling at times and I believe at one point needed to ask for a breather. Saw some nice things too but I wish he would use his body down low more, he took some 3's still. He may have lost weight but it's hard to tell. He does have soft hands things going for him but if he wants more minutes he needs to be able to run for longer periods of time.

First off thanks for the great info JDavis. Personally, I dont think hawk fans should get overly frustrated with Cougill. After all he is only going to be a sophomore. Even though they have very contrasting styles for big men I see a comparison of Cougs with Jordan Egleseder of UNI. When Egleseder was a freshman he rarely saw playing time and when he did he was having a rough time getting up and down the court. You could argue that he struggled at times with that even in his senior year, but the fact is that he was much improved on getting up and down the court (See his matchup against Cole Aldrich of Kansas).

I might be dreaming a little bit but I think Cougill is gonna be a nice surprise. With his sweet 3 point shot, our athletic players should able to play a drive and kick game with him. However, in the post and defensively he needs to improve with conditioning and there is no doubting that, but I think by his senior year he'll be a pretty good post player.
 
I might be dreaming a little bit but I think Cougill is gonna be a nice surprise.

I really hope you are right. I am pulling for Cougill and really want to see him succeed.

On a side note... I am trying not to put to much in to PTL but man am I ANXIOUS FOR BASABE!!!!!!
 
First off thanks for the great info JDavis. Personally, I dont think hawk fans should get overly frustrated with Cougill. After all he is only going to be a sophomore. Even though they have very contrasting styles for big men I see a comparison of Cougs with Jordan Egleseder of UNI. When Egleseder was a freshman he rarely saw playing time and when he did he was having a rough time getting up and down the court. You could argue that he struggled at times with that even in his senior year, but the fact is that he was much improved on getting up and down the court (See his matchup against Cole Aldrich of Kansas).

I might be dreaming a little bit but I think Cougill is gonna be a nice surprise. With his sweet 3 point shot, our athletic players should able to play a drive and kick game with him. However, in the post and defensively he needs to improve with conditioning and there is no doubting that, but I think by his senior year he'll be a pretty good post player.

Egleseder has something that Cougill does not, height. It is a lot easier for a very slow 7'0 kid versus a very slow 6'9 kid. I know a lot of the posters here love this guy, but I really feel that he belongs in the MVC or somewhere lower. (note, this could be said about most of Licks recruits) I just haven't seen the weight loss that everyone here has been talking about and I feel like it is something that will always be an issue for him. That being said, he could be a very effective pick and pop guy who is used in limited minutes as an offensive spark off the bench.
 
I might be dreaming a little bit but I think Cougill is gonna be a nice surprise


I might be wrong, but I think you are definitely dreaming.

Is he going to be a surprise as in "wow, what a player he turned out to be!" or a surprise as in Cousin Eddie...??
 
I think we need to give him some time for crying out loud. We all know bigs dont come in and dominate right away. They take time to develop more so than other positions. He needs to work on a lot, but he also has a ton of skill for a big. Just relax a little everyone
 
I think we need to give him some time for crying out loud. We all know bigs dont come in and dominate right away. They take time to develop more so than other positions. He needs to work on a lot, but he also has a ton of skill for a big. Just relax a little everyone

I agree with this with one caveat - if he is out of shape (which i have heard a few people say) then i will be really discouraged. He's had enough time to trim the fat and get in good condition. Until he gets in shape he wont make an impact
 
I think we need to give him some time for crying out loud. We all know bigs dont come in and dominate right away. They take time to develop more so than other positions. He needs to work on a lot, but he also has a ton of skill for a big. Just relax a little everyone

+1. Correct me if I'm mistaken but I don't believe Fran is recruiting any Center's until Adam Woodbury 2012. To me this is a huge sign that Fran is confident in Cougill.
 
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