Analyzing the 2023-24 Iowa Men's Roster

trj said:
Is Mulvey the one we are all sleeping on? If he is just a 9 and 7 guy, that is a game changer.
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No doubt that would be a game changer. We have 34 pts and 15 boards or so being subtracted from our lineup losing Kris and Rebracca. The new bigs Krikke and Brauns are going to be expected to match/maybe surpass what Rebraca and our other bigs all did last yr. Which was like 15 pts and 9 boards or so. We just got so little from the others besides Rebraca that anything from Mulvey would be huge. The battle between Mulvey, Brauns, Freeman and whomever else will be interesting.

I think Fran would love for a couple bigs to step up. We stink at rebounding and defending to such a degree that going small more I don't think is in our interest. Going to that sort of lineup out of necessity wouldn't be good. So of those 3 at least 2 of them need to be playing 10 mins plus a game and contributing.
 
InGoodCo said:
I get what you are saying, but at the same time I also think of it like this...

How many programs in the B1G will return a core of 3 guys that are better than Perk, Peyton and Patrick? Maryland and Purdue? It's not like we're depleted and all 3 of those guys could take another step forward next season. The B1G doesn't look like it's going to be all that strong either. Like, I think Iowa's going to be just fine next year and right in the mix.

We do this (as Iowa fans) every season "Oh no, after *insert 1st team all conference player* leaves for the NBA or graduates, we're in a WORLD of hurt next year"... and every season... it just keeps on chugging.

Personally, like I said, losing Cook, Weisy and both Murrays early at a program like Iowa that is more developmental...eventually you gotta expect it's going to leave a mark, I just wouldn't bet on it. I'd bet more on what we've seen consistently for the last decade. Good, not great, top half of the conference and in play for the NCAA tournament.
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Perk, Sanford, and Patrick are a good corp, but realistically, one of those guys isn't even gonna start unless Fran wants to go small ball and play only one true post player.

I agree that the scoring load is going to come heavy off of those guys at the 2 and 3 spots.

I am not expecting much scoring from the 1, but hopefully we find an efficient PG who can distribute and score efficiently.

The biggest question mark to me is do we find some offensive prowess from the front court with a cast of characters that have almost no game experience at this level of basketball. That is a lot to hope for, but its May, so hope springs eternal. The front court will decide this team's fate.
 
HuckFinn said:
I may well be wrong with my memory, but this sounds to me much like the discussion prior to the 2022 season.
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It's the discussion every year, literally, every single year since Fran turned it around, so like, what 11 years straight? It's the narrative every single season, and I do mean EVERY single season. Iowa loses their best player and everyone's like "yeah, we're not going to be very good this next year" and I guess you could have gotten that right 1 time in those 11 years (17/18). Or one could argue that one or 2 of those teams had high expectations but it's very rare when Iowa isn't at least above average and good enough to dance.

Seriously, it feels like our fan base as a majority has been wrong 10 times and only right, 1 time....you'd think that maybe that would cause some of you to say, hey, maybe I'm just wrong about this program and I don't have a firm grasp on who, what and where we are.

I expect Iowa to compete for the top half of the conference and to be a bubble team. They return a lot comparative to the rest of the conference and we have a coach that's kind of figured it out.
 
InGoodCo said:
It's the discussion every year, literally, every single year since Fran turned it around, so like, what 11 years straight? It's the narrative every single season, and I do mean EVERY single season. Iowa loses their best player and everyone's like "yeah, we're not going to be very good this next year" and I guess you could have gotten that right 1 time in those 11 years (17/18). Or one could argue that one or 2 of those teams had high expectations but it's very rare when Iowa isn't at least above average and good enough to dance.

Seriously, it feels like our fan base as a majority has been wrong 10 times and only right, 1 time....you'd think that maybe that would cause some of you to say, hey, maybe I'm just wrong about this program and I don't have a firm grasp on who, what and where we are.

I expect Iowa to compete for the top half of the conference and to be a bubble team. They return a lot comparative to the rest of the conference and we have a coach that's kind of figured it out.
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Those people can't be wrong because they simply change their expectations of what qualifies as a good season to make sure they were still right.

Your point about always losing our best player and taking a step back is spot on. Really the only year we didn't lose our best player was Garza's senior year. Gatens, Marble, White, Uthoff, Jok, Cook, Garza, Keegan, Kris. The only time we sucked after losing one of those guys is with Jok. We did take a step back after losing Uthoff but we still only missed the tourney by one game.

Cook is probably the only one on that list that didn't up his game a lot his final season. Typing that makes me second guess my expectations for Perkins. Almost every time Fran has had a player flash greatness the year before becoming the man, he's ended up first team all conference. I don't think anyone can argue that Perk hasn't flashed greatness.
 
Personally, I see a distinction between the last couple seasons and this year. Keegan was already on NBA watch after his freshmen year and we could see where his game was going given his size and raw athletic talent. With Kris, it was also a somewhat easy call because his twin just did it.

I don't hear Perk getting NBA buzz or preseason all conference type buzz. Part of my concern with Perk is just the eyeball test. He is a 6'3 shooting guard with an average 3 point shot. He has nights where he gets hot and he has shown he can get to the rim and score points. But, can he average 18-20 a night with that size and that type of game in today's game? I am skeptical.

He should be the leading scorer on the team, but I think it will be more like 14 a night. My instinct is that success this season will look different than recent Fran teams in that it will be a village effort and not a "superman and his supporting cast" scenario. There is good talent on this team, and Fran is really good at developing players. No reason this team can't make the tourney again, but it is no slam dunk.
 
PCHawk said:
Those people can't be wrong because they simply change their expectations of what qualifies as a good season to make sure they were still right.

Your point about always losing our best player and taking a step back is spot on. Really the only year we didn't lose our best player was Garza's senior year. Gatens, Marble, White, Uthoff, Jok, Cook, Garza, Keegan, Kris. The only time we sucked after losing one of those guys is with Jok. We did take a step back after losing Uthoff but we still only missed the tourney by one game.

Cook is probably the only one on that list that didn't up his game a lot his final season. Typing that makes me second guess my expectations for Perkins. Almost every time Fran has had a player flash greatness the year before becoming the man, he's ended up first team all conference. I don't think anyone can argue that Perk hasn't flashed greatness.
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He did, and he played really really well down the stretch. I think he scored double figures in like 9 of their last 14 and he had a stretch during the heart of the schedule against B1G opponents that he scored 24, 11, 13, 24, 23 ... when Iowa needed it most, he stepped up.

Like I said...people keep counting them out but do so at your own peril because we really haven't done that for a while. It's almost like "Ok, this is FINALLY the year where we might not be up to snuff, we might miss the dance and need a rebuild year" ... which absolutely happens at even some of the best programs. There just isn't a lot of history or data we can lean on to back up that kind of pessimistic view.
 
NorthKCHawk said:
Personally, I see a distinction between the last couple seasons and this year. Keegan was already on NBA watch after his freshmen year and we could see where his game was going given his size and raw athletic talent. With Kris, it was also a somewhat easy call because his twin just did it.

I don't hear Perk getting NBA buzz or preseason all conference type buzz. Part of my concern with Perk is just the eyeball test. He is a 6'3 shooting guard with an average 3 point shot. He has nights where he gets hot and he has shown he can get to the rim and score points. But, can he average 18-20 a night with that size and that type of game in today's game? I am skeptical.

He should be the leading scorer on the team, but I think it will be more like 14 a night. My instinct is that success this season will look different than recent Fran teams in that it will be a village effort and not a "superman and his supporting cast" scenario. There is good talent on this team, and Fran is really good at developing players. No reason this team can't make the tourney again, but it is no slam dunk.
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I think his strength and jumping ability is more important than a couple extra inches in height. His shot is concerning tho.
 
NorthKCHawk said:
Perk, Sanford, and Patrick are a good corp, but realistically, one of those guys isn't even gonna start unless Fran wants to go small ball and play only one true post player.

I agree that the scoring load is going to come heavy off of those guys at the 2 and 3 spots.

I am not expecting much scoring from the 1, but hopefully we find an efficient PG who can distribute and score efficiently.

The biggest question mark to me is do we find some offensive prowess from the front court with a cast of characters that have almost no game experience at this level of basketball. That is a lot to hope for, but its May, so hope springs eternal. The front court will decide this team's fate.
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IDK, looking at the roster they have a lot of bodies in the front court (7) compared to scholarship guards (4). They don't list a position for the elder Sandfort. Bowen is really going to have to step up.
 
Bowen will take a huge step this season and likely was doing so most of the 2nd half of the year. It's hard to make any sweeping changes and he likely couldn't be counted on/too risky in such a year where every game counts and you can't afford to drop any after some questionable losses. Our margin for mistake was razor thin last year. I know we didn't see a ton out of him, but I think everyone on the team knew it, especially Aaron Ulis.
 
Gander Hawk said:
IDK, looking at the roster they have a lot of bodies in the front court (7) compared to scholarship guards (4). They don't list a position for the elder Sandfort. Bowen is really going to have to step up.
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At Iowa, 3s play more like guards. Hell, sometimes the 4 is more of a perimeter player.

I agree with the last post that Bowen seems likely to have that big jump between freshmen and sophomore year. He showed flashes of athleticism and vision that Iowa has not had at the PG in a while. Hopefully, Fran hands him the keys and he responds.

Obviously, Perk is the 2 and Sandford/Patrick the 3 and the other is the 6 man. IDK, maybe you start them both. They are both right around 6'8. Could Sanford get by defending most 4s in this conference? Maybe. If you are starting your best 5, you do that. I think the transfer kid is plug and play at the 5, but not sure any of the other posts are ready to start.
 
im Bullish on Dix while I don’t see alpha this year I think he will be a key price this year and alpha his junior yea.with freeman and Harding getting time this year to blossom next year also.and until Fran proves otherwise he consistently puts a team together that is usually tournament worth.last four would suit me fine his year
 
Dix will be much more aggressive on offense this season. His D is solid and shows his athletic prowess. On O, this past season, he looked passive. I think, like most young players, he deferred to the experienced teammates.
 
Yeah, we're all sleeping on Dix I am sure. I think Iowa still has a top half roster in this seasons B1G.

Excited to get to see them 5 minutes from my house - at Creighton will be a very tough game to win.
 
Where does everyone see Dix getting minutes? I think his natural position is the 2, but damn I liked what I saw when he was running the PG position. A tall point, with decent handles, who can shoot and play D? Sign me up. Fran does a good job of mixing and matching line-ups, but my guess is he is the second option at the 2 and the third option at the 1. That smells like 15 minutes per game unless he really breaks out and cannot be left on the bench.
 
HuckFinn said:
I may well be wrong with my memory, but this sounds to me much like the discussion prior to the 2022 season.
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Yup. The differences I can see are with this yr though are we don't really have an obvious Alpha going into the yr. We all kinda assumed Kris would be last yr and Keegan/Garza before that. It wasn't a total given but it was largely hoped for and it did turn out that way. Is anyone assuming TP will become that? Become more consistent and avg closer to 20 a game? He's clearly capable but he's also all over the place sometimes. Or is it someone like Sandfort with his shooting going to be expected to? Yeah I can see him being capable but to expect it might be asking a lot.

I see this team not being as good defensively as last yr and probably not as good offensively. A lot will depend on all the question marks we have with the pg position and how those mins get distributed along with our bigs. Will Krikkes game translate to being a 17 pts 7 plus rb guy right away? I think he'll be asked to. So I'm not saying we can't have a good team next yr I'm just saying I'm not putting mortgage money on it being a given that they do. Lots to sort out with this group
 
InGoodCo said:
Yeah, we're all sleeping on Dix I am sure. I think Iowa still has a top half roster in this seasons B1G.

Excited to get to see them 5 minutes from my house - at Creighton will be a very tough game to win.
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You might be sleeping on Dix but I'm not.
 
PCHawk said:
You might be sleeping on Dix but I'm not.
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Yeah, he showed a lot of poise and promise last season and is a shooter we desperately need. I don't think he'll start but he'll be a big contributor this season.


My dudes, I also forgot about the Europe trip this summer, that's going to be bigger than usual. Typically I am not a fan when a veteran team goes on those trips. I feel we've seen some of Fran's teams burn out as seasons have progressed and some of those years were on those summer trips. Anyways, that's my theory. But with 4 freshman and 2 other new big men coming in, those extra practices are going to be huge for this team.
 
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