Attn: Mike Gesell

Mike's problem is between his ears.

Sure he is a nice kid but I'm not seeing a player who can handle this level of competition right now.
 
HawkeyeMike23 said:
I don't think he has any confidence in his jumper anymore.
Click to expand...

About a minute after I decided to write this post during the game he hit a wide open 15 ft shot. Mike has old school game and he tries way to hard to be a modern day PG problem is he never will be and that is fine.

This thread was not to rip Mike...I still believe that MG has all the skills and attributes to be one of the better PG's to put on the Iowa uniform. I just wish the staff would make him stop taking it too deep against teams in the mold of Texas...it doesn't work.
 
sportstalent said:
About a minute after I decided to write this post during the game he hit a wide open 15 ft shot. Mike has old school game and he tries way to hard to be a modern day PG problem is he never will be and that is fine.

This thread was not to rip Mike...I still believe that MG has all the skills and attributes to be one of the better PG's to put on the Iowa uniform. I just wish the staff would make him stop taking it too deep against teams in the mold of Texas...it doesn't work.
Click to expand...

Hes just not a good enough shooter to be one of the better pgs we've had.
 
HawkeyeMike23 said:
Hes just not a good enough shooter to be one of the better pgs we've had.
Click to expand...

A point guard doesn't need to worry about his jump shooting as much. He does somewhat but thats not his main concern. A point guards job is to drive the lane and find the open guys with the consistency to finish at the rim. Maybe draw fouls and make his free throws. Mike isnt doing any of those things. Hes had some bad TOs and hasnt been able to find the open guy. He hasnt been finishing. He fades away from contact while finishing which just leads him to get his shot blocked. Extremely fades under the pressure. Not much is going well for him.
 
He is struggling and I hope he can overcome his challenges and go on to be the type of player we hoped he would be when we watched him his freshman year.

Fran might want to consider utilizing his time outs to replace Mike on the offensive side of the ball so that a better free thrower can capitalize and make the free throws if the opponent want to foul our players. Mike has really struggled with free throws late in the game. He is a tough kid and I am hoping he comes around.
 
Mike obviously has his limitations but as I cried out last year and this year...

He has no placed paying a 2. He's a PG. He needs to be the drive and dish player.

The issue on this team remains that the only guys we have to play the 2 are Josh Ogelsby who is intended to be a role player but can't fit the role of being a consistent outside shooter.

Peter Jok who isn't consistent enough on offense and a liability on D.

We are so weak at the 2.... its laughable.
 
HawkeyeMike23 said:
Hes just not a good enough shooter to be one of the better pgs we've had.
Click to expand...

He absolutely is if he would quit forcing bad shots in the lane and take about 3-3pointers a game at most. He is never going to be a great 3-pt shooter, nowhere have I ever read or seen anyone even believing he would be.

What can happen is he can get on a roll shooting, but he absolutely has to stop taking shots that he will never make. As I said before, he has to scale back on what he thinks he needs to do, or the coaches do...if the coaches are telling him and he isn't listening...that is on the coaches for not benching him.

The FT misses, I simply cannot figure out because he really does have great form on his shot.

Lastly, I was at the Crisler Center two seasons ago when Gesell was a freshman and walked away impressed with how athletic the kid really and and just how hard he plays on every play. That drive and determination he has I thought, would have shown more to this point in his career, but hey what are we just a handful of games into his Jr. season?

Sometimes it takes kids a little longer than others to "get it" as coaches like myself like to say...the unfortunate part is some athletes/players don't ever "get it" I am not ready to give up on MG. It was just a point that something I want to see him do less of and take more mid-range shots because those are in his wheelhouse.
 
sportstalent said:
He absolutely is if he would quit forcing bad shots in the lane and take about 3-3pointers a game at most. He is never going to be a great 3-pt shooter, nowhere have I ever read or seen anyone even believing he would be.

What can happen is he can get on a roll shooting, but he absolutely has to stop taking shots that he will never make. As I said before, he has to scale back on what he thinks he needs to do, or the coaches do...if the coaches are telling him and he isn't listening...that is on the coaches for not benching him.

The FT misses, I simply cannot figure out because he really does have great form on his shot.

Lastly, I was at the Crisler Center two seasons ago when Gesell was a freshman and walked away impressed with how athletic the kid really and and just how hard he plays on every play. That drive and determination he has I thought, would have shown more to this point in his career, but hey what are we just a handful of games into his Jr. season?

Sometimes it takes kids a little longer than others to "get it" as coaches like myself like to say...the unfortunate part is some athletes/players don't ever "get it" I am not ready to give up on MG. It was just a point that something I want to see him do less of and take more mid-range shots because those are in his wheelhouse.
Click to expand...

What makes you think this? We're over halfway through his career and he's right at 30% from 3, that's not a small sample size. He shot 41% on 2's last year while playing next to a 1st team All B10 guard. He shot over 50% from the field in a grand total of 2 B10 games last year. He hasn't shown the ability to be a streaky shooter as he's never really went on a tear. There's been nothing in over two years now that has shown him to be an above average, or really average even, shooter for a B10 guard. When he was playing off ball last year, the excuse was it was throwing his game off because he didn't have the ball in his hands, then when he was point, the excuse was Marble was hogging the ball too much and playing hero ball, now he's at point, Marble is gone and I guess the new excuse is that he doesn't have a good enough 2 guard.
 
Look if you can't hit a jumper and you've consistently shown your unable to make free throws you should not be a starting point guard in division 1 basketball. Seriously how can a point guard not be more proficient at shooting free throws? He can handle the ball well and is a good passer but at that point your stealing minutes from someone that can shoot and make those free throws when it counts. I think it's best we sit him and watch Trey develop on the floor.
 
He was (they were) way back in 1969-1970: Fred Brown and Chad Calabria. I know that reveals my age, but those two guards and the rest of that great Iowa team will be forever etched in my memory. With Iowa basketball seemingly mired in eternal mediocrity at best, I need those types of memories...
 
g11 said:
Wasn't Mike one of the top players for turnover efficiency last year? Granted, his drives into the lane are basically turnovers. I don't know, I feel like he needs to just run the offense and shoot when he gets good looks. Driving in like he does is bad in multiple ways, he either gets blocked, can't finish if he some how doesn't get blocked, or he gets fouled and misses his free throws.
Click to expand...
He needs to drive with the intent to pass the ball. But he almost never does. If puts his head down and drives the ball, it's going up.
 
hawkphan00 said:
Look if you can't hit a jumper and you've consistently shown your unable to make free throws you should not be a starting point guard in division 1 basketball. Seriously how can a point guard not be more proficient at shooting free throws? He can handle the ball well and is a good passer but at that point your stealing minutes from someone that can shoot and make those free throws when it counts. I think it's best we sit him and watch Trey develop on the floor.
Click to expand...

Eric Snow hit less than 15% of his FT's until his Senior year and then hit around 70% his Senior year and he started for 3 yrs at MSU.

It isn't common but not unheard of.
 
Ok guys this one thread has inspired another break from here. There are some new names but the same ignorance is bliss theme.

I like how this turned to an opportunity for sime to say MG isn't BIG material or he should be benched.

It was not the intent...it was about him making better basketball decisions.

Have fun this season!
 
I agree, sportstalent. I think it would go a long way to show Mike's intelligence as a player to realize that he should NOT take his drives all the way to the rim. Instead, he should pull up for the 8-12 foot shot ala Ronnie Lester. Not saying he's as good as Ronnie was, but Ronnie knew he wasn't going to get his layup off so stopped just inside the FT line for a nice teardrop.
 
I've stuck up for Gesell in the past but he's not a quality Big Ten point guard. I'm all for beaching him because he's turning into an epic bust recruiting-wise.

The kid can't shoot or be counted on.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Share this page

Top