Best Case Scenario Starting 5 Next Year
- Thread starter CJSHawk
- Start date
RocknRollface
Well-Known Member
Last years starting linupe was Gessel, Marble, White, Basabe Woodbury.
Ogelsby might have started a couple games when Basabe was out.
Next years team could very well be better even though its allot of the same people.
Allot of guys on last years team, Gessel, JO, Jok, Uthoff, Olaseni, Woodbury, all showed periods of very good play and not just against weak competition but it was not frequent enough.
Not coincidentally all of them were in their first or second year of playing time other than Ogelsby. (Gabe was basically in his second year of any meaningful time ever.)
For Iowa to be a better team next year all these guys need to step up and play more twoards the better periods consitently than the poor ones and that generally happens when you become an upperclassmen. I still expect Jok, being a soph, to be inconsistnent but he has more natural talent as a scorer and unlike the rest of this team has no hesitnacy to shoot.
docholihawk
Well-Known Member
I'm not sure a backcourt of Gessel with Jok or JO would give the team enough of a distributor with the ball. I wouldn't be surprised to see Sapp start partially because of the lack of a true pg and his stepping up this year.
deanvogs
Well-Known Member
Teams can get better even when losing their best players. Iowa got better when they lost Gatens. ISU got better when they lost Clyburn, Babb, Lucious, and McGee. Even ISU fans thought it was going to be bubble city for that team. Yet look what happens, Ejim goes from a 10-11 PPG player to a 18 PPG player and POY in the Big12. Niang goes from a 12 PPG guy to a 17 PPG guy. Heck, I think ISU was trying to replace about 60-70% of its scoring from the year before.
I'm not saying White is gonna be a 18PPG guy, but 15-16PPG won't surprise me. Uthoff will be a double digit scorer, and so will Gesell. The Woody/Gabe combo should be good for 15 PPG and 15 RPG. Iowa does have pieces to work with, as they have a top 50 kid, top 100 kid, and 2 top 150 guys, along with White, Jok, Dickerson.
I'm not saying White is gonna be a 18PPG guy, but 15-16PPG won't surprise me. Uthoff will be a double digit scorer, and so will Gesell. The Woody/Gabe combo should be good for 15 PPG and 15 RPG. Iowa does have pieces to work with, as they have a top 50 kid, top 100 kid, and 2 top 150 guys, along with White, Jok, Dickerson.
NEIChawk
Well-Known Member
With the added experience from last year, the team's seasoned players will be better, and they will have to rely more on each other.....I agree w/deanv, White isn't going to be the "go-to-guy" and average 18-20 ppg, we will see lots of others contribute....For the seniors this year, we will see how they respond after last years not-so-terrific ending.....
Ya, it happens all the time. Most fans, especially opposing fans cannot grasp that. Players get better, and it's the sum of all your parts, not 1-2 players anyway.
You can lose your best scorer, but if you have 1-2 current players that get better, and a newcomer that moves into a spot and is an upgrade, you can get better as a team.
WindsorHawk
Well-Known Member
The Best Case Scenario is always a National Championship. A more probable Best Case Scenario for this year's starting 5 is the Sweet 16.
SpecialKHawk
Well-Known Member
It also helps when there is upward mobility in your league. That helps translate to a good seed that allows you to win a game against the MEAC or similar conference and then a marginal BCS opponent. When your league has zero teams advancing beyond the final 16 but the other team plays in a league with 3 in the final 16 & final 8 and one in the final four that team was beaten down. The B1G has been in this cycle the past 3-4 years.
