Best news I've seen this off season is....

[PCHawk]

And just for the record that's not what I've said or felt. I just think it's the difference for him to take his game up a notch. He was pretty good last year. He can be just that much better now. He had rebounds taken away from him sometimes last year that won't be now etc. It could be the difference between Europe and NBA after next year. Could be the difference between a season like last year and an elite 8 run or better for Iowa. Who knows. But nobody would say him being able to gain some weight now is a bad thing.

What happened with Basabe was he went from a comfortable weight of 215ish on his frame to bulk up to like 230-235ish. It slowed him down and he just didn't like it. But he wasn't too skinny to start with he was just attempting to bulk up to bang with the bigger power forwards in the league.

I'm pretty sure what happened to Basabe was he hustled hard his freshman year and had a successful season which went to his head. It made him not work as hard so he struggled, because working hard was the thing that made him successful.

 

[Hawkfnntn]

For the record, I wasn't calling you an idiot... even though it totally reads like I was saying that. I'm just kind of over people obsessing with the kids weight, he's a good basketball player...I agree weight would be a good thing, I'm just not hell bent on that really being a big factor. Maybe it will be, but I think he's poised to be good regardless.

Last year, I was sick of people obsessing over White's jumper and people on this site wondering if he was "actually any good?" cause that was the narrative heading into last season. Much like the "Trey Dickerson" starting over MG .... so what I am saying is this site get's awfully stupid in the summer months. I guess that's what keeps it entertaining.

It's all good I honestly didn't think you were I understood how you meant that. I just didn't want others to misconstrue what I mean by what I said. I just think if Uthoff were to still be at 205ish there'd be a ceiling to his play. I think that ceiling just got raised a lot more. The combination of that and he can now be the man on this team makes me think he will have a monster of a season.

And of course hyperbole is the norm when it comes to message boards and it's par for the course. Some may think that's what I'm spewing here but honestly I believe it and I could be right or wrong or he could get hurt and none of it matters. Time will tell.

 

[WinOneThisCentury]

People who don't think the weight is important should remember Uthoff's first year playing for Iowa. He looked like a baby deer every time he went down low...someone touched him and his legs buckled. Now flash forward to last year...a stronger, heavier Uthoff was much better going the basket and held his own down low. Not great, but much better. I get it that it's strength also that comes with it...but him putting on weight was very important and the gains this year will also bear that out.

He's a very skilled player, but if a scout was asked what he needs to get to the next level, it would be more of an NBA body. He needs the weight.

 

[DP5555]

If Uthoff can maintain 220 lbs or even gain a little bit more then I really like his chances at succeeding in the NBA.

Please keep in mind this is just purely a skill set comparison because I know these types of analogies tend to get blasted online... but Uthoff sort of reminds me of a smaller Lamar Odom. Uthoff is listed at 6'8 and now 220 according to him. Odom is 6'10 230. Odom has had an opportunity to make a lot of money in the NBA if he could only manage to get his head on straight. I think Uthoff has the character side of things down pat. If he can continue to fine tune his skills and confidence then he has a pretty big upside. Confidence is a big thing for Uthoff. He needs to play like he knows he's the best player on the court.

 

[Hawkfnntn]

If Uthoff can maintain 220 lbs or even gain a little bit more then I really like his chances at succeeding in the NBA.

Please keep in mind this is just purely a skill set comparison because I know these types of analogies tend to get blasted online... but Uthoff sort of reminds me of a smaller Lamar Odom. Uthoff is listed at 6'8 and now 220 according to him. Odom is 6'10 230. Odom has had an opportunity to make a lot of money in the NBA if he could only manage to get his head on straight. I think Uthoff has the character side of things down pat. If he can continue to fine tune his skills and confidence then he has a pretty big upside. Confidence is a big thing for Uthoff. He needs to play like he knows he's the best player on the court.

I agree and I bet Fran is going to try and instill that in him as best he can. Uthoff doesn't quite have the handle that Odom has he was able to go coast to coast with the ball and pass. He was pretty darn good in his hay day.

Did any of you see the Indiana game on BTN they replayed yesterday? Uthoff had that little pg of Indiana guarding him off and on. I thought MG and the whole team did a terrible job of not getting him the ball more to take advantage of that. They did just a couple times it seemed like. To me that's letting the other team off the hook. If your putting a 5'11 pg against White and Uthoff they should look at that as being disrespected and want to pound it at him till they adjust. But the team needed to recognize that and for whatever reasons they rarely did.

 

[HawgEyeState]

People who don't think the weight is important should remember Uthoff's first year playing for Iowa. He looked like a baby deer every time he went down low...someone touched him and his legs buckled. Now flash forward to last year...a stronger, heavier Uthoff was much better going the basket and held his own down low. Not great, but much better. I get it that it's strength also that comes with it...but him putting on weight was very important and the gains this year will also bear that out.

He's a very skilled player, but if a scout was asked what he needs to get to the next level, it would be more of an NBA body. He needs the weight.

He needs an NBA body, sorta like Stephon Curry does, right ?

LOL

For those in Rio Linda, CURRY is NBA MVP and World Champion !! doh

 

[Hawkfnntn]

He needs an NBA body, sorta like Stephon Curry does, right ?

LOL

For those in Rio Linda, CURRY is NBA MVP and World Champion !! doh

Apples to oranges.... In positions they play and styles of play.... Curry is 6'3 190 making him roughly the same weight Uthoff was when he first got to Iowa only 5 or 6 inches shorter so I'm not exactly seeing any kind of a point your trying to make. BJ Armstrong was 6'2 185 in his prime... Curry is about right where an NBA pg is going to be in size. Now if you were to play the Tyler Ullis card or Muggsy Bogues card at least you'd be making sense if size and weight is all you were trying to make a point about. But still those guys are/were pgs and it's just not even close to the same thing. It'd be like saying corner backs and fullbacks should be about the same.... Come on...

 

[WinOneThisCentury]

He needs an NBA body, sorta like Stephon Curry does, right ?

LOL

For those in Rio Linda, CURRY is NBA MVP and World Champion !! doh

I'm thinking you maybe like Stephon Curry's body a little too much. I'm trying to think of the last time Steph was posting up down low...hmmm...or boxing out Lebron for that matter. Now if you had said Kevin Durant coming into the league I may have thought about that for a moment. Have you seen Durant lately...he's added weight and muscle.

Tough comparison bro.

 

[trj]

If Uthoff can maintain 220 lbs or even gain a little bit more then I really like his chances at succeeding in the NBA.

Please keep in mind this is just purely a skill set comparison because I know these types of analogies tend to get blasted online... but Uthoff sort of reminds me of a smaller Lamar Odom. Uthoff is listed at 6'8 and now 220 according to him. Odom is 6'10 230. Odom has had an opportunity to make a lot of money in the NBA if he could only manage to get his head on straight. I think Uthoff has the character side of things down pat. If he can continue to fine tune his skills and confidence then he has a pretty big upside. Confidence is a big thing for Uthoff. He needs to play like he knows he's the best player on the court.

In terms of body type I am thinking more of a Teyshaun Prince. Obviously, he will not have Prince's defensive prowess or overall skill, but he will be able to get out on the perimeter and defend especially the pick and roll stuff.

 

[DP5555]

In terms of body type I am thinking more of a Teyshaun Prince. Obviously, he will not have Prince's defensive prowess or overall skill, but he will be able to get out on the perimeter and defend especially the pick and roll stuff.

Prince is a solid comparison. I can get on board with that.

 

[Knight78]

This is exactly what I was thinking when I heard him say he's now up to 220. It's kind of strange that it took him 3 seasons to go from 190ish to 205 and then in just a matter of a few months he's gone from 205 up to 220. Either his metabolism slowed down all of a sudden or he really increased his effort to gain weight. I'm not sure what it is, but if he was capable of putting on that kind of weight so fast then why didn't he do so earlier?

I had the same problem when I was in high school and college. At 6'7" I weighed about 160lbs when I graduated from high school. I weighed about 170lbs at the end of my sophomore year in college. Then something kicked in and I weighed about 210lbs at the end of my junior year. I didn't change my eating habits or my workout routines. It just kicked in that year. Of course, that was 35-40 years ago and now I'm around 240lbs or so (last time I weighed).

 

[Benddontbreak]

Jarrod will be forced to guard 4’s and 5’s next year so this was a good move to bulk up. B1G frontcourts are going to be ridiculous too.