Cook: Better Without?

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NikeHawk21

Well-Known Member
Iowa will be better next year I think with or without Cook. The question is will they be better without Cook than they would have been with him? That’s probably unlikely.

However for the purposes of argument I don’t think it’s as far off as some of you are making it sound. I dove into the numbers below.

If we lose Cook, what are we losing?

Scoring?
Cook is our top scoring threat this year at about 15PPG. Does anyone think we will have any issues scoring next year, even without Cook? I don’t. We would still return three double figure scorers, and we bring in a top 50 recruit that can score. Inside scoring? I think we will have plenty, Garza was averaging 17.6 over the last 6 games. Kriener coming on. Cook’s offensive rating is third on the team, well behind Garza and JBo, and just in front of Moss. Now, I don’t think we will be able to replace the pressure that Cook puts on defenses, similar to what we lost with Jok, so that will hurt some.

Rebounding?
Cook is an average rebounder, nothing more, nothing less. Coming in I thought he’d be a monster on the offensive glass, but he has not been. Of the regulars he ranks 4th in offensive rebound %, and 3rd in overall rebound %, slightly above Baer. I don’t think his rebounding is much of a loss at all.


What do we gain? (I’m assuming that his 28 minutes are absorbed by Nunge, Weiskamp, and Kriener (who knows with Fran))

Defense?
Cook has all the tools to be a monster on defense, but it just hasn’t materialized. Of the regulars, his defensive rating is 7th on the team, Nunge is 2nd and Kriener is 3rd. His block % is 5th, that just doesn’t make sense for a guy with that kind of athleticism. Not to mention his effort has been subpar on that end over the last two years.

Turnovers?
Not only does Cook lead the team in turnovers, he is also the only regular player who currently has an assist to turnover ratio below 1:1. Now part of that is because he is the only guy who can create for himself I do understand.

Spacing / 3 pt shooting?
The spacing on this team has been an issue, and that is not Cook’s fault, it’s Fran’s. We just have too many “posts”. If we lost Cook and slid Nunge down to the 4, I think our spacing improves dramatically, as will our 3pt shooting. We could potentially have a starting lineup with 5 three point threats.
 
Remember before everyone starts calling me an idiot, I understand Cook is a really good player and I don’t want to lose him. I’m just playing devils advocate with the argument.
 
Definitely don't think you're an idiot. But you can be assured there are guys lining up to tell you that. :) I think Iowa is better next year either way as well. That won't take a lot. But I think they would definitely be better WITH him then without.
 
I think we are better next year with Cook, but it’s closer than people are making it out to be.

Another devils advocate side note: there have been teams in the history of basketball that have lost their best player and have been better because of it. It’s possible.
 
This is a great post.

I'm not sure if they are better with him or without him - but some things need to drastically change. If Cook leaves then that might help shake things up. I have mixed feelings about it, but part of me thinks it's better for everyone if he leaves.
 
NikeHawk21 said:
I think we are better next year with Cook, but it’s closer than people are making it out to be.

Another devils advocate side note: there have been teams in the history of basketball that have lost their best player and have been better because of it. It’s possible.
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I don't consider him the best player at all. Most athletic, most potential.. maybe.
 
Bigtenchamp said:
I don't consider him the best player at all. Most atheltic maybe.
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Advance statistics actually favor Garza:

PER:
Garza: 26.6
Cook: 21.8

WS/40:
Garza: .188
Cook: .128

BPM:
Garza: 6.3 (Baer #1 at 6.9)
Cook: 2.9 (6th on team)

O rating:
Garza: 126.6
Cook: 112.1

D rating (lower number is better):
Garza: 108.7
Cook: 110.2
 
Bigtenchamp said:
This is a great post.

I'm not sure if they are better with him or without him - but some things need to drastically change. If Cook leaves then that might help shake things up. I have mixed feelings about it, but part of me thinks it's better for everyone if he leaves.
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56346738.jpg
 
There were some games we would have lost by 36 instead of 18 because Cook was in there. We are definitely a lot worse without him than with him, even with his lack of fundamentals sometimes.
 
Only at Iowa can the best player leave and the team gets better.

For the last six years.
 
DDThompson said:
Only at Iowa can the best player leave and the team gets better.

For the last six years.
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I saw you post this in another thread and don’t fully understand.

2014: Play-in 11 seed (Lose Marble best player)
2015: 7 seed (Lose White best player)
2016: 7 seed (Lose Uthoff best player)

So those are two years in a row where we lost our best player and got better or at least maintained. But that’s completely different because we are talking about losing a guy early. I just simply laid out the devils advocate argument why we COULD be better without Cook.

Edit: is Cook even the best player on Iowa?
 
NikeHawk21 said:
I saw you post this in another thread and don’t fully understand.

2014: Play-in 11 seed (Lose Marble best player)
2015: 7 seed (Lose White best player)
2016: 7 seed (Lose Uthoff best player)

So those are two years in a row where we lost our best player and got better or at least maintained. But that’s completely different because we are talking about losing a guy early. I just simply laid out the devils advocate argument why we COULD be better without Cook.

Edit: is Cook even the best player on Iowa?
Click to expand...

Our leading scorer, rebounder and the only player on the team that got any accolades from B1G coaches is our best player and it's not even close. Mark it down if he leaves Garza's numbers go down next year. Luka benefited from Cook more than anyone.
 
I think neither funny or stupid , a very open minded thought , TC is by far the best athlete on the team , by far the most potential , has more high lite real plays , but as said above , not sure he is the best player , if it was go to time right now for me , Garza is my go to guy as far as the bigs are concerned , and the last couple weeks in go to time I would go to Kriener before I would TC , Ryan has been defending , scoring , and turning the ball over less than TC , don't get me wrong , I WANT TC on this team , but am also intrigued with where Ryan and Nunge may develop to with more playing time ............ one thing for sure , there was a chemistry issue on this team this year , if somebody wasn't happy and drug everyone else down , then best be gone ........ was that TC , was it Fran , last year Cordell played great as a freshman , really didnt act like he wanted to play this year , whether we have transfers or not , hope this issue is fixed before next year
 
iahawk52 said:
I think neither funny or stupid , a very open minded thought , TC is by far the best athlete on the team , by far the most potential , has more high lite real plays , but as said above , not sure he is the best player , if it was go to time right now for me , Garza is my go to guy as far as the bigs are concerned , and the last couple weeks in go to time I would go to Kriener before I would TC , Ryan has been defending , scoring , and turning the ball over less than TC , don't get me wrong , I WANT TC on this team , but am also intrigued with where Ryan and Nunge may develop to with more playing time ............ one thing for sure , there was a chemistry issue on this team this year , if somebody wasn't happy and drug everyone else down , then best be gone ........ was that TC , was it Fran , last year Cordell played great as a freshman , really didnt act like he wanted to play this year , whether we have transfers or not , hope this issue is fixed before next year
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Cook was honorable mention all conference by both coaches and media and Luka wasn't even on the all freshman team. Cook is the best player on the team and was the only one the coaches even voted for.
 
I don’t want Cook to leave at all. But he isn’t a dominant player yet by any means. His dunks are as nasty as they come, but he was absolutely non existent in OT yesterday with Mo Wagner fouled out. I was screaming at the TV for Fran to call timeout and set everything through Tyler but we just settled for 25 foot jumpers instead. Tyler turns it over way too much trying to power his way past everyone which hurts our offense. He isn’t good at knowing when to give the ball up.

As much as it would suck for him to leave and I pray he finds it in himself to stay, he’s not even 1st, 2nd or 3rd Team All Conference yet.
 
Hawk5656 said:
Our leading scorer, rebounder and the only player on the team that got any accolades from B1G coaches is our best player and it's not even close. Mark it down if he leaves Garza's numbers go down next year. Luka benefited from Cook more than anyone.
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Same thing happened with Cam Lard at ISU - once Solomon Young went out his production plummetted.
 
Hawk5656 said:
Cook was honorable mention all conference by both coaches and media and Luka wasn't even on the all freshman team. Cook is the best player on the team and was the only one the coaches even voted for.
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Funny what a difference a year makes in trollville. Last year it was dumb that JBo made the all freshman team but this year Garza making it proves he isn’t that great. I haven’t looked at this list yet but I think Garza got snubbed.

Also you used to be a big fan of advanced stats, including PER. See my above post, but almost every advanced stat including PER favors Garza over Cook. Thoughts?
 
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