Depth battle

G

greghammel

Well-Known Member
Basabe played better than Cole; and Cully played better than Cartwright.

May and McCabe looked like starters... Gatens coming back soon. Looking like odd man out of starting rotation is going to be a rough call.

Cully, May, Cole, Basabe, and Gatens is what I would go with right now...
Cully, May, Cole, McCabe, and Gatens before tonight's game.

Basabe is looking rough in some areas, but rebounding is one he is dominating, and that is very important. McCabe, Brommer, Marble, Cartwright, Stoermer provide great skill sets off the bench.

When you bring in Marble and Cartwright, leave May and Basabe on the court and go with the full court press about 3-4m into the game! That would be sweet.
 
In the post-game radio interview, coach mentioned that one thing that he looks forward to when Gatens is back is that McCabe will move back and play some minutes in the 4 spot.

In my opinion, our best half court offensive team will be Cully, Gatens, May, McCabe, and Cole. One of the biggest issues in the half court set has been floor balance - - which is why Coach brought in Stoermer last night and he was successful. Without Gatens we don't have a true jump shooter our there (except for Stoermer) and it allows the defense to sag into the lane more than we'd like. 4 of those 5 guys can hit the 3 ball and all of them can score in the lane. I really like the potential versatility of that offensive lineup.
 
I like that and the fact the next 5 off the bench offer so much of different skill sets to infuse into the game.
 
I like the fact that we have filled out a roster (even with walk-ons) and people who compete and work are rewarded with playing time. I remember back when Mr. Davis first came to Iowa and he had a young BJ Armstrong with lots of potential. He was asked, "How do you make BJ a better player?" His answer was, "The best way for me to be able to help BJ become a better player, is to have someone else I can send in when he is not working at the level he needs to get better."

If Coach McCaffery can get all of his guys to compete hard in practice and play more people (even if we do not win as many games as we might), the impact will show up next year. That is why I am glad that Stoermer got PT time. It sends a message than wasn't really sent in the right way last year (using your kid as the message was not too effective by Lick).

This team has just got to put its head down and work hard and good things will develop. It may not result in a great senior year for Cole, but Gatens will win more games next year than he would if our focus is just on winning a couple of additional games and not building the right platform for future success.

Don't get me wrong. I think this team will do everything it can to win every game it plays this year, but I also believe that it will emphasize learning and development for the future as a priority. I agree that improvement over the course of the season should be the goal.
 
Coach McCaffery seems to really like McCabe's skill set. I seriously doubt that his minutes will be cut by much even with Gaten's return. At least it is nice to have some options as opposed to previous years.
 
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