Espn article on Small Ball - Iowa Upset?

[trj]

I don't know if "small ball" is the right term. After all, Zion is 6'8" and 285 pounds....not exactly small. There is still room for big men (Embiid, Davis, Jokic, Towns, Durant, etc), but the game has changed to where your bigs have to be able to spread the floor, handle the ball, and they have to be able to shoot the basketball from range. The days of the 1-trick post-up big man are long gone.

I do agree that Fran is struggling to adapt to today's game. Pemsl is not a shooter or athletic or a great passer...he's just a post player. Kriener can shoot and sometimes create a shot...I guess. Cook is working on his ball handling, but has no outside shot.

The other thing Fran has been bad at is exploiting teams who go small against him. If you have a distinct size advantage you have to exploit it. After all, those teams are looking to exploit their quickness against you.

I don't know if "small ball" is the right term. After all, Zion is 6'8" and 285 pounds....not exactly small. There is still room for big men (Embiid, Davis, Jokic, Towns, Durant, etc), but the game has changed to where your bigs have to be able to spread the floor, handle the ball, and they have to be able to shoot the basketball from range. The days of the 1-trick post-up big man are long gone.

I do agree that Fran is struggling to adapt to today's game. Pemsl is not a shooter or athletic or a great passer...he's just a post player. Kriener can shoot and sometimes create a shot...I guess. Cook is working on his ball handling, but has no outside shot.

The other thing Fran has been bad at is exploiting teams who go small against him. If you have a distinct size advantage you have to exploit it. After all, those teams are looking to exploit their quickness against you.

I think Fran has adapted to today's game. He wants to use tempo and pace to increase the number of possessions. The big fail has been putting this roster together and his ability to coach it.

 

[mopkins]

I think Fran has adapted to today's game. He wants to use tempo and pace to increase the number of possessions. The big fail has been putting this roster together and his ability to coach it.

I suppose that's what happens when you consistently miss on your top recruiting targets

 

[tmess1989]

I suppose that's what happens when you consistently miss on your top recruiting targets

Spot on. Fran wants more guards but he consistently misses his top targets. He needs to set his sights slightly lower to land some of these kids earlier in the process.

 

[Jason Rann]

I would love to see this "small" lineup:

1 - Connor
2 - JBo
3 - Dailey
4 - Wieskamp
5 - Cook

 

[bogeyman]

That is correct, however that might be more to due to the fact that the Pemsl was out. Maybe Fran will learn from that.

The reason I was disappointed with the Nunge redshirt was because he’s a stretch 4 who can handle the ball decent. In the UMKC Pemsl looked lost playing the 4 because he can’t play on the perimeter and the offense had zero flow when he was out there. Again, to me Pemsl is still an undersized 5 man.

Pemsl just not really a fit for a D1 level program if he can't shoot a jumper at his size.

 

[N8theGr8]

Pemsl just not really a fit for a D1 level program if he can't shoot a jumper at his size.

You're almost right, he's a talented roll player, but not a starter. He has a lot of really nifty post moves that allow him to shoot a high percentage when he's healthy and posting up under the basket. He should be the backup small ball center with Kriener backing up the 4. They should never be on the floor at the same time though. Cook's backup at the 4 should be Baer when Pemsl is in at center. Likewise, when Kriener is in at the 4, Cook should be the center. This would maintain an athletic presence at all times to cut off drives and have shot blocking potential while maximizing offensive potential by not clogging the lane. This accomplishes the ideal that Garza should never be on the court with Kriener or Pemsl at the same time.

 

[tmess1989]

I would love to see this "small" lineup:

1 - Connor
2 - JBo
3 - Dailey
4 - Wieskamp
5 - Cook

I like it but I don't think we will see that lineup since that would only leave Moss as the only fresh guard on the bench. Maybe next year but put Garza, Kriener, or Nunge at the 5 since Cook will be gone.

 

[NikeHawk21]

Update.

Michigan is carving up Villanova with a small ball lineup. Their two “bigs” on the court for a long stretch I watched were 6’7/215 & 6’7/235. Up 44-17. So basically Baer’s Size.

 

[Knight78]

You're almost right, he's a talented roll player, but not a starter. He has a lot of really nifty post moves that allow him to shoot a high percentage when he's healthy and posting up under the basket. He should be the backup small ball center with Kriener backing up the 4. They should never be on the floor at the same time though. Cook's backup at the 4 should be Baer when Pemsl is in at center. Likewise, when Kriener is in at the 4, Cook should be the center. This would maintain an athletic presence at all times to cut off drives and have shot blocking potential while maximizing offensive potential by not clogging the lane. This accomplishes the ideal that Garza should never be on the court with Kriener or Pemsl at the same time.

While I would have agreed with you his freshman year, that wasn't the case last year. He lost so much weight that he can't maintain good position; he can't take the banging that goes on around the basket without the extra pounds.

 

[NikeHawk21]

Update.

Indiana starts Juwan Morgan at the 5. He’s 6’8/235. Cook is 6’9/260.

Again I think most coaches around the country would handle the rotation of this team much differently. In a way Fran’s hands are tied with this roster (that he built), but he still could play smaller if he desired.

 

[ArvadaHawk]

That is correct, however that might be more to due to the fact that the Pemsl was out. Maybe Fran will learn from that.

The reason I was disappointed with the Nunge redshirt was because he’s a stretch 4 who can handle the ball decent. In the UMKC Pemsl looked lost playing the 4 because he can’t play on the perimeter and the offense had zero flow when he was out there. Again, to me Pemsl is still an undersized 5 man.

personally, i think pemsl might have been better served to xfer after last season, especially, with cook coming back. and, unless cook's shot improves like next game and forever more, he'll be back next season too.

 

[DDThompson]

I think Connor's minutes are more a result of Moss not realizing the season has started yet.

laugh<snort>laugh

 

[tmess1989]

personally, i think pemsl might have been better served to xfer after last season, especially, with cook coming back. and, unless cook's shot improves like next game and forever more, he'll be back next season too.

I think Cook is gone after this year for sure. But even next year I'm not sure there will be a ton of minutes for Pemsl outside of backing up Garza at the 5. A 6-8 post player with absolutely no shot outside of 8 feet and a below the rim game just doesn't fit well on a power 5 team unless the other 4 players on the floor are all really good shooters and rebound well.

 

[PCHawk]

Update.

Indiana starts Juwan Morgan at the 5. He’s 6’8/235. Cook is 6’9/260.

Again I think most coaches around the country would handle the rotation of this team much differently. In a way Fran’s hands are tied with this roster (that he built), but he still could play smaller if he desired.

I'm not so sure trying to match up size wise with players that are considerably better is a good idea. At least if we go big we have an advantage to go along with our disadvantage. Going small takes away that advantage (size) and leaves us with the same disadvantage (quickness).

 

[NikeHawk21]

I'm not so sure trying to match up size wise with players that are considerably better is a good idea. At least if we go big we have an advantage to go along with our disadvantage. Going small takes away that advantage (size) and leaves us with the same disadvantage (quickness).

Tyler Cook and Garza are still an advantage on those small ball guys. Only room for one post down low. Going small (1-4) spreads the floor and gives you better ball handlers and passers to get the ball inside.

Iowa’s advantage is going to have to be 3pt shooting. I think it can be although we haven’t shot well through two games.

 

[PCHawk]

Tyler Cook and Garza are still an advantage on those small ball guys. Only room for one post down low. Going small (1-4) spreads the floor and gives you better ball handlers and passers to get the ball inside.

Iowa’s advantage is going to have to be 3pt shooting. I think it can be although we haven’t shot well through two games.

True. A lot of people say Garza benefits from Cook being here. I'm not sure I agree. Garza killed it with Cook out of the game the other night.

 

[N8theGr8]

While I would have agreed with you his freshman year, that wasn't the case last year. He lost so much weight that he can't maintain good position; he can't take the banging that goes on around the basket without the extra pounds.

That's fair, but I think he can get back there at his current weight. He's still 230 and a fair bit quicker and craftier than most centers. His footwork is excellent. I still remember him boxing out Isaac Haas and Caleb Swanigan his freshman year. He didn't score a lot, but he seemed to grab a bunch of defense boards and most importantly, he made it tough for two guys a lot bigger and more athletic than him. That's what we need to see in the future. We have enough scoring coming from elsewhere on the roster.

 

[tmess1989]

True. A lot of people say Garza benefits from Cook being here. I'm not sure I agree. Garza killed it with Cook out of the game the other night.

When they are both on the court at the same time it can feel at times like they get in each other's way. Garza is a threat from 3 but when Garza is the post up man defenses can sag off Cook a little more due to his lack of outside shooting skills.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love playing smaller ball than we do but with Iowa's current roster I don't know how realistic that is. Maybe next year when we add a couple more guards we will see smaller lineups. I think that Fran would probably prefer to have more of a stretch 4 on the court instead of two low post players but they just have too many big slow players to play that way this year.

 

[Hawkfnntn]

That is correct, however that might be more to due to the fact that the Pemsl was out. Maybe Fran will learn from that.

The reason I was disappointed with the Nunge redshirt was because he’s a stretch 4 who can handle the ball decent. In the UMKC Pemsl looked lost playing the 4 because he can’t play on the perimeter and the offense had zero flow when he was out there. Again, to me Pemsl is still an undersized 5 man.

Yeah the evolution of the 4 spot is crazy. He should be what to me is the traditional 4 spot. But todays 4s are pretty much just 3s with their being little to no difference between 3s and 4s. Pretty much only 5s post up and have any isolation plays ran for them. We do with Garza and Cook both out there a lot but I'm not sure many others do nowadays

 

[Jason Rann]

I like it but I don't think we will see that lineup since that would only leave Moss as the only fresh guard on the bench. Maybe next year but put Garza, Kriener, or Nunge at the 5 since Cook will be gone.

I think it's doable in short stints. You could plug Moss into Dailey's spot too. It seems like a popular trend and we saw how awful the results were last year when we played three bigs at the same time.