Evelyn Expectations

[NikeHawk21]

I think you're spot on here. Evelyn is the Bohannon insurance policy, but I think Fran is fairly comfortable with his guard situation otherwise. Between Touissaint, CJF, Connor, and Wieskamp, we're probably going to fine but thin and inexperienced. Evelyn adds a veteran presence, an extra body, and likely all the minutes he can earn.

Even if he doesn't have a return to form, I would expect him to get 15-20 minutes per game at minimum based on his experience and ball handling split between the point and the 2.

My realistic expectations for him are 7 points, 3 assists, 2 turnovers, and a steal in 20 minutes per game on 40% shooting and 33% from 3. We'll probably have a great year if he averages 10+ points and limits his turnovers. I'd also be thrilled to see Connor or Toussaint lock down the PG position, because I right now, I think the job is Evelyn's to lose with Bohannon out.

I was sort of with you until the end there. I would be shocked if Evelyn is the starting point guard at Iowa. Fran has a history of saying guys can play that position even when it turns out to not really be the case.

Evelyn is a high volume shooter and a roughly a 1:1 assist to turnover guy at the mid major level. To me that does not spell B1G starting point guard.

When I have scoring options like Garza, Wieskamp, potentially CJF, and Nunge in my starting lineup I do not want a high volume shooter as my point guard. I want someone who can set up the offense and get those guys shots. Heck I’ve been one of the biggest Connor doubters on this board and I would much rather he start at PG than Evelyn.

I see Evelyn’s position as a backup 2 guard, and emergency PG if needed.

 

[RobHowe]

We have media access to Evelyn, P McCaffery, Toussaint and Nunge at 3:15 today. I will post those interviews when I get back. Dealing with a summer cold, but I'll upload as quickly as possible.

 

[hawks23]

I think he will be a bigger part then most are saying on here. Doesn't mean he has to have huge games. If he could provide a Anthony Clemons type of player I would be very happy. Need him to be dependable. As an older player I would expect he would pick up the mental parts of the game better. Wouldn't be surprised to have him start.

I'm excited about CJ, but expect some growing pains with him being younger. Would love to be wrong, but first time playing at this level takes some adjusting for most. Same goes for Toussaint and Patrick. All of these guys I'm excited for, but it is rare to have someone adapt as quickly as someone like Weiskamp.

I think this team will take some time to get it together, but I expect towards middle to end of Big 10 season to have it be a pretty good team. We don't need a ton from our guards besides defense and to be able to shoot with our interior players. I believe our bigs will kill teams if they don't double them.

 

[N8theGr8]

I was sort of with you until the end there. I would be shocked if Evelyn is the starting point guard at Iowa. Fran has a history of saying guys can play that position even when it turns out to not really be the case.

Evelyn is a high volume shooter and a roughly a 1:1 assist to turnover guy at the mid major level. To me that does not spell B1G starting point guard.

When I have scoring options like Garza, Wieskamp, potentially CJF, and Nunge in my starting lineup I do not want a high volume shooter as my point guard. I want someone who can set up the offense and get those guys shots. Heck I’ve been one of the biggest Connor doubters on this board and I would much rather he start at PG than Evelyn.

I see Evelyn’s position as a backup 2 guard, and emergency PG if needed.

You're probably right. I guess I just am trying to block the possibility of Connor starting from my mind until we see vastly improved play from him...

 

[NikeHawk21]

You're probably right. I guess I just am trying to block the possibility of Connor starting from my mind until we see vastly improved play from him...

I’m with you there. I think he’s a role player at best. I’ve heard some good things about Joe T so I’m hoping he can be the guy there, or maybe JBo will be healthy by the start of the year.

 

[SteveGarvey1]

You're probably right. I guess I just am trying to block the possibility of Connor starting from my mind until we see vastly improved play from him...

Just get his 3 pt.% up to 30% and that gets him there for me.

 

[N8theGr8]

Just get his 3 pt.% up to 30% and that gets him there for me.

Almost does it for me, except I would like to see him assert himself more consistently on both ends of the court. I think he has the ability to be a plus defender, but looked lost out there at times last year. He's not contributing enough on offense to take possessions off on defense.

 

[NikeHawk21]

Just get his 3 pt.% up to 30% and that gets him there for me.

Almost does it for me, except I would like to see him assert himself more consistently on both ends of the court. I think he has the ability to be a plus defender, but looked lost out there at times last year. He's not contributing enough on offense to take possessions off on defense.

I would think it really depends on what type of shooter he is. If he’s a reluctant shooter like he was last year, 30% is pretty meaningless. Last year he shot 29 3s and made 6, 30% would be making 9 3s instead of 6. So a difference of 9 total points in 34 games.

Now drawing the defense out to him would be a good thing, but at just 30%, I doubt too many teams are going to worry about him out there.

Connor has quite a few things to improve (as do most guys). Some might find it surprising that Connor had the highest turnover % on Iowa last year. His turnover % in conference play was a whopping 26.3%. The next closest player was Dailey at 20.5%. According to defensive metrics (which can be flawed), he was the second worst defensive guard on the team in conference play, ahead of only Bohannon.

With the roster we have I think Connor can be a role player to provide some toughness and grit along with good passing, but I don’t think he’d see many minutes on a typical B1G or P5 type roster.

 

[Tierney]

If healthy and he can beat out Toussaint I expect big things from him. Its to bad he had his bone spurs, but he is obviously a gifted player. I'm pretty sure when you can't practice you aren't as good if you could put in the time to practice.

 

[Tierney]

We have media access to Evelyn, P McCaffery, Toussaint and Nunge at 3:15 today. I will post those interviews when I get back. Dealing with a summer cold, but I'll upload as quickly as possible.

Hope you are feeling better.

 

[N8theGr8]

I would think it really depends on what type of shooter he is. If he’s a reluctant shooter like he was last year, 30% is pretty meaningless. Last year he shot 29 3s and made 6, 30% would be making 9 3s instead of 6. So a difference of 9 total points in 34 games.

Now drawing the defense out to him would be a good thing, but at just 30%, I doubt too many teams are going to worry about him out there.

Connor has quite a few things to improve (as do most guys). Some might find it surprising that Connor had the highest turnover % on Iowa last year. His turnover % in conference play was a whopping 26.3%. The next closest player was Dailey at 20.5%. According to defensive metrics (which can be flawed), he was the second worst defensive guard on the team in conference play, ahead of only Bohannon.

With the roster we have I think Connor can be a role player to provide some toughness and grit along with good passing, but I don’t think he’d see many minutes on a typical B1G or P5 type roster.

Agree on the shooting. If he takes 2-3 per game this year and hits at 30+%, then teams have to account for it. I mean, he shot 42% from 3 as a senior in high school, so I'd be surprised if he didn't make them pay if they start leaving him wide open this year.

And I knew his turnover percentage was bad, but I didn't realize it was that bad. Out of curiosity, I looked it up and Bohannon's was 17.5% as a freshman in conference. Gesell was at 15% and Clemmons was comparable to Connor's at 25%. Clemmons was at 40(!!!!)% his sophomore year though. Cartwright was 30% his senior season. This is all to say that Connor was bad this year, but not historically so. And I don't think he'll trend down like Clemmons and Cartwright did.

He needs to refocus on basketball for a bit and get his head in the game to improve on this stuff. There's a reason why guys specialize in sports at a certain level. Even Michael Jordan didn't play baseball in college.

 

[QChawkness]

If JBo is out I think Evelyn starts alongside CMac to begin the year. We'll see if Fredrick takes over at some point but I really like the potential of Evelyn.

 

[NikeHawk21]

According to a couple guys on Evelyn can really shoot it.

He does consider himself a point guard but said he’s comfortable off the ball as well.

 

[tmess1989]

Agree on the shooting. If he takes 2-3 per game this year and hits at 30+%, then teams have to account for it. I mean, he shot 42% from 3 as a senior in high school, so I'd be surprised if he didn't make them pay if they start leaving him wide open this year.

And I knew his turnover percentage was bad, but I didn't realize it was that bad. Out of curiosity, I looked it up and Bohannon's was 17.5% as a freshman in conference. Gesell was at 15% and Clemmons was comparable to Connor's at 25%. Clemmons was at 40(!!!!)% his sophomore year though. Cartwright was 30% his senior season. This is all to say that Connor was bad this year, but not historically so. And I don't think he'll trend down like Clemmons and Cartwright did.

He needs to refocus on basketball for a bit and get his head in the game to improve on this stuff. There's a reason why guys specialize in sports at a certain level. Even Michael Jordan didn't play baseball in college.

Its interesting that you bring up the focus on one sport argument for Connor. Have you read the ESPN articles that recently came out, where NBA trainers and therapists said that they are seeing a concerning trend where they believe that some of the increases in severe lower body injuries among young athletes is due to more kids specializing in a single sport especially basketball. I thought they were worth the reads.

I know that's getting off topic.

Back to the OP. I see Bakari Evelyn as a 15 to 20 mpg player this year almost primarily at the 2 with spot minutes at the 1 if Toussaint or Connor get in foul trouble. If Jbo does make a comeback this year and play, then Evelyn will get more like 7 to 10 mpg and only at the 2.

 

[phdsvp]

I've watched a lot of MVC ball over the past few years, and nothing he did at Valpo really stood out. I can't imagine he's a Big 10-starter-level player. My guess is that he's depth.

 

[InGoodCo]

According to a couple guys on Evelyn can really shoot it.

He does consider himself a point guard but said he’s comfortable off the ball as well.

Was listening to the Hawk Central podcast this AM from last week - both Chad Leistikow and Mark Emmert have Evelyn penciled in as Iowa's starting PG. Which, at least to me, was kind of shocking.

 

[NikeHawk21]

Was listening to the Hawk Central podcast this AM from last week - both Chad Leistikow and Mark Emmert have Evelyn penciled in as Iowa's starting PG. Which, at least to me, was kind of shocking.

Agreed. I actually said earlier in this thread I’d be shocked if he were starting PG, but those guys would have a better feel for these things than me.

I assume Toussaint will get playing time if he doesn’t redshirt. Where does that leave Connor? Playing 3 PGs would be tough to do and is pretty unusual, but I don’t see any scenario where Connor doesn’t get minutes (not that I would be against it). Does Touissaint redshirt? What happens in JBo plays?

Going to be real interesting to see the makeup of this team come B1G play.

 

[ibahawkeye]

Not to compare this kid to Maishe Dailey but is that what he will be for the program in the sense of play where he is most needed?

Depending on how Joe T handles his freshman year, it sounds like this kid can play some PG so he may get some minutes at all 3 guard positions.

 

[Jason Rann]

Agreed. I actually said earlier in this thread I’d be shocked if he were starting PG, but those guys would have a better feel for these things than me.

I assume Toussaint will get playing time if he doesn’t redshirt. Where does that leave Connor? Playing 3 PGs would be tough to do and is pretty unusual, but I don’t see any scenario where Connor doesn’t get minutes (not that I would be against it). Does Touissaint redshirt? What happens in JBo plays?

Going to be real interesting to see the makeup of this team come B1G play.

No chance Touissaint redshirts in my humble opinion. If JBo plays, that means he is 100% healthy. It would give us a potentially LETHAL shooting team. Imagine Evelyn or Joe T breaking down their man and kicking out to open shooters like JBo, Wieskamp or Fredrick or dumping off to Garza/Nunge. Good luck with that opposing defenses.

 

[NikeHawk21]

No chance Touissaint redshirts in my humble opinion. If JBo plays, that means he is 100% healthy. It would give us a potentially LETHAL shooting team. Imagine Evelyn or Joe T breaking down their man and kicking out to open shooters like JBo, Wieskamp or Fredrick or dumping off to Garza/Nunge. Good luck with that opposing defenses.

Agreed that Touissaint won’t redshirt and I wasn’t intending to imply that.

I just have a tough time figuring out how Fran would handle the minutes if that really were the case (healthy JBo). As I said 3 PGs really isn’t realistic, but I also don’t see Fran not playing Connor, or even Pat for that matter. That would get very interesting from a play time perspective.

Yes it sounds fun to say “good luck” to opposing defenses but we really don’t know what to expect from our guard play. Evelyn’s is a career 1:1 assist to turn guy and now we are talking about him being our starting PG. Maybe playing with better talent and shooters will help him, but who’s to say? Again Iowa ranked as the #15 offense in the country per KenPom efficiency... so while it would be nice to improve that, defense and rebounding are the top areas of question.