Expectations for Next Season (best and worst)

NorthKCHawk

Well-Known Member
We Could Be Great

I could get really excited for next year if we land Robbins and JW decides to come back. Both are far from certain and some would say not likely.

If so, we would not have a huge drop-off at center. Robbins can be a 16-10 dude with Josh spelling him. We lose scoring, of course, but defense, size and rebounding are right there.
Murray replaces Connor at the 4. Clear upgrade. I am not as quick as some to push Connor out the door completely, as he brings much to the table in terms of experience and leadership and passing, but he should not be starting if we are going to go somewhere.
CJ and JW both take a step forward with Garza out. Both improve their scoring. JW improves on defense and strength to the hole. CJ gets healthy.
We have 3 point guards (I am not counting and don't want to count JBO), and they each bring speed, defense, and passing. We need that. Not much scoring, but its not like we got consistent scoring from JBO anyway. With this new line-up and style, I think we are upgrading at point.
Patrick is the Big Ten 6th man of the year on this team.

This team would have depth, talent, size, scoring, and be the best defensive team Fran has had since Woodbury was clomping around. It would be better at every position except center, and the drop off there would not be that big. This team could contend.

We Could Suck

We don't land Robbins or any appreciable transfer. JW goes pro. That team lacks size, scoring, and any IT factor. It likely starts one or both McCaffreys and expects Patrick to be one its leading scorers. That is too much to ask. There are a number of potential Robins on that team, but no Batmans. That team is a marginal tournament team, at best. Probably NIT.

In hoops, it only takes a couple dudes to make a difference. They make everyone around them better. We shall see.
 
Agreed, with JW being by far the most important of the three. We can likely find a serviceable post player even if we miss on these two posts. There is nothing even close to JW on the open market that I am aware of.
 
Agree with the previous posts that it's just too hard to predict next season until we know where the roster lands. Also depends on how big of contributors guys like Perkins, Ulis and Kris Murray can be next year, too. They are relative unknowns IMO until we see more of them in roles where they are asked to be bigger contributors.

As of right now, I think just about any outcome is still on the table.

If there are no more changes to the roster at all (JW returns, and we get no incoming transfers) I'm thinking NCAA 7-10 seed as a best guess.

Get back to me around November 1st, though.
 
I really like the lineup of JT, JW, CJ, KM, LR.
That is a team the could play defense a really give team fits.
 
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Kinda off topic, but I saw a tweet talking about Scott Drew's career at Baylor and how long it took him to build success. It really shows that you don't always hit that ceiling in your first decade. That's probably especially true when taking over a shit hole program.
 
I think JW is gone. I have no proof, but everything is pointing that way so I am assuming he is gone. I would like to see Fran bring in a wing type player to go along with Sanfort coming off the bench.

No matter how the roster shakes out I am expecting a typical Iowa year: 22-12, 6th, 7th or 8th place in conference and one and done in the NCAA tournament. I am not quite as bullish on the 21-22 team as everyone else so I will signup for that right now.
 
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I think JW is gone. I have no proof, but everything is pointing that way so I am assuming he is gone. I would like to see Fran bring in a wing type player to go along with Sanfort coming off the bench.

No matter how the roster shakes out I am expecting a typical Iowa year: 22-12, 6th, 7th or 8th place in conference and one and done in the tournament. I am not quite as bullish on the 21-22 team as everyone else so I will signup for that right now.
Fran has only gone one and done in the tournament once so that wouldn't be typical.
 
Kinda off topic, but I saw a tweet talking about Scott Drew's career at Baylor and how long it took him to build success. It really shows that you don't always hit that ceiling in your first decade. That's probably especially true when taking over a shit hole program.

I get your point, but Lisa Bluder might be the better comp. She didn’t get to a sweet 16 until year 12. Drew had a couple of elite 8 finishes by year 9.

I understand where your head is at, it feels like Drew has been at Baylor for only 6 or 7 years. You do the Wikipedia thing and realize it is 17 and you are like, “Oh, shit it has been that long.”
 
I saw where the Baylor HC before Drew paid a players tuition to get him on the team. The HC then told the rest of the team he was a drug dealer. The team then figured this guy would have lots of cash in his room. The player the coach paid for went as far as buying a gun and practicing shooting in the desert with his friend, another player on the team, those 2 got in an argument and his buddy shot and killed him. The dumped the body in a quarry. That coach got fired and Drew took over.
 
I really like the lineup of JT, JW, CJ, KM, LR.
That is a team the could play defense a really give team fits.
That lineup reflects Iowa’s best athletes at the moment and they are still a half step slower than the top three teams in the B1G — Michigan, Illinois, Ohio State — and a full step slower than the two teams in this year’s championship final.

Garza’s point production and rebounding hid a lot of Iowa’s flaws this year. We won’t have him next year along with Nunge and likely Weizy. I’m seeing 8th or 9th place finish in the conference and post-season NIT. Will be an interesting year for Fran.
 
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That lineup reflects Iowa’s best athletes at the moment and they are still a half step slower than the top three teams in the B1G — Michigan, Illinois, Ohio State — and a full step slower than the two teams in this year’s championship final.

Garza’s point production and rebounding hid a lot of Iowa’s flaws this years. We won’t have him next year along with Nunge and likely Weizy. I’m seeing 8th or 9th place finish in the conference and post-season NIT. Will be an interesting year for Fran.

While I agree that we are still not as quick and fast, I believe the help defense will be much better with quicker players on the floor.

How many times did we see a dude blow by a guard at the top and no one got to the lane to stop him?
 
That lineup reflects Iowa’s best athletes at the moment and they are still a half step slower than the top three teams in the B1G — Michigan, Illinois, Ohio State — and a full step slower than the two teams in this year’s championship final.

Garza’s point production and rebounding hid a lot of Iowa’s flaws this years. We won’t have him next year along with Nunge and likely Weizy. I’m seeing 8th or 9th place finish in the conference and post-season NIT. Will be an interesting year for Fran.
Well Michigan and Illinois will pretty much have an entire new roster.
 
That lineup reflects Iowa’s best athletes at the moment and they are still a half step slower than the top three teams in the B1G — Michigan, Illinois, Ohio State — and a full step slower than the two teams in this year’s championship final.

Garza’s point production and rebounding hid a lot of Iowa’s flaws this years. We won’t have him next year along with Nunge and likely Weizy. I’m seeing 8th or 9th place finish in the conference and post-season NIT. Will be an interesting year for Fran.
I have to be amused by your analysis that next years Iowa team is a “half step” or a “full step” slower than certain opponents. Wow. Can you send me a copy of your analysis formula? Thanks,
 
While I agree that we are still not as quick and fast, I believe the help defense will be much better with quicker players on the floor.

How many times did we see a dude blow by a guard at the top and no one got to the lane to stop him?
About as often as quick guards blew by their opponents other than Iowa. Unless you have some good stats to show me? Thanks.
 
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