Fran should tell Woodbury..

rhoffs8 said:
Yes, I did watch. A 7 foot plus center shouldn't play as soft as he does. Maybe he should sit on the bench for awhile and take some notes from White on how to take the ball up strong and actually dunk it instead of laying it up and getting swatted.
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Maybe you watched, but maybe you haven't watched other 7 foot plus centers play when they're freshman.
 
tednugentfan said:
Hard to be too critical of Woodbury. He hustles and scraps, but he does not have a big ten body yet. Broken record in my posts, but a juco PF would take a lot of the pressure of Woodbury. Woodbury made some nice passes and is able to recognize double teams before he is smothered, unlike others. I don't understand McCaffrey's infatuation with McCabe and Oglesby.
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+1. Woodbury, right now, is thin and is going to get pushed around by stronger players.. The "wide bodies" as Mac M would call them. But Woody has skills, and will be a terrific player, especially once he adds some strength. Another year or two in the program and he should be one of the better big men in the conference IMO. It's not unusual to see freshmen big men struggle a bit physically in this league, unless you're someone like Jared Sullinger, and those types of players don't come along often.
 
HawkeyeHypnosis said:
Woodbury causes me no concerns. His presence alone alters a game plan. I thought he looked good tonight. Showing he doesn't panic while double teamed, also keeps his eyes moving to find the open man. His short hook is a weapon and will get better over time.
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agree
 
I was hoping for a triple double by now. He's a beast. What happened? I soaked in all the pre season hype. So dissapointed in his play. Needs to red shirt and hit the weight room.
 
I was ripped on this board for suggesting that Woodbury was overhyped and thought he would be comparable to a Les Jepsen.

Les Jepsen's first season of meaningful play.......
MIN FG% FT% RPG APG BPG PPG
20.2 .564 .623 5.3 0.9 0.8 4.2

Woodbury so far.....
16.7 .533 .571 4.9 0.4 1.4 5.7


I know the sample size is very small for Woodbury, and Jepsen didn't see meaningful until half way through his career but they are comparable.

Overall I think too many fans came into the season with crazy expectations for this kid.....especially those who had never seen him play before. I saw several games of his high school career and knew he would struggle at first and look tentative. There were times in high school where he was tentative against kids half his size.
 
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Billso said:
Its very rare for frosh big men NOT to struggle with D1 physicality.

Just one example, frosh Lohaus was a total joke, almost painfully clumsy.
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Except that Lohaus had noticeable quickness early on. Woodbury is more mature physically.
 
Woodbury's presence on defense makes Iowa better. His offense will develop. He's not a problem; he's an asset that will only get better.
If someone had expectations he'd be a double-double guy right out of the blocks, that was unrealistic. Comparing him to Les Jepsen after 7 games is meaningless. On the other hand, Olaseni is not as far along as hoped, a big drop off when he comes in; and it's reflected in the limited number of minutes he's getting right now, which then affects the rotation.
 
Woody will be fine. He's a true freshman. He's a tough competitor and will elevate his game over the course of this season. Same with MG. #unrealexpectations
 
Woodbury reminds me of Withey at KU. Withey did very little early on, but started to be a good player last year, and could be lights-out this year. Woodbury is well ahead of Withey as a freshman. Give him time.
 
SixAMtailgate said:
I was ripped on this board for suggesting that Woodbury was overhyped and thought he would be comparable to a Les Jepsen.

Les Jepsen's first season of meaningful play.......
MIN FG% FT% RPG APG BPG PPG
20.2 .564 .623 5.3 0.9 0.8 4.2

Woodbury so far.....
16.7 .533 .571 4.9 0.4 1.4 5.7


I know the sample size is very small for Woodbury, and Jepsen didn't see meaningful until half way through his career but they are comparable.

Overall I think too many fans came into the season with crazy expectations for this kid.....especially those who had never seen him play before. I saw several games of his high school career and knew he would struggle at first and look tentative. There were times in high school where he was tentative against kids half his size.
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Don't dismiss the Les Jepsen comparison ;)

It's worth remembering Les was drafted #28 to the NBA, though he played only 2 yrs in the league.
 
I thought Woodbury was going to be our savior?!?! What the heck, a 7', 165 lb, 18 yr old cant hang with the big boys?!
 
SixAMtailgate said:
I was ripped on this board for suggesting that Woodbury was overhyped and thought he would be comparable to a Les Jepsen.

Les Jepsen's first season of meaningful play.......
MIN FG% FT% RPG APG BPG PPG
20.2 .564 .623 5.3 0.9 0.8 4.2

Woodbury so far.....
16.7 .533 .571 4.9 0.4 1.4 5.7


I know the sample size is very small for Woodbury, and Jepsen didn't see meaningful until half way through his career but they are comparable.

Overall I think too many fans came into the season with crazy expectations for this kid.....especially those who had never seen him play before. I saw several games of his high school career and knew he would struggle at first and look tentative. There were times in high school where he was tentative against kids half his size.
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This is not really a fair comparison.

If you want to compare Woody to Jepsen, you need to compare Freshman Woody to Freshman Jepsen.
 
Les Jepsen's frosh AND sophomore seasons:
MIN FG% FT% RPG APG BPG PPG
3.1 .455 .556 1.1 0.1 0.0 1.0
4.4 .370 .467 1.5 0.1 0.2 1.3

Lohaus frosh and sophomore:
4.0 .310 .538 0.6 0.5 0.1 1.3
22.4 .404 .673 5.2 1.0 0.4 6.8

Woodbury so far.....
16.7 .533 .571 4.9 0.4 1.4 5.7

People are delusional around here. The default for freshman centers is that they suck. Woody is doing better than I expected, frankly.
 
Woody will always get criticized by stupid fans.

His problem is that his deficiencies are easily recognizable (athleticism and bulk), while his strengths go unnoticed.
 
Hawkstrat said:
Woody will always get criticized by stupid fans.

His problem is that his deficiencies are easily recognizable (athleticism and bulk), while his strengths go unnoticed.
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Exactly. Our interior defense is night and day better with him in. He has also shown his offensive abilities too, he just needs to get a little more comfortable.
 
Hawkstrat said:
Woody will always get criticized by stupid fans.

His problem is that his deficiencies are easily recognizable (athleticism and bulk), while his strengths go unnoticed.
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Woodbury is a solid player as a freshman.
1. He doesn't need to bulk up. He is not really skinny, he could lift weights and get stronger but he doesn't need to add like 40 pounds like people make it sound.

2. He passes well and stong out of the double team. He did a great job of pivoting, being patient, keeping the ball high and making a strong pass out of the double team.

3. I think as he lifts some more weights and gets used to taller players being around he will start to finish stronger. He is not an explosive jumper but I think he will learn to play stonger around the basket. He already has a good finess game with either hand around the basket. He will get stonger and learn to attack the rim looking for and one calls. It's also easier to get foul calls when you go strong rather than finess the ball up to the hoop.

4. His FT stoke already looks a lot better than it did in high school. They said that coach S was working on that with him.

He is not the athlete that Zeller or Myers Leonard are. He is not a sloth either and I would say I am excited to see him grow as a player.
 
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