How did the Iowa players stack up to your preseason expectations?

storminspank

Justin VanLaere
Since we are reminiscing about predictions and forecasts, how did the individuals stack up to your expectations?
 


This is what I wrote back in Nov:
Breaking Down the 2012-13 Iowa Men's BB Roster « Hawkeye NationHawkeye Nation

In case you haven’t been keeping up with the Iowa’s Mens Basketball program over the past six months, here’s a quick breakdown of what the squad looks like.
DEPARTURES – Matt Gatens (graduated), Bryce Cartwright (graduated), Branden Stubbs (transferred to Central), Cody Cox (walk-on), Stephen McCarty (walk-on). Andrew Brommer (graduated)
ADDITIONS – Mike Gesell, Adam Woodbury, Anthony Clemmons, Pat Ingram, Kyle Meyer, Jarrod Uthoff (RS)

Projected Starting Five:
PG – Mike Gesell, 6’1”, 185 lb, FR
SG – Devyn Marble, 6’6”, 194 lb, JR
SF – Aaron White, 6’8”, 219 lb, SO
PF – Zach McCabe, 6’7”, 235 lb, JR
C – Adam Woodbury. 7’1”, 235 lb, FR

Next Five In:
PF – Melsahn Basabe, 6’7”, 221 lb, JR
SF – Eric May, 6’5”, 219 lb, SR
SG – Josh Oglesby, 6’5”, 202, SO
C – Gabe Olaseni, 6’10”, 229, SO
PG – Anthony Clemmons, 6’1”, 192, FR

Extended Bench:
SG – Pat Ingram, 6’2’, 211, FR
PF – Darius Stokes, 6’7”, 203, SO
PF – Kyle Meyer, 6’10”, 222, FR* (likely RS)

It looks like Coach McCaffery is going to go with a solid 10 man rotation with the occasional need to go 11 deep. If you look at the positions I have listed above you can see that there is a clear first team and second team, meaning a complete line shift is entirely possible. I think we see Kyle Meyer redshirt and Pat Ingram burn his. If McCaffery tries to RS Ingram, I don’t think it leaves him with enough guards. In my opinion, you need 5 guards to get through the B1G schedule.

Devyn Marble will lead this year’s Iowa squad.


INDIVIDUAL PLAYER BREAKDOWNS

MIKE GESELL
The quintessential floor general. Mike is a heady PG, who is smart on and off the court. He will manage the game for this Hawkeye squad from day one. He has an underrated jump shot and can leap better than most people give him credit for. Expect a solid freshman campaign from Mike. Don’t be surprised to see him end up on the B1G All-Freshman team at the end of the season.

DEVYN MARBLE
Make no mistake about it; this is Devyn Marble’s team. The offense will flow through him on a number of possessions. He has added a more refined jump shot to his arsenal, but still needs to work on his defense to get to the next level.

AARON WHITE
After a spectacular freshman season, Aaron has spent the off-season shoring up different elements of his game. His outside shot is fluid and his mid-range game is improving. He will be a difficult matchup at the 3 spot for many of Iowa’s opponents. Like Marble, he’ll need to pick it up on the defensive side of the ball, as well.

ZACH MCCABE
You’ll never see Zach take a play off while he is on the court. McCabe is all about hustle and doing the little things to help Iowa win ballgames. He’s going to get his fair share of treys this season, as he will extend the opponents’ 4 man to the perimeter. Rebounding, taking charges, and hitting the clutch threes should be expected from him.

ADAM WOODBURY
Hawkeye fans need to patient with Woodbury during his first season at Iowa. Yes, he is a Top 50 recruit and a skilled big man in that. However, he certainly has areas that he needs to improve on as the year goes on. He will change shots in the lane, snag rebounds, and be a great passer from the block early on. Give him some time to work on his scoring, and don’t expect the world out of him.

MELSAHN BASABE
After a down sophomore season, Hawkeye fans should see a different Slime this year. A renewed attitude and effort from Melsahn should translate into better production the court. Iowa’s newly label “six man” will bring energy to the court on both ends. Expect Mel to get back to his freshman form this season.

ERIC MAY
Hampered with injuries the past two seasons, senior Eric May is setup to have a resurgent year. From all accounts, he is finally healthy and has the hop in his step once again. He’ll be a good on-ball defender, as well as a guy that’s going to get a lot of rebounds from the 3 spot. He’ll also have his Sportscenter moments throughout the year on some fast breaks.

JOSH OGLESBY
Iowa’s sharpshooter will be tasked with just that – shooting the ball. Josh had a low TORate as a freshman, mainly because he didn’t put the ball on the deck very often. He has a quicker-than-it-appears release and can catch and shoot with almost anyone in the B1G. Expect Josh to lead the Hawkeyes in made 3 pointers this season.

GABE OLASENI
The UK product has shown a much more polished game from last season. He has added a few post moves to his offensive arsenal. However, he still has quite a long ways to go before anyone can label him as an offensive threat. Gabe will be called upon to spell Woodbury, wherein he’ll be a presence on the defensive end and a collector of boards both ways.

ANTHONY CLEMMONS

Sapp could be the wildcard in this Iowa lineup this year. Lauded for his on-ball defense, Iowa could look to play him alongside Gesell this year. An under-the-radar recruit that many think could see significant playing time this year at the point for Iowa.

PAT INGRAM
I’m not sure how much playing time Pat will see in his first season at Iowa. While I don’t expect Fran to throw the redshirt on him, I don’t see him spending a lot of time on the court. He’s a better shooter than he gets credit for and is a very good on-ball defender. He’ll be needed to help out at the SG spot throughout the year.
 


Of my "misses" - Josh was the biggest. I thought we'd see a lot more from him from behind the arc this season.

I also thought Aaron White would be better from behind that arc and didn't anticipate him playing the 4 as much.
 






I won't go into details since I didn't document my expectations for anyone other than Woodbury...had him at 5 points and 5 rebounds a game way back when.

Every player did pretty much what I expected except McCabe and Oglesby...thought McCabe would score a bit more and Oglesby would get his points on fewer shots.

I didn't know if Ingram or Clemmons would get the minutes that Clemmons got. Viewing them as 1 playing unit puts it about where I thought it would be.

Marble getting hurt is the thing that threw my projections out of whack more so than how any particular player performed. Basabe was also hurt for awhile but it didn't impact our record as much.
 


Our defense was better than I though it would be. Our offense was less efficient than I thought it would be.

If Zeller, Oladipo, Thomas and Burke go pro I have Iowa 2nd next year behind Michigan State...only lose Nix. I think we will be undefeated at home and go 14-4 in the conference.
 


Marble: Met my expectations. I don't expect him to develop much more honestly next year, but would love to see his 3 ball get better. I don't think I expected as much as most did though

White: Did not meet my expectations. Did not develop a jumper of any kind. He is definitely a 4.

Oglesby: Far below, was hoping he would shoot it better

Woodbury: Met them. Good D, good rebounding, starting to develop some Off. Needed to get more minutes.

Olaseni: Starting to get it on D. Last 5 games exceeded, first 26 about what I expected. Growing pains.

Basabe: Exceeded greatly. Hope he continues to improve. Could be a force next year.

May: Simply exceeded what I thought, though I thought he would rarely see the floor.

Clemmons: About average, lots of turnovers. Got more minutes that I expected.

Gessel: Met and exceeded with his 3-pt shooting.

McCabe: Met them: Foul often and early, jack 3s and make a few but miss when need them the most. Get dominated on the glass.
 


Woodbury - exceeded
Basabe - exceeded
Marble - as expected
Gesell - as expected
Mccabe - as expected
May - exceeded
Oglesby - didnt live up
Olaseni - exceeded
Clemmons - ??
White - as expected in some areas, didnt live up to expectations in others.
 


Exceeded Expectations:
Gabe Oleseni
Melsahn Basabe
Anthony Clemmons
Eric May

Met Expectations:
Adam Woodbury
Mike Gesell
Devyn Marble

Fell Short of Expectations:
Zach McCabe
Pat Ingram (not his fault, didn't get a chance)
Aaron White
Josh Oglesby
 


In general, I was expecting better offense from McCaffrey's recruits. Knowing he had little returning perimeter shooting, I am not clear why he spent 3 scholarships on Clemmons, Ingram and Meyer. 2 of 3 maybe, but 1 spot had to go to a shooter / scorer, even if they were allergic to defense.
 


Our defense was better than I though it would be. Our offense was less efficient than I thought it would be.

If Zeller, Oladipo, Thomas and Burke go pro I have Iowa 2nd next year behind Michigan State...only lose Nix. I think we will be undefeated at home and go 14-4 in the conference.

Gary Harris might leave too for MSU.
 




Since we are reminiscing about predictions and forecasts, how did the individuals stack up to your expectations?

I figured the line-up we ended with: Woody, Basabe, White, RDM, Gesell.
Just took half the season to get there.

Predicted 6th in B1G but figured 10-8. That would have had us dancing.
I thought we would have a signature win or two vs top 4 in B1G. That also would have had us dancing. Why couldn't we get that big win when the last two years we could? Shooting. Signature wins require outside shooting. Shocking what the loss of one good shooter did to the team in that regard and the offense in general. I predicted 22-25 wins overall. That's still possible but will have to be in the NIT.

Woody: Woodbury was about what I expected but I thought he'd get better by the end of the year. He showed flashes but no consistency. That will come with more muscle and experience.

Gesell: He could have averaged close to 10 pts/game on the year without the injury. I think his injury hurt us more than RDM's. @NE and MSU in tourney were definitely affected by it. He met expectations but the numbers would have been better without injury.

Oglesby: JO laid an egg as a go-to shooter this year. I expected him to do more. He can obviously shoot- see last year. But was really affected by the attention of the D on him and pressure he put on himself. It took Gatens 4 years to get where he was last year. JO tried to do it in 1.

Olaseni: GO finally started to fulfill some of the message board hype by the end of the year. I was tentatively expecting more at the beginning of the year from him.

McCabe: McCabe was a disappointment to me this year. Not because of his effort, but because his physical limitations started to catch up to him. If GO, Woody, JU emerge like I expect, I'm wondering where ZM's minutes will come from. This leads me to predict that if ZM's minutes do not go down, we will underachieve next year.

Basabe: He was a pleasant surprise this year. I figured him as a defensive presence who could score in the post, but his mid-range shot was really eye-opening. Another reason our scoring will go up next year.

RDM: He was not an unstoppable force this year. He needs to start looking for the outside shot more, for the team and his own aspirations. That and I'm wondering if he's a better fit at PG, especially if we need Gesell to score more.

May: Really stepped up to the plate his senior year better than I expected. This seems to be the start of a trend: Jarryd Cole, Gatens, and now May putting it into another gear their senior years. It recalls the way seniors came on for TD and it's great to see.

White brought what I expected him to bring. Clemmons was a mild surprise but after the summer I figured him to be a good leader in the making.
 


Oglesby: JO laid an egg as a go-to shooter this year. I expected him to do more. He can obviously shoot- see last year. But was really affected by the attention of the D on him and pressure he put on himself. It took Gatens 4 years to get where he was last year. JO tried to do it in 1.
At least the poor shooting did not impact his defense. I thought he met or slightly exceeded expectations on defense.
 


Exceeded Expectations:
Melsahn Basabe
Mike Gesell
Gabe Olaseni - final 5 or 6 games
Eric May - never expected him to even sniff the floor

Met Expectations:

Aaron White
Adam Woodbury
Devyn Marble
Zach McCabe

Fell Short of Expected
Gabe Olaseni - first 26+ games

Had No expectations prior to season
Josh Oglesby - honestly wish the kid never played a minute this season. Statistically the worst 3 pt shooter in the country. The 100th 'best' 3 point shooter in the 12-13 season shot 42.5% from the 3. Oglesby shot nearly 20% worse than that. He reminds me of this kid in high school who was a phenomenal practice player but when the lights came on he became non-existant.
Anthony Clemmons
 


Exceeded Expectations:

Basabe
May
Olaseni
Clemmons

Met Expectations:

White
Woodbury

Did not Meet Expectations:

Oglesby- His job was to shoot well from 3, he did not do that.
McCabe- He will never learn to stay out of foul trouble
Marble- Probably my biggest disappointment of the season. He disappeared big time when Iowa was losing close games in the B1G. He didnt take the next step that many expected him to take this year as a player or as a leader.
 


Exceeded Expectations:
Gabe Oleseni
Melsahn Basabe
Anthony Clemmons
Eric May

Met Expectations:
Adam Woodbury
Mike Gesell
Devyn Marble

Fell Short of Expectations:
Zach McCabe
Pat Ingram (not his fault, didn't get a chance)
Aaron White
Josh Oglesby

This is spot on.
 


exceeded :
Gesell - 9 ppg, 3 assists per game, leader in steals per game plus Iowa's most consistent 3 point shooter probably (for what that's worth). needs to shoot better (under 40% won't cut it) and cut down on the 2 turnovers per game.

May - even though his stats were never great, when fran put him in towards the end of the year you knew something was going to happen. This kid deserved to go out in the NCAA tournament. Replaced white as the most exciting player on the team.

Met:
RDM - I expected him to shoot better (well, this can be said for anyone on this team) but after his slump he closed out the regular season strong to get him off the "underachived" category. Wish he would've used his pull up J more this year instead of trying to take it to the rim most of the time

Basabe - started off the year slow but by the end he was a high energy guy who deserved his spot in the starting 5 every bit. Dude can still block shots and rebound but needs to dunk it every time he gets close to the basket, not just most of the time.

McCabe - didn't really have high expectations for him before the season but he played decent D and is a tough son of a .....well, you know. Shame he wasn't 4 inches taller and 30 lbs heavier.

Slightly Disappointing:
White - I came in with sky high expectations for him (15 ppg, 8 boards per) and I probably shouldn't have. He had some damn good games but he was nowhere to be found in the 1st half of a lot of them. Thought he'd develop some post moves or a 15 foot J, neither happened.

Woodburry - I figured he'd average about 8-10 ppg and around 7 boards. Of course I also expected him to have more than a 1 inch vertical. He does have a nice shot, some post moves, and a soft touch so he just needs to work on getting bigger, stronger, meaner, and finish everything close to the rim with a dunk. Hope he puts in the work in the offseason.

Disappointing:
Oglesby - he was a shooter who couldn't shoot. at least he played some defense though

the guys not listed I didn't have any expectations for because I hadn't seen enough of them or never seen them period.
 


Exceeded Expectations:
Gabe Oleseni - my expectations were pretty low so this was a huge surprise; hope he can continue his development over the summer and next year.
Melsahn Basabe
Anthony Clemmons
Adam Woodbury
Mike Gesell

Met Expectations:
Devyn Marble
Eric May
Zach McCabe - very mixed expectations here; strokes of brilliance, tough play and rebounding, clutch, unexpected 3-pointers, combined with strokes of dumbness, particularly turnovers, lack of defensive movement, fouls.

Fell Short of Expectations:
Aaron White
Josh Oglesby

No Opinion
Patrick Ingraham - not enough minutes to evaluate
 




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