Howe: Closing Time - Final Thoughts on '18-19 Hawkeye Season

SteveGarvey1 said:
Seems like Moss has improved incrementally each year. He has less games where he should be on a milk carton but still has some. Would hope for more dramatic improvement next year but another incremental improvement wouldn't be the worst.

Kreiner seemed like the guy who improved the most from last year to this year. I mean, the previous season, he looked lost out there, bouncing shots off the top of the backboard and such. He's developed some nice post moves and appears to have found his niche.

J Bo and Cook I'd say were slightly improved. Garza moderate improvement.
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Moss is always on the milk carton and that's the problem. There were too many stretches this year where I am wondering why he isn't in the game. Conner and Dailey in the backcourt at the same time, we saw more of that then what we should have.
 
InGoodCo said:
Every school has 13 scholarships - Iowa is not unique in having a bunch of guys who want to play. To say having 11 guys is too many is 2 short of what every other school has. Iowa needs 13 scholarship worthy players every season. Now, if you want to say 11 is too many for a rotation, then yeah, I agree with you, but having too many good players is not a problem for Iowa. These things tend to work themselves out and history tells us anything, guys in the program that are poised to get a lot of minutes stick around.
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We have a weird fanbase. A significant % get a boner anytime someone talks about going pro or transferring. Somehow in their addled mind losing players makes us better in both revenue sports. At the same time these same folk talk about how we are a developmental program. Apparently completely oblivious to the fact that developmental programs only maximize their potential when players HAVE MORE TIME IN THE PROGRAM.
And please save the ". . . if so and so leaves we can upgrade the talent . . . ". It doesn't work that way here and everyone with 5 brain cells knows it.
 
Here’s how the minutes were distributed this season among the top nine in the rotation:

Bohannon - 31.0 MPG
Cook - 30.9
Wieskamp - 27.7
Moss - 24.1
Garza - 23.6
Baer - 19.1
McCaffery - 18.6
Kriener - 13.1
Dailey - 12.5
 
Assuming everyone returns, give Nunge all of Baer's minutes.

If Touissant is ready to be a Big Ten PG, then he takes Dailey's 12 minutes. Dailey & CJ then either take some of Connor's or only play situationally depending on foul trouble or if someone is having an off night.

With Cook, Garza and Kriener having 68 minutes, you can plug Pemsl into the mix to take 10-12. With 4 low post players they can be more aggressive on the boards and not have to worry about foul trouble as much. Plus all three post players missed games last year, so adding Pemsl into the minutes mix shouldn't be that hard over the course of a full season.

That leaves Patrick McCaffery. I assume they want him to play right away, but maybe he'd benefit like Nunge this year to add some bulk to his frame and be ready to take over next year.
 
RobHowe said:
Patrick will not be red shirting.
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Is that etched in stone or your assumption? From Fran's comments I assumed that door was still open. He's mentioned several times of being unsure if he was going to be strong enough for the B1G as a Freshman. I don't care either way, just didn't know like a definitive stance had been made one way or the other.
 
InGoodCo said:
Is that etched in stone or your assumption? From Fran's comments I assumed that door was still open. He's mentioned several times of being unsure if he was going to be strong enough for the B1G as a Freshman. I don't care either way, just didn't know like a definitive stance had been made one way or the other.
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I wouldn't say etched in stone. That wouldn't take in consideration injuries or illness, like something along the lines with that happened with Connor. Sometimes circumstances change plans.

Barring that, from what I've heard, he's playing. He and Connor get three years together.
 
I think it is all going to be situational. The deep bench gives Fran a lot of flexibility to play a deep bench in the first half, allow the guys to play with more intensity for shorter minutes, then in the second half shorten the rotation to the players or groups that are working. I think it is a huge plus, in a long season, to not have to rely on a specific player or two to always perform because you risk burnout.

As far as groups go, you have:

JBo/Joe T/Connor
Wieskamp/PMac
Kriener/Pemsl/Garza/Nunge/Cook
Moss/CJ/Dailey

I can see games where Jbo gets 30 minutes and Joe T get 10, then have games where Joe gets 22 and Jbo 18. Nunge is going to be all over the map, as is Garza, where they could play 25 or 10 depending on the matchup. Kriener may get 18 one game and close a game out, but the next get 5 in the first half and then ride the bench. How it all works out in the end it works out, but it is much easier to get players engaged when they lead their rotation for a game then maybe someone else leads it another game, rather than just someone getting 5 garbage minutes.

I really believe that the addition of Joe T and Nunge give us even more facets of versatility and make us even more of a matchup nightmare, and being since Fran has shown to be able to keep his players happy for the most part and bought in we can do some very special things.
 
dirtwrap said:
I think it is all going to be situational. The deep bench gives Fran a lot of flexibility to play a deep bench in the first half, allow the guys to play with more intensity for shorter minutes, then in the second half shorten the rotation to the players or groups that are working. I think it is a huge plus, in a long season, to not have to rely on a specific player or two to always perform because you risk burnout.

As far as groups go, you have:

JBo/Joe T/Connor
Wieskamp/PMac
Kriener/Pemsl/Garza/Nunge/Cook
Moss/CJ/Dailey

I can see games where Jbo gets 30 minutes and Joe T get 10, then have games where Joe gets 22 and Jbo 18. Nunge is going to be all over the map, as is Garza, where they could play 25 or 10 depending on the matchup. Kriener may get 18 one game and close a game out, but the next get 5 in the first half and then ride the bench. How it all works out in the end it works out, but it is much easier to get players engaged when they lead their rotation for a game then maybe someone else leads it another game, rather than just someone getting 5 garbage minutes.

I really believe that the addition of Joe T and Nunge give us even more facets of versatility and make us even more of a matchup nightmare, and being since Fran has shown to be able to keep his players happy for the most part and bought in we can do some very special things.
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It sounds all well in good but I think it’s going to be a very difficult to manage the minutes if Cook returns (obviously we want him back). If he comes back I think you can basically pencil in this:

-JBo 30
-Moss 20-25
-Wieskamp 30
-Cook 30
-Garza 20-25

That leaves only 60-70 minutes of play time between:

-Nunge
-Joe T
-Kriener
-Cmac
-Pmac
-Pemsl
-Dailey
-Frederick

Sorry but someone, likely multiple guys are going to have to be left out in that scenario. My guess is Cook goes and at least one other does as well so it might partially work itself out.
 
RobHowe said:
Here’s how the minutes were distributed this season among the top nine in the rotation:

Bohannon - 31.0 MPG
Cook - 30.9
Wieskamp - 27.7
Moss - 24.1
Garza - 23.6
Baer - 19.1
McCaffery - 18.6
Kriener - 13.1
Dailey - 12.5
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I was surprised that Bohannon didn't average more minutes. I'll bet he did in conference play. He was less than 100% early in the season and that may have skewed his minutes the other direction, leaving the average where it ended up.

I stated early in the season that Baer was an 8-12 minute game player. Anymore and it meant that other players weren't developing like they should. Not only did it not turn our that way, it didn't hurt others either. For one thing, Baer played exclusively at three or four. I don't recall any super big lineups where he played the two. For another thing, he deserved the minutes. He came up big down the stretch whether it was his rebounding against Indiana or his shooting against Illinois and Cincinnati. And of course his tip to Wiescamp in the corner to win the Rutgers game.
 
I don't trust Fran at all with a full roster. I felt that one of the main reasons for our improvement this year was the shortening of the rotation. Defense (especially a team like ours that likes to switch defenses) is predicated on players playing together for long stretches. If you're playing 10-11 guys, and rotating them like hockey lines, it's tough to get cohesion on the defensive side. So when you look at how we went from like 242 in KenPom D Eff to like 109, one of the main keys was the shorter bench in my opinion.
 
It will be interesting to see how it shakes out for sure. I did some research and there are not many teams that have more than 8 players average double digit minutes, so there must be something to that. So now, what I think will happen is that Cook goes, I just think he wants to even though we want him back and he shouldn't. I think Dailey either leaves or accepts an end of the bench role. I think Pemsl gets minutes and Kriener either leaves or takes an end of bench role. I think either Joe T or CMac gets double digit minutes, all depending on how smart Joe plays and how good CMac develops and outside stroke. JBo, Wieskamp and Garza all get big minutes, they are too good to not. I think PMac will get most of Baer minutes and I think that Moss and CJ will be in a battle for minutes but both will play because we will need outside shooting.

That leaves:

Jbo - 30
Weiskamp - 30
Garza - 25
Pemsl - 15
Joe T - 20
Moss - 20
CJ - 15
Nunge - 20
PMac - 15
CMac - 5
Kriener - 5
 
Everyone returns...

Bohannon - 30
Cook - 30
Wieskamp - 30
Garza - 28
Moss - 25

Toussaint/C Mac/Frederick - 25
Nunge/Pemsl/Kriener/P Mac - 32
Dailey - If needed

It will likely be a 9 or 10 man rotation. I’m not to going guess who fills out the rotation. But those 5 starters should do the heavy lifting.

We will have 5 seniors. So the following year it’s the remaining 8 and Foster.
 
No Cook...

Bohannon - 30
Nunge - 22
Wieskamp - 30
Garza - 30
Moss - 25

Toussaint/C Mac/Frederick - 25
Pemsl/Kriener/P Mac - 38
Dailey - If needed
 
Hawkfnntn said:
It'll be interesting. Iron sharpens Iron. I hope Cook and Moss both come back. Our front court will be pretty formidable and have a ton of fouls to give if he does. I could see Moss make a big leap from now till next yr. If he can improve his handle and basketball IQ some more he can be an even better player.
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Evidence seems to indicate BB IQ is the least likely thing to improve, though.

http://www.espn.com/espnradio/play?id=21142339
 
I'm going to assume Cook doesn't return, Dailey transfers, and Moss returns (I think this is the most likely scenario):

JBO - 30 mins
JW - 27 mins
Garza - 26 mins
Moss - 24 mins
Nunge - 21 mins

Kriener - 15 mins
Pemsl - 15 mins
CMac - 14 mins
PMac - 10 mins
Joe T - 10 mins

Rest of bench - 8 mins
 
SpiderRico said:
I'm going to assume Cook doesn't return, Dailey transfers, and Moss returns (I think this is the most likely scenario):

JBO - 30 mins
JW - 27 mins
Garza - 26 mins
Moss - 24 mins
Nunge - 21 mins

Kriener - 15 mins
Pemsl - 15 mins
CMac - 14 mins
PMac - 10 mins
Joe T - 10 mins

Rest of bench - 8 mins
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I don't think you'll be far off with that. (assuming the Cook leaving part) Only part I may disagree with you on is Joe Ts mins. If he's half as good as advertised by some he might get more time than that.
 
Hawkfnntn said:
I don't think you'll be far off with that. (assuming the Cook leaving part) Only part I may disagree with you on is Joe Ts mins. If he's half as good as advertised by some he might get more time than that.
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I tried to find more time for Joe....but there's no way JBo plays less than 30 mins and Connor is most likely going to get 12-15 mins guaranteed....so as a guard, there's only so much time to go around. I suppose it's possible that Connor's could decrease to, say, 10 mins, which would put Joe's up to 14 mins. But with 80 mins for 2 guard spots, and with Moss getting 24ish and JBo getting 30ish, that leaves 26 mins for backup guard time....
 
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