If Gesell continues to struggle....

moorejj4444 said:
I know how Fran is with his starting seniors but what if he made a adjustment in the starting line up. Pretty tough starting 5.


PG Clemons
SG Jok
F Uhl
F Uthoff
C Woodbury
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Am I totally missing something here? Or is this one of those laced with sarcasm statements. Every pundit, announcer of our games, including Jim Calhoun (whom I greatly respect) talk about where our success begins Mike Gesell.
 
What is confusing me lately with Gesell is he used to average probably 3-5 pull up jumpers per game from around the elbow area. I honestly can't remember the last time he attempted one AT ALL. He either passes it off, tries to take it to the hole, or dribbles around. His mid-range jumper is a huge part of his game, and for some reason he doesn't seem to be attempting it at all.

My guess is with Jok and Uthoff doing what they're doing he's trying to be more of a facilitator for them, and thats completely fine...it just would be nice to see Gesell occasionally stop and pop one of those jumpers we all know he can hit.
 
tm3308 said:
His non-3-point jumper is actually very good. Most of his misses lately it seems have been around the rim.
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Yes it is. It's his shots where he has a second to think that he struggles with. Free throws and wide open 3's. His quick jump shots off the dribble are great. Sounds like a mental issue to me.
 
We probably have 3-4 losses in conference play without Gesell in the lineup. He is struggling a bit but we are still having tons of success. I'd rather Mike play his best basketball of his career when it really counts and that starts next month. Chill
 
People were talking how gessel was a top 10 player all time at Iowa... now he should be benched.

The truth is somewhere in between. Mike can be great at times... he can be flawed at times.

His worst trait is his late game FT shooting.

However the offense runs x100 better when he is on the court.
 
I want to say, first off, having a good record does not mean you should stop finding ways to improve your team. Being 17-4 is not a good reason to stay status quo.

That being said, MG is playing fine overall. The 2 minute offense where he holds the ball needs to end though. How many times have we seen him try to dribble drive out of that situation and get stuffed by a forward...a lot.

additionally, the ball should be in Sapp's hands when we know they're in foul mode.
 
Bigtenchamp said:
People were talking how gessel was a top 10 player all time at Iowa... now he should be benched.

The truth is somewhere in between. Mike can be great at times... he can be flawed at times.

His worst trait is his late game FT shooting.

However the offense runs x100 better when he is on the court.
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Agree with the late game FT shooting.
 
Mrke1 said:
I want to say, first off, having a good record does not mean you should stop finding ways to improve your team. Being 17-4 is not a good reason to stay status quo.

That being said, MG is playing fine overall. The 2 minute offense where he holds the ball needs to end though. How many times have we seen him try to dribble drive out of that situation and get stuffed by a forward...a lot.

additionally, the ball should be in Sapp's hands when we know they're in foul mode.
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I would actually like the ball in the hands of Uthoff or Jok late.
 
I will say that Gesell with the ball at the end of the half seems like a lost cause IMO. I don't remember the last time Iowa actually scored a bucket at the end of the half. He will just dribble up top until there's 5 seconds left and then either turn the ball over or kick it out with .5 seconds on the clock. It has been maddening.
 
mopkins said:
I will say that Gesell with the ball at the end of the half seems like a lost cause IMO. I don't remember the last time Iowa actually scored a bucket at the end of the half. He will just dribble up top until there's 5 seconds left and then either turn the ball over or kick it out with .5 seconds on the clock. It has been maddening.
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Jok drained a shot at the buzzer once. I can't remember which game tho.
 
Yes MGs overall play has been good. He's running the team as a leader. That said Iowa doesn't have anyone better that can replace him either. Clemmons isn't as good at running the team and passing as MG. And what edge I give him at scoring/making free throws (if there even is one, Clemmons is pretty streaky too) sure isn't enough to warrant any kind of lineup shakeup. I just wish in late game situations Iowa would get the ball to Uthoff, Jok, or Woody even. I have little to no faith in MG or Sapp in making those late game free throws anymore they've had their opportunities and I hope coach makes an adjustment there. Have MG be the inbounder. Missing the front ends of 1 & 1s and splitting free throws just can't be an option late in games when you have better shooters to get the ball too. It'd be like using a full back as your RB if you had other RBs to use.... Oh wait..
 
atomicblue224 said:
How many of you actually play point guard? I have... How do you know he's not doing well?
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Well first off... the idea that you can only criticize or evaluate something if you have done it yourself is pretty much some of the worst logic in existence.

I guess none of us can judge the president, since we have never been one. Don't criticize that movie - you have never directed one...

Now for evidence that he hasn't played well lately:

In his last 3 games he has 10 assists and 11 turnovers... that's not his bread and butter.

outside of the Maryland game where he got 3 garbage time lay-ups he is shooting 3-22 from the field (13%)

He is also 7-13 from the ft line in the last 5 games (56%) and a missed a bunch of important Free throws at the end of games.


He absolutely has played poorly as of late... but I'm confident he will get going again.
 
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If MG is truly nicked up, now would be the time to let him rest. 4 of the next 5 games are winnable without him. (PSU, @Ill, Minny, @PSU) The lone tough one is @IU. That's a 3 week stretch and it would give him a chance to heal for the stretch run and tourneys.

Just my 2¢ .. ..

GO HAWKS!!!
 
BrueCrew3 said:
If MG is truly nicked up, now would be the time to let him rest. 4 of the next 5 games are winnable without him. (PSU, @Ill, Minny, @PSU) The lone tough one is @IU. That's a 3 week stretch and it would give him a chance to heal for the stretch run and tourneys.

Just my 2¢ .. ..

GO HAWKS!!!
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I could go along with that. MG hasn't played well lately, and if it's mainly because he's still not 100%, then I'd rather see him sit a game or two, and get healthy so that we can have him at full strength in March when we need him most. I don't want to see him at 75% the rest of the year and end up having the season end earlier than it would otherwise..

As you said, we could probably win most of these upcoming games without him.. Not like his recent play has really been a benefit, anyway.

If he IS 100%, then I guess he just needs to pull his head out and get it going.

Guess I'll have to trust Fran knows what he's doing here, though.
 
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mopkins said:
I will say that Gesell with the ball at the end of the half seems like a lost cause IMO. I don't remember the last time Iowa actually scored a bucket at the end of the half. He will just dribble up top until there's 5 seconds left and then either turn the ball over or kick it out with .5 seconds on the clock. It has been maddening.
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Have thought the same thing. He either gets the ball stripped or his shot is blocked or he misses.

Wish he'd get the ball to JU or PJ with 10-12 seconds left.

But still like his game overall.
 
It's fine to try and make plays, but Gesell can't be predictable when he drives. Instead of forcing drives that aren't there, back it out, shoot a pull-up, kick it out to shooters. Don't force things and let the offense work. With the shooters Iowa has, opportunities to drive and shoot will always be there as long as they're patient.
 
Uthoff can handle the ball. And who is going to send a guard out to defend him if he's dribbling the ball near half court as the final seconds of the half tick down? Give the ball to our best player. He can shoot a 25 foot 3. He can drive to the rim...won't get stripped because he can pick his dribble up at the top of the key and still get to the basket in 2 steps. He can pull up for the 15 footer. He can draw so much attention that Jok (or someone else) gets loose for an open 3. He can draw a foul (possibly phantom) because of his reputation as a top tier player. I would isolate Uthoff; put 4 shooters at the 3 point line; and tell him to do what he does best.
 
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