Impressed/Not Impressed

C

CGHawk

Well-Known Member
Who do you guys think on the team is the most impressive so far? And who do you think is not quite meeting your expectations? (if anyone)

I wasn't able to watch the first game, but I saw the majority of this one.

This is my opinion and for the record I haven't looked at stats or anything.

I was really impressed with Gatens and even McCabe.

I like that gatens looked comfortable taking shots... And making them.

I thought McCabe played really well for the most part. He made a really nice pass that comes to mind and he looks like he is doing a good job of rebounding and hustling. Last year I did not think highly of him and thought he hurt the team, but he really seems to have improved a lot.

I don't want to say I'm unimpressed with Basabe, but I just think he is capable of playing better.

I understand it's early and these opponents aren't good... So I can see that sort of thing happening where you almost "half-*** it" out there a little , but I don't expect that to continue once we start playing some good teams. I just know that he is capable of being amazing and I just didn't see that from what I watched. I fully expect him to shine this season.

Just a couple of my thoughts from what I was able to see.

Remember, this is just my opinion and I'll admit I could be way off so try not to rip on me too much if I got it all wrong. ;)
 
I've been impressed with the play of Gatens and to some extent May. I've been slightly disappointed in Cartwright and Basabe but that is probably due to my high expectations that I had for them heading in to the season.

May has played very good but my expectations for him are tempered to say the least. Last year he did the same thing early on in the season - points, boards, shooting but then when stiffer competition came calling he went into a shell. I hope he continues playing at the current level. He still passes up open perimeter shots and I find myself yelling at the TV for him to shoot.


Marble is probably held back by his concussion early in practice.

McCabe has looked really good this year. He is playing under control and the game seems to be slowing down for him.

The team has played fairly sloppy in the first two games and we need to cut down on turnovers and start limiting the opponent on their offensive boards. That's partly due to the competition who plays a lot of street ball but that's still no excuse to make unforced errors. Practice makes permanent and hopefully Fran gets that part of the game under control.

We are limited offensively by guards who simply can't create. We are also limited by not having bigs that simply don't have an offensive game.
 
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I agree with pretty much everything you wrote. Probably most impressed with Gatens so far - he was really good last night. May was excellent as well albeit a few bad turnovers.

Basabe - I think he'll turn it on more against better competition. Still had a double-double last night so can't complain much.

McCabe - He seems to be playing within himself and not making many mistakes. He can score from the perimeter and in the paint.

White - I'm impressed so far, but like most freshman, can have a big game and then disappear the next night. So last night's 2-pointer came as no big shock. I'm sure he'll be up and down this year, but hopefully will become more consistent as the season goes on.

Marble - not sure what to make of him. He seems to do well in transition and getting to the rim, but seems to still struggle mightily with his outside shot. How will he do in a half-court offense?

Oglesby - A rough start for him. But he was too good of a shooter in high school for his shot to not come around once he settles in.

Like you said - the competition will get better so we'll see who fades and who doesn't.
 
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What is impressive is the fact they are knocking down shots. Granted they are getting some wide open looks but at least they are hitting them. So far as a team they seem to be rebounding well. But it is hard to get a good read on this team as they are playing against weak competition right now. We will know a little more after the Creighton game as Doug McDermott may create some match up problems. Hopefully White and McCabe will have a big game.
 
hawkeye12345 said:
We are limited offensively by guards who simply can't create. We are also limited by not having bigs that simply don't have an offensive game.
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Pretty much agree. Cartwright can get to the paint and dish, but is not really a true scorer IMO. He's more of an assist guy.

Basabe is pretty much the best offensive threat we have down low, but hopefully McCabe can contribue some in the paint this year as well.

I get the feeling all of this will change when the latest recruiting class gets on campus next year. Add Woody, Meyer, Gessell and company and it should (hopefully) make a world of difference in these two phases.
 
ssckelley said:
What is impressive is the fact they are knocking down shots. Granted they are getting some wide open looks but at least they are hitting them. So far as a team they seem to be rebounding well. But it is hard to get a good read on this team as they are playing against weak competition right now. We will know a little more after the Creighton game as Doug McDermott may create some match up problems. Hopefully White and McCabe will have a big game.
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They're hitting their FT's, too. 84% the first two games, and 74% last night. That will be big in close games if that continues..
 
As a team.... what impressed me about last night is they turn the ball over 20 + times and still score nearly 100 points.

That's exciting. Plenty of room for improvement.
 
The Hawks drilled 2 horrible teams, but it is obvious the Hawks are better this yr, how much will be determined after the Creighton, ISU, UNI games, hard to evaluate after these games, once the competition stiffens you find out who steps up, I still feel Cartwright and Baasbe are our 2 best players
 
Went to Chicago State game and it seemed we struggled against their decent guard who got to the rim quite a few times. We also lost containment on the guy under the basket when they broke the press, which led to a number of layups or dunks.

I definitely see improvement, but if we are still a rather slow of foot team and will have trouble against better competition. I expect Creighton to expose some glaring deficiencies.
 
White had 4 turnovers in just a few minutes last night and was limited from that point. Typical game for a frosh. He will be very good once he gets his confidence up and doesn't make the mistakes he is making now. What suprises me is that Oglesby hasn't hit a 3 so far. I am sure its the same thing as White, freshman jitters. Gatens will be a strong leader this year and I think May and McCabe will shine, as will the rest of the team once they get to 7-8 games. Gonna be a better year.
 
The new guys will be up and down all year..

RADMAN said:
White had 4 turnovers in just a few minutes last night and was limited from that point. Typical game for a frosh. He will be very good once he gets his confidence up and doesn't make the mistakes he is making now. What suprises me is that Oglesby hasn't hit a 3 so far. I am sure its the same thing as White, freshman jitters. Gatens will be a strong leader this year and I think May and McCabe will shine, as will the rest of the team once they get to 7-8 games. Gonna be a better year.
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White and Oglesby are both good players, but neither is so talented that they will be good against every opponent. And Oglesby's value (at this point) is basically tied to his ability to hit open 3's. If he's not making open shots, it won't appear as if he's doing much.

White will struggle scoring against good competition, we saw it a bit tonight as he lost the ball several times when trying to go to the basket. He'll also have games where he will hit the open 3 and get hustle points. He just needs to continue to improve and realize what he can and cannot do against this level of competition.
 
Re: The new guys will be up and down all year..

DodgerHawki said:
White and Oglesby are both good players, but neither is so talented that they will be good against every opponent. And Oglesby's value (at this point) is basically tied to his ability to hit open 3's. If he's not making open shots, it won't appear as if he's doing much.

White will struggle scoring against good competition, we saw it a bit tonight as he lost the ball several times when trying to go to the basket. He'll also have games where he will hit the open 3 and get hustle points. He just needs to continue to improve and realize what he can and cannot do against this level of competition.[/QUOT

I really think we will need Oglesby to shoot 3's after Gatens graduates, they seem pretty similar, so anything we get from him this yr might be gravy, but the next 3 yrs he will have to start shooting better
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the sloppyness was caused by 43 foul calls constantly stopping play,that's over a foul a minute, that is just plain stupidity by the refs
no consistancy could be established, nor is it easy to use a set defense, because as soon as they got down court with the ball, they launched shots,
we will see how this team plays against a more disciplined team that actually runs a offense
 
Difficult to make much of games like this.

One thing we can take from these games is that Iowa should be winning them easily and they are. One year ago, Iowa would have struggled with these teams or it would have been late in the game before they put the game out of reach. One year of the players having Fran's system under their belt and the team has made great strides. Obvioulsy, Iowa doesn't have OSU or Kentucky talent but Iowa is improving leaps and bounds since Fran took over.

Will they stumble along the way during the preseason? Perhaps but I don't think they will. Creighton, ISU, and UNI will be some good tests to judge how this team is performing.

B1G gets a lot tougher and every team has equal or better talent. The better talent will prevail over the course of the season. Hard to judge how our seniors will affect games. Usually seniors greatly help a team with leadership and so on. Iowa has a lot of seniors and seniors that will/should be very hungry. This hunger might translate into a few more wins than what is predicted.
 
herbyhawk said:
the sloppyness was caused by 43 foul calls constantly stopping play,that's over a foul a minute, that is just plain stupidity by the refs
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I hate games that are officiated this way. Nobody wants to watch a free-throw shooting contest. That's not basketball.

I wonder what this year's "point of emphasis" will be? Hard to say, but it will probably almost certainly be something completely out of the blue, (like enforcing 3-second calls or something), and last year's P.O.E. (carrying the ball) will be forgotten by the refs again. Seems like it's something different every year that they focus on.

Just a couple of my pet peeves regarding college hoops.
 
The thing I am most impressed about is that we finally have some options coming off the bench. If someone is having an off night we have enough depth that others can rotate in that hopefully will pick up the slack.

If you do not play well you ride the pine.
 
Somewhat related...

I realize it's only one game, but after watching quite a bit of the Purdue/High Point game, I was not impressed with the Boilermakers.
 
Gatens still hasn't learned how to play defense.

The Hawks don't have a bruiser, an intimidating type player.

Iowa has major issues with their interior defense.

The Hawks don't have a lot of quickness and speed.

I like the depth and I like the poise of the brand new players.
 
I am more impressed this year than any in the last 5 seasons. Not sure what that equates to but it is better than the recent past.
 
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