Josh O #23
- Thread starter Iceman
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justwinbaby
Well-Known Member
His defense is what I was impressed with. I have seen Trevion Williams dominate people and he held his own against him. I would love to see him get a lot more playing time.
RyDogg
Well-Known Member
I really liked what he brought last night and feel he will gradually get more minutes as the year goes on. A big jump early on isn't likley. If nothing else, due to his conditioning. He clearly doesn't have the gas to play long minutes yet, but could get there with gradually increasing time and longer stints. I like what he has to offer and he will definitely be needed against the bigs in the BIG.
He'll be called on against Kofi Cockburn I'm sure. There's games where he'll just matchup more against opponents and Purdue and IL are two of em. Glad to see he's got some fight to him and not scared to go shoot. Fran does a good job of instilling confidence in these guys to shoot their shots. For the most part our shot selection as a team is really pretty good considering the volume that we do. (the last 2 mins or so of the Purdue game not withstanding)
InGoodCo
Well-Known Member
Iowa was Josh's only P5 offer, he was a project with upside with development without a doubt but I don't think "elite athlete" really applied. Iowa has a great strength and conditioning program for hoops. We see a lot of players transform their bodies while at Iowa. Keegan 21 looks like he ate Keegan 20. Josh was incredibly over weight and out of shape and got to IC late last year. He's actually HEAVIER now than when he got to Iowa City.
He's a project. By no means was he highly recruited and looked at as someone that was going to step in and dominate day 1.
I get what you're saying though in regards to a basketball player being out of shape though. How can a guy who's played HS basketball be out of shape to the extent that playing 3 or 4 mins strait would wear him out. Especially after having been on campus at Iowa for a year now. I can't really answer that as I'm a little dude. 5'8 155 so I'm the furthest from being able to relate to what it's like being a 6'11 260 plus lb dude who's expected to run and play that sport.
All I know is he's not the first guy in those shoes there's been others too. I hope he keeps improving cause he's got potential and plenty of PT ahead of him.
Seth53
Well-Known Member
I get that he's not a 5-star, but c'mon, two years in at a high-level program and he's out of shape at 20? Seems odd.
I find it odd that you think over the internet you can judge what a 20 yr old should be able to or not able to do.
InGoodCo
Well-Known Member
He's been at Iowa just over a year FWIW - he got to campus late last year due to Covid and I'll be the first to say I don't follow EVERYTHING that Fran says in his pressers, but who is saying he's out of shape? Fran? He doesn't look it to me and again, he's heavier now than when he got here. I think the reason he hasn't played a lot up until this point is he's not one of Iowa's top 10 guys yet or at least, hasn't shown that he is. I am glad that Fran felt he could lean on him in the situation he was in Friday.
Casey388
Well-Known Member
I'd add Patrick to this list as well. He has really struggled to get muscle on his frame but it looks like between last season and this season he had gained 10-15 lbs of muscle. When he was shooting free throws against Purdue I couldn't believe how big he has gotten.
Agreed, he looks bigger and stronger, not to mention all the moves the kid has. I think playing a lot with Luka has benefited a lot of our guys. Luka had so many moves and you know that stuff rubs off. Ryan Bowen played 10 years in the NBA but at UI his tool bag of go to moves was quite limited, but of course he made up for that with incredible hustle and pounding the boards. I watched "the block" after JT made the game-winning basket, about 6 times, trying to see where Patrick came from and made that block. All ball too BTW. He is going to be a star by February, if he already isn't!
HaydenHawk56
Well-Known Member
Why did Fran wait forever to put him into the game tonight?
Casey388
Well-Known Member
I was thinking the same thing. I liked the idea of Rebraca earlier this year, but he is too small against the massive posts in the Big Ten. At least when it is a conference game and the refs will allow deadly assaults in the post. Need to slowly get Ogundele minutes so he can be prepared for these games.
