Miller: Marble Continues Impressive Run

JonDMiller

Publisher/Founder
The Iowa Men's basketball team reeled off its third straight win on Thursday night, beating a veteran Boise State team 81-72. The Broncos had also beaten Drake by over 40 points earlier this season.

Iowa was led in scoring by Aaron White and Devyn Marble who poured in 18 apiece. It was Marble's fifth straight game in double figures and seventh in his last eight outings. He has had 24 assists to just seven turnovers in his last five games, playing most of the time at the point guard position. Marble also added eight rebounds in this game along with five assists and just one turnover.

Prior to the start of the season, everyone was concerned about Iowa's point guard depth as Bryce Cartwright was the only true point guard on the roster. Cartwright has been less than 100 percent for the past four of five games and Marble has stepped in and done a very good job running this team, much to my surprise. He is now the team's second leading scorer at 10.9 points per game and has a stellar 48 to 12 assist to turnover ratio on the year.

White is probably playing at a higher level than I felt he would play, although I thought he'd impress a lot of fans with his energy and overall game. He is averaging over nine point and nearly five rebounds per game in little more than 17 minutes per contest, which is excellent production for any player, much less a skinny true freshman.

Melsahn Basabe continues his improved play, scoring 14 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. That's four straight games in double figure scoring for Mel, and he has averaged 14 points and 8.5 rebounds in that stretch.

Iowa committed just five turnovers in this game and only one in the second half. They won the battle of the boards 35-34, but this is going to be an area of concern as the Hawkeyes enter Big Ten play; they haven't been a great rebounding team this year, just +2.5 in rebounding differential on the season thus far against a weak out of conference slate.

Matt Gatens added 13 points for Iowa while Josh Oglesby scored nine.

Let me circle back to the play of Marble. He continues to gain confidence and he is getting more comfortable with the ball in his hand. He has a scorers mentality in that he doesn't let a bad shot affect his aggressiveness the next time down the court. He also has a great deal of room for improvement, mostly on the physical side. He turned 19 back in September as a true sophomore. Most college students turn 19 during their freshmen years, so Marble is definitely young 'for his age', meaning year in school.

While his level of play has elevated this year, I think he still has exponential room for growth and might develop into something special.

For now, we'll just let him be Devyn. He'll make mistakes and have poor outings along the way, but you can see the potential oozing out of him. The same can be said for Aaron White, and it would seem Basabe is learning how to play with the 20 extra pounds he put on in the off season. Oglesby has also shown he can play at this level and McCabe will come around.

Iowa is showing its fans that it has a nice nucleus for the future, as each of the players mentioned will have two more years of eligibility after this season is over. Combine that with the incoming recruiting class that is the highest rated Iowa class in a decade and there are obvious signs of hope.

That said, Big Ten play begins late next week. This league is stacked and the Hawkeyes enter league play with an 8-5 record and they need at least eight wins before the end of the regular season to put themselves in a position to finish the year with at least a .500 record.

That's not going to be an easy task.
 
didnt basabe drop some of those lbs because of sluggish play early? not old enough to have seen roy but my dad talks about him and how the two marbles have different games but how both are and were special players. devyn is making a name for himself and is fun to watch.
 
didnt basabe drop some of those lbs because of sluggish play early? not old enough to have seen roy but my dad talks about him and how the two marbles have different games but how both are and were special players. devyn is making a name for himself and is fun to watch.

The two Marbles are different. Roy was a one of a kind...drew comparisons to Michael Jordan..one of the better slashers in the Big Ten in the last 30 years. Not a great outside shooter, but great athlete.

Here is Iowa v Indiana, CHA, from 1987. Iowa scores over 100. you are welcome ;)

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tT3gmM9whys]1987 Iowa basketball - Indiana 1/22 Part 1 - YouTube[/ame]
 
Basabe mentioned this evening on post-game radio that he is down to I think 224 which is roughly the same weight he finished the season at last year so now it's just a matter of continuing to work on his stamina. He is also focusing more on rebounds, blocked shots, and put backs opposed to shooting that 8-10 ft jumper that seemed to frustrate him when it wasn't falling early in the season.
 
Jon, If I'm not mistaken isn't Devyn actually only 18? I was almost sure he was 17 last season and turned 18 this year.
 
I'll have to admit I was a little down on Marble at the start of the year, but he's making me eat a pile of crow now..

Devyn Marble is an incredibly active player judging by his stat sheet - points, rebounds, assists, blocks, steals.. He is what I like to call a stat-sheet stuffer.

I also can't help but notice that Marble is getting to the FT line a LOT, and making most of them this year. Great sign.
 
Marble turned 19 in September. He was born in 1992. That means he graduated HS as a 17 year old, when most kids are 18 when they graduate HS
 
In my mind, Iowa has 5 guys who can play right now. Not play great, but can play the game. It was the five Fran went with down the stretch.

Marble
Oglesby
Gatens
White
Basabe

I know other guys will have a decent night now and then, and I put an asterisk beside Cartwright, because I don't know what to think of him right now. But I don't need to see McCabe or May on the floor.

There are a lot of losses still on the schedule, but compared to last year, these guys give me hope. We finally have two guys, Marble and White, who are unique athletes skilled at scoring the basketball. They present one on one match-up problems and are good enough basketball players to understand how to exploit those mismatches. We didn't have a player like that last year.

And in order to take advantage of players who understand match-up problems, a team needs outside shooters. Iowa finally has two. Even when Oglesby and Gatens miss, the ball is generally shot with great rotation and set feet. You expect the shot to go in.

I'm excited to see what Fran can do with those core pieces this season - it should be a step forward.
 
In my mind, Iowa has 5 guys who can play right now. Not play great, but can play the game. It was the five Fran went with down the stretch. MarbleOglesbyGatensWhiteBasabe I know other guys will have a decent night now and then, and I put an asterisk beside Cartwright, because I don't know what to think of him right now. But I don't need to see McCabe or May on the floor. There are a lot of losses still on the schedule, but compared to last year, these guys give me hope. We finally have two guys, Marble and White, who are unique athletes skilled at scoring the basketball. They present one on one match-up problems and are good enough basketball players to understand how to exploit those mismatches. We didn't have a player like that last year. And in order to take advantage of players who understand match-up problems, a team needs outside shooters. Iowa finally has two. Even when Oglesby and Gatens miss, the ball is generally shot with great rotation and set feet. You expect the shot to go in. I'm excited to see what Fran can do with those core pieces this season - it should be a step forward.

I really like that starting 5....the way white is playing it be kinda hard not to make him a starter....
 
In my mind, Iowa has 5 guys who can play right now. Not play great, but can play the game. It was the five Fran went with down the stretch.

Marble
Oglesby
Gatens
White
Basabe

I know other guys will have a decent night now and then, and I put an asterisk beside Cartwright, because I don't know what to think of him right now. But I don't need to see McCabe or May on the floor.

There are a lot of losses still on the schedule, but compared to last year, these guys give me hope. We finally have two guys, Marble and White, who are unique athletes skilled at scoring the basketball. They present one on one match-up problems and are good enough basketball players to understand how to exploit those mismatches. We didn't have a player like that last year.

And in order to take advantage of players who understand match-up problems, a team needs outside shooters. Iowa finally has two. Even when Oglesby and Gatens miss, the ball is generally shot with great rotation and set feet. You expect the shot to go in.

I'm excited to see what Fran can do with those core pieces this season - it should be a step forward.

As a starting 5, I can buy this. But May, and particularly McCabe, do have value for this team off the bench. McCabe brings the kind of energy that is good for a team. He's a garbage man, and I think by the time he's done more people will appreciate what he brings to the team. Is he a Big Ten-quality starter? No. But he IS a Big Ten-quality role player off the bench.

The big reason McCabe currently starts, IMO, is because White also brings a lot of energy off the floor (as well as skill/production). It's a big boost to have a guy come off the bench who can go for 18 and 6.

The fact that White comes off the bench and routinely gets starter's minutes, seems to back this theory up (White had 27 minutes last night, McCabe 11 and he wasn't in deep foul trouble).
 
As a starting 5, I can buy this. But May, and particularly McCabe, do have value for this team off the bench. McCabe brings the kind of energy that is good for a team. He's a garbage man, and I think by the time he's done more people will appreciate what he brings to the team. Is he a Big Ten-quality starter? No. But he IS a Big Ten-quality role player off the bench.

The big reason McCabe currently starts, IMO, is because White also brings a lot of energy off the floor (as well as skill/production). It's a big boost to have a guy come off the bench who can go for 18 and 6.

The fact that White comes off the bench and routinely gets starter's minutes, seems to back this theory up (White had 27 minutes last night, McCabe 11 and he wasn't in deep foul trouble).

One thing it seams like people do is compare someone like McCabe or May to starters on different teams. Since they don't compare well to those starters they come to the conclusion that they are not big 10 caliber players. Most teams have a McCabe or a May that comes off the bench.
 
Thanks for the clip, Jon. I didn't know Roy Sr. was from Flint, MI. Talk about a basketball mecca. They have been cranking out exceptional D1 basketball players for a loooong time. MSU has practically built their program on a foundation of Flint players.

Des Moines needs to start pulling their athletic weight here in the state of Iowa. :)
 
Maybe the biggest impact Marble had on the game last night was knowing to slow it down just as Boise got on a run. He did a good job changing tempo to deflate them. That was something magical.
 
Roy couldn't handle the ball like Devyn, and he couldn't shoot from more than about 16 feet. He could catch the ball, take a dribble, elevate above his defender, and drain a 16' to 6' jumper like few others. He was made for the Doctors game, a guy between the three point shooters and the post up players. One of my favorite hawks.
 
I would argue most good Big Ten teams don't give scholarships to guys like McCabe and May.

I appreciate that McCabe at least has some gritty toughness and confidence, and I wish nothing but the best for him and May.

But I don't want Fran to be giving guys like this scholarships in the future. I think those days are finally done.
 
the kid has improved his ball handlings skills and his FT shooting
i fully expect his ability to shoot the 3 ball to improve as well
right now his job is to handle the ball not shoot 3's
not sure why people are against him being a 2 next season having two ball handlers on the court will make the team so much harder to prepare for
Oglesby is a good shooter but not the ball handler that Marble has turned out to be
as for White watch where he is playing it is primarily on the wing when he come in
he may come in for McCabe but he ends up on the wing
this year it looks like we are running a 3 guard and 2 forward lineup
it is this reason why i like Marble at the 2 he creates too many mismatches
last year and this summer too many people wrote Marble off
this year he has a 4 asst to 1 turnover and is avg dbl digit scoring as a sophamore
 
I would argue most good Big Ten teams don't give scholarships to guys like McCabe and May. I appreciate that McCabe at least has some gritty toughness and confidence, and I wish nothing but the best for him and May. But I don't want Fran to be giving guys like this scholarships in the future. I think those days are finally done.
 
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