JonDMiller
Publisher/Founder
Iowa junior guard Matt Gatens seems to come under fire as of late with every Hawkeye loss.
People love to play the blame game. If something goes wrong, it seems a human instinct is to find out why and assign blame, even if that blame is misdirected or not exactly well thought out.
In my opinion, that's what going on with Matt Gatens and some of the venom that is coming his way from Iowa fans.
Hey, I realize that Matt isn't exactly setting the world on fire as of late, but few of his teammates are doing that and none of them is doing so consistently. Matt is option #1 or 1a on a Big Ten team where he was never suited to have to perform in that role. However, due to his loyalty to his hometown and his lifelong dream of wanting to be an Iowa basketball player, he stuck around when it would have been easier to leave. Far easier to leave.
Had he left, he would have been vilified worse than Jason Bohanon was for committing to and playing for Wisconsin. Jason was the son of a Hawkeye Rose Bowl quarterback and prepped in Cedar Rapids.
However, a star player, the state's Mr. Basketball, leaving Johnson County would have been akin to outright treason in the minds of some fans and the outrage would have been deafening, or in the case of the message board world, blinding.
During Iowa's current three game losing streak, Gatens is 23 of 66 from the floor, or 34.8%. As Iowa's best, and only legitimate three-point shooting threat, he's 9 of 39 from distance, or 23%.
Those are rough numbers for your best shooter and the offensive player you have focused on as your leader and I won't say differently.
However, as I stated above, I don't believe Gatens was ever suited to have to be the go to guy, or the lone shooter, or the best offensive player, etc. It's unfair to have those expectations of Gatens when the function of the talent around him is something he has no control over.
Which is why when I saw my friend Chris Hassel of WHO-TV in Des Moines tweet the following, I instantly stepped in from the lanai on Sanibel Island, FL to write something. Here is what Hassel tweeted:
"Matt Gatens is one below average season away from becoming the most overrated Hawkeye bball player of all-time."
Perhaps I am just too sensitive to criticisms of players. I won't argue that I am not; I hate it when people tee off on kids that choose to wear the Iowa uniform considering all of the time they put in to try to bring us something that has given most of us (at least over the age of 20) a lot of joy through the years and more often than not.
But to say he is one below average season away from becoming one of the most overrated Hawkeye basketball players of all time?
Sorry, I can't go there and not even half way.
Matt Gatens has scored just over 1,060 points in his Iowa career. If he is healthy next season, he will top the 1,400 mark with an outside shot at the 1,500 point mark.
Ed Horton scored 1,372 points in his career, good for 12th on Iowa's all time scoring list. If Gatens can top 1,502, he'll pass Jeff Horner for 11th place all time.
Say Gatens scores his average over the next two games, and say Iowa loses that second game in the first round of the Big Ten tourney. He will have scored around 1,100 points in three seasons. If he averages 12.5 points per game next year and plays in 32 games, he will push Horner's mark and also Brunner's 1,516 which is 10th all time.
Gatens' scoring average has increased in each of this three seasons and has never been below 10.8.
I guess we'd have to define what an average season is before we can talk about what below average is. But when you are talking about someone that is on pace to challenge for a Top 10 position on Iowa's all time scoring list if he averages as many points next year as he has in this year that many feel is a disappointment, then I can hardly categorize that as having an overrated career, much less the most overrated player in Iowa basketball history.
Some will now say that stats can lie, etc. Sure they can. However, I am fine going deeper with you because a deeper analysis is necessary before tossing around such epitaphs.
This Iowa team is going to lose at least 20 games. Last year's team lost more than 20. Prior to last season, no Iowa team had ever lost more than 19 games, and the three year Todd Lickliter stretch was the worst three year period in Iowa basketball history. It made those 50-plus year old Iowa fans pine for the Dick Schultz era, and that era frankly sucked.
It was also the era that Matt's dad Mike played in, mostly. Mike was there at the tail end of the Schultz era and the beginning of the Lute Olson era. I am hopeful that Matt will also be around for a season next year where the tide begins to shift for this program. At least Matt has his father to turn to for guidance and perspective on this situation.
Gatens stayed around with Jake Kelly and Jeff Peterson left. Gatens stayed around with Aaron Fuller left. Lickliter wasn't a great recruiter to begin with but Gatens is the rare player that commits to a school, not a coach. He committed to Steve Alford and stayed when Lickliter was hired and stayed when McCaffery was hired.
He stayed when others left or were fired, and he knew what it wasn't going to be easy in staying.
This year, he is Iowa's lone, legit three-point threat. That means defenses don't need to sag off him all that much, because if one guy stays home on Gatens, the chances of being burned elsewhere are not high. It was worse last year with Cully Payne as Iowa's point guard, because he was a true frosh and didn't have the abilities that Bryce Cartwright possesses in getting to the rim and being someone the defense marks. Gatens has also had an emerging Melsahn Basabe this year, which will pay dividends next year.
If Iowa had one more consistent outside shooter this year (hello, Ben Brust), Gatens numbers would have been better and he would be looking at a fun 2011-2012 because of the point guard, post player options that Iowa has in Cartwright and Basabe, and someone on the opposite wing to draw attention.
Can Zach McCabe step into that role? Eric May? Devyn Marble? Someone really needs to. At any rate, Cartwright and Basabe are going to be circled on the scouting report next year which is going to benefit Gatens.
The biggest criticism I would lay at Matt's feet this year is his flagging defense; I think he has allowed his offensive struggles to carry over to the other side of the court, a cardinal basketball sin. He has never been an elite defender nor will he be, but the second half of this season has been a defensive erosion.
Gatens is slumping to the finish line this year in a season that began with a pin in his hand and where he had to play several games with a brace on his wrist. That jacks with muscle memory and can affect a shot. It hasn't been an easy ride for him this year and the last two years he was simply a marked man.
Teams are wise to focus on Gatens, because even if Basabe and Cartwright get theirs, if you harass Gatens and keep him off kilter, the Hawks will be hard pressed to score 65 points and they aren't exactly a steel curtain on defense this year.
Gatens should never have been in the position he has found himself in, as a Big Ten number-one scoring option. That's not who he was or who he is. He'd be a great #3 option, ala Jason Bohannon.
When people think of Bohannon, they think 'Great career at Wisconsin,' even though he never averaged more than 11.8 points per game in any season and finished with 1,170 points, a mark Gatens will eclipse by the end of November 2011.
Yet Bohannon played for a program where he fulfilled his role because he had good pieces around him that fulfilled their roles, and they won. Are you going to fault Matt Gatens for such aspects that have been lacking in the program he committed to?
Perhaps keep some of these things in mind when you consider not on Gatens' season and career, but the commitment he has shown to his hometown school and the Iowa basketball program during the past four years.
Believe it or not, things would be much worse without him.
People love to play the blame game. If something goes wrong, it seems a human instinct is to find out why and assign blame, even if that blame is misdirected or not exactly well thought out.
In my opinion, that's what going on with Matt Gatens and some of the venom that is coming his way from Iowa fans.
Hey, I realize that Matt isn't exactly setting the world on fire as of late, but few of his teammates are doing that and none of them is doing so consistently. Matt is option #1 or 1a on a Big Ten team where he was never suited to have to perform in that role. However, due to his loyalty to his hometown and his lifelong dream of wanting to be an Iowa basketball player, he stuck around when it would have been easier to leave. Far easier to leave.
Had he left, he would have been vilified worse than Jason Bohanon was for committing to and playing for Wisconsin. Jason was the son of a Hawkeye Rose Bowl quarterback and prepped in Cedar Rapids.
However, a star player, the state's Mr. Basketball, leaving Johnson County would have been akin to outright treason in the minds of some fans and the outrage would have been deafening, or in the case of the message board world, blinding.
During Iowa's current three game losing streak, Gatens is 23 of 66 from the floor, or 34.8%. As Iowa's best, and only legitimate three-point shooting threat, he's 9 of 39 from distance, or 23%.
Those are rough numbers for your best shooter and the offensive player you have focused on as your leader and I won't say differently.
However, as I stated above, I don't believe Gatens was ever suited to have to be the go to guy, or the lone shooter, or the best offensive player, etc. It's unfair to have those expectations of Gatens when the function of the talent around him is something he has no control over.
Which is why when I saw my friend Chris Hassel of WHO-TV in Des Moines tweet the following, I instantly stepped in from the lanai on Sanibel Island, FL to write something. Here is what Hassel tweeted:
"Matt Gatens is one below average season away from becoming the most overrated Hawkeye bball player of all-time."
Perhaps I am just too sensitive to criticisms of players. I won't argue that I am not; I hate it when people tee off on kids that choose to wear the Iowa uniform considering all of the time they put in to try to bring us something that has given most of us (at least over the age of 20) a lot of joy through the years and more often than not.
But to say he is one below average season away from becoming one of the most overrated Hawkeye basketball players of all time?
Sorry, I can't go there and not even half way.
Matt Gatens has scored just over 1,060 points in his Iowa career. If he is healthy next season, he will top the 1,400 mark with an outside shot at the 1,500 point mark.
Ed Horton scored 1,372 points in his career, good for 12th on Iowa's all time scoring list. If Gatens can top 1,502, he'll pass Jeff Horner for 11th place all time.
Say Gatens scores his average over the next two games, and say Iowa loses that second game in the first round of the Big Ten tourney. He will have scored around 1,100 points in three seasons. If he averages 12.5 points per game next year and plays in 32 games, he will push Horner's mark and also Brunner's 1,516 which is 10th all time.
Gatens' scoring average has increased in each of this three seasons and has never been below 10.8.
I guess we'd have to define what an average season is before we can talk about what below average is. But when you are talking about someone that is on pace to challenge for a Top 10 position on Iowa's all time scoring list if he averages as many points next year as he has in this year that many feel is a disappointment, then I can hardly categorize that as having an overrated career, much less the most overrated player in Iowa basketball history.
Some will now say that stats can lie, etc. Sure they can. However, I am fine going deeper with you because a deeper analysis is necessary before tossing around such epitaphs.
This Iowa team is going to lose at least 20 games. Last year's team lost more than 20. Prior to last season, no Iowa team had ever lost more than 19 games, and the three year Todd Lickliter stretch was the worst three year period in Iowa basketball history. It made those 50-plus year old Iowa fans pine for the Dick Schultz era, and that era frankly sucked.
It was also the era that Matt's dad Mike played in, mostly. Mike was there at the tail end of the Schultz era and the beginning of the Lute Olson era. I am hopeful that Matt will also be around for a season next year where the tide begins to shift for this program. At least Matt has his father to turn to for guidance and perspective on this situation.
Gatens stayed around with Jake Kelly and Jeff Peterson left. Gatens stayed around with Aaron Fuller left. Lickliter wasn't a great recruiter to begin with but Gatens is the rare player that commits to a school, not a coach. He committed to Steve Alford and stayed when Lickliter was hired and stayed when McCaffery was hired.
He stayed when others left or were fired, and he knew what it wasn't going to be easy in staying.
This year, he is Iowa's lone, legit three-point threat. That means defenses don't need to sag off him all that much, because if one guy stays home on Gatens, the chances of being burned elsewhere are not high. It was worse last year with Cully Payne as Iowa's point guard, because he was a true frosh and didn't have the abilities that Bryce Cartwright possesses in getting to the rim and being someone the defense marks. Gatens has also had an emerging Melsahn Basabe this year, which will pay dividends next year.
If Iowa had one more consistent outside shooter this year (hello, Ben Brust), Gatens numbers would have been better and he would be looking at a fun 2011-2012 because of the point guard, post player options that Iowa has in Cartwright and Basabe, and someone on the opposite wing to draw attention.
Can Zach McCabe step into that role? Eric May? Devyn Marble? Someone really needs to. At any rate, Cartwright and Basabe are going to be circled on the scouting report next year which is going to benefit Gatens.
The biggest criticism I would lay at Matt's feet this year is his flagging defense; I think he has allowed his offensive struggles to carry over to the other side of the court, a cardinal basketball sin. He has never been an elite defender nor will he be, but the second half of this season has been a defensive erosion.
Gatens is slumping to the finish line this year in a season that began with a pin in his hand and where he had to play several games with a brace on his wrist. That jacks with muscle memory and can affect a shot. It hasn't been an easy ride for him this year and the last two years he was simply a marked man.
Teams are wise to focus on Gatens, because even if Basabe and Cartwright get theirs, if you harass Gatens and keep him off kilter, the Hawks will be hard pressed to score 65 points and they aren't exactly a steel curtain on defense this year.
Gatens should never have been in the position he has found himself in, as a Big Ten number-one scoring option. That's not who he was or who he is. He'd be a great #3 option, ala Jason Bohannon.
When people think of Bohannon, they think 'Great career at Wisconsin,' even though he never averaged more than 11.8 points per game in any season and finished with 1,170 points, a mark Gatens will eclipse by the end of November 2011.
Yet Bohannon played for a program where he fulfilled his role because he had good pieces around him that fulfilled their roles, and they won. Are you going to fault Matt Gatens for such aspects that have been lacking in the program he committed to?
Perhaps keep some of these things in mind when you consider not on Gatens' season and career, but the commitment he has shown to his hometown school and the Iowa basketball program during the past four years.
Believe it or not, things would be much worse without him.
