knighthawk13
Well-Known Member
And who would you give his minutes to? If you say McCabe, I am done discussing this with you.
Miller: Matt Gatens Unlikely Lightning Rod
- Thread starter JonDMiller
- Start date
And who would you give his minutes to? If you say McCabe, I am done discussing this with you.
In 5 years or so someone is going to start a thread titled "Most under-appreciated Hawkeye basketball players" and many people will put Matt Gatens on that list.
If he would have gone to some other school that was recruiting him...or transferred during one of the coaching changes it would have resulted in much uproar. It's not like he's been surrounded by much of a supporting cast and the previous coach sure didn't seem to help his game much.
If he would have gone to some other school that was recruiting him...or transferred during one of the coaching changes it would have resulted in much uproar. It's not like he's been surrounded by much of a supporting cast and the previous coach sure didn't seem to help his game much.
knighthawk13
Well-Known Member
Exactly.
I wonder what Diebler from OSU would look like if he traded places with Gatens.
So Gatens misses open shots because Andrew Brommer isn't Jared Sullinger? Gatens is missing wide open shots, that isn't his supporting cast's fault.
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tm3308
Well-Known Member
Actually, until these past couple weeks, Gatens has been on of the untouchables. Hardly material to put on an "under-appreciated" resume. His past couple weeks' performance has drawn flak because it should. It's been pretty bad.
InNormwetrust
Well-Known Member
Above criticism? No
Deserving of the criticism "One of the most overrated players ever"? Absolutely not.
Deserving of the criticism "One of the most overrated players ever"? Absolutely not.
knighthawk13
Well-Known Member
Diebler misses wide open shots as well. Diebler also gets a lot more wide open looks than Matt does.
Thanks for the good column,John.
Matt has not shot the ball well the last 13 games or so,but you know what...he has been better than anyone else.
3pt shooting percentages of the guys people want to play more:
Marble- 28%
McCabe- 28%
Cartwright- 26%
Gatens- 33%
Matt leads Iowa in scoring, 3pters,FT%, and steals.
He is second in assists and assist/turnover ratio.
He may not be shooting great or matching some folks expectations,but he is still our best player. Bryce is solid,but he has a lot of turnovers,and is shooting a poor percentage. Mel is solid,but also turns the ball over way too much,and has the most turnovers behind Bryce.
Fans on here only look at one thing...shooting.
The game is a 94 ft challenge,and Matt still meets that better than anyone else on this team,yet he is hammered.
Why are fans not getting on Bryce for his lack of defense? Fran has admitted that Bryce is struggling,due to playing too much. Well, Matt plays the most minutes on the team and despite missing 2 full games has only 2 minutes less than Bryce who leads in total minutes. If Matt was healthy all year he would have another 66 minutes easy.
Matt has been an ironman for 3 years,playing thru a lot of big hits,like getting elbowed in the mouth by Krabbenhoft several times as a frosh.
And for this,he gets no love,justs the critics. I call it BS.
Matt has not shot the ball well the last 13 games or so,but you know what...he has been better than anyone else.
3pt shooting percentages of the guys people want to play more:
Marble- 28%
McCabe- 28%
Cartwright- 26%
Gatens- 33%
Matt leads Iowa in scoring, 3pters,FT%, and steals.
He is second in assists and assist/turnover ratio.
He may not be shooting great or matching some folks expectations,but he is still our best player. Bryce is solid,but he has a lot of turnovers,and is shooting a poor percentage. Mel is solid,but also turns the ball over way too much,and has the most turnovers behind Bryce.
Fans on here only look at one thing...shooting.
The game is a 94 ft challenge,and Matt still meets that better than anyone else on this team,yet he is hammered.
Why are fans not getting on Bryce for his lack of defense? Fran has admitted that Bryce is struggling,due to playing too much. Well, Matt plays the most minutes on the team and despite missing 2 full games has only 2 minutes less than Bryce who leads in total minutes. If Matt was healthy all year he would have another 66 minutes easy.
Matt has been an ironman for 3 years,playing thru a lot of big hits,like getting elbowed in the mouth by Krabbenhoft several times as a frosh.
And for this,he gets no love,justs the critics. I call it BS.
tm3308
Well-Known Member
Gatens is not the best player on this team. There's a reason that Gatens was on the bench at the end of the Wisconsin game. He's not a bad player, but he's not our best player, either.
In conference play (only fair way to judge, as Gatens was absent/hurt for all of the OOC games), Gatens has a slight edge in shooting percentage (.395 to .386), but is averaging just 1.6 assists per game, compared to Cartwright's 6.7 (still leading the conference). Cartwright has the edge in A/TO ratio (1.8 to 1.2). Cartwright also out rebounds Gatens (2.64 to 1.94). Gatens leads us in 3 pointers made, so that's something that makes him our best player? He's TAKEN 59 more 3 point attempts than the next guy (Cartwright/McCabe). I would hope that he'd lead us in made 3's given that little tidbit of info. Their defense is pretty much a wash.
Gatens is an important player for us. But Cartwright is our best player, especially now. He's a much better player now than he was in December, and Gatens has hit a wall.
He's been an ironman, I give him a lot of credit for that. But that doesn't mean he is above criticism.
In conference play (only fair way to judge, as Gatens was absent/hurt for all of the OOC games), Gatens has a slight edge in shooting percentage (.395 to .386), but is averaging just 1.6 assists per game, compared to Cartwright's 6.7 (still leading the conference). Cartwright has the edge in A/TO ratio (1.8 to 1.2). Cartwright also out rebounds Gatens (2.64 to 1.94). Gatens leads us in 3 pointers made, so that's something that makes him our best player? He's TAKEN 59 more 3 point attempts than the next guy (Cartwright/McCabe). I would hope that he'd lead us in made 3's given that little tidbit of info. Their defense is pretty much a wash.
Gatens is an important player for us. But Cartwright is our best player, especially now. He's a much better player now than he was in December, and Gatens has hit a wall.
He's been an ironman, I give him a lot of credit for that. But that doesn't mean he is above criticism.
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tweeterhawk
Well-Known Member
Well now, that's a real comfort. We can all feel better about being last place in the Big 10.
hawkIhoops
Well-Known Member
I have been critical of Gatens, but per my earlier post, the knock on Gatens is the same for 99% of Iowa kids. Slow, can't finish at the rim, can't create their own shot off the dribble, easily defended by any quick, athletic player even on mid major teams. As support guys or specialists guys like this are fine, but until we can get the Barnes or Paiges, I don't think this program can suffer any more Iowa kids. Blow me up, call me names, etc., but the proof is in the pudding....May, Gatens, McCabe, Cougill.
Diante Garreett has been a lightning rod as well at ISU and he's had a wonderful year. It's because of the losses...it's that simple. It's not fair to Matt or Diante but it's life in a major conference with hungry/disappointed fans.
Could both have played better in some clutch situations? Yes. Welcome to LeBron's world. It still comes down to winning.
Could both have played better in some clutch situations? Yes. Welcome to LeBron's world. It still comes down to winning.
Section136
Well-Known Member
It seems to me like the article is blaming others for the lack of production from Gatens. Maybe this could turn into an episode of Top 5 Reasons You Can't Blame Matt Gatens.
I think it is mix of people having too high of expectations of Gatens coming in and him not catching any breaks throughout his career (injuries, coaching change, teammates bailing).
I think it is mix of people having too high of expectations of Gatens coming in and him not catching any breaks throughout his career (injuries, coaching change, teammates bailing).
And Diante has still been the subject of extreme criticism. Maybe Matt's is more warranted but it comes with losing. I imagine Matt is pressing.
Watching Matt in high school I'm not sure why he had such lofty expectations. Is it becasue of his ranking or did you guys see him play before he got to Iowa?
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burky247
Well-Known Member
Let's be honest. Gatens gets pounded on this site because he reminds most people of the type of players that came to Iowa in the past administration. One dimensional, slight-to-average athletic ability at best, and inconsistent. I think people look at Gatens and they see the Lickliter Era all over him. And even though he was the "Best of the Worst" in that time frame, fans are so anxious to forget about that time period that they have little patience for the guys that were here in the Lick era.
I feel bad for Matt. He's a great Hawk and has given his all for this program. But a lot of the criticisms are spot on. Hopefully he bounces back.
I feel bad for Matt. He's a great Hawk and has given his all for this program. But a lot of the criticisms are spot on. Hopefully he bounces back.
storminspank
Justin VanLaere
The expectations were heaved upon Matt Gatens when he had one of the better freshman campaigns ever at Iowa. A freshman campaign that almost won him the Big Ten Freshman of the Year award, and award that he finished 2nd to William Buford.
People say 4 star this, yada yada.
The real reason Iowa fans thought Matt could be special was because of the type of freshman season he had. Through his first 15 games as a Hawkeye, he had missed just 1 FT (30/31) and had hit 24 in a row, inching towards Chris Street's record. He put up double digit points in 9 of his first 15 games. He had 41 assists to just 24 turnovers (1.71 A:TO ratio). He shot over 54% from 3 point range (26/48 3 ptrs).
That's the reason there were high hopes and expectations, because he actually delivered as a freshman. He had a down year last year, mostly due to the attention he got. He is having a down year this year, mostly due to the injury he had to his hand.
There have been expectations for Matt for different reasons that star ratings. Couple that with fans needing SOMETHING to be excited about in a 3 years span that was one of the worst in the history of the program. There you go.
People say 4 star this, yada yada.
The real reason Iowa fans thought Matt could be special was because of the type of freshman season he had. Through his first 15 games as a Hawkeye, he had missed just 1 FT (30/31) and had hit 24 in a row, inching towards Chris Street's record. He put up double digit points in 9 of his first 15 games. He had 41 assists to just 24 turnovers (1.71 A:TO ratio). He shot over 54% from 3 point range (26/48 3 ptrs).
That's the reason there were high hopes and expectations, because he actually delivered as a freshman. He had a down year last year, mostly due to the attention he got. He is having a down year this year, mostly due to the injury he had to his hand.
There have been expectations for Matt for different reasons that star ratings. Couple that with fans needing SOMETHING to be excited about in a 3 years span that was one of the worst in the history of the program. There you go.
JonDMiller
Publisher/Founder
Really?
Matt Gatens this year: 52-158 (.329) of his three's this year.
Keaten Nankivil is currently #2 in the Big Ten in 3pt %. Last year, as a junior, he didn't break 30%
Demetri McCamey of Illinois is in the Top 4 in the Big Ten right now, hitting more than 46%. Prior to this year, he had never made better than 34.1% of his threes.
Jordan Taylor from Wisconsin, a phenomenal player, is 6th in the Big Ten on three's this year. Last yea, he made just 32.7% from thre
Now, let's play name that Past Hawk as it relates to 3pt shooting % in a season.
A) This player made just 65-211 (.308) during his junior season
B) This player made just 44-137 (.321) during his freshman season
C) This player made just 70-201 (.348) during his senior season
D) This player made just 55-178 (.309) during his junior season
E) This player made just 93-269 (.346) during his senior season
F) This player made just .320 from three during his junior season and less than that as a freshman
Below is the answer key, and the number to the right is where they rank at Iowa all time in three point field goal attempts
v
v
v
A-Kingsbury (#2)
B-Kingsbury
C-Horner (also .277 as a freshman) (#1)
D-Brody Boyd (#4)
E-Justin Johnson
F-Dean Oliver (#6)
PatrickAdamovicz
Well-Known Member
I don't care about the percentage a player shoots at, I'm more into when do those players make them. At what point in the game? Iowa hasn't had a player this year hit the big shots down the stretch in tight situations.
