Myth or Reality??

sportstalent

sportstalent

Well-Known Member
The impacts of Bryce Cartwright and Melsahn Basabe are players that will go down as two very good or great players in Iowa Basketball.

Okay, first let me say that I love watching both of these players. Each were ridiculed by myself at the start of the season when they started a little slow in the turnover-in-waiting spotlight.

At the end of the season, each player was named honarable-mention ABT and as fans, each has been anoited as players that are driving Iowa's turning of the corner.

The question that I have is this: Is each player "great" or have we as fans been so deprived of uptempo and athleticism that the impact of these players is overblown?

One thing is for certain, each of these guys is hurting the perception on Iowa's next class right now. The staff hit homerun's on these two players late and now there is a thought that Iowa isn't getting the players they should. Remember Cartwright and Basabe were not highly rated, but each developed as the season went along and got accolades they deserved.

Iowa targeted Oglesby and White over the Summer and got both of them, not bad. Iowa has targeted more highly rated players after the first of the year and have been in the running for some and still are today, again not bad. If Iowa ends up getting three no-name recruits like Cartwright and Basabe, not bad. The one thing that has to be kept in mind, if Iowa has to sign kids later this year, they may not have the impact of Cartwright or Basabe.

Player development with solid recruiting will get Iowa back in the postseason.
 
I dont think that they are hurting the preception of this class at all. Everyone is worried that we can't fill the last 3 spots. I'm sure everyone will be fine with whoever we bring in (except the few who dont like the whole Hubbard situation.)
 
If Cartwright had 3 more years, he would go down as a great one. He will go down as a player who helped turn things around at Iowa. Basabe will go down as a GREAT Hawkeye, certainly one of the best in a long time. This is of course assuming he improves and stays healthy.
 
Freeman was HM in Lick's first year. Kelly was HM year 2 and Gatens was all frosh. Gatens was HM year 3 and May was all-frosh and Fuller was HM.

Iowa sucked all those years.

Basically, each of Lick's teams had same accolades and success as this year's team. So, it's a myth that things are significantly different. An all-frosh and a couple of HM players means you are a bottom dweller in the conference in most instances.
 
For me the greatest impact Basabe and Cartwright had last year was giving us hope for a better future. If McCaffrey had rolled in two stiffs in like Lickliter made a habit of doing, none of us would be waiting on pins and needles for recruiting news. We were not good, but showed glimpses of respectability and IMO, we owe a large chunk of that Cartwright and Basabe.
 
hawkIhoops said:
For me the greatest impact Basabe and Cartwright had last year was giving us hope for a better future. If McCaffrey had rolled in two stiffs in like Lickliter made a habit of doing, none of us would be waiting on pins and needles for recruiting news. We were not good, but showed glimpses of respectability and IMO, we owe a large chunk of that Cartwright and Basabe.
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You obviously did not read my post. Lick rolled in guys that received almost the exact accolades as Mel and BC pretty much every year. All frosh and HM doesn't mean much.
 
CAARHawk said:
You obviously did not read my post. Lick rolled in guys that received almost the exact accolades as Mel and BC pretty much every year. All frosh and HM doesn't mean much.
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Cellar dwellers will usually get some representation on HM. But Cartwright and Basabe did give us hope for the future. Not in their accolades (as you pointed out, other players received similar awards at one point or another, and we sucked), but with their play on the court. By what we saw with our own eyes. In that sense, they did give us hope.
 
CAARHawk said:
Freeman was HM in Lick's first year. Kelly was HM year 2 and Gatens was all frosh. Gatens was HM year 3 and May was all-frosh and Fuller was HM.

Iowa sucked all those years.

Basically, each of Lick's teams had same accolades and success as this year's team. So, it's a myth that things are significantly different. An all-frosh and a couple of HM players means you are a bottom dweller in the conference in most instances.
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Three of the five players you list were gone the next year. I don't know if Lick would have ever succeeded here anyway but lack of player retention killed any chance he may have had.

Will Fran succeed here? I don't know and neither does anyone else but bringing back two HM all-big ten players is something that Lick never did.
 
Cartwright wont be here long enough to make that kind of impact. Cartwright will be viewed as a player who helped bridge the dark period to the light. Someone who made the bad years at least watchable.

Basabe will likely be the first of the great Fran players.
 
sportstalent said:
One thing is for certain, each of these guys is hurting the perception on Iowa's next class right now. The staff hit homerun's on these two players late and now there is a thought that Iowa isn't getting the players they should.
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I don't think that is certain at all. The perception of this recruiting class based on Basabe and Cartwright is that Fran has a good eye for overlooked talent, so there is a thought the newcomers will also develop. Nothing wrong with that thought, the way I see it. Not that we should be getting 4-5 star recruits just yet.

I'm sorry, but I don't see anything unreasonable about expecting to get a commitment from a couple of other 3-star recruits who have an offer from another major-conference school or two. That's not asking for miracles IMO. Under Lick, we were getting commitments from players who only had mid-major offers. You don't think we can do better than that?

Regarding Cartwright - I can't label him "great", but he is without a doubt a good player that is helping us. Basabe is currently a "good" player with the potential to be great as long as he stays healthy and keeps his head on straight.
 
DMU27 said:
Three of the five players you list were gone the next year. I don't know if Lick would have ever succeeded here anyway but lack of player retention killed any chance he may have had.

Will Fran succeed here? I don't know and neither does anyone else but bringing back two HM all-big ten players is something that Lick never did.
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Yes, Lick's inability to keep his team together was a real killer. But so was his inability to get good forwards. Brommer, Archie, Cougill, McCabe, and Fuller is not the front line that is going to be successful in the BIG.
 
1977Hawkeye said:
I'm sorry, but I don't see anything unreasonable about expecting to get a commitment from a couple of other 3-star recruits who have an offer from another major-conference school or two. That's not asking for miracles IMO. Under Lick, we were getting commitments from players who only had mid-major offers. You don't think we can do better than that?
QUOTE]

You left out the most important part of my quote. Each Cartwright/Basabe were not highly rated...you made my point. There is nothing wrong with the kids Iowa is recruiting or the two that are already signed.
However, there are arguments that Oglesby isn't that good, but he will be the most highly rated player coming out of high school Iowa will have on their roster, he is a Top 150 player. White appears to be an underrated recruit if you were to buy in to the competition he played against in high school, then again he may have moments like Marble, who played against high competition in high school.
Others have went into panic mode when Cezar didn't come to Iowa and also, questioned the Iowa staff. There are most who defended Fran and staff, but recruiting is only one piece to the puzzle, player development is just as important. Look at Cartwright/Basabe/Brommer as evidence of how the staff can develop. Yes, Brommer, he was leap years ahead, last year, than his first two years on campus.
If Iowa doesn't get another 4/5* player to sign, but can develop solid players into a team and have one or two develop far beyond their ranking on paper that is what is really important.
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I think its a reality that their experience at Iowa will have a major impact on the future. If both stay until their eligibility expires, enjoy their time here, and have productive careers that may open up recruiting pipelines to California & New York.

Its very hard to sell Iowa to an LA or NYC kid unless you have other young players to back it up.
 
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