Not Enough Minutes to Go Around

[JonDMiller]

Olaseni is a role player, and that role is to be effective on the boards and defense. However, he is still limited on offense and that improvement isn't going to come during the season. He'll need another off season of refinement there. He might come into his own offensively as a senior.

 

[9YRPLAN]

as mentioned, this is a problem that fran is creating himself by playing may and mccabe too much.

 

[JHHawk]

This depth is crucial if the injury bug hits,which it usually does at Iowa. If not,then we have a lot of guys who are similar in talent,which means it helps mitigate the fatigue factor,but might not make us all that much better a team. We can only play 5 at a time.
Next year,we will have 13 guys who might be ready to play. Problem is that many are similar. McCabe,Mel,Meyer,Uthoff,and White all seem similar. Gesell and Clemmons are similar. I still think we lack a slashing quick athlete on the wing next year...unless Jok is that guy. Ingram maybe..but he is short.

At least at Kentucky they have a clear pecking order....5 or 6 top 20 frosh, a top 20 soph,then a bunch of older guys who probably will not play. So,no dissension on the bench. Fran is going to have his hands full next year keeping this crew happy. We need guards,like Jok,to play right away. Uthoff cannot redshirt. Maybe Gabe?

 

[Hawkfnntn]

If the team is winning I'm not going to 2nd guess a whole lot on how coach is dividing up the mins. He knows who's playing/practicing better than I do. It's obvious the team is deeper then the last few years and whatever ways we can matchup with who we are playing better is the way to go. I like that this team can play small and big and has more capable ball handlers. I've read people saying that Utoff will play the 4?? I've read that he's 6'8 200-210 lbs. I don't see him being able to bang down low much. I do think he'll play a good 3 and maybe even 2. Seems like his skill set says he can handle the ball and shoot alittle. I don't see him with his back to the basket much or being expected to rebound like Basabe. Now if he's been packing on some weight and strength and gets up closer to 220-225 come next season I reserve the right to change my mind...Maybe haha

 

[Bigtenchamp]

quite true... the thing that is pretty nice is that we have depth in the front court and the back court.

 

[ssckelley]

Re: I wouldn't say...

Meyer "needs" minutes next year. Guys get minutes when they are playing better than the guy ahead of them. He will not be eating into Woodbury or Basabe's minutes next year against good teams. The point of redshirting Meyer was so that by his 4th and 5th years on campus (his junior and senior years) he is ready to contribute when the opportunity arises. Bo Ryan has been a master at developing big players who end up contributing in the latter part of their careers.

We currently have enough players to press. I wouldn't say we have enough athletic/long players to press good teams effectively. Iowa hasn't had to actually deal with this issue for years, as we've not had 10+ B1G-caliber players on the roster at the same time in so long. Managing egos and playing time is something a good coach has to do. Coaches have to get the guys at the end of the bench to accept their role on a good team (for upperclassmen) or help them see a future opportunity (for young players) if they stick around. This is much easier to do if the team has success. It's vital for the program's long-term health. It's why Ryan was so upset with Uthoff leaving. Uthoff most likely wouldn't be a huge cog in this year's Wisconsin team (I might be wrong) but with Brusewitz, Evans and Bergren being seniors Wisky really needed Uthoff to contribute in 2013-2014.

I agree the minutes are going to be earned along with everything you said about him being redshirted. It is the same argument I have made over and over on how bad Olaseni needed a redshirt year, unfortunately last years team did not have the depth at the post positions. But I doubt Fran will leave a scholarship player on the bench and not use him at all. JDM posted an article mentioning Jok and Uthoff, I wonder if he forgot all about Meyer coming off the redshirt or if he just sees Meyer as a non factor (if this is the case he could have mentioned that).