Now That The Novelty Has Died Down Some...

Fryowa

Fryowa

Administrator
We're officially two weeks away from the portal closing and it's looking like Iowa is basically Drake 2.0. Coaches and players. I like McCollum but it also looks like he didn't get the cash we all hoped (but never believed) he'd get.

I'll say it again, to compete in the B1G you need big, athletic guys down low. They don't necessarily have to score a bunch of points, but you need guys athletic enough to occupy space and rebound the ball. An All-American PG by himself isn't going to get it done. I think this is starting to show...as has been mentioned here before...that it doesn't necessarily matter who the coach is, money talks and bullshit walks in the NIL era. Are they going to sell more tickets? You bet. Is this thing as it sits going to be a major improvement? I highly doubt it. Remember, Drake's stellar record, while impressive, was done in a terrible mid-major conference followed by a single tourney win. The three P6 wins they had in the regular season were K-State, Vanderbuilt, and Miami and all three were hot garbage. Yes, it's impressive in it's own context, but to basically say that an JV conference team and staff is going to come in the Big Ten and post a winning record is a pretty big stretch in my opinion. This isn't an indictment of McCollum (I think he's a good coach and could win if he had the tools), but it's reality.

Until Iowa can land some athletic (and big) post players this is going to be a rehash of what Fran had the past few years.
 
One could argue that Drake's roster was better than Iowa's last season. Iowa didn't have a win anywhere near as good as beating a team the caliber of Missouri and they had at least double digit chances to beat a team like that or ranked in that space. Also, they stayed with Texas Tech for 3/4'th's of their game with them, we all know Iowa would have been down 30 in that game, probably in the first 10 minutes.

So, having the Drake starting cast, who won 31 games, beat K State, Vanderbilt and Miami ....believing they could at least compete in the B1G isn't THAT hard right? If I were a betting man (and I am) - we are getting that entire roster at such a low amount of NIL, it seems like a sound investment with a lot of potential return.

Also, take a couple things into consideration here. We've only filled 6 ships so far. We get 15. This coaching staff was at an inherent disadvantage as they hadn't been scouting at a B1G Level. That takes time. I am not in any sort of panic mode, nor do I believe that Iowa is facing some stark truths heading into this season. It's too early to know, we haven't even filled half our roster...and the ones we have filled, are more proven commodity then most.

The dust has settled and I'm encouraged still.
 
I'll feel a lot better if they land a tall and/or strong big, and a proven 3pt shooter. Have no idea if either of those type of players are still available in the portal or not.
 
And if the reality is trying to find players undervalued by the market, give me McCollum's system every time over Fran's. McCollum's system emphasizes a team defensive approach, discipline, patience, intelligence, and grit. (Some parallels to Iowa football here). While Fran seemed to be really good at finding players undervalued by the market, it didn't translate into a team that could close the raw talent gap in games. In many ways, his system actually accentuated the gap against good competition. And I think that's why you saw fan interest drop off more than anything (east coast personality, wife is crabby, blah, blah, blah). Fans got sick of watching Iowa get blown out almost every time it was a game with something major on the line. It became impossible to hope for any other outcome. And if you ain't selling results in sports you better be selling hope.

There are still a ton of players out there. A ton. I'm hopeful McCollum can find a couple starters (don't need to be big, just need a couple real players). And show enough grit and competitiveness to get Iowa inching up closer to the middle of the Big Ten pack in cash. There is enough tradition and passion there that I think the right team will knock some dollars loose.
 
Grady said:
I'll feel a lot better if they land a tall and/or strong big, and a proven 3pt shooter. Have no idea if either of those type of players are still available in the portal or not.
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There are still hundreds, this year saw the biggest uptick in the history of CBB with over 1000 entries in the first few days. The portal is open until April 23rd I think? Meaning, there are 15 days left, also meaning, we are pretty much at the half way point.

So far, Iowa has the #1 portal player according to most sites. We also retained a 4 star shooter to again, go along with a bunch of guys who already come from a winning culture, who have beaten teams better than them routinely and will give us a huge up lift as far as installing winning culture, system and should, in theory, help the transition tremendously.

So, ask me before the year... would I take the entire Drake roster or Owen Freeman, Pryce Sandfort and Josh Dix?

Personally I'm taking the Drake roster
 
Not me. No disrespect to Drake, but when fully healthy, talent wise, there is no comparison. Iowa’s talent was much higher than Drake’s.
 
Fryowa said:
We're officially two weeks away from the portal closing and it's looking like Iowa is basically Drake 2.0. Coaches and players. I like McCollum but it also looks like he didn't get the cash we all hoped (but never believed) he'd get.

I'll say it again, to compete in the B1G you need big, athletic guys down low. They don't necessarily have to score a bunch of points, but you need guys athletic enough to occupy space and rebound the ball. An All-American PG by himself isn't going to get it done. I think this is starting to show...as has been mentioned here before...that it doesn't necessarily matter who the coach is, money talks and bullshit walks in the NIL era. Are they going to sell more tickets? You bet. Is this thing as it sits going to be a major improvement? I highly doubt it. Remember, Drake's stellar record, while impressive, was done in a terrible mid-major conference followed by a single tourney win. The three P6 wins they had in the regular season were K-State, Vanderbuilt, and Miami and all three were hot garbage. Yes, it's impressive in it's own context, but to basically say that an JV conference team and staff is going to come in the Big Ten and post a winning record is a pretty big stretch in my opinion. This isn't an indictment of McCollum (I think he's a good coach and could win if he had the tools), but it's reality.

Until Iowa can land some athletic (and big) post players this is going to be a rehash of what Fran had the past few years.
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Agree on the need for big, athletic guys down low. I'm hoping that Dembele is still in the mix to perhaps return to Iowa City. I think he could fit what little I've seen of Ben's system: he can move, he's long and a decent rebounder, and can step out and hit the occasional 3. He needs to be coached up on toughness, footwork, and rebound positioning, but I'm confident the new staff could do that and elevate his game significantly. Has he landed somewhere else yet, or is he still testing the waters?
 
InGoodCo said:
There are still hundreds, this year saw the biggest uptick in the history of CBB with over 1000 entries in the first few days. The portal is open until April 23rd I think? Meaning, there are 15 days left, also meaning, we are pretty much at the half way point.

So far, Iowa has the #1 portal player according to most sites. We also retained a 4 star shooter to again, go along with a bunch of guys who already come from a winning culture, who have beaten teams better than them routinely and will give us a huge up lift as far as installing winning culture, system and should, in theory, help the transition tremendously.

So, ask me before the year... would I take the entire Drake roster or Owen Freeman, Pryce Sandfort and Josh Dix?

Personally I'm taking the Drake roster
Click to expand...
I can only answer a Q like this in hindsight since I didn't watch but a few highlights of Drakes games before the tourny started. In hindsight absolutely I'd take what Drakes guys did over ours. Before hand considering the D2 angle of some of those kids first yrs of being at Drake that's just quite the leap and now they are making an even bigger one. I'm glass half filled on this yet still trying to be realistic on it all too.

We aren't gonna be landing any 5 star anybodies from the portal unless we get really lucky and someone falls into our laps. So long as we land a 6'10 dude that can hopefully look like they belong out there and another guard that can shoot when open we'll have a start to be competitive next yr. Expecting much more then that would be setting ourselves up.
 
InGoodCo said:
There are still hundreds, this year saw the biggest uptick in the history of CBB with over 1000 entries in the first few days. The portal is open until April 23rd I think? Meaning, there are 15 days left, also meaning, we are pretty much at the half way point.

So far, Iowa has the #1 portal player according to most sites. We also retained a 4 star shooter to again, go along with a bunch of guys who already come from a winning culture, who have beaten teams better than them routinely and will give us a huge up lift as far as installing winning culture, system and should, in theory, help the transition tremendously.

So, ask me before the year... would I take the entire Drake roster or Owen Freeman, Pryce Sandfort and Josh Dix?

Personally I'm taking the Drake roster
Click to expand...
I think it would have been a heckuva game between the two teams early in the season, when both were healthy. A bummer that Iowa and the Clones backed out of their annual games with Drake and UNI.
 
Hawkfnntn said:
I can only answer a Q like this in hindsight since I didn't watch but a few highlights of Drakes games before the tourny started. In hindsight absolutely I'd take what Drakes guys did over ours. Before hand considering the D2 angle of some of those kids first yrs of being at Drake that's just quite the leap and now they are making an even bigger one. I'm glass half filled on this yet still trying to be realistic on it all too.

We aren't gonna be landing any 5 star anybodies from the portal unless we get really lucky and someone falls into our laps. So long as we land a 6'10 dude that can hopefully look like they belong out there and another guard that can shoot when open we'll have a start to be competitive next yr. Expecting much more then that would be setting ourselves up.
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I mean coming into this year. Right now, I'll take the Drake starting 5 over Sandfort, Dix and Freeman. That starting 5 proved they can win against good teams. Last years Iowa team didn't. They didn't even beat a team the caliber of Missouri last year at HOME. I think because a few pieces of our team have been coveted, it's diluted our brains into thinking we had a good roster. We had one of the worst in P4.
 
InGoodCo said:
I mean coming into this year. Right now, I'll take the Drake starting 5 over Sandfort, Dix and Freeman. That starting 5 proved they can win against good teams. Last years Iowa team didn't. They didn't even beat a team the caliber of Missouri last year at HOME. I think because a few pieces of our team have been coveted, it's diluted our brains into thinking we had a good roster. We had one of the worst in P4.
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Yeah Iowa couldn't defend a fence post. Had a two headed monster at PG that was really more miss then hit all yr. Couldn't rebound either and those things were universal negatives against everyone we played. Which just went to show that was an Iowa problem not just a we didn't matchup against a certain team thing. Did we outrebound our opponents more then a couple times all yr? Didn't seem like it.
 
Iowa is in the same boat as about two-thirds of the conference. They are at the beginning process of building their roster for 25-26.

Let me see what the roster looks like, once it is complete, and then I will make my assessment.
 
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I'll just throw this out there, too. I think most of us would probably agree point guard is the most important position in college basketball, right? Maybe by quite a bit?

And our new coach recruited, signed and developed two point guards - Trevor Hudgins and Bennett Stirtz - who are better than any point guard Iowa has had over the last 25 years (that being Dean Oliver). And he did it while at a DII school! He had two better points guards in a span of a few years at a DII school than Iowa has had over a quarter century. Think about that.
 
InGoodCo said:
I mean coming into this year. Right now, I'll take the Drake starting 5 over Sandfort, Dix and Freeman. That starting 5 proved they can win against good teams. Last years Iowa team didn't. They didn't even beat a team the caliber of Missouri last year at HOME. I think because a few pieces of our team have been coveted, it's diluted our brains into thinking we had a good roster. We had one of the worst in P4.
Click to expand...

I’m a Fran defender/supporter, but the roster construction the last 3 years wasn’t great.
 
SwirlinLingerie said:
I'll just throw this out there, too. I think most of us would probably agree point guard is the most important position in college basketball, right? Maybe by quite a bit?

And our new coach recruited, signed and developed two point guards - Trevor Hudgins and Bennett Stirtz - who are better than any point guard Iowa has had over the last 25 years (that being Dean Oliver). And he did it while at a DII school! He had two better points guards in a span of a few years at a DII school than Iowa has had over a quarter century. Think about that.
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Jeff Horner?

I get he waffled between point and and shooting guard, but he was really good doing point guard duties.

However, I get your point, tho.
 
trj said:
Jeff Horner?

I get he waffled between point and and shooting guard, but he was really good doing point guard duties.

However, I get your point, tho.
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Horner just got let go by where he was not that long ago so I'm sure he's putting his resume out there. I'd take him Dean Oliver Matt Gatens any of em. But it doesn't look like Ben is going that route
 
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