Olaseni to Redshirt next year?

tednugentfan said:
This makes no sense to me. I see it as an admission the staff doesn't think they can recruit someone better in here after Basabe graduates. Lots to like about Olaseni's athleticism, attitude, etc., but if he needs that much development, then the staff should not have offered in the first place. Two years in the program and he has shown improvement, but he still struggles to finish like a guy his size should. There were three occasions when he should have ripped the rim off the basket yesterday and instead he crotched weak layups. We need more guys like Basabe who can finish.
Click to expand...

I am going to agree and disagree with you here.

To me, it makes sense, if it happens maybe he doesn't see a big guy in the 2014 class that is going to make an impact. At that point Gabe/Woodbury/Meyer would be able to let Fran wait another season to go get some big guys for the 2015 class.

Gabe reminds me of Kurt Looby, I would have liked to see him his first two years, but he went the JUCO route and still ended up at Iowa. Looby's Jr year was painful to watch and not as painful for me as watching Gabe play this year.

If Fran does this, it allows Gabe to relax and learn for a year and come back with something to prove, I like the upside to Olaseni and if Fran/Gabe feel it is for the best, then so be it.
 
If this happens you lose Gabe and Woody in the same year. That would be tough, but at the same time Gabe could use the extra year. I think he has improved a lot since last year even, and could continue to with extra time. I don't think it is an insult, but if this does happen it means that Fran likes what he has seen from Meyer enough to take that time with Gabe. I think it is a good sign for the program.

Just think this year if Gabe and Woody could both finish at the rim where this team would be. I can't wait to see Woodbury next year. I think he will be very improved.
 
tm3308 said:
I could buy this with Ingram. With Olaseni, I think his potential is too high. He's a guy who redshirting could pay huge dividends. With Ingram, maybe not, IDK. But Gabe has the kind of size/athleticism combo Iowa hasn't had in quite some time; he's just raw in terms of basketball skills, but he's already making rapid improvement in that area.
Click to expand...

Iowa has never had a player with the size and athleticism that Gabe has.

I have no idea if he will ever come anywhere close to what he could be but for his size his athleticism is eliet.

Watching him pressure the ball in the full court truly shows how athletic the guy is.

Redshirting him makes sense to me, hes the rare type who could legitimately get exponentially better every year. That extra year could give you a much higher return than normal.
 
If Fran is really considering this I take it as a good sign that Meyer is coming along in practice. We need another big behind Woodbury and if Fran feels that Meyer/Basabe can handle opposing 5's defensively then that is a good sign. I do see the upside of this as Olesani is still very raw on both ends, he gets himself out of place on defense and awful lot and we all saw him struggle to finish on Saturday, but he is very athletic and does have a nice free throw stroke too. If he does redshirt this will make for a huge hit when this class graduates though, Gesell, Clemmons, Uthoff, Woodbury, Olesani, and Ingram, that will be hard to replace.
 
hawkfan33 said:
If Fran is really considering this I take it as a good sign that Meyer is coming along in practice. We need another big behind Woodbury and if Fran feels that Meyer/Basabe can handle opposing 5's defensively then that is a good sign. I do see the upside of this as Olesani is still very raw on both ends, he gets himself out of place on defense and awful lot and we all saw him struggle to finish on Saturday, but he is very athletic and does have a nice free throw stroke too. If he does redshirt this will make for a huge hit when this class graduates though, Gesell, Clemmons, Uthoff, Woodbury, Olesani, and Ingram, that will be hard to replace.
Click to expand...

Or we will be well on the rise and get a Calapari like class :) one can dream
 
hawkfan33 said:
If Fran is really considering this I take it as a good sign that Meyer is coming along in practice. We need another big behind Woodbury and if Fran feels that Meyer/Basabe can handle opposing 5's defensively then that is a good sign.
Click to expand...

I have seen Meyer shooting in the practice gym and on the floor before and after practice, and from what I can see, he's a pretty damn good shooter. He can make three's consistently too, which would be huge for this team. Granted it is in an empty arena or practice gym.
 
ajkhawkeye said:
I have seen Meyer shooting in the practice gym and on the floor before and after practice, and from what I can see, he's a pretty damn good shooter. He can make three's consistently too, which would be huge for this team. Granted it is in an empty arena or practice gym.
Click to expand...

That's certainly not a bad thing, but I'm more worried about his post defense and rebounding. Having a big man who could stretch the floor would really provide a different element to the offense.
 
hawkfan33 said:
Hey I'm all for that. I'm very excited to see who we bring in in the 2014 class, that will go along way toward lessening the blow of those guys leaving.
Click to expand...

I know and I have you're concern but I guess I think the upside of red shirting him could be pretty darn high. At the same point whois to say he grows without minutes and just a year of practice. Ill trust Fran in whatever decision he makes and maybe that makes me a fool. I just take a look back and think about where we were before Fran and give him the benefit on a lot of things that others don't.

I think if our football team didnt't suck so bad there would be a lot less negative bball threads.
 
hawkfan33 said:
That's certainly not a bad thing, but I'm more worried about his post defense and rebounding. Having a big man who could stretch the floor would really provide a different element to the offense.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I agree. I'm excited to see what Meyer, Uthoff (who I've also seen and is lights out), and Jok will bring to this team who sorely needs good shooters. Uthoff and Meyer should help in that dept and obviously Jok will be huge next year IMO.
I'm also not sure about Meyer's defensive abilities as it compares to B1G talent. I'm not sure if he has the foot speed to consistently defend well against quicker big men. This redshirt season is key for him to develop his game because the only live games I've seen from him (B&G Blowout and the Quincy game) he looked pretty lost out there on both ends of the ball.
 
I wouldn't look at Gabe red shirting as any kind of significant sign Meyer is making great progress. I would, however, take it as Fran thinking very highly of Gabe's potential.
There won't be more minutes for Gabe next year: there will be less! When you add Uthoff to McCabe, Mel, White, Woody... I don't think there is room for another. I think Fran is very fair, and I could see him thinking it is unfair to Gabe to put him in a very difficult situation playing-time wise. I also think he has first-hand seen his strides of significant growth.
I'm loving the thought of twin towers if Gabe was held back a year. I believe Woody and Gabe could demonstrate the defensive prowess to play together.
 
hawkfarmer said:
If this happens you lose Gabe and Woody in the same year. That would be tough, but at the same time Gabe could use the extra year. I think he has improved a lot since last year even, and could continue to with extra time. I don't think it is an insult, but if this does happen it means that Fran likes what he has seen from Meyer enough to take that time with Gabe. I think it is a good sign for the program.

Just think this year if Gabe and Woody could both finish at the rim where this team would be. I can't wait to see Woodbury next year. I think he will be very improved.
Click to expand...

The alternative is losing Gabe/White in the same year though. I do think it will buy a year on recruiting big guys and Iowa can focus on athleticism and the backcourt for the 2014 class and not reach for a big man.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Share this page

Top