I enjoyed watching Gesell his four years at Iowa, but he isn't the greatest point guard to play the game. There are going to be lots of point guards better than him, and some that aren't as good. If he starts at the point guard position next year, its Williams turn to show what he can do. Hopefully, he will be better than Gesell. Gesell did have a successful career both athletically and academically at Iowa. I read he was getting married soon, and I hope he has a great life. He should be successful whether he is playing basketball or not, but I doubt he has NBA aspirations. I read where Fran thinks he might end up in Germany to play. In the summer of 2017 Iowa might take another summer trip to Germany because Uhl is from there.
Player Predictions
- Thread starter NikeHawk21
- Start date
If you were behind Ellingson at any point of the year as a freshman common sense would say you're not going to be all conference your sophomore year.
He doesn't need to be anywhere near all conference material to play as well as Gesell did this year.
Gesell was HM all conference and Williams doesn't need to be anywhere near all conference material to be as good as him? I don't understand your hate for Mike but he wasn't all conference because he was a 4 year starter, he was all conference because he averaged 8ppg and was third in the big ten in assists
I get why you think I hate Gesell. It's hard to compare two players over text without sounding like you hate one of them. His assists stat probably did play a part in it. But his high assists were a product of playing on a fast paced team and JU and PJ making jump shots. Mike never really created for others by making a play. It was mostly through the flow of the offense. You can't think of 3 point guards you would have rather had last year?
I can think of a lot more than 3 guards I'd rather have this year than what we currently have and I'd rather have Mike on our roster next season. I'd be thrilled if we got 8 points and 6 assists per game out of CW this year but I think that is extremely optimistic.
FranklinHawk
Well-Known Member
MG and CW (I think) are very different players, so you can't really compare specific stats. CW will likely average fewer assists because he seems more aggressive, but with his length may average more steals (which can lead to 2-3 points much like an assist can). We only seen a small sample size with CW, so it's tough to predict how he will improve over the summer and play next season.
NikeHawk21
Well-Known Member
Debatable.
There were some injuries & suspensions in there but as far as PGs in the Big 10 I got:
1. Yogi
2. Melo
3. Koenig
4. Walton
5. Mason
6. Garner / MG / Maybe Lyle in terms of talent.
On top of that I believe the all conference does not require a PG and is really broken down as just guards and forwards. Some would argue that MG was the 3rd best guard on his team. Anyways take the aforementioned PGs plus:
Jok, Forbes, Sulaimon, Valentine, Nunn and others. (This doesn't include a few wing players that I would rank above MG).
By no way was MG a shoe in all conference player this year, I have to imagine Fran politicked pretty hard for MG, as he was a four year senior starter.
In regards to your stats argument. Here are a couple ways CW can outplay MG in a non statistical (sort of) way.
1. Show the willingness and ability to knock down threes. He doesn't have to shoot 40%, but if he can make defenders respect his shot, it will open up the floor for other players to operate.
2. Make the tough clutch plays down the stretch to help his team win games. Quite frankly, MG was one of the most unclutch basketball players I've ever seen.
3. I think his size and length will put pressure on opposing teams, in ways MG could not. I'm not sure if we will see him post up smaller guards, but it's probably worth a shot.
What's crazy to me is people are so quick to discredit Mike for what he did and then think it's reasonable to expect his backup who played 885 minutes less than him to be just as good or better than him next season.
NikeHawk21
Well-Known Member
Wow. Excellent Rebuttle. I expected nothing less from you.
Uthoff was behind McCabe his first year.
No he wasn't. Uthoff played more minutes, scored more points, had more rebounds, blocks, etc. He was statistically better across the board and was 4th on the team in scoring that year
You also think CW could be a 12 ppg player because Gesell and Sapp raved about his abilities when they said the same thing about Fleming before the season started.
McCabe and Uthoff only played one year together and Uthoff was not behind him.
I thought Uthoff was behind McCabe and Uthoff had to sit out a year before that. Williams was a true freshman last year. Uthoff ended up being all conference and an all American. They even say that Uthoff might be a first round draft pick. It really isn't written yet what Williams will accomplish in college.
Uthoff sat out a year and then was ahead of McCabe the only year they played together. I wouldn't be surprised if Williams ends up being an all conference caliber player his senior year but I expect next year to be rough for him. Williams is a natural wing and is going to be asked to start at PG in the Big Ten, that's a monumental task for someone with no experience.
It was awhile ago, but I remember people complaining that McCabe was in when the games were being decided over other players, including Uthoff. Its history now, but what Williams will do next year hasn't been written yet. He does appear to have a lot of ability. Fran hasn't played other players over guys that have started for two, three, or four years. If Ulis would of come to Iowa he might of played a lot, but I can't see the coaching staff starting him over a guy that had been a starter for three years. You can have a ton of ability, but experience is pretty important. Next year Williams won't be a true freshman. I imagine it might take him some games to get into his groove.
Ulis would have been a starter from day one at Iowa. He's going to be a first rounder after two years in college. That's crazy talk.
