Roles for next years team

[NikeHawk21]

With recent departures it appears we have a better idea at how our roster will look next year with the potential of adding a transfer. I thought it might be interesting to discuss potential roles players will fill.

PG / Ballhandlers:
C. Williams, Jordan Bohannon, Potential Transfer, Moss.
Cleary this is a big question mark. This has been discussed at length here so I won't add much.

Rebounders:
Ahmad Wagner, Tyler Cook, Dale Jones, Uhl.
I think we will be fine on the glass, I worry more about post defense.

Stretch 4s:
Uhl, Dale Jones, Baer (if we go small).
Another strength IMO. Fran likes these types.

3pt shooters:
Jok, Jones, Uhl, Baer, Ellingson, Moss & Williams.
Again I think this could be a strength, but as we've seen before with Iowa teams, you never know. I'm hoping Moss will be a better outside shooter than Sapp, and don't believe it will take much for Williams to be better than Mike in that area.

Slashers/ Ability to beat man of dribble:
Moss, Jok (he's average at best in this area, primarily due to having a great outside shot), Uhl (against centers), Williams?
Moss is intriguing here, but again this looks like a weakness, as it has with all Fran's teams.

Interior defense:
Cook, Wagner, Uhl, Jones?
Another weakness IMO. Wagner & Uhl both struggled at times do to lack of height or girth.

Perimeter defenders:
Williams, Moss, Jok (a good steal guy last year, not a great perimeter defender IMO).
Your guess is as good as mine. Probably will struggle with quicker guards.

Length:
Williams, Moss, Jok, Uhl, Jones, Baer, Cook.
A big strength here, as with most Fran teams.

Toughness:
Baer, Wagner, Cook?
It can't be worse than prior years IMO.

Leaders:
Jok (by nature of being the best player, not sure he is a natural leader), Baer, Wagner.

As I have said before, I'm optimistic on next years team. I believe there is enough athleticism, length, and 3pt shooting to win games. Clearly there will are some weaknesses though. Thoughts?

 

[HuckFinn]

Good Stuff, NIKE! I liked the analysis. I must admit that although I was frustrated with the end of the basketball season this year, one of the things I enjoy about watching college basketball is watching the changes that take place every year and wondering what will happen in the future. So, I really enjoyed reading your thoughts about the 16-17 season.

 

[Jjgoiowa11]

I hope this potential transfer doesnt pan out like trey dickerson or that 30 year old felon we had on the team for 3 days.

Ill take another Utoff tho

Im not counting on dale jones

 

[docholihawk]

I think Baer will emerge as a team leader. He works so hard at everything I think others will follow him. He does have to continue to improve in order to get more minutes. My role for the team is to be a fan.

 

[ClintonIAfan]

This team is looking very promising.

 

[deanvogs]

I hate to be that guy, but this team is gonna struggle. Too much youth, and not enough shooters. The good thing is the team should improve all year long, and hopefully be poised to have a good season the following year.

 

[PCHawk]

I hate to be that guy, but this team is gonna struggle. Too much youth, and not enough shooters. The good thing is the team should improve all year long, and hopefully be poised to have a good season the following year.

Improve all year long? I thought Fran teams always had late season collapses?

 

[drew003]

I hate to be that guy, but this team is gonna struggle. Too much youth, and not enough shooters. The good thing is the team should improve all year long, and hopefully be poised to have a good season the following year.

Looking at our current roster objectively, its an NIT roster as best. We are putting a lot of faith in young players who were not heavily recruited.

The team lacks ball handlers, shot creators, interior size, shotblocking, and post defense. It has wing/forward length in spades.

 

[NikeHawk21]

Looking at our current roster objectively, its an NIT roster as best. We are putting a lot of faith in young players who were not heavily recruited.

The team lacks ball handlers, shot creators, interior size, shotblocking, and post defense. It has wing/forward length in spades.

I did forget shot-blockers. Hopefully Cook can provide some shot blocking. Baer, Wagner, Uhl, and Jones can block some shots too. I wouldn't consider this a weakness.

Why is your opinion of this team any more objective than others? I don't understand that. While I wouldn't be surprised if we were an NIT team, I still think we can make the tourney.

UW was 6-5 this year with three bad home losses, a fairly inexperienced team, and ended the year one minute away from the elite 8. Young teams can improve.

 

[Hawk5656]

I hate to be that guy, but this team is gonna struggle. Too much youth, and not enough shooters. The good thing is the team should improve all year long, and hopefully be poised to have a good season the following year.

I think if we can add a solid PG to next year's roster they can be on the right side of the bubble, assuming Jok is back

 

[HawkGold]

Uhl, Wagner, Williams. The key is there. Unknowns as main players. They could be the best trio Iowa has seen in a long time. Of course if that happens one would have to question why we didn't see more of them this year. All have a lot of upside potential.

 

[SteveGarvey]

I think if we can add a solid PG to next year's roster they can be on the right side of the bubble, assuming Jok is back

The odds would seem to be against that. Most good PGs would stick with their original teams. The sharks will be in the water for any remaining good PGs to snatch them up.

 

[WindsorHawk]

We will be young but I like our length, athleticism and versatility. We will create some match-up nightmares for opponents. Also, I am not overly concerned with our youth. Jok, Uhl, Baer, Wagner, Ellingson and Williams all saw the floor when games were still in doubt...meaningful minutes. Jones is an older guy with a year in the system. Moss has a year in the system.

Fran typically gets meaningful contributions from 2 or 3 freshmen. So there are enough pieces there. Fran will have to figure out how they mesh and the most effective way to rotate them...and he will.

 

[WindsorHawk]

Ball handling - Uhl has great handles. Jok has 3 years of experience. So these 2 can help the younger guys against teams that try to press us.

Rebounding - We may not be tall. But we're long and athletic. And we should also get more rebounding from our guards.

Defense - We're long and athletic. Guys should be flying all over the place. And we have a lot of fouls to give...just so they don't result in 3 point plays. Young players and JUCO players (Jones) tend to struggle most on defense. I think we will struggle early and be adequate later in the year. But I think we will be a good pressing team and could "steal" a couple games late. Pun intended.

Shooting - This doesn't concern me. There are some proven guys and some potential. We should be fine.

I think a realistic ceiling is 12-6 in the conference...probably good for another 3rd place tie. I think a realistic floor is 7-11. I expect to play a Thursday (not Wednesday) game in the Big 10 Tournament. And I think we better still be playing on Saturday if we want to play in the NCAA Tournament...will need a couple quality wins.

I won't be disappointed if there is improvement and we play in the NIT. I won't be surprised if we are in the NCAA Tournament in the 7 to 11 seed range.

 

[NikeHawk21]

Uhl, Wagner, Williams. The key is there. Unknowns as main players. They could be the best trio Iowa has seen in a long time. Of course if that happens one would have to question why we didn't see more of them this year. All have a lot of upside potential.

I like it. My key three guys are:

Williams - Can he handle the PG spot for 20-30 minutes a game?

Cook & Moss - I think these are the two best bets to be secondary scoring options on this team. One of these two needs to take some pressure off of Jok.

Cook - Can he be a 10-8 or 12-8 guy for us?
Moss - Can he make plays off the dribble and in transition on a consistent basis?

I do think overall our scoring will be more balanced this year.

 

[ClintonIAfan]

Iowa has made these transitions before with success. Take 1990-1991 for example. Iowa improved and made the ncaa tournament despite losing 4 starters, 2 of them to the NBA, and having to depend on a lot of young and previously unproven starters. This situation reminds me a lot of that. Given the opportunity these guys will also step up and be successful

 

[drew003]

I did forget shot-blockers. Hopefully Cook can provide some shot blocking. Baer, Wagner, Uhl, and Jones can block some shots too. I wouldn't consider this a weakness.

Why is your opinion of this team any more objective than others? I don't understand that. While I wouldn't be surprised if we were an NIT team, I still think we can make the tourney.

UW was 6-5 this year with three bad home losses, a fairly inexperienced team, and ended the year one minute away from the elite 8. Young teams can improve.

I don't think its my opinion. If you compare the experience/production we are returning compared to other teams, objectively (i.e., statistically) it is worse than almost every other Big 10 team. Then, if you look at our youth, it objectively (known offers and recruiting rankings) is worse than many teams in the Big 10. Nebraska returns two Top 100 freshman, one who Isaiah Moss played third wheel to in high school, and nobody around here thinks Nebraska is anything other than an NCAA bubble team at best. Northwestern returns lots of players, and again, they are a bubble team. There is no objective reason to think we will be better than Nebraska or Northwestern next year. Same thing with PSU and Minnesota.

There are subjective reasons, such as thinking that Fran is a better coach than others, our returning players were simply under-recruited, or our players will take great leaps in the off season. I think the team can make the tournament too, but it will require a lot of improvement/development and would be a great testament to Fran and his players.

 

[WindsorHawk]

I like it. My key three guys are:

Williams - Can he handle the PG spot for 20-30 minutes a game?

Cook & Moss - I think these are the two best bets to be secondary scoring options on this team. One of these two needs to take some pressure off of Jok.

Cook - Can he be a 10-8 or 12-8 guy for us?
Moss - Can he make plays off the dribble and in transition on a consistent basis?

I do think overall our scoring will be more balanced this year.

I think Williams will be a D. Marble type scorer. His outside shot will be okay but not great. But he will find ways to get his points. I think he really worked hard all year. I like his mindset. And I think he has some moxie. I'm not predicting 17 a game as a sophomore but I bet he's in double figures. I think both Cook and Wagoner will be around 8 and 6.

 

[WindsorHawk]

I don't think its my opinion. If you compare the experience/production we are returning compared to other teams, objectively (i.e., statistically) it is worse than almost every other Big 10 team. Then, if you look at our youth, it objectively (known offers and recruiting rankings) is worse than many teams in the Big 10. Nebraska returns two Top 100 freshman, one who Isaiah Moss played third wheel to in high school, and nobody around here thinks Nebraska is anything other than an NCAA bubble team at best. Northwestern returns lots of players, and again, they are a bubble team. There is no objective reason to think we will be better than Nebraska or Northwestern next year. Same thing with PSU and Minnesota.

There are subjective reasons, such as thinking that Fran is a better coach than others, our returning players were simply under-recruited, or our players will take great leaps in the off season. I think the team can make the tournament too, but it will require a lot of improvement/development and would be a great testament to Fran and his players.

There are too many unknowns for anything to be more than an opinion at this point...good or bad.

 

[NikeHawk21]

I don't think its my opinion. If you compare the experience/production we are returning compared to other teams, objectively (i.e., statistically) it is worse than almost every other Big 10 team. Then, if you look at our youth, it objectively (known offers and recruiting rankings) is worse than many teams in the Big 10. Nebraska returns two Top 100 freshman, one who Isaiah Moss played third wheel to in high school, and nobody around here thinks Nebraska is anything other than an NCAA bubble team at best. Northwestern returns lots of players, and again, they are a bubble team. There is no objective reason to think we will be better than Nebraska or Northwestern next year. Same thing with PSU and Minnesota.

There are subjective reasons, such as thinking that Fran is a better coach than others, our returning players were simply under-recruited, or our players will take great leaps in the off season. I think the team can make the tournament too, but it will require a lot of improvement/development and would be a great testament to Fran and his players.

You bring up some decent arguments about the bottom tier teams improving, which will make it tougher on Iowa.

Again, your reasons are still no more objective than other posters. To begin with recruiting rankings are not always accurate. Look at that OG kid on Indy this year, Wow.

The thing I believe that separates us from Neb, Minny, PSU, & NW is Jok. None of those teams return a 2nd team all Big 10 player who can go get you 18 a night and shoot 40 plus % from 3. If Jok doesn't return, we are in some trouble.

Iowa was has been to three strait tourneys, NW has never been to the tournament, that is an objective statement.

You are entitled to your opinion, and you may be right, however your opinion is not fact.