Schwartz: A Player-by-Player Guide to Improving the Hawkeyes

[Hawk90]

I read this thinking of Brad Lohaus, who could not walk and chew gum as a freshman and how Mr. Davis developed him into an NBA player, as well as Les Jepsen Then how Woody, coulda, woulda shoulda have gone to UNC, Fran had four years and Woody never really developed. What makes anyone think these players will improve under Fran?

 

[ibahawkeye]

I think we need either Moss or Garza to take a big step forward next year. We need a consistent 3rd scoring option.

Weiskamp - I hope he is good enough to start at a wing and let Baer go back to embracing the 6th man role
Baer - his play this year just hasn't been as good as it was when he was the 6th man
Dailey - needs to continue improving and be a wing and help with bench scoring and be a viable defender
Nunge - needs confidence and needs to play the 4, not 3
Connor - needs to be able to spell JBo at point
Cook will continue to get better.
JBo will be the sharp shooting PG that he is.

Need to eliminate Wagner, Ellingson, Kriener, Pemsl from the rotation.

And hope that all of these guys being a year older will help improve the D.

 

[thedukeofearl]

I do believe Kriener and Nunge both need more time on the floor. Actual game experience is invaluable. Nunge has improved since getting more minutes. Ryan is always in the mix under the basket fighting for position and rebounding. He and Nunge are hampered by Fran's policy of taking someone out after a turnover or two quick fouls. Neither one of them had enough time to feel comfortable.....

Ryan understands the game and could be valuable helping out and directing the lads on D.....

Nunge will get better on D when he learns how to establish position on the perimeter and to use his hands better. Use your hands to distract vision and to hamper ball movement. Hold your hands close to the ball, Every single Hawkeye, with the exception of Baer, could be a better defender with better positioning......

Keep them in FRONT of you and Deny the baseline. Push them out of bounds before letting them drive the baseline for an easy dunk.....

And, Do Not be afraid to put them on the floor when they are headed for a highlight dunk. Floor that cocky punk and make him afraid to venture inside for a thunder dunk.....

Let's let Tyler have all the highlight slams in the game.....

Easy to say, but with practice, over and over, might make a difference.....

As Bob Wiley would say: Baby Steps.....

 

[HawkeyeWalker]

I think we need either Moss or Garza to take a big step forward next year. We need a consistent 3rd scoring option.

Weiskamp - I hope he is good enough to start at a wing and let Baer go back to embracing the 6th man role
Baer - his play this year just hasn't been as good as it was when he was the 6th man
Dailey - needs to continue improving and be a wing and help with bench scoring and be a viable defender
Nunge - needs confidence and needs to play the 4, not 3
Connor - needs to be able to spell JBo at point
Cook will continue to get better.
JBo will be the sharp shooting PG that he is.

Need to eliminate Wagner, Ellingson, Kriener, Pemsl from the rotation.

And hope that all of these guys being a year older will help improve the D.

Agreed with all of it but Kriener. He's a more than decent 7th/8th guy.

 

[thedukeofearl]

Connor at the point will help enormously. He is a savvy player and understands the importance of distributing the ball quickly and efficiently. He is not a natural point guard but is quite capable of playing the position, better than anyone else on the team, this year and next. Would love to see him getting the ball to Jbo and JoeW on the perimeter. Ideally, that would open the middle for Garza and Cook to score.....

Moss is starting to realize his role and is playing much more aggressively attacking the basket. We need to get him the ball sooner on the break. If he has more room to operate from the wings, he can be a force.....

Of course, creating space on the floor is essential with constant movement. Make the defenders work instead of standing around watching one player, usually, Bohannon, dribble around trying to avoid a turnover and get an open shot.....

It is always: Wait till next year, but the addition of JoeW should be very helpful.....

 

[HawkeyeWalker]

Connor at the point will help enormously. He is a savvy player and understands the importance of distributing the ball quickly and efficiently. He is not a natural point guard but is quite capable of playing the position, better than anyone else on the team, this year and next. Would love to see him getting the ball to Jbo and JoeW on the perimeter. Ideally, that would open the middle for Garza and Cook to score.....

Moss is starting to realize his role and is playing much more aggressively attacking the basket. We need to get him the ball sooner on the break. If he has more room to operate from the wings, he can be a force.....

Of course, creating space on the floor is essential with constant movement. Make the defenders work instead of standing around watching one player, usually, Bohannon, dribble around trying to avoid a turnover and get an open shot.....

It is always: Wait till next year, but the addition of JoeW should be very helpful.....

This, with even just a little better defensive position and awareness...would be good. Good enough? I do not know, but as we really don't have a choice, I sure hope so.

 

[thedukeofearl]

This, with even just a little better defensive position and awareness...would be good. Good enough? I do not know, but as we really don't have a choice, I sure hope so.

I thought his D would be acceptable after watching him in the Colorado game. He was guarding their hotshot guard. He covered him very close to prevent him from receiving a pass. This was good to see and an essential strategy. He could only do so much because he was seriously hampered by his health conditions. He would get tired quickly. A healthy Connor would be a good thing for the Hawks. He is not the quickest person on the court but positioning can compensate.....

 

[trj]

I think we need either Moss or Garza to take a big step forward next year. We need a consistent 3rd scoring option.

Weiskamp - I hope he is good enough to start at a wing and let Baer go back to embracing the 6th man role
Baer - his play this year just hasn't been as good as it was when he was the 6th man
Dailey - needs to continue improving and be a wing and help with bench scoring and be a viable defender
Nunge - needs confidence and needs to play the 4, not 3
Connor - needs to be able to spell JBo at point
Cook will continue to get better.
JBo will be the sharp shooting PG that he is.

Need to eliminate Wagner, Ellingson, Kriener, Pemsl from the rotation.

And hope that all of these guys being a year older will help improve the D.

They will be better on D because of experience is what I thought going into this season. Not a single returning player has gotten better. You could even make the argument that their best defensive player(Baer) has regressed some.

 

[#1DieHardHawk]

Garza cannot jump. He cannot jump. He cannot jump. He is Woody light.


Garza cannot jump. He cannot jump. He cannot jump. He is Woody light. He cannot jump.

J Bo has very few pt guard skills. He just doesn't.

Cook is hindered on D because of the limitations of his supporting cast. His D is not a problem with a decent D coach.

Kreiner just isn't D1. Pem has good post moves? Seriously? He moves and then what?

I think you're being a bit hard on Garza. First, whether he can jump or dunk is fairly irrelevant. The dunk is perhaps the most overrated play in basketball. You don't have to be able to dunk, regardless of position, to be a great player. Garza plays with some offensive fundamentals that Woodbury probably still doesn't get, and he even has an outside game. He's a keeper. Just needs to get stronger and understand adjusting his defensive positioning with his feet and not his eyes.

Bohannon is not the quintessential point guard, a la, John Stockton, but he mixes some decent passes with a very good outside shot, so, yes, he has some PG skills, but, at the end of the day, he really is more of a small off-guard.

Pemsl absolutely has some nice post moves, but that's about all he's got. He spins well to the off-elbow with an effective drop step, and has a very nice duck-under. He's learned to compensate for his lack of explosion. Unfortunately, that's not enough at this level.

 

[HawkGold]

I think you're being a bit hard on Garza. First, whether he can jump or dunk is fairly irrelevant. The dunk is perhaps the most overrated play in basketball. You don't have to be able to dunk, regardless of position, to be a great player. Garza plays with some offensive fundamentals that Woodbury probably still doesn't get, and he even has an outside game. He's a keeper. Just needs to get stronger and understand adjusting his defensive positioning with his feet and not his eyes.

Bohannon is not the quintessential point guard, a la, John Stockton, but he mixes some decent passes with a very good outside shot, so, yes, he has some PG skills, but, at the end of the day, he really is more of a small off-guard.

Pemsl absolutely has some nice post moves, but that's about all he's got. He spins well to the off-elbow with an effective drop step, and has a very nice duck-under. He's learned to compensate for his lack of explosion. Unfortunately, that's not enough at this level.

I dont see his post moves ending in scores. Reminds me of the Indiana Jones movie with the guy doing fancy moves with knives and Jones just shoots him. Garza get blocked a lot and d is wwak. It is related.

 

[#1DieHardHawk]

I dont see his post moves ending in scores. Reminds me of the Indiana Jones movie with the guy doing fancy moves with knives and Jones just shoots him. Garza get blocked a lot and d is wwak. It is related.

You've never seen Pemsl score with a drop-step or duck-under? There are times where the defender doesn't bite and he has to pass it back out, but I've seen him seal his defender and score numerous times with both.

As I said, though, that's his only saving grace. He pretty much sucks at everything else and is a backup at best.

I agree that Garza's defense needs a lot of work, but he's only a freshman playing in the B1G. He'll improve there.

 

[HawkGold]

You've never seen Pemsl score with a drop-step or duck-under? There are times where the defender doesn't bite and he has to pass it back out, but I've seen him seal his defender and score numerous times with both.

As I said, though, that's his only saving grace. He pretty much sucks at everything else and is a backup at best.

I agree that Garza's defense needs a lot of work, but he's only a freshman playing in the B1G. He'll improve there.

Pem has scored about 2.5 points of his 6 points per game from ft's. So, no I haven't seen it much.

That means he's scoring 2 baskets per game on average. So no, I haven't seen it numerous times when you take out put backs. It usually happens when he gets the ball on the weak side and he's 1 on one. I've seen him not get it off some. He only goes left that I can remember so it's an easy seal off for the defender. I don't see him do it on the strong side.

As I said, I like him. He's over matched in the Big. I've seen stronger D II players.

 

[Adam]

Joe W.......Hope you get lucky and something changes in Iowa City. Maybe take another look at your options.

I'm disappointed that you felt compelled to say this. Sure tell our highest ranked recruit in 10 years to reevaluate coming to Iowa. That will help.

 

[#1DieHardHawk]

Pem has scored about 2.5 points of his 6 points per game from ft's. So, no I haven't seen it much.

That means he's scoring 2 baskets per game on average. So no, I haven't seen it numerous times when you take out put backs. It usually happens when he gets the ball on the weak side and he's 1 on one. I've seen him not get it off some. He only goes left that I can remember so it's an easy seal off for the defender. I don't see him do it on the strong side.

As I said, I like him. He's over matched in the Big. I've seen stronger D II players.

Besides put-backs, post moves are the only way he scores. Just because he doesn't do it 20 times a game doesn't mean that the skill is not there.

Again, I'm not saying he's an offensive juggernaught or that he's even a B1G caliber player, just pointing out that his only asset is that he has some nice post moves for his age (out of necessity), and, yes, he does go left and right, though he may prefer one side over the other.

 

[Adam]

How about we just blow the roster up and recruit some guys that should actually be playing ball in the B1G?

Lol if the guys we have aren't capable of playing in the B1G where prey tell are we going to get these magic players from? This is a 3 year built roster. If you don't like the roster now you are going to love one cobbled together in 1 off-season.

 

[HawkGold]

Besides put-backs, post moves are the only way he scores. Just because he doesn't do it 20 times a game doesn't mean that the skill is not there.

Again, I'm not saying he's an offensive juggernaught or that he's even a B1G caliber player, just pointing out that his only asset is that he has some nice post moves for his age (out of necessity), and, yes, he does go left and right, though he may prefer one side over the other.

There is a reason why Iowa is not doing very well. It's lack of speed and player development which includes practice coaching and in game coaching. Pem as is would not be playing much on Big teams beyond the bottom 4. We have a lot of players who might pan out by the time they are seniors. He is undersized for what he is. He can't guard a 4 and isn't big enough for a 5. He has no outside shot. To score, put backs and that move are his only choices. He doesn't not go both directions well. Watch, he scores on that most always when he is completely isolated on the weak size and against a weak player.

It's my opinion. If he were better, Iowa would be better. He has taken a step backwards. Uhl and Wagner like. It's not that he's going down hill. Opponents that play D pretty much know an opponent by now.

The bottom 4 teams in this league are quite bad. There is no other way of looking at it. If Iowa were say at the NW, Nebby, or Maryland level, I would be more optimistic. We aren't . Not even close.

 

[ibahawkeye]

Agreed with all of it but Kriener. He's a more than decent 7th/8th guy.

To me Kriener/Nunge is a wash at this point and I don't want a 10+ guy rotation. I'm giving the edge to Nunge based on potential.

 

[HaydenHawk56]

I'm disappointed that you felt compelled to say this. Sure tell our highest ranked recruit in 10 years to reevaluate coming to Iowa. That will help.

Sorry you feel that way. As a fan, sure we would all love to have him. And he is coming here. Personally, as of right now, he could do better.

 

[Adam]

Sorry you feel that way. As a fan, sure we would all love to have him. And he is coming here. Personally, as of right now, he could do better.

Any Iowa recruit could do better. Pretty much since the beginning of the sports creation. I guess we did kind of have a power house in the 50's. The only dynamic that might have changed here is could a recruit do any worse then Iowa right now?

In the case of Wieskamp, he is an Iowa fan. He grew up wanting to play for the hawks. He is coming here to play because that was a childhood dream. He is much like Gatens in this regard. So for him there is no other program that can offer the same thing.

 

[WindsorHawk]

Baer - Be a solid all around player in the rotation. Score when we need it. Lock down on defense.

Bohannon - Continue to improve and get stronger. Don't get pocket picked in the open court.

Cook - Play defense with the same intensity as when attacking the rim. Shoot 75% plus from the line.

Dailey - Continue to improve and get stronger. Realize the sky is the limit.

Garza - Get stronger and learn defensive fundamentals. Maintain the same energy/effort as this year.

Kriener - Become so consistent that Garza and Cook worry about losing minutes.

Moss - Reach full potential.

Nunge - Get stronger and more confident and improve on defense.

Pemsl - Take and make some 15 to 17 foot jump shots. Improve on defense...a lot. Shoot 75% plus from the line.

McCaffery - Get healthy.

Wieskamp - Be the player fans are expecting...putting proven guys on the bench. Have freshman Aaron White impact...with a more well rounded game.

Role Players - Play hard and well and create team chemistry.

Team - Improve defense and basketball IQ.