Spring Signing Critical

[JHHawk]

The problem is that at 6-5 he doesn't have ideal size for a 3. Slightly too slow to be a 2, slightly too small to be a 3, but he is definitely talented enough to play.

I do not agree. Marble is already 6'6'' and still growing. Almost more importantly,he has long arms and plays big. He operates best within 15 ft of the basket.

I think with that 10-15 lbs of muscle Marble will be plenty big to play the 3. If you look at most Big Ten teams, they start 3 guards very often.

Perfect world,we have Gatens and May sharing the 3 spot next year with a guard rotation of Cully,Bryce,Marble,Oglesby and Gurrero/Stokes/Carter.
Then a backline rotation of Basabe,McCabe,White,Brommer,Archie,Pitchford/Olaseni/Katenda.

That would be 13 guys who can play at least some. It could be the start of something good for Iowa bb,especially if Fran can follow up with a strong 2012 class.

 

[JHHawk]

Yes, Fran needs to add athletes ASAP. You need like a 3 to 1 ratio of athletes to shooter specialists...and some of the athletes need to be shooters also. Hardaway jr. was not a very highly rated recruit,but he is better than any of our guards,frosh or vet,already. Morris,who was highly rated is a real baller who would be great as a Hawk. Last year,he was in the shadows and was adjusting to college ball,but now he is living up to the billing. Smotryx was a top 50 player and is coming thru. Morgan was a nice redshirt...what a luxury. And even Horford,altho skinny, has some potential. To me, this is the difference with Beilein at Michigan and the Iowa situation....he inherited Sims and Harris, rode them to one tourny appearance, which kept them relevant enough to recruit decently. Lick inherited no stars, then did not recruit well or win...double jeopardy. Ouch.

Watching the Pitchford clip, color me impressed. Shoots from beyond the arc like Durant. Very nice form. Good looking frame on him also...should be able to bulk up pretty easily. I would sign this kid in a NY minute. Pair him up with Mel,and go to battle. He was supposed to attend DePaul this year,but then their coach got fired and he went prep school instead...like a redshirt year for his development....getting him and a good pg would be a great spring.

 

[hawkIhoops]

No kidding!

Iowa can not go into next year with Matt Gatens and Eric May getting significant minutes on the wing. It will just be a repeat of this year. Iowa really needs a couple wings who can put the ball on the floor. At least Cully will be back next year so Marble never has to play the PG spot and he can be a wing player who seems to put the ball on the floor OK from the wing spot. I would like Iowa to get a legit wing player most likely a JUCO guy.

Agree. I am tired of hearing all the noise about how great the in state talent is. We aren't going to get the Paiges or Barnes and IMO, the rest of the talent isn't capable of helping us rebuild. If we get to a point where we have enough slashers and a big, then fine, bring in a 3 point shooter. Until then we have to get more athletic at every position, or we are kidding ourselves about getting out of the cellar in the big ten. This talk about "needing to get all these Iowa kids" and "this kid from CR Wash will make a great PG" is absurd. Look at the impact Basabe and Cartwright have had on our team and tell me we don't more guys with individual skills.

 

[JHHawk]

You cannot just grab every Iowa prep star indiscriminately,but as we have seen with Horner,Bru,and Haluska, there is some quality out there.
Woodbury is a definite stud that we need to get.
Paige clearly would have been a tremendous addition.
Gatens is a quality player,not a star but solid.
Jok is being courted by the Illini,like Oglesby and Paige were. He is a stud.
Gesell is a top 110 player...I know,he is Nebraska technically,but plays summer ball for an Iowa AAU program. He is a player.
I think there are many years when we are better off passing on Iowa preps...a real drought from the horner/bru/haluska class until Gatens,and this year with two guys,Uthoff and Oglesby. Then next year Paige,Woodbury and Gesell. Year after- probably just Jok. Eric May was a bit of a reach, we all knew that. He was not highly rated,and might be better off in the MVC...he is in the gray area.

 

[sportstalent]

Iowa is in a unique situation. Fran inherited a roster that wasn't full and then one of the better players left after he said he was going to stay(not sure if that is totally true, but no matter), so no loss there. Then an academic casualty, addition by subtraction really.
What Fran has to do is get full roster to have the ability to redshirt a kid or two. I don't think this Spring is so critical that it will make or break Iowa, the transformation has to happen one step at a time. Iowa has definite needs, but let's face it, the only way Iowa will get program changing kids is finding more players like Basabe, the under recruited, Stokes is a kid that fits the bill. Heading into Spring Basabe was a no* kid, but he got more attention during AAU and after he opened his recruitment back up became looked at by more Major teams. This is what Iowa has to continue to do are Olesani/Stokes these players?
Player development is critical for Iowa and most important. All of the 2010 players are better today than the beginning of the season, we just have to let the coaches work and see the benefits.

 

[CAARHawk]

You know redshirting is not all that common in BBall, right?

 

[sportstalent]

You know redshirting is not all that common in BBall, right?

It isn't common for teams that aren't very good or teams that are very good. If Iowa would have had a full roster, do you think Marble and McCabe would be playing this season? Iowa has had some good results with redshirting in the past, it would be nice to see Iowa develop some players in this fashion again, or at least have that option and not having to play kids way before they are ready. People post time and time again on this board that Iowa doesn't recruit great players, so with that logic, the redshirt option would be valuable.
How did all those "stars" work out for MSU last night? Yes, they have won a ton with some of those kids, but isn't it funny that when the less recruited kids they have that are gone through getting booted or graduation and the "stars" look like average players. Player development and depth is essential and redshirting is a way to aid in that process. If Iowa brings in four kids for next year, I would have zero issue if two of them redshirt for development purposes.