The Cartwright/Payne combo will be vital to the team

[storminspank]

OK, nothing Earth shattering here, but thinking about last year to this year, our point guard situation is so very much better.

Cully took his lumps as a true frosh, starting all games. He made a lot of freshman mistakes, but also had periods of play where he looked really good. The larger issue is he had no D1 talent to back him up at the spot, so he had no one to push him in practice or to give him a rest during the game.

Enter Cartwright, he is a solid D1 player with expertise to boot. There has been solid competition during practice and someone to give him a rest in this up and down style of play.

But what I really like about the Payne/Cartwright combo is how they have two completely different types of games. Payne is going to take care of the ball, find the open guy and give him a chance to score. He'll take shots when they are there, but he will play within himself. Cartwright on the other hand is a super quick, get to the rim, slashing type of guard. One that will likely be more of a risk/reward type of PG. He'll take more chances on both sides of the ball.

You need excellent guard play to win in the college game. It is a must. You can win without dominant bigs, but you cannot win without solid guards.

 

[DodgerHawki]

OK, nothing Earth shattering here, but thinking about last year to this year, our point guard situation is so very much better.

Cully took his lumps as a true frosh, starting all games. He made a lot of freshman mistakes, but also had periods of play where he looked really good. The larger issue is he had no D1 talent to back him up at the spot, so he had no one to push him in practice or to give him a rest during the game.

Enter Cartwright, he is a solid D1 player with expertise to boot. There has been solid competition during practice and someone to give him a rest in this up and down style of play.

But what I really like about the Payne/Cartwright combo is how they have two completely different types of games. Payne is going to take care of the ball, find the open guy and give him a chance to score. He'll take shots when they are there, but he will play within himself. Cartwright on the other hand is a super quick, get to the rim, slashing type of guard. One that will likely be more of a risk/reward type of PG. He'll take more chances on both sides of the ball.

You need excellent guard play to win in the college game. It is a must. You can win without dominant bigs, but you cannot win without solid guards.

We need both of them to be healthy. Would be nice to at least be able to get into an offense against teams like Michigan State, Illinois, Purdue and Minnesota who just attacked us all over the floor without worrying one bit about Iowa getting a layup or open shot against their pressure. The Minnesota game at Carver last year was probably the lowest point in watching Iowa hoops as a fan that I can remember in my lifetime. So completely overmatched from an athletic ability standpoint, looked like the varsity playing the JV. Score ended up 86-74 but was 21-4 shortly after the first TV timeout and Tubby could have won the game by 40 had he wanted to.

 

[sportstalent]

OK, nothing Earth shattering here, but thinking about last year to this year, our point guard situation is so very much better.

Cully took his lumps as a true frosh, starting all games. He made a lot of freshman mistakes, but also had periods of play where he looked really good. The larger issue is he had no D1 talent to back him up at the spot, so he had no one to push him in practice or to give him a rest during the game.

Enter Cartwright, he is a solid D1 player with expertise to boot. There has been solid competition during practice and someone to give him a rest in this up and down style of play.

But what I really like about the Payne/Cartwright combo is how they have two completely different types of games. Payne is going to take care of the ball, find the open guy and give him a chance to score. He'll take shots when they are there, but he will play within himself. Cartwright on the other hand is a super quick, get to the rim, slashing type of guard. One that will likely be more of a risk/reward type of PG. He'll take more chances on both sides of the ball.

You need excellent guard play to win in the college game. It is a must. You can win without dominant bigs, but you cannot win without solid guards.

I couldn't agree more, which is why I was surprised Iowa stopped recruiting Devin Coleman. Cannot have too many guards.

 

[hawkdoctor]

Much improved for several reasons:

1) Cully doesn't have to play every minute;
2) Both will push each other to improve;
3) They can play together which helps take the pressure off.

This will have a big impact on this team's improvement. I know we didn't get the Chicago kid that went to Wisky but I think another true PG was more important.

 

[JHHawk]

We need both of them to be healthy. Would be nice to at least be able to get into an offense against teams like Michigan State, Illinois, Purdue and Minnesota who just attacked us all over the floor without worrying one bit about Iowa getting a layup or open shot against their pressure. The Minnesota game at Carver last year was probably the lowest point in watching Iowa hoops as a fan that I can remember in my lifetime. So completely overmatched from an athletic ability standpoint, looked like the varsity playing the JV. Score ended up 86-74 but was 21-4 shortly after the first TV timeout and Tubby could have won the game by 40 had he wanted to.

Agree. The minny game was devastating for any Iowa fan who was hoping that our talent was sufficient to compete with the top half teams. Not happening.
Bryce should help deal with bringing the ball up the court...Cully needed help last year,but Lick drove Jeff Peteron away...mistake,lick.

 

[sportstalent]

Bryce should help deal with bringing the ball up the court...Cully needed help last year,but Lick drove Jeff Peteron away...mistake,lick.

Jeff Peterson was simply a turnover waiting to happen. Freshman year 92 assists, 94 TO's. Sophomore year was quite the improvement 106 assists and 76 TO's. After a full year of experince he improved to a whoppint 1.4 to 1 ratio. Payne was 122 to 102; not a good ration, but it wasn't negative and he had no help behind him as a freshman. Peterson had Kelly and Freeman (freshman season, yes he missed some time) to help with the ball handling his two seasons at Iowa. Gatens and Payne were two of three Hawkeyes with a positive assist to turnover ratio.
With the new staff and style expect Payne to get a lot more assists that will be considered easy compared to last season by draining the shot clock and then having to force something.