That'd be huge to avoid that dreaded 8/9 seed... Just huge. Anything better then that and Iowa fans shouldn't complain. We have the worst loss a team in the tourny can have pretty much so beggars can't be choosers too much. But a strong finish to the year and we could be a 5. But we've been streaky this yr. Once we go back on the road again things will be interesting
The Day After
- Thread starter Northside Hawk
- Start date
There's not another program out there that wouldn't want CM on it playing 20 or more mins a game. Some might not need him to play more like we have but he's a net positive player for lots of reasons. The other BIG coaches all speak glowingly of the guy as much as they despise playing against him. It's the best compliment a player can get if you ask me.
InGoodCo
Well-Known Member
Sandfort, Harding and Dembele all in the top 150.
Freeman should have been in the top 150 too but just missed - Fran is bringing in one of his best classes next year and we haven't seen any portal targets...... We are losing Kris and Fillip but will return a lot of minutes, IMO, Iowa could very well be better next season or still pretty good.
When we lost Luka I thought we'd be better
When we lost Keegan I thought we'd be better - though I was SUPER worried after the game in Lincoln this season
I'm starting to convince myself that next years team might be pretty pretty good
Freeman should have been in the top 150 too but just missed - Fran is bringing in one of his best classes next year and we haven't seen any portal targets...... We are losing Kris and Fillip but will return a lot of minutes, IMO, Iowa could very well be better next season or still pretty good.
When we lost Luka I thought we'd be better
When we lost Keegan I thought we'd be better - though I was SUPER worried after the game in Lincoln this season
I'm starting to convince myself that next years team might be pretty pretty good
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InGoodCo
Well-Known Member
I can remember when Fran first got here and we would get 1 top 150 kid and start mortgaging our house on final 4's - now we're bringing in 3 next season. There was a poster here saying Fran hasn't increased his recruiting acumen on the backs of recent successes. I think that is an extremely weak take.
NorthKCHawk
Well-Known Member
Losing Connor also hurts.
I love what we have coming in. I also hope Fran again tries to find a transfer big. I assume Josh or Riley or both will transfer. At least one of them should. We will be deep and talented 1-3. A couple of those guys can swing out to play the 4 (PM and Sandfort), but we will be really young and untested at the 5. We need to buy a center/stretch 4 from somewhere.
HawkGold
Well-Known Member
You would be seeing more Ullis and Sandfort. I'd take that in the long run. He just isn't great across the board. I don't buy the coach on the floor beyond understanding what the coach wants. He is terrific at feeding the post. That isn't going to work well alone against big teams which aside from IL hasn't gone well.
HawkGold
Well-Known Member
Fran acrltilually has done decently olif you consider legacy players which is what that poster was getting at. If Murray was coming back next year I would be really pumped. Patrick has potential to bring an equivalent but equal game.
InGoodCo
Well-Known Member
Murray isn't coming back. Patrick has a long ways to go, but could be much better next season, I think Iowa will get 2 more years from him. Murray's are his only legacy recruits as far as I know, and props to Fran for knowing what he had. He could have just told them to walk on or delayed offering them because they were "legacy" after all right? They were 100% coming to Iowa with no other options and no one was going to discover them over the next several months of recruiting from what I heard. Those kids just fell into his laps and nothing to do with how Fran has welcomed former players back into the program and embraced Iowa's history unlike the 2 previous coaches. He should get 0 credit.
Northside Hawk
Well-Known Member
We will get mauled inside next year unless
Freeman is ready from day one.
Josh O or Mulvey take a gigantic step forward
We get help in the portal
Fran makes the commitment to go small and the team spends the off season preparing to go small.
But good golly miss Molly. You may see lineups where Dembele is the tallest player on the floor for Iowa.
InGoodCo
Well-Known Member
Let's bet right now, Iowa finishes in the top half of the conference. You name the price.
Northside Hawk
Well-Known Member
I go to @InGoodCo for all my basketball knowledge.
Wait, that one's been taken. But let's analyze.
Rebraca is going to be a massive loss, and bigs behind him aren't seizing the opportunity for playing time.
Kris is Kris.
Connor is Connor.
That's some huge losses, but here's why you may be right and I may be wrong.
Fran has become a better coach the last five years.
He will shorten the bench to get the hot hands in there, and worry about tomorrow when tomorrow comes. He has beefed up November and December schedules, and that has improved our conference road record and February overall record tremendously.
I based my original thought on the premise that we have little returning inside, and that our incoming bigs will go through some growing pains. But we have a boatload of guards and swing players returning, thanks to the type of player Fran has been recruiting as of late. I think he realized we had to sacrifice shooting for defense and athleticism, and in the process has recruited players who can do a little of both. I think Dix can step into Murray's shoes and hold his own.
Northside Hawk
Well-Known Member
Dix is poised to take a huge step next year, as defenses gear up to stop Sandfort and Perkins and PMac and Josh himself is another year removed from his horrific high school injury. He may step into Murray's shoes without skipping much of a beat.
HuckFinn
Well-Known Member
If I had to pick a relative weakness and still be encouraged about a team, I would prefer that weakness to be at the 5.
I am not so sure Kris Murray won’t return next year. What players nationally are highly likely to be lottery picks in 2023? How many would be more highly rated than Kris? Would he be better off in 2024? I don’t know sick’em about the NBA and the draft. Just curious. I am not disregarding Kris’s ability. Love his game!
I am not so sure Kris Murray won’t return next year. What players nationally are highly likely to be lottery picks in 2023? How many would be more highly rated than Kris? Would he be better off in 2024? I don’t know sick’em about the NBA and the draft. Just curious. I am not disregarding Kris’s ability. Love his game!
trj
Well-Known Member
Barring injury, Kris isn't coming back. He is already on the clock because of his age. When you get to 21, 22, 23 years of age, NBA teams stop looking at upside and start nitpicking at what you can't do.
Most NBA mock drafts have him being picked in the 15-19 range of the 1st round, it is not worth the risk coming back, IMO.
trj
Well-Known Member
Run this back in June and I might have some interest. Let me see how the roster shakes out first.
I watched clips of Moline/Chicago Siemeon on Youtube the other night, Harding/Freeman can play, I just don't know how quickly that it is going to transfer to a big boy level. It might take half a season, it might take two years, I just don't know.
Right now, I am more comfortable with Fran grabbing a couple of established guys out of the portal.
justwinbaby
Well-Known Member
The question for next year is how are we going to replace Rebraca and Murray. As others have pointed out we’ve wondered how we would replace Cook, Luka and Keegan in recent years and have been able to do it very effectively. That being said I don’t see an effective replacement for them on our roster. I believe that’s a concern. We have the other pieces in place someone new is going to have to step up. I also think that we are going to miss Connor more than some others realize. I would also agree with others that Fran is becoming a better coach the last few years. I have often thought that he was a terrible in game coach but feel like he’s been much improved over the last couple of years.
InGoodCo
Well-Known Member
we didn't see an effective replacement for any of those guys, fwiw. We didn't know Keeagan was going to be who he was, we hoped Kris would be but we didn't know. When we lost Cook, we didn't know what Luka was. I literally can do this for almost every season and every year of Iowa basketball since Fran took over
You don't think it could be Tony Perkins or Peyton Sandfort? Cause I do
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I wish... But he's gone. He probably won't be a lottery pick but he'll be a 1st rounder I bet. Just based on his skill set and that his brother is doing well he'll get taken high enough to where he's gotta go. I'm sure Fran and everyone would advise him to do so.
The pros and cons to coming back are what? If he came back it'd be with the hopes of playing himself into being a top 5 player or better right? And that may be possible. But that'd come with the risk of injury and time spent not being in the NBA. Remember he and Keegan took that extra yr of HS and Kris redshirted. He'll be 23 in August. Putting him as an old middle aged NBA player almost the day he gets there. For all those reasons he's gotta go.
