This team vs '15 team

[PCHawk]

I was thinking again about which team is better and I'm thinking the '15 team wouldn't match up well with this team.

At the 5, Garza can score at will against unathletic bigs and that's exactly what Woody is. He's a good defender, but he's the exact kind of player Garza thrives against. On the other end, Garza isnt a great defender, but he doesn't have to be against Woody. Advantage Garza.

At the 4, Cook would physically dominate Uthoff on offense, but Uthoff would score around and over Cook pretty easy. Both would score a lot in this matchup and both would have their moments on defense. I'd call this a draw.

At the 3, Jok and Wieskamp are really comparable. I think it would be a draw or a slight advantage to Jok on offense, but a huge advantage for Wieskamp on defense. Because of that, advantage Wieskamp.

At the 2, Clemmons and Moss are way different players. But they are pretty equal overall. Clemmons could easily shut down Moss 4 out of 5 nights. But the 5th Moss would get 20. Moss isn't a great defender but he doesn't have to be against Clemmons. Because of how inconsistent Moss is, I dont even really know what to think of this matchup. Fortunately it's with the 5th best starters on both teams so it doesn't matter quite that much. I'll call it a draw.

At the 1, Gesell is great at shutting down the dribble drive, but that doesn't really matter with Bohannon since he doesn't do that anyway. That really negates Gesell's main strength which is on ball defense. Gesell's lack of offense really helps Bohannon here so that end of the court doesn't matter as much. What does matter is both guys notoriously let guys fire 3s over their heads. That is a huge advantage for Bohannon. Advantage Bohannon.

I would say the '15 team doesn't match up well with this team so I'm giving the advantage to them. That's not to say this team is actually the better team overall. It's just that they would be better head to head.

I thought about doing the bench too but it's already way too long.

 

[mopkins]

which team gets Baer?

I think that Cook/Uthoff matchup would be a nightmare for Cook. Uthoff has more length and range than Cook and would be able to extend him out to the 3 point line and shoot over him or drive past him like it was nothing. Defensively Cook could probably back him down but people forget that Uthoff was a terrific shot blocker.

The '18-19 team has more size inside and better post players for sure. Probably better overall 3 point shooting and bench depth as well.

That '15-16 team still makes me dry heave when I see that Dom Uhl played 17 minutes per game. Yuck. Uhl, Baer (freshman), Jones, Ellingson, Wagner...talk about ZERO bench. I still can't decide if they overachieved early and collapsed or if the law of averages caught up to them at the end of the year when they dropped 5 of 6 and then lost immediately to Illinois in the BTT. That team truly lived and died by Uthoff and Jok on offense. I'll never forget them letting #4 Iowa State come back from down 20 to win in Ames.

 

[PCHawk]

which team gets Baer?

I think that Cook/Uthoff matchup would be a nightmare for Cook. Uthoff has more length and range than Cook and would be able to extend him out to the 3 point line and shoot over him or drive past him like it was nothing. Defensively Cook could probably back him down but people forget that Uthoff was a terrific shot blocker.

The '18-19 team has more size inside and better post players for sure.

That '15-16 team still makes me dry heave when I see that Dom Uhl played 17 minutes per game. Yuck. Uhl, Baer (freshman), Jones, Ellingson, Wagner...talk about ZERO bench. I still can't decide if they overachieved early and collapsed or if the law of averages caught up to them at the end of the year when they dropped 5 of 6 and then lost immediately to Illinois in the BTT.

I almost put that in about Uthoff blocking some Cook shots. Honestly that team played a great home game against a top team (like we just did against Michigan) and won. That wasnt a huge deal. Then they had a miracle comeback against Purdue. That was more of a once in a generation comeback than a testament to how good we were. Then they played one perfect game in East Lansing. Those 3 games were the difference between being ranked around 25th and being ranked 3rd. Other than those 3 games, they were always a top 25ish team. Too many weaknesses in the roster for much better. Now if Uthoff would have kept playing like a 1st team all American for about 6 more games, the weaknesses in the roster wouldn't have mattered. But that wasnt sustainable.

 

[mopkins]

I almost put that in about Uthoff blocking some Cook shots. Honestly that team played a great home game against a top team (like we just did against Michigan) and won. That wasnt a huge deal. Then they had a miracle comeback against Purdue. That was more of a once in a generation comeback than a testament to how good we were. Then they played one perfect game in East Lansing. Those 3 games were the difference between being ranked around 25th and being ranked 3rd. Other than those 3 games, they were always a top 25ish team. Too many weaknesses in the roster for much better. Now if Uthoff would have kept playing like a 1st team all American for about 6 more games, the weaknesses in the roster wouldn't have mattered. But that wasnt sustainable.

Really if you look back its more amazing that '14-15 team didn't do more. White, Uthoff, Jok, Gesell and Woodbury starting. Bringing Clemmons, Olaseni and Oglesby off the bench. That's pretty damn solid. I guess Uthoff/Jok needed another year to marinate maybe, but wow.

Either way, both of those teams f'd themselves by winding up with 7 seeds. They both ran into buzzsaw 2 seeds that crushed them in the second round. That's why its so important for Iowa to avoid those 7-9 seeds.

 

[Northside Hawk]

Bohannon can step up to a foul line with the game in the balance and stick the front end of a one and one three consecutive times. Gesell couldn't have done that in his wildest dreams.

Washington or Kansas State in the second round-Bohannon.

Gonzaga or Villanova in the second round-Gessell.

 

[PCHawk]

Really if you look back its more amazing that '14-15 team didn't do more. White, Uthoff, Jok, Gesell and Woodbury starting. Bringing Clemmons, Olaseni and Oglesby off the bench. That's pretty damn solid. I guess Uthoff/Jok needed another year to marinate maybe, but wow.

Either way, both of those teams f'd themselves by winding up with 7 seeds. They both ran into buzzsaw 2 seeds that crushed them in the second round. That's why its so important for Iowa to avoid those 7-9 seeds.

Remember how bad that team was at the beginning of the year? I think you're right that those players weren't ready yet. If you could put senior Uthoff and Senior Jok on that team they would be unreal good. But you obviously can't. In 6 years people might look back at this team and wonder how they didn't do better with Garza and Wieskamp because they will have the hindsight of how they finished their careers. Perhaps forgetting they weren't as good when they were younger.

 

[ibahawkeye]

This team would play zone and the 15 team only has 2 shooters. This team also has a better bench.

 

[Casey388]

Bohannon can step up to a foul line with the game in the balance and stick the front end of a one and one three consecutive times. Gesell couldn't have done that in his wildest dreams.

Washington or Kansas State in the second round-Bohannon.

Gonzaga or Villanova in the second round-Gessell.

That is the one thing that stuck out to me about Gesell. He is the piece that really built Fran's early teams by giving an early commitment and helping recruit Woody. But I have never seen anyone regress at the free throw line like him. If I remember correctly, he was a high 80's low 90's percent free throw shooter. But he never cracked 80 percent as a Hawk and throughout his career he was a 73% free throw shooter. Only other person I can think of that regressed that bad would be Ethan Happ, but he made up for it in other areas.

Granted this is being harsh on Gesell. He was a pretty good playmaker and a decent on ball defender.

 

[NikeHawk21]

which team gets Baer?

I think that Cook/Uthoff matchup would be a nightmare for Cook. Uthoff has more length and range than Cook and would be able to extend him out to the 3 point line and shoot over him or drive past him like it was nothing. Defensively Cook could probably back him down but people forget that Uthoff was a terrific shot blocker.

The '18-19 team has more size inside and better post players for sure. Probably better overall 3 point shooting and bench depth as well.

That '15-16 team still makes me dry heave when I see that Dom Uhl played 17 minutes per game. Yuck. Uhl, Baer (freshman), Jones, Ellingson, Wagner...talk about ZERO bench. I still can't decide if they overachieved early and collapsed or if the law of averages caught up to them at the end of the year when they dropped 5 of 6 and then lost immediately to Illinois in the BTT. That team truly lived and died by Uthoff and Jok on offense. I'll never forget them letting #4 Iowa State come back from down 20 to win in Ames.

I would say that team overachieved early. Uhl shot like over 40% from 3. He was like a 20% guy the next few years.

 

[NorthKCHawk]

This year's team has 7 guys that can be the leading scorer on any given night. 7.

As mentioned, 2015 was a great defensive team, but really only had two legit scorers. I will take a great offense and an average defense if I am thinking NCAA tournament.

 

[WindsorHawk]

This team can go 9 deep. This team has multiple guys that can put up 20 on a given night. This team makes FTs.

Side Note - Dailey is under appreciated. He will take 2 or 3 high percentage shots within the flow. He can help with ball handling. He defends. And he doesn’t complain about his role or minutes. Good role players that don’t hurt the team when in the game are crucial.

 

[WindsorHawk]

Also, I think Garza and Joe are future NBA players...have to continue to improve. Cook might be if he comes back for another year of college. And they are complemented by some really good D1 players.

 

[NikeHawk21]

This team can go 9 deep. This team has multiple guys that can put up 20 on a given night. This team makes FTs.

Side Note - Dailey is under appreciated. He will take 2 or 3 high percentage shots within the flow. He can help with ball handling. He defends. And he doesn’t complain about his role or minutes. Good role players that don’t hurt the team when in the game are crucial.

Wanted to mention something about Dailey as well. He’s been steady. Good defender with very good length. Can help with ball handling and doesn’t turn it over much. It’s too bad he’s lost confidence in his 3pt shot because he shot it well last year, but overall he’s a solid role player for us.

 

[NikeHawk21]

Also, I think Garza and Joe are future NBA players...have to continue to improve. Cook might be if he comes back for another year of college. And they are complemented by some really good D1 players.

Unfortunately for Garza the big trend in the NBA right now is having big men who can switch ball screens and move their feet well enough to defend multiple positions. In the NBA there doesn’t appear to be any illegal screen rules so it becomes that much more important. Because of that I don’t think Garza will ever make the NBA, but he’s going to be a great college player for us the next couple years.

 

[RobHowe]

From an analytics standpoint, this year's team is currently ninth in Ken Pom's adjusted offensive efficiency and 102 in adjusted defensive efficiency.

The '15 team was 30th in AOE and 34th in ADE.

 

[InGoodCo]

Wanted to mention something about Dailey as well. He’s been steady. Good defender with very good length. Can help with ball handling and doesn’t turn it over much. It’s too bad he’s lost confidence in his 3pt shot because he shot it well last year, but overall he’s a solid role player for us.

his drive and layup last night when the IU defender just sagged off him? Perfect. Connor's jumper? Perfect. All those guys have to do is not try and force things and bury a few shots now and then and the rest of the parts will take care of the rest.

 

[NikeHawk21]

his drive and layup last night when the IU defender just sagged off him? Perfect. Connor's jumper? Perfect. All those guys have to do is not try and force things and bury a few shots now and then and the rest of the parts will take care of the rest.

I think in general it seems just nice to have defined roles coming off the bench. All four of our bench guys know they are going to get minutes and what their role is.

Last year we had Pemsl, Nunge, Kriener, Wagner, Ellingson, and Dailey, it was hard for Fran to figure out who's night it was and hard for the players to know their role.

Makes me a tad nervous for next year though but hopefully Fran sees what this smaller more defined rotation can do.

 

[trj]

White, Woodbury and Uthoff front line I like a tad bit better than the Cook, JW and Garza one. Of course I am talking in current form, a year or 2 from now I might change my mind.

 

[Hawkfnntn]

his drive and layup last night when the IU defender just sagged off him? Perfect. Connor's jumper? Perfect. All those guys have to do is not try and force things and bury a few shots now and then and the rest of the parts will take care of the rest.

Yup knowing your role/what your good at. And shot selection. Fran for all he takes heat over I think he's done a great job of his teams (not just this years) of knowing their roles and playing to them for the most part

 

[99topdawg]

Shhhh. I'm better than Garza. You tell Garza to drag Walton and Lanier up and down the court for 40 minutes.