Tyler Cook Pulls Name Out of NBA Draft, Returning to Iowa

[WinOneThisCentury]

I would love to see them scrap the PTL and just have these guys scrimmage against eachother and former players. This team now has 10-12 really solid basketball players. Cook going against Kreiner and Pemsl isn't a walk in the park...Dailey and Moss squaring off. There are great match ups throughout this team. You bring in former players along the way and I think that's how this team gets better. Focus on defense...and playing tough. The old Kirk Ferentz adage about having the 1s go at eachother...steel sharpens steel.

I'd find a few really quick point guards and bring them in and force our guards to play defense for a few weeks straight, only defense. Stop the penetration or you don't get to go to the other end of the floor.

 

[GotTimDodge]

I gotta feeling we'll be in the NIT and then we'll hear more of the "on the right trajectory" comments along with the "next year we're gonna be a veteran team, so we need to give Fran an extra year, plus we can't afford the buyout...."

So true.

 

[Ree4]

I am glad Cook is coming back, and not surprised he is...

That said, I wonder how, if your life long dream is to play in the NBA...why from the time you are very young you don't spend hours a day shooting a basketball so your shot becomes second nature...and zeroed in...just don't get that. It is a skill you can work on, all alone...or with a buddy.

He has the physical ability few at Iowa have had, which is obvious, but I have never been that impressed with his overall game: defense, court smarts, rebounding, winning...

Good news for him...he knows what he needs, and has a year, or two to work on the issues...hope he does well this year, and hopefully in the NBA.

When I was first learning to play basketball at 8 or 9 toward the end of my play session I would shoot 200 point blank bank shots from each side. I've always been a decent shooter so it's hard for me to understand why some people are not able to, especially at the college or professional level - when it's their future. Like Shaq and his free throws? I don't get it, maybe it's harder when you're taller? The ball is in a different part of its' arc but hell, I've played plenty of times on 8' rims so I don't think that's a valid excuse

 

[WindsorHawk]

It could easily still be a problem.

You're probably looking at 3 buy games against really bad teams, 2 bad teams from the 2k Classic. Then you've got the 3 teams from the 2k classic, of which UConn will be one, which you'll really want to avoid in those 2 games. UNI will have Green but they've got a lot of improvement to make. Then ISU at home which fans are hoping will improve to be an NCAA team. As for the Big 10/ACC and Gavitt Games, Iowa is likely to get a bad draw based on what happened last year.

So you're looking at having potentially 2 NCAA teams likely at best in that noncon, and 9 anchors. The Big 10 schedule was not a benefit to some teams last year. Iowa is going to have to make some major hay in the noncon next year. I'm thinking 1 loss at most.

From year to year I find it more and more difficult to figure out what the NCAA Selection Committee will do. But I am extremely confident that Iowa has more than one path to the NCAA Tournament as an at large with 2 or 3 non conference losses. Of course I hope Iowa goes undefeated and we never know.

 

[NoBeer]

What if he barely misses the NCAAs and you think Iowa should've been in? Do you think Fran should be gone no matter the scenario, as long as we miss the NCAA tourney?

Yes

 

[WindsorHawk]

I think he should be gone now, not sure how missing a 3rd straight NCAA is gonna change my mind?

I'm not going to challenge you on your opinion. But think about what you're saying. Start all over again. Lose 2 players for sure...probably some more and some future recruits. And worst of all...possibly make a bad hire and get another Lick. If for no other reason than these I will roll with Fran for at least 2 more years.

 

[deanvogs]

I'm not going to challenge you on your opinion. But think about what you're saying. Start all over again. Lose 2 players for sure...probably some more and some future recruits. And worst of all...possibly make a bad hire and get another Lick. If for no other reason than these I will roll with Fran for at least 2 more years.

Why would we even miss a coach who can only make 3 NCAA tournaments over 9 years (assuming we miss this year)? You are not managing your team correctly if you go to 3 straight NCAA’s and then miss 3 in a row. I can see 1 or even 2 years of missing the NCAA, but missing a 3rd should be a fireable offense in my mind anyway.

 

[Hawkfnntn]

When I was first learning to play basketball at 8 or 9 toward the end of my play session I would shoot 200 point blank bank shots from each side. I've always been a decent shooter so it's hard for me to understand why some people are not able to, especially at the college or professional level - when it's their future. Like Shaq and his free throws? I don't get it, maybe it's harder when you're taller? The ball is in a different part of its' arc but hell, I've played plenty of times on 8' rims so I don't think that's a valid excuse

All that's baffled me as well. There's 7 footers like Nowitzki that are as good of shooters as there is and we have guys like Shaq in the past and others nowadays that can't hit 3 free throws in a row. Even Lebron is under 80% which makes no sense. You look at the degree of difficulty on some of the jumpers/fadeaways he makes and you just scratch your head why he's not a better shooter from the line too. But there's no excuse for being a 60%er or lower. Just none. They don't practice it with the intention of improving. I think that Lonzo Ball kid was one of the worst ones at it last yr. With his hideous form it's easy to see why...

 

[HawkGold]

Yeah at times it sure seemed that way I get why you feel that way. Yet they scored over 90 pts 13 times and were held under 75 pts 13 times. Don't ask me why I remember that stat. Must be the lucky 13 number being attached to it. The rest were all in between. I can't remember how many games we lost scoring over 90 but it was more than 1 or 2. I can't help but think that an improved D will only help their offense because we didn't seem to get a ton of easy fast break points last yr due to the lack of turnovers forced. Getting long rebounds and turnovers and pushing the ball is something I hope we can do more of because as you mentioned our half court O can get bogged down and have some tough stretches.

It is hard to figure. There are so many things wrong fundamentally that it is hard to sort. Some of the issue is that good O teams just figure they can outscore the Hawks.

J Bo and Cook are unusually good offensive players within their rolls and can't be overlooked. However, it's not as simple as good O (It's not) and bad D.

 

[Adam]

It is hard to figure. There are so many things wrong fundamentally that it is hard to sort. Some of the issue is that good O teams just figure they can outscore the Hawks.

J Bo and Cook are unusually good offensive players within their rolls and can't be overlooked. However, it's not as simple as good O (It's not) and bad D.

You can say our offense wasn't good if you like, and I will agree there were some times that we got bogged down, but we are returning more scoring than just about any team in the nation so I am not worried about offense one bit.

 

[HawkGold]

You can say our offense wasn't good if you like, and I will agree there were some times that we got bogged down, but we are returning more scoring than just about any team in the nation so I am not worried about offense one bit.

They were 4-14 and basically in a 3 way tie for most points scored. The other 2 teams gave up 17 points less each. Defense is much easier to coach than offense. You can have basically a bad team and teach them D. You can't the other way around. They scored less that twice and less than 70 several more. In recent history they have visited below 50.

The only optimism is that the Big is bad. Guess no reason to worry. It will be what it will be, but Iowa will not be known as a good O team except by the Big Network when they are trying to keep a game interesting. I fully expect them to improve this next year for the main reason that the Big stinks. This is a mid lower team in the SEC or ACC at best.

 

[GotTimDodge]

possibly make a bad hire and get another Lick.

Or worse, get another Fran

 

[Adam]

They were 4-14 and basically in a 3 way tie for most points scored. The other 2 teams gave up 17 points less each. Defense is much easier to coach than offense. You can have basically a bad team and teach them D. You can't the other way around. They scored less that twice and less than 70 several more. In recent history they have visited below 50.

The only optimism is that the Big is bad. Guess no reason to worry. It will be what it will be, but Iowa will not be known as a good O team except by the Big Network when they are trying to keep a game interesting. I fully expect them to improve this next year for the main reason that the Big stinks. This is a mid lower team in the SEC or ACC at best.

I am at a complete loss here since not a single thing in your two paragraphs constitutes a single counter argument to having a good offense.

I get it, you are tired of Fran and his lackluster results, but isn't it pretty played out to neg the only thing we actually do well because you're bummed out?

We all know that offense without defense is a recipe for disaster. You aren't breaking the Watergate story here. However we return all of our scoring and we are adding a stud HS scorer to the mix. There is plenty of reason to logically conclude that a lion's share of off season training can be focused on defense since the offensive abilities are already cultivated. Will that amount to better defense? Who knows, but it is also just a guess to say our defense will suck just because it has before. That is the beautiful thing about sports. There is no black and white. Nothing is destined or written in stone. Literally anything could happen. I rather think that many of us take solace in that fact that we have a scoring capable roster returning and that we only need to technically improve in 50% of the game.

 

[thedukeofearl]

When I was first learning to play basketball at 8 or 9 toward the end of my play session I would shoot 200 point blank BANK SHOTS from each side. I've always been a decent shooter so it's hard for me to understand why some people are not able to, especially at the college or professional level - when it's their future. Like Shaq and his free throws? I don't get it, maybe it's harder when you're taller? The ball is in a different part of its' arc but hell, I've played plenty of times on 8' rims so I don't think that's a valid excuse

Bank shots are very difficult to miss from certain angles. Close to the basket from the wings is almost impossible to miss. Every game there are several shots that would have been baskets rather than impotent, sorryass misses if only we had used the glass. I mention it every time but the players refuse to follow my advice. Maybe I should scream louder at the TV.....

Can't understand why that is not taught. Basic Basketball Fundamentals. A fadeaway jump hook, close to the basket is almost 100%.....

When I was playing, eons ago, I could drive to the basket with a defender on me and suddenly step back, tossing the ball off the backboard every time. Just changing direction at full speed will give one room to use the backboard.....

 

[Adam]

Bank shots are very difficult to miss from certain angles. Close to the basket from the wings is almost impossible to miss. Every game there are several shots that would have been baskets rather than impotent, sorryass misses if only we had used the glass. I mention it every time but the players refuse to follow my advice. Maybe I should scream louder at the TV.....

Can't understand why that is not taught. Basic Basketball Fundamentals. A fadeaway jump hook, close to the basket is almost 100%.....

When I was playing, eons ago, I could drive to the basket with a defender on me and suddenly step back, tossing the ball off the backboard every time. Just changing direction at full speed will give one room to use the backboard.....

Lol that is old man YMCA pick up game skills. I can promise you that it doesn't work on a D1 or Pro level unless the other four guys are all legitimate threats. If you over use any move or skill too often then it is in the scouting report and a good team would just have the perimeter defender sag on your penetration and swat the ball out of your hands from behind once you made the move and brought the ball above your head.

However there is validity to the use of the back board but in today's game it is better utilized while maintaining forward momentum. Going backwards to make space is usually a losing play unless it is just one of the moves you deploy while you have of full bag of other moves to keep the D off guard. Over use it and it will get taken away.

 

[HawkGold]

I am at a complete loss here since not a single thing in your two paragraphs constitutes a single counter argument to having a good offense.

I get it, you are tired of Fran and his lackluster results, but isn't it pretty played out to neg the only thing we actually do well because you're bummed out?

We all know that offense without defense is a recipe for disaster. You aren't breaking the Watergate story here. However we return all of our scoring and we are adding a stud HS scorer to the mix. There is plenty of reason to logically conclude that a lion's share of off season training can be focused on defense since the offensive abilities are already cultivated. Will that amount to better defense? Who knows, but it is also just a guess to say our defense will suck just because it has before. That is the beautiful thing about sports. There is no black and white. Nothing is destined or written in stone. Literally anything could happen. I rather think that many of us take solace in that fact that we have a scoring capable roster returning and that we only need to technically improve in 50% of the game.

Well it makes sense to me. Iowa stinks at offense by about any sense of the word. They don't score off of offensive sets that much. Terrible shot selection. Higher scoring does not equal good offense. I fully expect a much better year. I still think he (FM) is a good coach on D or O. I do think he has a couple of good scorers regardless.

You honestly think with a game on the line that you would feel good about the offense coming with a well executed play and score? We can disagree though. I just don't find much solace in Fran coming through.

 

[WinOneThisCentury]

Well it makes sense to me. Iowa stinks at offense by about any sense of the word. They don't score off of offensive sets that much. Terrible shot selection. Higher scoring does not equal good offense. I fully expect a much better year. I still think he (FM) is a good coach on D or O. I do think he has a couple of good scorers regardless.

You honestly think with a game on the line that you would feel good about the offense coming with a well executed play and score? We can disagree though. I just don't find much solace in Fran coming through.

I don't think that's true at all. You'd have to show me the percentage of points scored in transition vs. set offense. We certainly score in transition, but most teams try to take that away...and usually do a good job of it. I think we usually do a good job of getting shots in our half court offense...it's whether we make them that's the question. If you look at offensive stats, it's pretty impossible to say we suck offensively.

They were 32nd in the country in offensive efficiency, 28th in shooting percentage, and 4th in assists per game. I never thought our transition game was that impressive...but like I said, they run motion and they get good shots and they typically share the ball well. All supported by 80points a game and a high assist to baskets ratio.

 

[Adam]

Well it makes sense to me. Iowa stinks at offense by about any sense of the word. They don't score off of offensive sets that much. Terrible shot selection. Higher scoring does not equal good offense. I fully expect a much better year. I still think he (FM) is a good coach on D or O. I do think he has a couple of good scorers regardless.

You honestly think with a game on the line that you would feel good about the offense coming with a well executed play and score? We can disagree though. I just don't find much solace in Fran coming through.

So your statement as I understand it reads this: We score a lot of points but those points don't come from good offense. Does that about sum it up?

My question is if the points don't come from good offense, we all know they don't come from run outs from defensive steals. Where do the points come from in your analysis?

 

[hawkeyebob62]

So your statement as I understand it reads this: We score a lot of points but those points don't come from good offense. Does that about sum it up?

My question is if the points don't come from good offense, we all know they don't come from run outs from defensive steals. Where do the points come from in your analysis?

This ought to be good. I can't wait!

 

[hawkeyebob62]

So your statement as I understand it reads this: We score a lot of points but those points don't come from good offense. Does that about sum it up?

My question is if the points don't come from good offense, we all know they don't come from run outs from defensive steals. Where do the points come from in your analysis?

Wait, wait, I know...other teams playing bad defense, I'll bet!