For the record, I don't want him to leave. I think the team will be fine with or without him, probably better with him if can get the defense better. This team sucked because of team defense, not one player, per se.
All I was pointing out is that if he were to leave, I think Iowa could find the production to get most his points back with the combination of scoring and better defense out of another or two players. May give up half a dozen pt's that Cook would have gotten, but scoring was not Iowa's problem.
The loss of one stud player on a basketball team is rarely too bad to overcome and usually turns out better than people anticipate. That said, It does not make that player not valuable. Good teams find ways to replace loss production.
Tyler Cook averaged around 15 pts a game. Is that a 15 advantage for Iowa. Not when you factor in the defense that that player was playing and how they held who they guarded down. It's not an advantage if you have a player score 15 pts, but give up 20 pt's on the defensive end. So, then you have to ask yourself, how would our team do if we took out the 15 pt scorer and played player X who holds his guy to 5 pts.
So, losing one player from a team is usually never as drastic as it appears.
Again, that said, I still want Cook on this Iowa team as I think he has a high ceiling, and, he's just damn fun to watch.
