Uhl, Wagner and Baer playing great minutes

[uihawk82]

Wagner knows how to find the basket and use his body. Baer all over the place and has a quick release. Uhl keeps getting better, good driving to the bucket and that was a nice dunk off of getting the pass on the block with his back to the basket

 

[ahawkchamp2012]

I'm sure this has been said but Wagner reminds me of Olesani as a Junior. High energy with raw talent. What Olesani did and I expect Wagner will follow, is he developed a mid-range jumper for his senior year. That opened space for him to use his athleticism out in the open rather than being bottled up in the paint. Where Wagner lacks height, he more than makes up for in his strength. If he develops a consistent jumper, it'll open lanes and angles on defenders that he can easily exploit with his strength & athleticism. A perfect example of someone who takes advantage of the space they create with their jumper is Utoff. They are the plays where he starts from the right wing about 17 feet out and drives diagonally toward the left block. Utoff has finished with a couple huge dunks. Could see a lot more of that from Wagner next year when the jumper develops. The exact same thing can be said for Uhl although I think he is already showing signs of this development. Assuming Tyler Cook is as good as advertised, Iowa could have 3 stretch forwards that are tough to match up with

 

[bogeyman]

Nice we can go to our bench without cringing. They come in and we don't have a big drop off. Add Ellingson to the mix too, he does just fine out there for a Freshmen and doesn't kill us with turnovers, bad shots or poor D.

 

[Tkingpin]

Everyone is forgetting about Jones for next year. Tall, 3- point shooter and can rebound. He just needs to REHB, REHAB, REHAB

 

[GrandpaHawk]

The starters are doing a great job bringing the younger guys along.Its nice to see the non starters getting quality minutes it will help us down the road.

 

[atomicblue224]

More we play in B1G tournament and NCAA, the more experiences they get.. If I was freshman, I would be so thankful for the opportunity to play on this team.

 

[Smarthawk]

Enjoy it this year. Next year we go from experienced to inexperienced. It can be a jarring difference. We will have young talent but how does it fit together. It will be fun to see them develop.

 

[ArvadaHawk]

More we play in B1G tournament and NCAA, the more experiences they get.. If I was freshman, I would be so thankful for the opportunity to play on this team.

So true, atomic. These kids have the opportunity to come in and learn with no pressure, other than to perform to their abilities and execute a game plan. None have to lead the team. I think we will see Wagner become a major scorer next season and he's starting to show he can play the win, at least off the dribble. He does need to develop a 15 foot jumper. Tyler Cook won't have the same luxury, but Cook is a completely different animal, all together.

 

[ArvadaHawk]

Enjoy it this year. Next year we go from experienced to inexperienced. It can be a jarring difference. We will have young talent but how does it fit together. It will be fun to see them develop.

You're right SH. For me, if this team finishes well, next season will still be enjoyable and less wins will be tolerable because we will get to see the next round of talent learning. Remember, we have Moss and Hutton red shirting. We have loads of potential that haven't seen D1 ball, yet. Moss, Hutton, Cook, Pemsl. Plus, who knows, if Jones comes back healthy, maybe Jones, Uhl, Jok, Baer, Wagner and Cook will be enough to sneak us into the NCAA?

 

[ibahawkeye]

Everyone is forgetting about Jones for next year. Tall, 3- point shooter and can rebound. He just needs to REHB, REHAB, REHAB

He's an interesting addition. Certainly his outside shooting will help.

What I'm more interested in is how the rest of his game will fit. He's kind of soft for a big guy and I've said in other posts that I'm concerned losing Woody will be a bigger factor than most realize. Sure Jones is y'all and can shoot but can he defend and rebound which may be what we need most out of him and I'm not sure he can provide it.