Upside hopefulness...

R

revkev73

Well-Known Member
I am hopeful for Iowa surprising this year in BB...

Reason...lots of upside in the lineup...

JB - Great season but can be better with more talent available to him. He isn't elite but is a gamer!

Moss - in some ways an unknown but more minutes and opportunities can make him a star. He isn't afraid to shoot or fail..another gamer.

Pemsl - With the weight loss and better health I look for upside in him. Most gifted "under the basket" guy Iowa has had in a long time.

Cook - Talk is he has taken it to a new level which would make sense. By his own admission felt a bit lost out there last year.

Wagner - Always have liked his toughness...with more talent around him he has upside for sure. Doesn't need to score to be content...a valuable asset.

Kriener - I have liked him from the get-go...nice mid range shots...unafraid to take "the shot"...as he gets more lean he could really surprise.

Baer - Love him but not sure how much upside he has...has been very efficient already.

Ellingson - role player, intelligent...don't see much upside. If he can make some shots...big +

Uhl - Enigma...needs to figure it out or will be watching a lot.

Williams - he could break out...if he does, what a gift that would be...another enigma...seems to be not a PG or SG...

Garza...although an unknown with no Iowa history...if he is better than advertised, which many think...he could be the upside linchpin of the entire season. A center with post moves? Wow...imagine that!

Bottom line...lots of players with upside...does the coach have some upside to throw into the pot?
 


Fran has done the heavy lifting and gotten "Da Horses" (thrown in for the creeper) onto campus. Now it's time to return Iowa BBall to its glory days. People forget that our BBall program historically is more successful than our football team. It may sound weird to some, but it's true.
 


revkev73 said:
I am hopeful for Iowa surprising this year in BB...

Reason...lots of upside in the lineup...

JB - Great season but can be better with more talent available to him. He isn't elite but is a gamer!

Moss - in some ways an unknown but more minutes and opportunities can make him a star. He isn't afraid to shoot or fail..another gamer.

Pemsl - With the weight loss and better health I look for upside in him. Most gifted "under the basket" guy Iowa has had in a long time.

Cook - Talk is he has taken it to a new level which would make sense. By his own admission felt a bit lost out there last year.

Wagner - Always have liked his toughness...with more talent around him he has upside for sure. Doesn't need to score to be content...a valuable asset.

Kriener - I have liked him from the get-go...nice mid range shots...unafraid to take "the shot"...as he gets more lean he could really surprise.

Baer - Love him but not sure how much upside he has...has been very efficient already.

Ellingson - role player, intelligent...don't see much upside. If he can make some shots...big +

Uhl - Enigma...needs to figure it out or will be watching a lot.

Williams - he could break out...if he does, what a gift that would be...another enigma...seems to be not a PG or SG...

Garza...although an unknown with no Iowa history...if he is better than advertised, which many think...he could be the upside linchpin of the entire season. A center with post moves? Wow...imagine that!

Bottom line...lots of players with upside...does the coach have some upside to throw into the pot?
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You left off the player on the team that has arguably, along with Cook, the most upside in Jack Nunge.

At 6’11 his foot speed is really unmatched. Pair that with soft hands and a good shooting stroke (he isn’t a good shooter yet), and you have a guy with tons of upside.

The Uthoff comparison is pretty good, but what’s crazy is that Jack is already 2 inches taller and thicker than JU was as a Senior. JU was an all-American.

We may not see it all come together for Jack this year, but by year two and three on campus, he’s going to be pretty tough.
 


Good point but I was assuming Nunge might be a red shirt...included Garza because he will play and fills a critical need...

Hope he has huge upside...
 


revkev73 said:
Good point but I was assuming Nunge might be a red shirt...included Garza because he will play and fills a critical need...

Hope he has huge upside...
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I actually think it would make some sense to redshirt Nunge, but based on everything I’ve read it doesn’t sound like that’s going to happen.

Im really excited for Friday to get a look at a potential starting 5 and rotations.
 


The upsides that have me most excited are Moss and Garza.

Moss has shown flashes of something we haven't seen at Iowa in quite some time. An off-guard who can create his own shot, take the ball to the rim, and also hit the 3. He needs more minutes, but I never thought his confidence was lacking.

The Garza hype train is insane coming off the PTL and Eurotrip...which could all be smoke and mirrors since the PTL is defense optional and the Eurotrip was kind of a joke. However, he's looked smooth around the rim every time I've seen him. I can't remember the last time Iowa had a true Center who looked so fluid and smooth around the rim. He also seems to get up and down the court really well.
 


Joshbrown said:
Fran has done the heavy lifting and gotten "Da Horses" (thrown in for the creeper) onto campus. Now it's time to return Iowa BBall to its glory days. People forget that our BBall program historically is more successful than our football team. It may sound weird to some, but it's true.
Click to expand...
I thought you blocked me. Doesn't that make you the creeper?
 


NikeHawk21 said:
I actually think it would make some sense to redshirt Nunge, but based on everything I’ve read it doesn’t sound like that’s going to happen.

Im really excited for Friday to get a look at a potential starting 5 and rotations.
Click to expand...

Said this in another thread, but I just don't think it makes sense to redshirt Nunge. With Moss it made sense to redshirt him because Clemmons, Uthoff and Gesell were seniors and Jok was a Junior. So most of your guard minutes were already taken but a huge hole would open up the next year for Moss. Moss also had some lingering academic issues which made him late to campus and miss the PTL.

With Nunge nothing is opening up next year except for Uhl's 7 minutes per game. The year after that only Wagner and CW graduate. I think you're better off giving Nunge minutes as a freshman and seeing how he does.
 


mopkins said:
Said this in another thread, but I just don't think it makes sense to redshirt Nunge. With Moss it made sense to redshirt him because Clemmons, Uthoff and Gesell were seniors and Jok was a Junior. So most of your guard minutes were already taken but a huge hole would open up the next year for Moss. Moss also had some lingering academic issues which made him late to campus and miss the PTL.

With Nunge nothing is opening up next year except for Uhl's 7 minutes per game. The year after that only Wagner and CW graduate. I think you're better off giving Nunge minutes as a freshman and seeing how he does.
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I hear what you are staying for sure and I’ll concede that it made more sense to RS Moss. It really comes down to how much of a factor Nunge is going to play on this team which is a bit of an unknown to us right now.

My counterpoint would be a lot can change in a year. Whether it be transfers, injuries, pro departures what have you. I don’t think it’s unimaginable that Cook goes pro. What if Wagner after seeing his minutes shrink this season decides maybe it’s time to pursue a football career?

The question will come down to how much Nunge plays this year. If he’s our 11th man playing 8-10 MPG this year, is that worth more to our program than a potential RS Senior season where he will likely be an All-Conference type of player?

I don’t have the answer and I’m not going to worry about it one way or another. It would certainly help our minutes/rotation issue.
 


NikeHawk21 said:
I hear what you are staying for sure and I’ll concede that it made more sense to RS Moss. It really comes down to how much of a factor Nunge is going to play on this team which is a bit of an unknown to us right now.

My counterpoint would be a lot can change in a year. Whether it be transfers, injuries, pro departures what have you. I don’t think it’s unimaginable that Cook goes pro. What if Wagner after seeing his minutes shrink this season decides maybe it’s time to pursue a football career?

The question will come down to how much Nunge plays this year. If he’s our 11th man playing 8-10 MPG this year, is that worth more to our program than a potential RS Senior season where he will likely be an All-Conference type of player?

I don’t have the answer and I’m not going to worry about it one way or another. It would certainly help our minutes/rotation issue.
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Yeah I hear ya. I just think the players prefer to play even if its only a few minutes per game, and Fran leaves the red shirt decision up to the players. On top of that, Fran is having some ridiculous success recruiting Bigs right now that I want him to keep the momentum going. Crank players through the system and move on to the next batch.
 


mopkins said:
Yeah I hear ya. I just think the players prefer to play even if its only a few minutes per game, and Fran leaves the red shirt decision up to the players. On top of that, Fran is having some ridiculous success recruiting Bigs right now that I want him to keep the momentum going. Crank players through the system and move on to the next batch.
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In today’s age you just don’t see many redshirts in College BB. Players come in more prepared and expect to get minutes. It doesn’t sound like there is even any talk of Jack redshirting.

Either way, I can’t wait to see this kid with a couple years of college strength & conditioning and a few more years of seasoning on that jump shot.
 


NikeHawk21 said:
In today’s age you just don’t see many redshirts in College BB. Players come in more prepared and expect to get minutes. It doesn’t sound like there is even any talk of Jack redshirting.

Either way, I can’t wait to see this kid with a couple years of college strength & conditioning and a few more years of seasoning on that jump shot.
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Its funny because before the PTL I think most people were really high on Nunge, and after the PTL/Eurotrip people are really high on Garza. I think maybe comparing Nunge to Uthoff has hurt some of our expectations of him. He definitely hasn't found his deep ball yet.
 


Fran has already said that Nunge would play this year. Whether it is because he doesn't want to redshirt or because he can help the team this year I don't really know. He is obviously a great player, but Iowa has a lot of pretty good players. You can't teach talent with seven feet.
 


I'm just going to enjoy the ride and try to remember that most these guys will (hopefully) be back for 2 more seasons.
 


Few things in sports shock me these days, but, barring injury, I would be shocked if Nunge red shirts.
 










NikeHawk21 said:
I actually think it would make some sense to redshirt Nunge, but based on everything I’ve read it doesn’t sound like that’s going to happen.

Im really excited for Friday to get a look at a potential starting 5 and rotations.
Click to expand...
If he redshirts, then Connor, Patrick and Joe coming in, playing time might not be there. I know they play different positions, but there is only one ball, and we are crazy deep.
 


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