Watching the PTL games

I guess I am one of those "you can't tell anything from the PTL" crowd. All I care about are the current Iowa guys working on their weaknesses. I will admit I am biased I am from an era where I thought the PTL was just a glorified pick up game.

You can watch a player on the court all by himself and see a lot about how good of a player he is. You can still see ball handling skills, how quick someone can drive to the basket, how quick a player gets his shot off. To me it's like watching a runningback's highlight video against bad competition. You can still see how quick and agile he is.
 


You can watch a player on the court all by himself and see a lot about how good of a player he is. You can still see ball handling skills, how quick someone can drive to the basket, how quick a player gets his shot off. To me it's like watching a runningback's highlight video against bad competition. You can still see how quick and agile he is.

Everything you say is true; however, a specific skill set demonstrated in a PTL game doesn't necessarily translate to that same skill set in a B1G game. For a lack of a better term, I will never be one of those guys that blows his load over what I see in a PTL game.
 


Everything you say is true; however, a specific skill set demonstrated in a PTL game doesn't necessarily translate to that same skill set in a B1G game. For a lack of a better term, I will never be one of those guys that blows his load over what I see in a PTL game.

Nor will i. But there is a huge middle ground between blowing your load and not being able to take anything from it. If Ellingson goes off for 30 because he drains 10 wide open 3s, my load will stay in my sack.
 


You're talking about 4 stars that leave Kansas or Kentucky for more play time. Kids don't sit on the bench at Iowa then go wherever they want. 9 tines out of 10 it's because they suck. I just don't think this is one of those 9 times.

Hutton was one of the 9 that sucked, Fleming was the exception according to you
 


Didn't two UNI guys lead the PTL in scoring last year and both Mike and Woody averaged quite a bit more than Jarrod?
 


Didn't two UNI guys lead the PTL in scoring last year and both Mike and Woody averaged quite a bit more than Jarrod?

Did they average more or did they score more points because they played in more games? Woody is an example where you have to actually use your head and think who the hell is going to guard him.
 




Nor will i. But there is a huge middle ground between blowing your load and not being able to take anything from it. If Ellingson goes off for 30 because he drains 10 wide open 3s, my load will stay in my sack.

Like everything else in society we go to extremes, either the kid is going to be a stud or the kid is going to be worthless. We are determining this over some "pick up games".. I guess i am saying the same thing you are there is just a huge middle ground here
 








Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Michigan St go on a hot streak with a combo guard (well, at best a combo guard; more like a combo 2-3) at point last year? That is, after he got back from an injury. Please don't tell me what a great point guard Denzel Valentine is; I'm not saying he isn't a great player, I'm saying he isn't a point guard but was thrust into the role out of need.
No shit Sherlock! There are any number of SR, combo guard, 4 year starters that I would easily let play PG for our team! Devyn Marble being one of my favorite choices for that duty. I did not then, nor would not now want either Valentine or Marble in that position as FR. Unless my HC failed to recruit properly and was forced to do it. Even then, CW doesn't remotely resemble either of those players. And will NOT resemble how well they played as SRs.
 


Like everything else in society we go to extremes, either the kid is going to be a stud or the kid is going to be worthless. We are determining this over some "pick up games".. I guess i am saying the same thing you are there is just a huge middle ground here

Speaking of going to extremes, look at the post directly under yours.
 


No shit Sherlock! There are any number of SR, combo guard, 4 year starters that I would easily let play PG for our team! Devyn Marble being one of my favorite choices for that duty. I did not then, nor would not now want either Valentine or Marble in that position as FR. Unless my HC failed to recruit properly and was forced to do it. Even then, CW doesn't remotely resemble either of those players. And will NOT resemble how well they played as SRs.

Marble was an obvious future 1st team all conference player the second he stepped on the court.
 


I guess I am one of those "you can't tell anything from the PTL" crowd. All I care about are the current Iowa guys working on their weaknesses. I will admit I am biased I am from an era where I thought the PTL was just a glorified pick up game.
It is a glorified pick up game. But you don't have to wait for a BIG caliber guard to pick your new PGs pocket to know that it's coming, after you watch a kid from Upper Iowa do it in a PTL game. Or watch a bunch of bad turnovers in a pick up game to expect similar stuff when a BIG team ramps up the pressure defense on the ball handlers.
 




Like everything else in society we go to extremes, either the kid is going to be a stud or the kid is going to be worthless. We are determining this over some "pick up games".. I guess i am saying the same thing you are there is just a huge middle ground here

If you think you know for sure how a player will pan out by watching a PTL game , you're a fool. But the same can be said for thinking you know after a kids first game in college. Or first year in college for that matter. Nothing is guaranteed.

I thought Gesell was going to be one of the greatest guards to play at Iowa after his freshman year ( I wasn't throwing out guarantees but that was my hunch). Turns out he hardly improved. I had no idea Marble would ever turn into the player he did. Even last year I thought Uthoff would be a 2nd team conference player. I would have never guessed he would be an All American after his junior year. You can see things in a player's game to give you an idea of how they will turn out, whether it's in a PTL game, a college game, or a hifh school highlight video. Nothing is guaranteed tho.
 




It is a glorified pick up game. But you don't have to wait for a BIG caliber guard to pick your new PGs pocket to know that it's coming, after you watch a kid from Upper Iowa do it in a PTL game. Or watch a bunch of bad turnovers in a pick up game to expect similar stuff when a BIG team ramps up the pressure defense on the ball handlers.

I didn't see it so I don't know what happened. But a kid from Upper Iowa might be just as quick as a Big 10 point guard but suck at everything else and that's why he's at Upper Iowa. As far as stupid turnovers go, they are abundant in glorified pickup games.
 


But CW didn't have the luxury of getting tons of minutes on a crappy team like Marble did.
He had an entire year in the program! Are you seriously arguing CW vs Marble? You are willing to put it out there that you think CW will be the same quality of player that Marble was when both are SRs? I'm not putting those words in your mouth. I want to hear you say them.
I saw Devyn play in the PTL as a FR/SO and I saw CW play as a FR/now a SO. The skill set is not close IMO, based on what I have seen to date. So much so that I am willing to bet large amounts of money that CW won't make a 1st team or 2nd team all BIG squad at any time in his career, like Marble has.
If you want to take me up on that bet, take my money.
 




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