Where Olaseni will pay huge dividends

iahawk20

Well-Known Member
It is no secret that Fran wants to press more and could not as we did not have the horses last year. We are going to see Iowa press using a lot of 3/4 court and full court pressure. Having Olaseni and his shot blocking abilities at the back end of that press will be huge.

Additionally, we've seen scorers/slashers continually take it inside and score at or close to the rim against Iowa. I expect Olaseni to make a major impact on the defensive side as Mel will no longer be the only guy capable of blocking shots consistently. This will only make our perimeter defenders even better. I expect Eric May to really benefit from this! With his current ability to create turnovers and now having help down low...good things will happen.
 
Props on having the inside scoop on his committing

Still waiting for Hawkphreek to surface and tell us about this mystery guard committ
 
Would it be a fair comparison to compare Olaseni to a young Cyrus Tate?

Just grasping at straws here, but they seem similar to me. I may be wrong...haven't seen Olaseni play, just heard descriptions.
 
Would it be a fair comparison to compare Olaseni to a young Cyrus Tate?

Just grasping at straws here, but they seem similar to me. I may be wrong...haven't seen Olaseni play, just heard descriptions.

Sounds like Kurt Looby but a lot more upside on offense is a fair comparison from what I've read
 
I could be wrong, because I have only read about him, but I would compare to Acie Earl.

It seems like when he puts on a little more weight his game and build will be similar to Acie, although he sounds a little more athletic and a little less "plodding" if you will. Remember, too, that Acie had a similar profile out of high school, defense was ahead of his offense, and he red shirted his freshman year.
 
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Olaseni changes everything on defense, Iowa will have a guy on the back that can block shots. Basabe on the front end on the ball and Olaseni protecting the basket, good thoughts. I agree that he will be most like Looby, but a lot farther along in his basketball career. The last time Iowa had two legit shot blockers on the same team was Looby/Hansen, does anyone remeber when Iowa always had two guys on the roster that would contest? It has been an element of the game Iowa has been lacking for some time.
 
From what I've seen of him, and it hasn't been much, he's not like Acie at all. A lot more athletic than Acie. I think Gabe will impress people with his athleticism and ability to get up and down the court. I don't know who I'd compare him to, but he seems to have athleticism like Mel.
 
DFace, all I am saying, if you look at my description above, is that he profiles like Acie in terms of build and where his strengths and weaknesses lie at this stage in both their careers. I don't debate that he appears more athletic than Acie in terms of up and down the court stuff.

If one were to compare him to a former Hawkeye, though, I think he most closely mirrors Acie in how I described above. Not perfect, but if one had to pick...
 

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