Who's the starting five next year?

Johnnyhawkeye said:
I've noticed several people have Uthoff playing the 3? He is now 6'10, wouldn't he be better served at the 4?
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He has the ball skills to play the 3. Let's not forget that it is about your skillset the position you play not your height.

The more important thing I see with uthoff is they say he has put on 25 lbs. That would mean he is about the same weight or more than white and basabe. That is saying something considering he came in around 200 lbs.

I have to believe that how good iowa is rests on 2 players. Woodbury and uthoff. Woody needs to become a 20+ min post that can open up down low scoring. And uthoff needs to bring the versatility of having both an inside and outside presence offensively that we have sorely lacked. The rest could really stay the same or have small improvement and I think we would end up better just because we will get more of those close wins with experience. But those 2 will be needed to really take big roles.
 
BJHawkstrong said:
Nothing personal intended but you either didn't pay very close attention to Woodbury when he played or you have just convinced yourself that since Gabe is more athletic that he is better. Gabe is a better all around athlete than Adam is, that's a fact. That is where the argument should end though. Adam is as good of a defensive 7 footer as a freshman that I have ever seen. He understands where to be, what to do, he is a very good communicator on defense and if you didn't notice he really does a great job of help defense. Gabe is great for helping down low and getting the occasional blocked shot. Adam does a better job positioning for rebounds and as Hawkstrat mentioned he is an excellent outlet passer for a big man. Which will lead to transition points. Not to mention he runs the floor very well also. I think Gabe has a tremendous upside but Adam has a much more well rounded game at this point and Adam is still somewhat growing into his frame if that makes sense. Once he really physically matures look out.
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I agree with the thought but thats going overboard.
 
SwirlinLingerie said:
No, I agree with you that Woodbury was the better defensive player this year. But if Olesani keeps improving at the current rate it will be interesting to see where he ends up. Woodbury can get up and down the court ok, but don't fool yourself about his lack of quickness. And I don't understand why everyone has all these qualifiers about Woodbury being 7 feet..."for a 7 footer he is this, or that." The kid has alligator arms. Doesn't Olesani have a greater wingspan, which is far more important than raw height?

Again, I thought Woodbury did fine this season. Stuck his nose in there, competed, tough, good team defense. I'm just more intrigued by Olesani, in part due to his size, quickness and hands, but also in part because of Woodbury's limitations, which seem to be only average feet that aren't all that quick, short arms and slow jumping.
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I think you are overplaying the short arms thought. Adam's wingspan is just fine.

Both players have a ton of potential, I just think people don't quite understand how polished and skilled Adam's defensive game is. Rarely do freshman understand how to play post defense/positioning at the D1 level the moment they step on the court. Adam did.
 
RocknRollface said:
I agree with the thought but thats going overboard.
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It may seem a little overboard to some but I'm not talking about shotblocking or making super athletic plays I'm talking being the back line leader of the defense and he knows exactly what he is doing out there which is rare for a kid his age. He made mistakes like frustration fouls and such but if you compare him to other 7 foot centers as freshman he is defensively as polished all around as any. Ok ever may be overboard, but you get my point.
 
Section136 said:
Uthoff can play the 3.
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"Can play the 3" vs "Can play and be very effective at the 3" are two totally different things. How many guys are 6' 10" and can effectively play the 3? Not many, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Time will tell but I'm not holding my breath and doubt he's gonna see much time there.
 
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BJHawkstrong said:
It may seem a little overboard to some but I'm not talking about shotblocking or making super athletic plays I'm talking being the back line leader of the defense and he knows exactly what he is doing out there which is rare for a kid his age. He made mistakes like frustration fouls and such but if you compare him to other 7 foot centers as freshman he is defensively as polished all around as any. Ok ever may be overboard, but you get my point.
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I agree with you to an extent, but what difference does it make if he is 7 feet or not?
 
Our starting lineup will remain the same it was towards the end of the year when we were healthy:

Gessell
Marble
White
Basabe
Woody
 
gesell
marble
woodbury
white (3)
utoff (4)

basabe if you need more d and rebounding than white provides

i think we'll see utoff and white at the forwards because it puts the best five players on the floor. you give up something with each, but each creates some matchup problems -- utoff can take other 4s outside, white can use his height and sneaky aggression to attack the rim and get to the line. hopefully he adds a midrange game and more strength.

basabe will come off the bench as he does best
 
PalmettoHawkFan said:
gesell
marble
woodbury
white (3)
utoff (4)

basabe if you need more d and rebounding than white provides

i think we'll see utoff and white at the forwards because it puts the best five players on the floor. you give up something with each, but each creates some matchup problems -- utoff can take other 4s outside, white can use his height and sneaky aggression to attack the rim and get to the line. hopefully he adds a midrange game and more strength.

basabe will come off the bench as he does best
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I think a perimeter threat in Uthoff (instead of Basabe) would benefit White, as it would give him more spacing by the defense. Whereas teams sag off of Basabe, and pack the lane.
 
BasketballMan said:
"Can play the 3" vs "Can play and be very effective at the 3" are two totally different things. How many guys are 6' 10" and can effectively play the 3? Not many, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Time will tell but I'm not holding my breath and doubt he's gonna see much time there.
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If he cant effectively play the 3 I would have said "Uthoff cant play the 3".

Was it that hard?
 
PalmettoHawkFan said:
gesell
marble
woodbury
white (3)
utoff (4)

basabe if you need more d and rebounding than white provides

i think we'll see utoff and white at the forwards because it puts the best five players on the floor. you give up something with each, but each creates some matchup problems -- utoff can take other 4s outside, white can use his height and sneaky aggression to attack the rim and get to the line. hopefully he adds a midrange game and more strength.

basabe will come off the bench as he does best
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If it's best 5 for next year, I'll take Basabe over (Woodbury)
 
Foval21 said:
He has the ball skills to play the 3. Let's not forget that it is about your skillset the position you play not your height.

The more important thing I see with uthoff is they say he has put on 25 lbs. That would mean he is about the same weight or more than white and basabe. That is saying something considering he came in around 200 lbs.

I have to believe that how good iowa is rests on 2 players. Woodbury and uthoff. Woody needs to become a 20+ min post that can open up down low scoring. And uthoff needs to bring the versatility of having both an inside and outside presence offensively that we have sorely lacked. The rest could really stay the same or have small improvement and I think we would end up better just because we will get more of those close wins with experience. But those 2 will be needed to really take big roles.
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I still think he will be best suited playing the 4 or 5 at his size and skill level. He is more of a match up problem with his shooting ability and ball skills at his height than he would be at the 3. The 3 position is expected to have more range, a better ball handler than the 4 or 5, plus if he is expected to defend the 3 position it might leave the him open to penetration by shorter, quicker players.

I'm not saying he won't play the 3, but I would be shocked if it was his primary position. This is a great problem to have and not really worth quibbling over, so let's just enjoy having such a deep and talented team that can present so many match up problems for the opposing teams. Fran's the man
 
i don't know if this has been mentioned in this thread - i'm not sifting thru 15 pages.

But, Uthoff has the same size and reminds me of Keith Van Horn. Not to say their outcomes will be the same, but Van Horn is 6'10" and very lanky - (listed as 220 as a Ute, but i'd guess that to be his top weight in college), and could handle the ball and shoot the 3 with the best of them.
 
Johnnyhawkeye said:
I still think he will be best suited playing the 4 or 5 at his size and skill level. He is more of a match up problem with his shooting ability and ball skills at his height than he would be at the 3. The 3 position is expected to have more range, a better ball handler than the 4 or 5, plus if he is expected to defend the 3 position it might leave the him open to penetration by shorter, quicker players.

I'm not saying he won't play the 3, but I would be shocked if it was his primary position. This is a great problem to have and not really worth quibbling over, so let's just enjoy having such a deep and talented team that can present so many match up problems for the opposing teams. Fran's the man
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Well our 3 spot was a weakness defensively this year. And we had a player with no outside or midrange game playing the 3. Uthoff's ballhandling, shot, and passing would both be upgrades on the offensive end at the 3 spot. His defense would hopefully be just as good because it wasn't great anyway. This would also allow white to play where he is better suited (the 4). Unless white can improve his half court game he shouldn't be a 3. For uthoff to play the 4 or 5 consistently he would have to really get tougher. Because from what I have seen of him on video and in person he would get broken in half by b1g posts. He would get pushed around by woodbury who was admittedly tough but very weak in comparison to other posts in the b1g.
 
imported_ankle23 said:
i don't know if this has been mentioned in this thread - i'm not sifting thru 15 pages.

But, Uthoff has the same size and reminds me of Keith Van Horn. Not to say their outcomes will be the same, but Van Horn is 6'10" and very lanky - (listed as 220 as a Ute, but i'd guess that to be his top weight in college), and could handle the ball and shoot the 3 with the best of them.
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Not to mention there is a guy named kevin durant who is like 6'10 or 11 and plays the 3 spot pretty good. Not that uthoff is anywhere near that ability but their builds are similar and he has very good ball skills.
 
Why are we conceding that Uthoff is 6'10"? Every measurable I've seen has him at 6'8".

Jarrod turns 20 next month. Pretty late for a two inch growth spurt.
 
wundergrape said:
Why are we conceding that Uthoff is 6'10"? Every measurable I've seen has him at 6'8".

Jarrod turns 20 next month. Pretty late for a two inch growth spurt.
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Uthoff expects to impact Hawkeyes next year | TheGazette

Iowa’s close road losses this year bit at him nearly as much as for those who endured it on the court. Uthoff, now a 6-foot-10 red-shirt freshman, couldn’t travel with the team and watched those games either alone or with his family.

“Sometimes he’s shown flashes of how good of a player he can be just how he takes people off the dribble,” Iowa junior Melsahn Basabe said. “He has dribble combinations. He rises up and shoots right over people. He’s 6-10, he’s actually the same height as Gabe (Olaseni) when they measured him, so he has a lot of ability, I’m interested in seeing how he’s going to fit in our team.”

Uthoff has grown two inches and put on about 25 pounds from his days at Jefferson. He worked heavily on his ballhandling and lifted weights four days a week. He was allowed to practice, and he gave his teammates great looks. He simulated opponents on the scout team and brought both skills and intensity, which his teammates appreciated and respected.
 
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