Why Iowa will be better part VI

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tony0051

Member
While I agree with most of what Jon has written about the upcoming BBall season, I think he has left out the most important aspect to the improvement of the team. The guys that played on this team will be able to play a natural position this year. I don't think anyone really understands how draining it was for Gatens to have to play the 4 last year. Cole is not long enough to handle the bigs in this league. Cole moving back to the 4, Gatens to either the two or three, will give Iowa better match-ups defensively. Most people look at Iowa and suggest they were solid defensively, and they were, but part of that is rebounding. When Tate was healthy, Iowa was a pretty solid team. Even when Tucker and Kelly were not contributing much. Once Tate went down, Iowa struggled. Iowa did a poor job of rebounding the ball and lost way to many possessions. With an improved front line, and bigger guards, Iowa will be the most improved rebounding team in the B10.

As for the people worried about not having a scorer who can create his own shot, how many times did Bob Knight win the B10 with guys who got their own shot? Maybe Thomas or May. The top scorers in the history of the B10 are guys who worked off screens and made open shots. (Sound familiar?) Skiles, Alford, Rice, Chaney and Redd. None of these guys scored with the ball in their hands, they worked off screens and made open shots. Iowa has the best collection of shooters in the conference. Gatens, Tucker, Bawinkel, Fuller and Payne will all shoot over 42% from three. All may shoot over 45%. Given the improved D, improved rebounding, and high percentage three point shooting, this will be a fun team to watch. Even if they don't get into transition and throw down dunks from the free throw line.
 
I have been writing the "Iowa Hoops Will Be Better" series. There are still 3 parts that will be released, to complete the 8 part series. Should have the next one out shortly, that one focuses on Jarryd Cole.
 
Sorry spank, I hope I didn't steal your thunder. Thought this was just a five part series. Also, I appologize for not giving you the credit for the post.
 
tony0051 said:
While I agree with most of what Jon has written about the upcoming BBall season, I think he has left out the most important aspect to the improvement of the team. The guys that played on this team will be able to play a natural position this year. I don't think anyone really understands how draining it was for Gatens to have to play the 4 last year. Cole is not long enough to handle the bigs in this league. Cole moving back to the 4, Gatens to either the two or three, will give Iowa better match-ups defensively. Most people look at Iowa and suggest they were solid defensively, and they were, but part of that is rebounding. When Tate was healthy, Iowa was a pretty solid team. Even when Tucker and Kelly were not contributing much. Once Tate went down, Iowa struggled. Iowa did a poor job of rebounding the ball and lost way to many possessions. With an improved front line, and bigger guards, Iowa will be the most improved rebounding team in the B10.

As for the people worried about not having a scorer who can create his own shot, how many times did Bob Knight win the B10 with guys who got their own shot? Maybe Thomas or May. The top scorers in the history of the B10 are guys who worked off screens and made open shots. (Sound familiar?) Skiles, Alford, Rice, Chaney and Redd. None of these guys scored with the ball in their hands, they worked off screens and made open shots. Iowa has the best collection of shooters in the conference. Gatens, Tucker, Bawinkel, Fuller and Payne will all shoot over 42% from three. All may shoot over 45%. Given the improved D, improved rebounding, and high percentage three point shooting, this will be a fun team to watch. Even if they don't get into transition and throw down dunks from the free throw line.
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I think mainly people last year were worried about not having a guy, that when the team went into one of those long scoring droughts, could be the go to guy to get the offense going. Kelly was that guy last year at the end of the season. I mean, I was at the final game of the year vs. Penn State and Kelly was amazing when Iowa absolutely needed to score especially late in that game. No doubt with a full year under his belt Gatens should be even better than he was last year, and a full year of Tucker will help this team. I think one of those two or both can be that guy to kick start the offense when the shots aren't falling.
 
If Cole is going to play the 4 who is going to play the 5? I think of everyone on the team Cole is far and away the best suited for the 5, and the 4.
 
I've really enjoyed reading this series as well. While I think the loss of Jake obviously hurts, this is year 3 and I think the team is poised to at least be competitive in every game and at the very least, a thorn in teams' side.

I still think they're a year away from making a serious run at post season...but to me thats OK. I like the '10 class. If Lick and Co. can keep up the recruiting momentum and follow up with a strong '11 class, we'll be poised to be a factor in conference play again.
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AVANDIA SETTLEMENT UPDATE
 
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HawkeyeDug said:
If Cole is going to play the 4 who is going to play the 5? I think of everyone on the team Cole is far and away the best suited for the 5, and the 4.
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Cougill. I thought Archie might as well, although his injury probably means Cole moves back to the 5 when Cougill needs a rest. Brommer could be in the mix, depending on how he's developed.
 
tony0051 said:
Cole is not long enough to handle the bigs in this league. Cole moving back to the 4, Gatens to either the two or three, will give Iowa better match-ups defensively.
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Who is going to fill in at the 5 spot? Expect more of the same with Gatens playing out of position along with May.
 
I'm going to be surprised if Cole doesn't start at the 5. I don't think Cougill is going to be ready to start as a freshman, I think he'll come in off the bench for Cole. I agree with the above poster we may be looking to go with a 4 guard look on the court with Gatens and May playing the 4 off and on. I think Cole will be fine at the 5 especially with his knee being healthy this year, as he's very explosive on the boards.
 
tony0051 said:
Sorry spank, I hope I didn't steal your thunder. Thought this was just a five part series. Also, I appologize for not giving you the credit for the post.
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No worries, I just wanted to make sure no one thought that Jon wrote it. I don't want ruin his reputation this early on his new site. *insert smiley face*:):)
 
This has been a great series - and right on point. Even though we may not have players playing their natural position ALL of the time, I do think we will see more of it this year than last year.
 
GoHawks1123 said:
I'm going to be surprised if Cole doesn't start at the 5. I don't think Cougill is going to be ready to start as a freshman, I think he'll come in off the bench for Cole. I agree with the above poster we may be looking to go with a 4 guard look on the court with Gatens and May playing the 4 off and on. I think Cole will be fine at the 5 especially with his knee being healthy this year, as he's very explosive on the boards.
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I don't think Cole will be at the 4 to open the season... but once Cougill gets comfortable and demonstrates that he can defend a typical D1 center adequately, I think he'll be our guy.
 
HawkeyeDug said:
If Cole is going to play the 4 who is going to play the 5? I think of everyone on the team Cole is far and away the best suited for the 5, and the 4.
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I think we are all forgetting about Fuller, I know I forgot about him at least. I see Cole at the 5 and Fuller at the 4. Cougill is, from what I have seen in person, not going to factor in this year. My experiences with Cougill are very limited, once at the PTL and I guarded him once playing pickup at the fieldhouse. Most of my opinion comes from playing against him, but it is not good. I just don't see him being able to compete with other big bodies in the paint and on the glass, and god forbid somebody try to put the ball on the floor against him.
 
HawkeyeDug said:
I think we are all forgetting about Fuller, I know I forgot about him at least. I see Cole at the 5 and Fuller at the 4. Cougill is, from what I have seen in person, not going to factor in this year. My experiences with Cougill are very limited, once at the PTL and I guarded him once playing pickup at the fieldhouse. Most of my opinion comes from playing against him, but it is not good. I just don't see him being able to compete with other big bodies in the paint and on the glass, and god forbid somebody try to put the ball on the floor against him.
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Fuller at the 4 was talked about a little in this thread.
http://www.hawkeyenation.com/forum/showthread.php/may-191.html

I think the two threads have so points that related to each other.
 
I would think that since he brought Archie in as JC player (along with Brennan & Brommer) that he would like Cole & Fuller to play the 4 most of the time. I could be wrong but I don't think he brought 3 centers in the program to sit the bench. Brennan will play, no doubt in my mind. When I watched them play before the Mich FB game a couple of weeks ago, I thought andrew looked real good. Others don't see that but he will be our best defender at the 5 spot when the year starts.
 
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