Zach McCabe is the real deal

Zach is a better shooter and a better ballhandler (by far) than May, and has been a better passer than he showed in the last two tournament games. Very unselfish. One of the problems he has in Heelan's offense this season is that there's no one who sets a very good screen for him and no one else who can shoot the three, so it's easier for opposing defense to sag and double on him.

I was disappointed by how many turnovers he had in the two tourney games I saw this year but think he can be a very good player for Iowa. How soon that may happen, I don't know.
 
HawkI101 said:
Why do we need a deeper rotation? Ohio State could be a 1 seed next week playing 6 guys. We need better players!!
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I don't disagree with your statement. I'm thinking a deeper bench would have really helped this years team, we were in many games this year until the final 5 minutes where we simply ran out of gas. more able bodies can only help the situation ( I think ).
 
poncho72 said:
I don't disagree with your statement. I'm thinking a deeper bench would have really helped this years team, we were in many games this year until the final 5 minutes where we simply ran out of gas. more able bodies can only help the situation ( I think ).
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I understand what you are saying. More players will help and can provide a little rest. Sometimes people talk like having 9 average players will make us better because you would have a deep bench when I think talent is way more important:)
 
FreddyBrown said:
Zach is a better shooter and a better ballhandler (by far) than May, and has been a better passer than he showed in the last two tournament games. Very unselfish. One of the problems he has in Heelan's offense this season is that there's no one who sets a very good screen for him and no one else who can shoot the three, so it's easier for opposing defense to sag and double on him.

I was disappointed by how many turnovers he had in the two tourney games I saw this year but think he can be a very good player for Iowa. How soon that may happen, I don't know.
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That spin move in the lane resulted in most of the turnovers. I think you mentioned them in your review of the semifinal game. He could be convinced to limit that move.
 
I wasn't all that "wowed" either, FWIW.

Seems like a good player, but nothing thats going to make a huge impact next year IMHO.
 
poncho72 said:
Raef Lafrentz never won a state championship at MFL Marmac, never made it to the champ. game lost in the semis and fouled out early in the 4th quarter. things turned out pretty well for him.
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We played Raef his senior year at sub-state with one of the best team we've ever had at our school. Raef destroyed us all night long - and he had mono.
 
parquet said:
That spin move in the lane resulted in most of the turnovers. I think you mentioned them in your review of the semifinal game. He could be convinced to limit that move.
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That's true, and spinning in the lane in a half court situation is probably something he should just take out of his game.

He also threw some poor passes, more so in the semi than tonight--but I think overall he is a very good passer and he can handle the ball on the break, which makes him even more valuable.
 
FreddyBrown said:
That's true, and spinning in the lane in a half court situation is probably something he should just take out of his game.

He also threw some poor passes, more so in the semi than tonight--but I think overall he is a very good passer and he can handle the ball on the break, which makes him even more valuable.
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It will be nice to see a break again
 
I agree that McDermott's a great player and looked to be the better of the 2 right now...how much better than Zach, who knows...trade Zach to Ames for McD and see who has the better season...my guess is it's a lot easier when you have Harrison Barnes on your team to play off of.
 
I thought McCabe showed pretty good body control and dribbling ability in the first half, when he was able to score at will and got most of his points.

When Pella adjusted its defense to stop the driving of McCabe and others, Heelan didn't do a very good job of adjusting to this, and they nearly lost the game for this reason. During the last half of the 4th quarter, McCabe stopped trying to drive through triple teams (thus the 5 turnovers) and they used him as a decoy to get people open.

It's tough to judge what type of player McCabe will be at the college level from watching that game. It appeared that he was playing out of his ideal position in order to help his team, and he still put up 16 pt., 12 rebounds to go with 2 assists.

He should help Iowa immediately by giving them an option off the bench that is not Jon Lickliter or a three point specialist. At worst, he will be a good role player that can give some height, defensive rebound and help break a press. If he gets much better at his outside shooting, he could be quite a versatile player down the road. Not bad for the third or fourth highest rated recruit in the class.
 
Just got back from Wells Fargo not too long ago...

Pella did adjust their defense in the second half. In the second half they had 3-4 guys sagging into the lane and really crowding the paint. Sioux City didn't seem to have any 3 point shooters to threaten them from sagging into the paint.
 
Heelan only attempted 4 or 5 three pointers all night so they had a game plan of pounding it inside with McCabe and Malloy.

McCabe is a nice player. He has a very good basketball IQ and will only improve. The biggest thing he needs to work on is his body. Spend some time in the weight room and get quicker.

The reports I read this past summer from his AAU play was that he could take over games. In those settings its more a showcase for players to see what they can do.

I'm excited to see what he can do at Iowa. If nothing more he is an improvement over the current practice players at Iowa.
 
I think someone needs to redshirt next year. Candidates include McCabe and Marble.
Maybe McCabe could be the one. We cannot play 13 guys.
 
If we redshirt someone from next year's class it would help theoretically add another player to the 2011 recruiting class which looks to only have one player right now.
 
Just got back from watching both games tonight in person. I dislike saying this about a high school kid but I was extremely disappointed watching him play. I came away thinking this is one of the reasons why Lick is on the verge of losing his coaching job and we are finishing with historical losses and losing seasons.

McCabe is a very poor mans Jess Settles. He's not particularly athletic, does not jump well, appears to be soft, has questionable hands, spends alot of time out on the perimeter and has a hitch in his jump shot. He will not likely make it in the Big Ten.

The best player on Heelan was the older Malloy (6' 4") player. He does not appear to be able to shoot much from distance but demonstrated pretty good athleticism around the bucket. I'd much rather have him than McCabe as he could be interesting in an up and down type of game. If he develops a jump shot to go along with his current game he would be serviceable in the Big Ten. Has a lot more upside than McCabe.

In summary we have enough of players of this size and game that McCabe has.... and it was not very impressive to say the least. I'm not sure he would play for UNI or Drake.
 
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I was not all that impressed either. but will be a good role Player...
 
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