**2018-2019 Iowa Hawkeyes Basketball Season Thread**

[KitKatApples]

Settle down Williams

 

[Dr. Zaius]

He’d be an idiot to not come back

...so you’re saying he’s not coming back?

 

[Berzerkenpas]

With his age and limited skill set, it's pretty clear at this juncture that Cook, in all likelihood, has little future in the NBA. It is possible, certainly, but the degree of probability is ridiculously low. Europe is his most likely ceiling.

Ok, he can make nice money for a while playing there, and then do something else with his adult life that may or may not need a college degree. Or, he could plan on finishing the degree later (a plan that is often much more difficult to execute than to visualize).

I'm clearly stuck in the old 80s-90s paradigm, as I am a 52-year-old geezer who still thinks that kids should graduate before they sign any contract that isn't for an NBA franchise (that kind of guaranteed money, ok, you can risk no degree). One more year in school isn't going to kill whatever Brussels or Modena or Kiev put on the table. It will give you a more solid backup plan.

But I should STFU and GFM....

 

[Match34]

I don't think Cook's dumb, I just think "how's this going to help my NBA prospects" clashes with "how's this going to help the team" too often. A Tyler Cook that wasn't trying to showcase his jump-shooting and play-making abilities would be a beast in the Big Ten but instead we get a guy who turns the ball over once for every four shots he takes.

He's played pretty poorly this entire conference season so maybe that will change if he goes into next year with the mindset of finishing his college career rather than setting up his next one.

 

[CurdMan]

It’s weird, but there’s a pretty decent chance that Iowa fans will look back on Nicholas Baer’s career more fondly than Tyler Cook’s.

 

[Berzerkenpas]

It’s weird, but there’s a pretty decent chance that Iowa fans will look back on Nicholas Baer’s career more fondly than Tyler Cook’s.

Of course they will. Plucky overachieving walk-on always gets kind hindsight, as opposed to a ranked recruit who didn't turn out to be a program-savior. Such is the insane perspective of the average Iowa fan. Its why Darryl Moore gets more love than, say, J.R. Koch.


(and Patrick strikes me as a small forward version of Koch, insofar as he's got lots of skill, but until he's at least 20 he's going to get pushed around in the Big Ten)

 

[Hawkstrat]

Cook is a great player with poor hands, so he turns the ball over too much.

The over-the-top criticism from Tommy Soybean fans is absurd.

 

[MikeyJoe]

It’s weird, but there’s a pretty decent chance that Iowa fans will look back on Nicholas Baer’s career more fondly than Tyler Cook’s.

That's because Iowa fans are fucking idiots.

 

[eclone]

Lot of people saying Europe for Cook. But seems like more of a G League guy to me. Europe values shooting and offensive movement.

 

[Geese]

Cook is not an NBA player. I don't know where he'll be next year, but I'm confident it won't be the NBA.

 

[Stomper15]

Cook is not an NBA player. I don't know where he'll be next year, but I'm confident it won't be the NBA.

He’ll be in the G-League hoping for a 2-way contract.

 

[L. Wade Childress]

Cook is near unstoppable on the block with either hand or when he faces up and takes it hard. I also don’t mind at all when he grabs a board and goes as long as he gets it to a guard.

 

[Geese]

Cook is near unstoppable on the block with either hand or when he faces up and takes it hard. I also don’t mind at all when he grabs a board and goes as long as he gets it to a guard.

Lol

 

[Silky Johnson]

Lot of people saying Europe for Cook. But seems like more of a G League guy to me. Europe values shooting and offensive movement.

I agree with this, but there’s a place for guys that athletic in Europe and at some point I think he gives up on the NBA dream because G league guys don’t make much.

 

[Match34]

If Basabe can play in Europe, Cook will be fine.

 

[Mo T]

He's played pretty poorly this entire conference season.........

He's averaging over 15 ppg and 8 rpg while shooting over 50%. How many guys average that in Big Ten games? He's had too many turnovers, but it's far from playing poorly. His aggressiveness has single-handedly put teams in foul trouble.

 

[Match34]

He's played pretty poorly this entire conference season.........

He's averaging over 15 ppg and 8 rpg while shooting over 50%. How many guys average that in Big Ten games? He's had too many turnovers, but it's far from playing poorly. His aggressiveness has single-handedly put teams in foul trouble.

He's the only player with a below-average offensive rating beside Connor and Maishe.

 

[Bob]

Lot of people saying Europe for Cook. But seems like more of a G League guy to me. Europe values shooting and offensive movement.

So does the NBA and G League anymore. Plenty of guys like him have made a career in Europe, and it pays better than the G League. Cook isn't as good as Aaron White, but White can't really shoot and he's making good money and playing at the highest level of Europe. Cook won't have trouble finding work.

E: Cook has clearly taken a step back since he got hurt, but he was mostly playing well before that. "Conference play" is still a pretty tiny sample

 

[nolookpass]

He's played pretty poorly this entire conference season.........

He's averaging over 15 ppg and 8 rpg while shooting over 50%. How many guys average that in Big Ten games? He's had too many turnovers, but it's far from playing poorly. His aggressiveness has single-handedly put teams in foul trouble.

He's the only player with a below-average offensive rating beside Connor and Maishe.

View attachment 12905

Moss is shooting over 80% on free throws which is why I'm always puzzled when he's not on the floor at the end of games when Iowas trying to protect a lead

 

[Bob]

He's averaging over 15 ppg and 8 rpg while shooting over 50%. How many guys average that in Big Ten games? He's had too many turnovers, but it's far from playing poorly. His aggressiveness has single-handedly put teams in foul trouble.

He's the only player with a below-average offensive rating beside Connor and Maishe.

View attachment 12905

Moss is shooting over 80% on free throws which is why I'm always puzzled when he's not on the floor at the end of games when Iowas trying to protect a lead

He should play more generally but they're not really lacking for good free throw shooters. For the season as a whole bohannon and Garza are both better than Moss on way more attempts, and Connor is right around 80% for the season (he's been bad against real teams in general for the most part so I'd like to see more of his minutes go to Moss but i don't have much issue with him shooting free throws to close a game), and Weiskamp is in the 70s and certainly isn't a bad shooter. I suppose you could replace Joe with Moss or go ultra small and take Cook out of the game but they haven't really had a problem closing games at the FT line this season.

 

[nolookpass]

He's the only player with a below-average offensive rating beside Connor and Maishe.

View attachment 12905

Moss is shooting over 80% on free throws which is why I'm always puzzled when he's not on the floor at the end of games when Iowas trying to protect a lead

He should play more generally but they're not really lacking for good free throw shooters. For the season as a whole bohannon and Garza are both better than Moss on way more attempts, and Connor is right around 80% for the season (he's been bad against real teams in general for the most part so I'd like to see more of his minutes go to Moss but i don't have much issue with him shooting free throws to close a game), and Weiskamp is in the 70s and certainly isn't a bad shooter. I suppose you could replace Joe with Moss or go ultra small and take Cook out of the game but they haven't really had a problem closing games at the FT line this season.

According to the Stats posited just a few post prior, Connor shooting 67% on free throws in Big Ten games

 

[6deuce]

How much of his time is devoted to baseball right now? Is that having any effect on his shot?

 

[Bob]

Moss is shooting over 80% on free throws which is why I'm always puzzled when he's not on the floor at the end of games when Iowas trying to protect a lead

He should play more generally but they're not really lacking for good free throw shooters. For the season as a whole bohannon and Garza are both better than Moss on way more attempts, and Connor is right around 80% for the season (he's been bad against real teams in general for the most part so I'd like to see more of his minutes go to Moss but i don't have much issue with him shooting free throws to close a game), and Weiskamp is in the 70s and certainly isn't a bad shooter. I suppose you could replace Joe with Moss or go ultra small and take Cook out of the game but they haven't really had a problem closing games at the FT line this season.

According to the Stats posited just a few post prior, Connor shooting 67% on free throws in Big Ten games

Unless you think free throw defense is somehow different in big ten games I don't see why you'd use the smaller sample rather than the season long one. The difference is like literally two missed free throws.

The bigger issue with him in conference play is that he stopped getting to the line at the same rate he was in OOC play but that's not really a problem when the other team is intentionally fouling

 

[nolookpass]

He should play more generally but they're not really lacking for good free throw shooters. For the season as a whole bohannon and Garza are both better than Moss on way more attempts, and Connor is right around 80% for the season (he's been bad against real teams in general for the most part so I'd like to see more of his minutes go to Moss but i don't have much issue with him shooting free throws to close a game), and Weiskamp is in the 70s and certainly isn't a bad shooter. I suppose you could replace Joe with Moss or go ultra small and take Cook out of the game but they haven't really had a problem closing games at the FT line this season.

According to the Stats posited just a few post prior, Connor shooting 67% on free throws in Big Ten games

Unless you think free throw defense is somehow different in big ten games I don't see why you'd use the smaller sample rather than the season long one. The difference is like literally two missed free throws.

The bigger issue with him in conference play is that he stopped getting to the line at the same rate he was in OOC play but that's not really a problem when the other team is intentionally fouling

I went with the Conference stats for two reasons, the first one being they are more current and secondly there's a little more pressure in your average Big Ten game then in the vast majority of your non cons

 

[L. Wade Childress]

I am not worried about Connor at all. Honestly he was playing quite a ways above expectations early in the year and things have leveled out with scouting and wear and tear. This is also coincided with his concussion as well as the start of baseball practice. If you watched any of the interviews you saw that when the basketball team has days off Connor is at baseball practice. I am guessing his legs are pretty tired. The guy is also a Dean’s list student. Right now he is giving quality back up minutes which keeps Jordan and Moss fresh and that’s really all we need.

 

[douglasbader]

With his age and limited skill set, it's pretty clear at this juncture that Cook, in all likelihood, has little future in the NBA. It is possible, certainly, but the degree of probability is ridiculously low. Europe is his most likely ceiling.

Ok, he can make nice money for a while playing there, and then do something else with his adult life that may or may not need a college degree. Or, he could plan on finishing the degree later (a plan that is often much more difficult to execute than to visualize).

I'm clearly stuck in the old 80s-90s paradigm, as I am a 52-year-old geezer who still thinks that kids should graduate before they sign any contract that isn't for an NBA franchise (that kind of guaranteed money, ok, you can risk no degree). One more year in school isn't going to kill whatever Brussels or Modena or Kiev put on the table. It will give you a more solid backup plan.

But I should STFU and GFM....

This really is old world thinking as far as it concerns finishing school. He can come back and finish up a year of school pretty much whenever he wants and it will be paid for. Depending on his major he may even be able to finish it online.

The bigger thing is missing out on playing another year of college and having a lot of memories that will last him the rest of his life. I have never seen a player regret that he stayed and played in college another year but I have seen plenty of players regret they left early and missed out.

I agree with you though, if I were him I would play another year at Iowa. He isn't risking much of anything and gaining a lot more.

 

[Fletch]

With his age and limited skill set, it's pretty clear at this juncture that Cook, in all likelihood, has little future in the NBA. It is possible, certainly, but the degree of probability is ridiculously low. Europe is his most likely ceiling.

Ok, he can make nice money for a while playing there, and then do something else with his adult life that may or may not need a college degree. Or, he could plan on finishing the degree later (a plan that is often much more difficult to execute than to visualize).

I'm clearly stuck in the old 80s-90s paradigm, as I am a 52-year-old geezer who still thinks that kids should graduate before they sign any contract that isn't for an NBA franchise (that kind of guaranteed money, ok, you can risk no degree). One more year in school isn't going to kill whatever Brussels or Modena or Kiev put on the table. It will give you a more solid backup plan.

But I should STFU and GFM....

This really is old world thinking as far as it concerns finishing school. He can come back and finish up a year of school pretty much whenever he wants and it will be paid for. Depending on his major he may even be able to finish it online.

The bigger thing is missing out on playing another year of college and having a lot of memories that will last him the rest of his life. I have never seen a player regret that he stayed and played in college another year but I have seen plenty of players regret they left early and missed out.

I agree with you though, if I were him I would play another year at Iowa. He isn't risking much of anything and gaining a lot more.

This is why I said he’d be an idiot if he left.

 

[TurdBurgler]

I like Tyler, hes our best player but also most easily replaced IMO. He uses a ton of possessions and while he does draw a ton of fouls, there are also a bunch of TOs and forced shots too. Fran has had really good success developing a variety of different styles at the 4. If Cook does indeed go it'll be very nice to get Pemsl back for next year.

 

[Lefty]

Nice story on Joe Wieskamp on BTN live today towards the end of the show. BTN Live just started again.

 

[HiawathaHawk]

Drunk stat nerd ramblings....
Fran's best offense was 2014, Marble's last year when we lost all the close games and then to Tennessee in the play-in game. Under the current tournament setup we probably aren't close to that game. 2-8 in games decided by 6 or less entering the tournament. Anyways, he's had 5 top 30 offenses.

2014 team (Marble SR) was 104th in shooting, 39th in turnovers, 18th in offensive rebounding and 55th in getting to the line. 5th overall.
This year we're 32nd in shooting, 61st in turnovers, 113th in offensive rebounding and 5th in getting to the line. 9th overall.
Last year was 44th in shooting, 193rd in turnovers, 27th in offensive rebounding and 113th in getting to the line. 19th overall.
2015 (White SR) was 210th shooting, 56th in turnovers, 36th in offensive rebounding and 142nd in getting to the line. 30th overall.
2016 (Uthoff SR) was 108th shooting, 11th in turnovers, 98th in offensive rebounding and 270th in getting to the line. 25th overall.

'15 and '16 had by far the best defenses, top 35 nationally. Both teams went 12-6 in the Big Ten, got 7 seeds and 2nd round of the tournament. Both teams were a couple bounces from being a higher seed and capable of making a run. Make it happen this year.

 

[Mo T]

Lunardi now has Iowa as a 6 seed, playing Florida.....in Jacksonville. (NTIM)

 

[MikeyJoe]

I like Tyler, hes our best player but also most easily replaced IMO. He uses a ton of possessions and while he does draw a ton of fouls, there are also a bunch of TOs and forced shots too. Fran has had really good success developing a variety of different styles at the 4. If Cook does indeed go it'll be very nice to get Pemsl back for next year.

 

[TurdBurgler]

Tyler had a great game and looked good doing it. Like the whole NBA reel is there - that fade away buzzer beater was amazing. He worked the refs all night. He had a steal & breakaway foul that was completely mis-called. The early assists out of doubles. Its too bad he missed that put-back dunk. If this season goes the way we all hope that means Tyler keeps playing at a high level. I really think Tyler has a shot at the NBA this year.

 

[Geese]

I like Tyler, hes our best player but also most easily replaced IMO. He uses a ton of possessions and while he does draw a ton of fouls, there are also a bunch of TOs and forced shots too. Fran has had really good success developing a variety of different styles at the 4. If Cook does indeed go it'll be very nice to get Pemsl back for next year.

Didn't we hear the same shit about Jok? He's really good but we'll be able to replace!!

LOLOLOL at comparing Cook and Pemsl. Come the fuck on.

 

[Match34]

Iowa's pretty much locked into a top-6 finish right now, and the difference between a 6 and 7 seed likely means playing Illinois/Rutgers/NW/PSU on Thursday of the BTT instead of Indiana or Nebrantska. The game at Maryland could end up deciding who finishes fifth. Wisconsin finishes with a Pac-12 schedule, so they're likely unreachable.

March situations.

 

[Revolver]

Iowa's pretty much locked into a top-6 finish right now, and the difference between a 6 and 7 seed likely means playing Illinois/Rutgers/NW/PSU on Thursday of the BTT instead of Indiana or Nebrantska. The game at Maryland could end up deciding who finishes fifth. Wisconsin finishes with a Pac-12 schedule, so they're likely unreachable.

March situations.

 

[MikeyJoe]

I like Tyler, hes our best player but also most easily replaced IMO. He uses a ton of possessions and while he does draw a ton of fouls, there are also a bunch of TOs and forced shots too. Fran has had really good success developing a variety of different styles at the 4. If Cook does indeed go it'll be very nice to get Pemsl back for next year.

Didn't we hear the same shit about Jok? He's really good but we'll be able to replace!!

LOLOLOL at comparing Cook and Pemsl. Come the fuck on.

I would argue that post is backwards. He’s going to be the hardest to replace.

 

[TurdBurgler]

I would argue that post is backwards. He’s going to be the hardest to replace.

Hardest to replace in what context? Its a hypothetical. If we lost bohannon today we would be stuck with Connor playing 35 minutes a game. We saw what this team looked like without Wieskamp last year. We have Garza if we lose Cook (or vice versa, in terms of post presence). See the graphic above --- this team has a lot of above average weapons on offense. Cook is one of them too, but its not like you play 5 on 4 when you a guy leaves. Wieskamp should shoot 15 3s a game.

Also, I'm not in any way saying that Pemsl is the same player as Cook. Its a nice situation with him sitting this year and shortening the rotation, but staying & contributing next. I guess my overall point was --- I hope Iowa does really well this year and Cook does get drafted. I like seeing Iowa guys in the NBA.

 

[nolookpass]

It’s weird, but there’s a pretty decent chance that Iowa fans will look back on Nicholas Baer’s career more fondly than Tyler Cook’s.

Lol

 

[CurdMan]

It’s weird, but there’s a pretty decent chance that Iowa fans will look back on Nicholas Baer’s career more fondly than Tyler Cook’s.

Lol

Lol at you if you think this isn’t true

 

[MikeyJoe]

I would argue that post is backwards. He’s going to be the hardest to replace.

Hardest to replace in what context? Its a hypothetical. If we lost bohannon today we would be stuck with Connor playing 35 minutes a game. We saw what this team looked like without Wieskamp last year. We have Garza if we lose Cook (or vice versa, in terms of post presence). See the graphic above --- this team has a lot of above average weapons on offense. Cook is one of them too, but its not like you play 5 on 4 when you a guy leaves. Wieskamp should shoot 15 3s a game.

Also, I'm not in any way saying that Pemsl is the same player as Cook. Its a nice situation with him sitting this year and shortening the rotation, but staying & contributing next. I guess my overall point was --- I hope Iowa does really well this year and Cook does get drafted. I like seeing Iowa guys in the NBA.

In the context of a basketball game. He's not their best player, but he has core underlying physical skills that Iowa rarely gets. They have no one else on the roster capable of isolating and fighting through contact or rebounding like he does.

 

[nolookpass]

It’s weird, but there’s a pretty decent chance that Iowa fans will look back on Nicholas Baer’s career more fondly than Tyler Cook’s.

Lol

Lol at you if you think this isn’t true

K Mr. Baer

 

[Thomas Wolsey]

Lol

Lol at you if you think this isn’t true

K Mr. Baer

Are you reading this correctly?

 

[MikeyJoe]

Lol

Lol at you if you think this isn’t true

K Mr. Baer

There's a difference between saying Iowa fans should remember Baer more fondly and predicting that many of them will. I think (hope) @CurdMan is doing the latter.

 

[CurdMan]

Lol at you if you think this isn’t true

K Mr. Baer

Are you reading this correctly?

He’s not. And that’s ok

 

[L. Wade Childress]

If we win a game in the tourney and everyone comes back, what are expectations for next year?

 

[Revolver]

If we win a game in the tourney and everyone comes back, what are expectations for next year?

 

[Stu Beagle]

Baer is a cool and unique story. But Cook has mostly lived up to the hype.

 

[Dolomitey]

If we win a game in the tourney and everyone comes back, what are expectations for next year?

Good Big 10 team that finds a way to lose some games they shouldn’t a year after exceeding expectations.

 

[LifelongHawk]

If we win a game in the tourney and everyone comes back, what are expectations for next year?

That you won't post about who should replace Fran until at least Thanksgiving.