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

[eclone]

A little late to the party here, but I think a beefed up Nunge, in an ideal scenario, would be best utilized at the five. He doesn’t really create any match-up problems playing at the four, but if he could hold up physically/defensively, he would create a lot of problems at the five with his athleticism and shooting ability.

I really liked what I saw from Nunge last year. He seemed to have a natural talent for the timing of blocking shots, nice athleticism, and a good looking shot. I agree IF he could hold up at the 5 he can put some nice minutes in there, but Garza has that pretty locked down.

 

[Revolver]

A little late to the party here, but I think a beefed up Nunge, in an ideal scenario, would be best utilized at the five. He doesn’t really create any match-up problems playing at the four, but if he could hold up physically/defensively, he would create a lot of problems at the five with his athleticism and shooting ability.

I really liked what I saw from Nunge last year. He seemed to have a natural talent for the timing of blocking shots, nice athleticism, and a good looking shot. I agree IF he could hold up at the 5 he can put some nice minutes in there, but Garza has that pretty locked down.

Garza is horrendous on D, though. So if Nunge could log some minutes and be an upgrade defensively, that could be a huge addition to a team that already looks pretty promising.

 

[Hawkstrat]

A little late to the party here, but I think a beefed up Nunge, in an ideal scenario, would be best utilized at the five. He doesn’t really create any match-up problems playing at the four, but if he could hold up physically/defensively, he would create a lot of problems at the five with his athleticism and shooting ability.

I would love this but Fran almost always tries to play guys down a position rather than up.

Tough to say if that is a Fran thing, or just where he had an excess of bodies. Nunge should have been playing at the 4, but look at the roster, Iowa needed wings, so they tried him out.

 

[douglasbader]

A little late to the party here, but I think a beefed up Nunge, in an ideal scenario, would be best utilized at the five. He doesn’t really create any match-up problems playing at the four, but if he could hold up physically/defensively, he would create a lot of problems at the five with his athleticism and shooting ability.

I would love this but Fran almost always tries to play guys down a position rather than up.

What? No.

 

[HerkyHopeful]

I really excited about Nunge. He’s more athletic than given credit for with natural post moves and a great shot. He will end up a 12-14 ppg scorer at some point. He reminds me of a typical Michigan post.

Yep, the redshirt is perfect for him. Skilled, pretty athletic and now will be stronger. Him and Garza together could be a bitch to defend with shooters around them.

bohannon / Moss / Wieskamp / Nunge / Garza as a starting lineup is boner ready. Add in Connor / Patrick / Kreiner / Toussaint / Pemsl as the second group and that is pretty fucking great.

 

[Bob]

A little late to the party here, but I think a beefed up Nunge, in an ideal scenario, would be best utilized at the five. He doesn’t really create any match-up problems playing at the four, but if he could hold up physically/defensively, he would create a lot of problems at the five with his athleticism and shooting ability.

I would love this but Fran almost always tries to play guys down a position rather than up.

What? No.

Are you serious? He's tried to play White, Uthoff, Baer, Nunge, and fucking Ahmad Wagner at the 3 in the past even though all of them are ideally 4s or 5s. In some of those cases he got away with it but that doesn't mean it was the ideal way to use them

 

[HerkyHopeful]

I would love this but Fran almost always tries to play guys down a position rather than up.

What? No.

Are you serious? He's tried to play White, Uthoff, Baer, Nunge, and fucking Ahmad Wagner at the 3 in the past even though all of them are ideally 4s or 5s. In some of those cases he got away with it but that doesn't mean it was the ideal way to use them

Dom Uhl was one too.

Fran loves his guys who are long and rangy, so typically half of his roster are '4s'

 

[Hawkstrat]

Uthoff was fine at the 3, and Baer is a tweener wherever you put him. The rest of the list is more of an indictment on getting athletic wings.

 

[douglasbader]

I would love this but Fran almost always tries to play guys down a position rather than up.

What? No.

Are you serious? He's tried to play White, Uthoff, Baer, Nunge, and fucking Ahmad Wagner at the 3 in the past even though all of them are ideally 4s or 5s. In some of those cases he got away with it but that doesn't mean it was the ideal way to use them

Baer has been fine at SF, it is when he is at SG that it was a disaster, but that was out of necessity. Same thing with Uthoff, Baer, Nunge and Wagner. They all were there because of lack of players at the position for a short time.

Fran much more has tried to bulk guys up and play them where they shouldn't be. He tried that initially with Basabe after his really good freshman year and he was never the same. Same thing with Uhl, tried to make him some kind of back to the basket post player.

 

[Bob]

Uthoff was fine at the 3, and Baer is a tweener wherever you put him. The rest of the list is more of an indictment on getting athletic wings.

Those two aren't a disaster because they can both shoot but that doesn't mean it's necessarily the best way to use them. He tends to recruit a ton of 6'7" to 6'9" type guys and then hope a couple of them can figure out how to dribble or shoot well enough to make it work as wings, with mixed result. You can say that the roster forced him to do it but he's the guy putting together the roster so

And yeah good call I completely forgot Uhl getting minutes at the 3, and Baer has played a bunch for SG in the past too. Basketball in general has been moving toward getting as much ball handling and shooting onto the floor as possible and we've spent big chunks of his tenure going the other way. I'm not one of those people who thinks he's a terrible coach who needs to be fired or something, but it's definitely one of the things he does that annoys me.

 

[Bob]

What? No.

Are you serious? He's tried to play White, Uthoff, Baer, Nunge, and fucking Ahmad Wagner at the 3 in the past even though all of them are ideally 4s or 5s. In some of those cases he got away with it but that doesn't mean it was the ideal way to use them

Baer has been fine at SF, it is when he is at SG that it was a disaster, but that was out of necessity. Same thing with Uthoff, Baer, Nunge and Wagner. They all were there because of lack of players at the position for a short time.

Fran much more has tried to bulk guys up and play them where they shouldn't be. He tried that initially with Basabe after his really good freshman year and he was never the same. Same thing with Uhl, tried to make him some kind of back to the basket post player.

I think if anything they probably let Uhl float around outside too much, he was not a very good shooter outside of the one outlier season.

 

[Brownzy]

Still ranked 21st in the AP Poll. 10 teams above us with as many or more losses than Iowa, not sure why that bothers me, but it kinda does.

 

[Herky823]

Still ranked 21st in the AP Poll. 10 teams above us with as many or more losses than Iowa, not sure why that bothers me, but it kinda does.

John Feinstein has Iowa unranked.

His Twitter bio lists himself as the father to two cats so, makes sense.

 

[douglasbader]

https://www.collegepolltracker.com/basketball/team/iowa-hawkeyes/2018

 

[Match34]

Still ranked 21st in the AP Poll. 10 teams above us with as many or more losses than Iowa, not sure why that bothers me, but it kinda does.

John Feinstein has Iowa unranked.

His Twitter bio lists himself as the father to two cats so, makes sense.

Blow Job Rains and Luke FromCock are good at their jobs. John Feinstein and Jon Rothstein are being too greedy with their rankings. I thank Bohnenkamp for his sycophantic service.

 

[Billy Butters]

What? No.

Are you serious? He's tried to play White, Uthoff, Baer, Nunge, and fucking Ahmad Wagner at the 3 in the past even though all of them are ideally 4s or 5s. In some of those cases he got away with it but that doesn't mean it was the ideal way to use them

Baer has been fine at SF, it is when he is at SG that it was a disaster, but that was out of necessity. Same thing with Uthoff, Baer, Nunge and Wagner. They all were there because of lack of players at the position for a short time.

Fran much more has tried to bulk guys up and play them where they shouldn't be. He tried that initially with Basabe after his really good freshman year and he was never the same. Same thing with Uhl, tried to make him some kind of back to the basket post player.

Wat? I'll give you Basabe but that's about it. Fran had Uhl log minutes at SG. He just had no fucking clue what to do with Uhl.

Every other example you can find of someone playing out of position was to get more length at the expense of quickness/defense/ball handling. It's not just limited to SF either. You can add Christian Williams, Dailey and Ellingson to the list at PG.

I don't buy the oh we just didn't have enough bodies excuse either. We didn't have bodies because Fran thought those guys could work outside of their natural position.

 

[douglasbader]

The best thing is John Fienstein had Iowa ranked #12 after Week 4 of the season but now has them unranked at 20-5.

Lol.

 

[douglasbader]

Are you serious? He's tried to play White, Uthoff, Baer, Nunge, and fucking Ahmad Wagner at the 3 in the past even though all of them are ideally 4s or 5s. In some of those cases he got away with it but that doesn't mean it was the ideal way to use them

Baer has been fine at SF, it is when he is at SG that it was a disaster, but that was out of necessity. Same thing with Uthoff, Baer, Nunge and Wagner. They all were there because of lack of players at the position for a short time.

Fran much more has tried to bulk guys up and play them where they shouldn't be. He tried that initially with Basabe after his really good freshman year and he was never the same. Same thing with Uhl, tried to make him some kind of back to the basket post player.

Wat? I'll give you Basabe but that's about it. Fran had Uhl log minutes at SG. He just had no fucking clue what to do with Uhl.

Every other example you can find of someone playing out of position was to get more length at the expense of quickness/defense/ball handling. It's not just limited to SF either. You can add Christian Williams, Dailey and Ellingson to the list at PG.

I don't buy the oh we just didn't have enough bodies excuse either. We didn't have bodies because Fran thought those guys could work outside of their natural position.

False.

 

[wondergrape]

I am just fine with this team staying as far under the radar as possible for as long as possible.

 

[Shpadoinkle]

I am just fine with this team staying as far under the radar as possible for as long as possible.

Correct. Iowa always needs a chip on their shoulders and seldom handles praise well.

 

[26.2]

My latest calculations have iowa as a 6 seed in the BTT and a 5 seed in the NCAA tournament.

 

[Geese]

Lol

 

[CurdMan]

My latest calculations have iowa as a 6 seed in the BTT and a 5 seed in the NCAA tournament.

Do your fucking homework. Then go fuck yourself

 

[Stomper15]

 

[Silky Johnson]

All the naysayers saying Iowa is getting lucky this season can kick rocks. Sure they might be, but I feel like it’s only right after all the kicks to the balls Fran’s teams have taken. The close losses in 2012-13 still piss me off.

 

[L. Wade Childress]

When we win it’s luck

When we lose it’s choking

 

[Verbal]

When we win it’s luck

When we lose it’s choking

Precisely why we'll be a popular pick to be upset in the first round. I say fuck 'em. This team is going to the second weekend for the first time in 20 years and it's gonna be awesome.

 

[Bob]

Objectively they've definitely been unusually lucky in close games but they were also incredibly unlucky and better than their record in a lot of previous seasons and this is a lot more fun. I feel pretty much the same way I did about 2015 football, just enjoy the ride while it lasts and don't get too caught up in what anyone is saying about it.

 

[ivan_drago]

Objectively they've definitely been unusually lucky in close games but they were also incredibly unlucky and better than their record in a lot of previous seasons and this is a lot more fun. I feel pretty much the same way I did about 2015 football, just enjoy the ride while it lasts and don't get too caught up in what anyone is saying about it.

If they end up seconds from the final four like that year, I'll be at the sculpture park for a month.

 

[Fritz Fequiere]

Mike Gesell was a choker and there's no way around that fact. I remember end of half situations where they'd have him iso to take the last shot it got the point where I was just hoping the other team wouldn't somehow score.

 

[CamelTones]

The Florida State game where Mike threw the pass off the back of the backboard was solid.

But I fault Fran more than Mike. I get wanting to have the ball in your PG’s hands at the end, but he had Jok and Uthoff. Be more creative in getting them the ball.

 

[MikeyJoe]

Mike Gesell was a choker and there's no way around that fact. I remember end of half situations where they'd have him iso to take the last shot it got the point where I was just hoping the other team wouldn't somehow score.

Right. There's a difference between getting mad at a 35% 3 point shooter for not making a game winning shot and getting mad at your senior PG for dribbling the ball off his foot and not even getting a shot off.

 

[Match34]

I remember end of half situations where they'd have him iso to take the last shot it got the point where I was just hoping the other team wouldn't somehow score.

Narrator: They did.

 

[HiawathaHawk]

Can we please shut the fuck up about failures from 3+ years ago?

 

[Verbal]

Mike Gesell was a choker and there's no way around that fact. I remember end of half situations where they'd have him iso to take the last shot it got the point where I was just hoping the other team wouldn't somehow score.

Even Woodbury's buzzer beater in the tournament against Temple was off a catch of a Gesell airball.

 

[L. Wade Childress]

Mike Gesell was a choker and there's no way around that fact. I remember end of half situations where they'd have him iso to take the last shot it got the point where I was just hoping the other team wouldn't somehow score.

Even Woodbury's buzzer beater in the tournament against Temple was off a catch of a Gesell airball.

It’s almost like they were setting it up the whole time

 

[Revolver]

It is really great that the Hawks have had this rebound year because Fran has a really nice young core and some good players coming in. This was a make or break season for Fran and the fact that he has his team prepared to head to the Big Dance has removed him from the "hot seat" and will allow him to coach what should be some exciting teams over the next few years. Amazing how much the perceived trajectory of a program can change in a matter of a few months.

 

[Stomper15]

 

[Revolver]

What a good slime.

 

[HiawathaHawk]

Lot of teams possibly in that 4-5 seed range took upset losses last night. Villanova, LSU, Louisville and Nevada all went down. Plus Iowa State Tuesday.

 

[L. Wade Childress]

Not sure if anyone saw Liestikows tweet earlier today but I inevitably got drug into a conversation on Twitter with some supposed Iowa fans that are 100% convinced that every other arena in the country stands and screams the entire game. Keep in mind I was at the fucking game and they are trying to tell me that Carver sucks because you can hear so on TV.

Was it pretty quiet in the first half? Yes, because two pretty good teams played like complete shit on offense. It was loud as fuck at the end when it mattered.

I used to want some renovations to Carver but I am becoming more and more convinced that our fans are too fucking stupid to deserve anything nice.

 

[Dr. Zaius]

No game thread for tomorrow?

 

[KitKatApples]

No game thread for tomorrow?

thank you @Geese

 

[Slidewilly]

I hope Dailey stays and think he will be a more valuable player next season. He's provided a boost to our defense and we need all of that we can get. We aren't going to land some hotshot grad transfer or super late recruit to displace him anyway.

I can't say it will happen for Dailey, but it's not uncommon for players to have their best season as a senior, for the obvious reason that they've had four or five years to gain experience and learn.

 

[Slidewilly]

It's good to know that Iowa didn't take much, if any, of a hit from the loss to MD. I was at the game and it was one of the most frustrating I've ever seen, in person or otherwise. It just wasn't our night, and yet they almost pulled it out. I've only rewatched the first half thus far, but knowing that it ended up as a one point loss, there were so many instances in the first half alone where we had FT's being missed, shots barely rim out or calls not being made that should've been made on MD, including the Fernando block of the Garza layin that certainly looked like goaltending and would have been called nine out of ten times. To stay within one point of a tremendously athletic and talented team like that despite what, a dozen made threes? That's encouraging even if the game was gut-wrenching.

The season has been better than I had expected but that just makes you want more. I hope they finish out the regular season and the BTT in respectable fashion, and then make some noise in the tournament. Try to raise the profile of the program another notch to juice the recruiting.

 

[ivan_drago]

I hope Dailey stays and think he will be a more valuable player next season. He's provided a boost to our defense and we need all of that we can get. We aren't going to land some hotshot grad transfer or super late recruit to displace him anyway.

I can't say it will happen for Dailey, but it's not uncommon for players to have their best season as a senior, for the obvious reason that they've had four or five years to gain experience and learn.

He sucks. Give up on him because he just isn't talented enough to make a meaningful, positive impact at this level for a team of this caliber. It's no reflection on his character, just a statement of fact.

 

[TJones3312]

I hope Dailey stays and think he will be a more valuable player next season. He's provided a boost to our defense and we need all of that we can get. We aren't going to land some hotshot grad transfer or super late recruit to displace him anyway.

I can't say it will happen for Dailey, but it's not uncommon for players to have their best season as a senior, for the obvious reason that they've had four or five years to gain experience and learn.

He sucks. Give up on him because he just isn't talented enough to make a meaningful, positive impact at this level for a team of this caliber. It's no reflection on his character, just a statement of fact.

In before someone plays the race card.

 

[ivan_drago]

I hope Dailey stays and think he will be a more valuable player next season. He's provided a boost to our defense and we need all of that we can get. We aren't going to land some hotshot grad transfer or super late recruit to displace him anyway.

I can't say it will happen for Dailey, but it's not uncommon for players to have their best season as a senior, for the obvious reason that they've had four or five years to gain experience and learn.

He sucks. Give up on him because he just isn't talented enough to make a meaningful, positive impact at this level for a team of this caliber. It's no reflection on his character, just a statement of fact.

In before someone plays the race card.

what

 

[TJones3312]

He sucks. Give up on him because he just isn't talented enough to make a meaningful, positive impact at this level for a team of this caliber. It's no reflection on his character, just a statement of fact.

In before someone plays the race card.

what

He’s black. Eric May was great as a senior. Profit

 

[ivan_drago]

In before someone plays the race card.

what

He’s black. Eric May was great as a senior. Profit

Eric May was great as a senior.

As a role player for an NIT team. Sure.