[DuffMan]

The thing I'm most excited about for next year is how diverse we are going to be able to be with our lineups. Over the last 5 years or so it seems we are perpetually stuck with going small and it had less to do with strategy than it did with our lack of warm bodies. Not so next year. With the versitility of the players on our roster we will have all kinds of possibilities.

We could go big...

PG- Marble
SG- Ogsleby
SF- White
PF- McCabe/Basabe
C- Woody/Olesansi

Or small...

PG- Gessel
SG- Ogsleby
SF- Marble
PF- White
C- McCabe/Basabe

We could even see a banger type lineup with...

PG- Gessel
SG- Marble
SF- McCabe
PF- Meyer/Basabe
C- Woody/Olesansi

Marble in particular is interesting because I could see him playing either the 1, the 2, or the 3 next year depending on what we need at the time. It's going to be fun watching the rotation develop and see what roles these guys are capable of filling.

[FalseMirage]

Fran will have a lot of depth. How long has it been since Iowa basketball had any of that?

[Section136]

Agreed Duff. First time in a long time that we are going to have 13 legit D-1 basketball players on the team.

Another thing to consider is how much more competitive practices are going to be because of the depth we will have.


Remember the days of Alford when it seemed like every other year we would be down to 7 or 8 scholarship players?

[truehawk]

Honest what happens to all of those lesser players and walkons that are on the bench now? Will we have room for them?

[glnhawk]

We need more women. jews and latinos to be really diverse.

[DuffMan]

Originally Posted by truehawk

Honest what happens to all of those lesser players and walkons that are on the bench now? Will we have room for them?

I think the ones that are there now stick around provided they want to be there. Going forward I wouldn't be suprised to see one or two "grey shirts" ala Dr Toms teams.

[1hawkeye1]

Originally Posted by glnhawk

We need more women. jews and latinos to be really diverse.

Don't forget those who are "handicapable"

[mbchawk]

Imo, Meyer will play a significant role in the team's success next season. Mel better improve his game a lot or he could be down the depth chart for playing time. The Hawks are going to have a lot of bigs with real bball skills.

[urohawk]

The competition next year will be great. None of the freshman will be forced into the starting lineup...they will all have to earn it. Ideally at least 3 of them will since it would mean they are ready to contribute. PG will still be a little weak since ideally Marble is a SF but if neither Gessel or Clemmons are ready Marble can play 20 minutes at PG a game and has done well with it.

[ssckelley]

What really gets me excited is the amount of talented depth Iowa will have next year that can play under the basket. I look at the last NCAA Tournament team and our bigs were Brunner, Gorney, Hansen, Thomas, and Thompson next year it will be Meyer, Woodbury, McCabe, Basabe, Olaseni, and White. Does anybody want to debate me that next years bigs are going to be better then that 2005-06 team?

[hawkdrummer1]

Originally Posted by glnhawk

We need more women. jews and latinos to be really diverse.

Sally, is that you?

Kidding aside, Fran has to love the options he's going to have next year. We're going to be talented...deep. I'd love to see Fran bring in A JUCO banger...we need an enforcer.

Just for fun...let's rank em. Not easy..

Marble
White
Basabe
Gessell
Woody
Oglesby
Meyer
McCabe
Olaseni
May
Ingram
Clemmons

[NorthernHawkI]

Originally Posted by hawkdrummer1

Sally, is that you?

Kidding aside, Fran has to love the options he's going to have next year. We're going to be talented...deep. I'd love to see Fran bring in A JUCO banger...we need an enforcer.

Just for fun...let's rank em. Not easy..

Marble
White
Basabe
Gessell
Woody
Oglesby
Meyer
McCabe
Olaseni
May
Ingram
Clemmons

Gotta be honest, I'm not sure we can rank anyone yet, some of the people you are ranking haven't played a DI game.

[FML]

Originally Posted by hawkdrummer1

Sally, is that you?

Kidding aside, Fran has to love the options he's going to have next year. We're going to be talented...deep. I'd love to see Fran bring in A JUCO banger...we need an enforcer.

Just for fun...let's rank em. Not easy..

Marble
White
Basabe
Gessell
Woody
Oglesby
Meyer
McCabe
Olaseni
May
Ingram
Clemmons

McCabe behind Basabe? McCabe is one of our best players right now. Basabe is a mid major talent who will see his minutes reduce as we continue to bring in talent.

[DuffMan]

Originally Posted by FML

McCabe behind Basabe? McCabe is one of our best players right now. Basabe is a mid major talent who will see his minutes reduce as we continue to bring in talent.

1) I wasn't placing anyone in front of anyone else. It was an either or situation to illustrate a point.

2) Basabe is fine, and is much better than a "mid-major" talent, regardless of his stat line.

If he had played as a freshman the way he is playing now, and played like he did as a freshman this year, everyone would be super high on him. Because it's the other way around people think he sucks.

[hawkdrummer1]

Originally Posted by NorthernHawkI

Gotta be honest, I'm not sure we can rank anyone yet, some of the people you are ranking haven't played a DI game.

I'm aware of that. It's called speculation...one of the entertaining aspects of sports forums like this. How would you rank? Who's the best ___? Looking ahead to next year's squad, it's interesting to project who might be the best players...and end up contributing most.