PTL Update 7/1

[ssckelley]

most importantly will be the 1.5 blk per game.

I don't think he even averaged that in high school.

[goldenhawk96]

Woody vs. Gabe Game:

Gabe displayed confidence in a 15 jump shot. He was also pretty active around the rim. Still a lot of questions about whether these attributes will transfer to the regular season. It is good to see him in the right position to get the ball and be active. That wasn't there last year.

Woody is struggling with obvious confidence issues right now. I'm guessing he's had his shot thrown in the stands a few times in practice right now, because he is rushing his delivery on his jump hook inside.
I'm not overly concerned, however, because he was getting quality looks against Gabe during 1 on 1 situations. He was just hesitating and not finishing. He'll always be a player that frustrates fans around the rim with some facepalm frustrating misses because of his lack of explosiveness, but he will start to finish many of these shots with more regularity as the game slows down and his confidence goes up.
Many posters have described him as a "good" passer. He has the potential to be a great passer. He had a tip pass to Josh for a 3, multiple kick outs, and his trademark finds to cutters.
I think it speaks volumes about Adam that his teammates feed him over and over. He makes things go for their team.

McCabe is McCabe. Nothing really new on display--he is a tough son of a gun.

Josh's shot looks great. I'm still concerned about the speed of his delivery. He can score in multiple ways during PTL, but will most likely rely on the spot up during the B1G. I like what I've read about him studying Matt Gatens release.

Marble took a lot of step back jump shots. It is a great shot for when the shot clock is running down. Not so much for the first 10 seconds of a possession. Very little to really look at from him--his team was dominant and he could afford to work on a variety of shots.

Mike vs. AC Game
Meyer will get more valuable experience with his new squad. His numbers are much improved, but a lot of that was of the garbage variety. This game had playground feel to it, and he benefited in spots.



Basabe looks explosive. Sick crossover in traffic for the finish. Face up J is there, but not convinced he has the dribble drive game to counter a defender not giving him space. Again, a lot of garage baskets at the rim. However, it hard to not picture him starting at least some of the time next year.

Mike G just has such a bounce to his game. He reminds me (brace yourself!) of Skip to My Lou Rafer Alston and Jason Williams the way he Yo Yos the ball up and down. It is hard not to get overly excited about him and his potential. Part of me wants to scream that the best thing Iowa ever had happen to them was Mike playing the 2 on his AAU team to keep him kind of a diamond in the rough (as much as a top 100 player can be). He can shoot, pass, change direction and attack the rim (he tried to dunk on 2 opponents at one point--it should be written without much success). Common sense says he won't be as good as Cartwright (the good BC) this year, but, man, this guy is just fun to watch.

White is just as fun to watch. He has a tremendous knack for cutting and moving without the ball. I think he'll be a rich man's Ryan Bowen when it is all said and done.

Anthony C is just really solid. I've been impressed with how he really is a true PG. Nothing very flashy (although he does have tremendous burst). He could have easily gotten out of sorts playing against Mike G. in a jousting match, but I thought he played his game. He won a few of the match ups with Mike G on the defensive end and got to the rim. In the future, he'll be a great option to play as a passing point with Mike G. running off of baseline screens as a shooting guard.

[Hawksel]

There's a photo gallery of both games here if anyone is interested.

[tm3308]

Woody vs. Gabe Game:

Gabe displayed confidence in a 15 jump shot. He was also pretty active around the rim. Still a lot of questions about whether these attributes will transfer to the regular season. It is good to see him in the right position to get the ball and be active. That wasn't there last year.

Woody is struggling with obvious confidence issues right now. I'm guessing he's had his shot thrown in the stands a few times in practice right now, because he is rushing his delivery on his jump hook inside.
I'm not overly concerned, however, because he was getting quality looks against Gabe during 1 on 1 situations. He was just hesitating and not finishing. He'll always be a player that frustrates fans around the rim with some facepalm frustrating misses because of his lack of explosiveness, but he will start to finish many of these shots with more regularity as the game slows down and his confidence goes up.
Many posters have described him as a "good" passer. He has the potential to be a great passer. He had a tip pass to Josh for a 3, multiple kick outs, and his trademark finds to cutters.
I think it speaks volumes about Adam that his teammates feed him over and over. He makes things go for their team.

McCabe is McCabe. Nothing really new on display--he is a tough son of a gun.

Josh's shot looks great. I'm still concerned about the speed of his delivery. He can score in multiple ways during PTL, but will most likely rely on the spot up during the B1G. I like what I've read about him studying Matt Gatens release.

Marble took a lot of step back jump shots. It is a great shot for when the shot clock is running down. Not so much for the first 10 seconds of a possession. Very little to really look at from him--his team was dominant and he could afford to work on a variety of shots.

Mike vs. AC Game
Meyer will get more valuable experience with his new squad. His numbers are much improved, but a lot of that was of the garbage variety. This game had playground feel to it, and he benefited in spots.



Basabe looks explosive. Sick crossover in traffic for the finish. Face up J is there, but not convinced he has the dribble drive game to counter a defender not giving him space. Again, a lot of garage baskets at the rim. However, it hard to not picture him starting at least some of the time next year.

Mike G just has such a bounce to his game. He reminds me (brace yourself!) of Skip to My Lou Rafer Alston and Jason Williams the way he Yo Yos the ball up and down. It is hard not to get overly excited about him and his potential. Part of me wants to scream that the best thing Iowa ever had happen to them was Mike playing the 2 on his AAU team to keep him kind of a diamond in the rough (as much as a top 100 player can be). He can shoot, pass, change direction and attack the rim (he tried to dunk on 2 opponents at one point--it should be written without much success). Common sense says he won't be as good as Cartwright (the good BC) this year, but, man, this guy is just fun to watch.

White is just as fun to watch. He has a tremendous knack for cutting and moving without the ball. I think he'll be a rich man's Ryan Bowen when it is all said and done.

Anthony C is just really solid. I've been impressed with how he really is a true PG. Nothing very flashy (although he does have tremendous burst). He could have easily gotten out of sorts playing against Mike G. in a jousting match, but I thought he played his game. He won a few of the match ups with Mike G on the defensive end and got to the rim. In the future, he'll be a great option to play as a passing point with Mike G. running off of baseline screens as a shooting guard.

Good stuff. I don't think Marble taking those step-back jumpers is a big deal right now. It's an aspect of his game that needs to be developed, which is what the PTL is really for. If he's still taking that shot early in the shot clock when the season starts, then you can be concerned.

[HeavenHasBeer]

Woody needs to stop playing like hes a small forward. Agree on development needed, but i get the feeling he needs to learn to be 'mean'. Not dirty but more aggressive inside.

[Hawkstrat]

Woody needs to stop playing like hes a small forward. Agree on development needed, but i get the feeling he needs to learn to be 'mean'. Not dirty but more aggressive inside.

Please tell me you haven't been to any PTL games. Woody exclusively plays like a back to the basket center.

"Common sense says he (Gesell) won't be as good as Cartwright (the good BC) this year"

Yes he will.

[HeavenHasBeer]

Woody needs to stop playing like hes a small forward. Agree on development needed, but i get the feeling he needs to learn to be 'mean'. Not dirty but more aggressive inside.

Please tell me you haven't been to any PTL games. Woody exclusively plays like a back to the basket center."Common sense says he (Gesell) won't be as good as Cartwright (the good BC) this year"Yes he will.

Agree with ur last part, although im not sure what that has to do with my post....nope, ive never been to a ptl game ur right. Im goin off youtube type vids that tell me (yes just by looking) that he needs to look to bulk up a bit and swing elbows bf he looks to put up a hook shot or pass.

[MelroseHawkins]

amazing how having a good shooter opens up so many possibilities.

Also, having to respect & guard 3 guys on the perimeter is so much harder for a defense than just having to guard Matt Gatens. Going back a few years, if you know what I mean.

[Hawkstrat]

Agree with ur last part, although im not sure what that has to do with my post....nope, ive never been to a ptl game ur right. Im goin off youtube type vids that tell me (yes just by looking) that he needs to look to bulk up a bit and swing elbows bf he looks to put up a hook shot or pass.

The last part was from an above review.

You must be unaware of what a small forward is, Woody plays nothing like a 3. He is fairly thin for a center, but he finds the low post and fight for position on every possession. The idea that he need to throw elbows instead of finding a cutter is absurd and not worth debating.

Needing to add strength is not the same thing as playing like a small forward.

[goldenhawk96]

Couple of quick responses:
I agree, I'm not worried about Marble. It almost had the feel of watching (or hearing stories about) how Magic Johnson would just work on a specific shot. Overall, I'm pleased with Marble's continued development.

Also, agree on Mike G. I'd rather not have the biggest expectations and be pleasently surprised he is better than BC. My heart, however, is already Expecting more out of him. At least to my eyeballs Fran was right when he spoke about him being a future pro.

I think the Woodbury PF vs C stuff has some truth On both sides: he does post hard. He fights for rebounds like a center. However, he is slow to react with the ball right now and probably not as aggressive as he need s to be. All that is a function on youth, strength, and confidence. I think he embraces being a center and all of that will come.

[storminspank]

Marble was going to head home for the summer to work on that part of the game but then decided to stay in Iowa. It makes complete sense that he is working on that in "game situations" during the PTL. Complete sense.

[SpiderRico]

Not worried about AW at all. For whatever reason, it just takes big guys longer to develop....especially on the offensive end. And each big guy is different. Some can get it going towards the middle of their first year and some don't get it going until their junior/senior year.

I know it's going kinda far back in the archives, but if you look at a guy like Lohaus.....McDonald's All-American and couldn't sniff the court his first 3 years. Vitale even laughed at him during a game his junior year and said he had "white man's disease". Then the "light" went off his senior year (helped, I'm sure, by the change in coaching staff) and he parlayed it into a pretty decent NBA career.

An even more recent example would be Jared Reiner. Didn't start "getting it" on the offensive end until midway thru his junior year and he was pretty accomplished coming out of high school as well and already had a Big 10 body.

If AW can give us some solid defense, rebounding and passing and just concentrate on that and not worry about the offensive side, we'll be fine. He'll grow into the offensive side eventually.

[storminspank]

Not worried about AW at all. For whatever reason, it just takes big guys longer to develop....especially on the offensive end. And each big guy is different. Some can get it going towards the middle of their first year and some don't get it going until their junior/senior year.

I know it's going kinda far back in the archives, but if you look at a guy like Lohaus.....McDonald's All-American and couldn't sniff the court his first 3 years. Vitale even laughed at him during a game his junior year and said he had "white man's disease". Then the "light" went off his senior year (helped, I'm sure, by the change in coaching staff) and he parlayed it into a pretty decent NBA career.

An even more recent example would be Jared Reiner. Didn't start "getting it" on the offensive end until midway thru his junior year and he was pretty accomplished coming out of high school as well and already had a Big 10 body.

If AW can give us some solid defense, rebounding and passing and just concentrate on that and not worry about the offensive side, we'll be fine. He'll grow into the offensive side eventually.

Reiner was on his way to a big senior year before injury, as well.

[Tierney]

Iowa players appear to have a lot of talent and in the interviews they are bonding as a team. The thing that really is encouraging is they all seem to be very hard workers. I think that is a sign that the basketball staff knows how to select the right guys. Guys like Olesani and Oglesbe seem to have advanced a lot since last year. In the last few coaching regimes before the current staff, they always seemed a little disjointed. It didn't appear that way last year, but then they had all the injuries in the beginning of the year. Anyway, guys that have talent and are hard working, with a coaching staff that knows what they are doing sounds pretty good to me.

[CPHAWK82]

Here's the link to Stile's write up and videos.
7/1/2012: PTL Notebook