Iowa Basketball Relevant Again?
Posted 04-17-2010 at 01:44 PM by bpiercehawks
Even though today is the Iowa football spring game, there is a great deal of excitement involving Iowa basketball right now. That in itself is a change in recent years. Although there is no such thing as an offseason in basketball, Hawk fans can look forward to Coach McCaffery filling out his staff, settling the drama involving our letters of intent (LOI's), recruiting, and Coach getting to know the current players on the roster.
Recent word has been that former head coach Kirk Speraw has interviewed for an assistant position on the staff. This hire would serve a dual purpose by bringing a former Hawk on board and giving Coach McCaffery an experienced set of eyes and ears on the bench much like Coach Buonaguro at Siena. Andrew Francis followed Coach from Siena, and he is described as an all-around solid coach and an excellent recruiter. It will be interesting to see if former Hawkeyes Ryan Bowen or Jess Settles completes the staff. Either of these two would seem to be a nice fit to work with the posts. Finally, adding a gym rat and Hawk great Jeff Horner into the mix as a GA would be another solid addition to the staff.
Zach McCabe and Roy Marble are signed on with the Hawkeyes and Ben Brust and Cody Larson are looking at other options. It would be nice to keep both of these players, but if not, that will give Coach McCaffery more freedom to mold the team based on his philosophies.
Once things settle down, possibly the most important piece of the puzzle (as far as winning basketball games next year) will involve Coach McCaffery working with the current players on the roster. I think that too much is made of our kids not being able to play up-tempo basketball. Every kid who plays AAU or summer ball plays pickup ball every time they step on the court. This is nothing new for basketball players. Cully Payne and Eric May should flourish under this philosophy (note, not "system"), and it should help Matt Gatens get some easier looks in transition and also allow him to get to the foul line more. I'm sure Coach Caff will be having his bigs run drills such as the "Celtic" drill where the bigs throw the ball off the board, make an outlet pass, and sprint down the court looking to get a return pass for a strong finish. This has more to do with desire than straight-line speed from point A to point B.
Although Iowa football will garner a great deal of attention, and deservedly so, Coach McCaffery and his enthusiasm and confidence is already making Iowa basketball relevant.
Recent word has been that former head coach Kirk Speraw has interviewed for an assistant position on the staff. This hire would serve a dual purpose by bringing a former Hawk on board and giving Coach McCaffery an experienced set of eyes and ears on the bench much like Coach Buonaguro at Siena. Andrew Francis followed Coach from Siena, and he is described as an all-around solid coach and an excellent recruiter. It will be interesting to see if former Hawkeyes Ryan Bowen or Jess Settles completes the staff. Either of these two would seem to be a nice fit to work with the posts. Finally, adding a gym rat and Hawk great Jeff Horner into the mix as a GA would be another solid addition to the staff.
Zach McCabe and Roy Marble are signed on with the Hawkeyes and Ben Brust and Cody Larson are looking at other options. It would be nice to keep both of these players, but if not, that will give Coach McCaffery more freedom to mold the team based on his philosophies.
Once things settle down, possibly the most important piece of the puzzle (as far as winning basketball games next year) will involve Coach McCaffery working with the current players on the roster. I think that too much is made of our kids not being able to play up-tempo basketball. Every kid who plays AAU or summer ball plays pickup ball every time they step on the court. This is nothing new for basketball players. Cully Payne and Eric May should flourish under this philosophy (note, not "system"), and it should help Matt Gatens get some easier looks in transition and also allow him to get to the foul line more. I'm sure Coach Caff will be having his bigs run drills such as the "Celtic" drill where the bigs throw the ball off the board, make an outlet pass, and sprint down the court looking to get a return pass for a strong finish. This has more to do with desire than straight-line speed from point A to point B.
Although Iowa football will garner a great deal of attention, and deservedly so, Coach McCaffery and his enthusiasm and confidence is already making Iowa basketball relevant.
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