Post by mhbruin on Mar 28, 2024 13:59:33 GMT -8
CHANGES
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Since I haven't watched Iowa in years. Maybe the last time I watched, Lute Olsen was the coach. I am relying on an article for description of the players.
Taking stock of where Iowa men's basketball roster stands as offseason rolls on
Next are the Iowa Hawkeyes, who finished in a 3-way tie for 6th place in the B1G. They are coached by Fran McCaffery who just finished his 14th season in Iowa City. In those 14 seasons, he has been to the NCAA tournament 7 times, including the three of the last four tournaments, but he has never made it past the second round.
They should be used to that in Iowa City. The last time they made it past the second round was in 1999, and the last time they made the Final Four was in 1980.
There are quite a few coaches with Pac-12 history who coached at Iowa. Ralph Miller, Lute Olsen, Geroge Raveling, and Steve Lavin. Since McCaffery wouldn't come to the Pac-12, it looks like the Pac-12 has come to McCaffery.
Here is Coach McCaffery in action:
Unlike the Iowa footall team, the basketball team could score. Iowa quietly had the #16 offense in the country. Maybe no one paid much attention because their defense was only #157.
GRADUATING
"As a single-season transfer portal rental, Krikke was one of three Hawkeyes to start every game last season. He produced in that role, though his lack of defensive versatility and inconsistent rebounding hurt Iowa at times."
IN THE DRAFT OR TURNING PRO
Payton Sandfort led the Hawkeys in scoring and was second in rebounding and assists. I have seen him projected as a second-round pick, so he may stay in the draft.
TRANSFERRING OUT
Between graduation, the draft, and transfers, Iowa loses either three and one-half starters or two and one-half starters.
I assume Tony Perkins is not psycho He led the team in assists and steals.
"Perkins, who played a major role for the Hawkeyes last season, is probably the biggest loss of the group. A second-team All-Big Ten selection (as voted by coaches), Perkins was the motor to Iowa’s offense last season because of his ability to attack the basket and create for others."
Patrick McCaffery is the coach's son, and he has spent 5 years in Iowa City, including a year off for treatment of thyroid cancer. "McCaffery’s somewhat tumultuous season ended with him providing a spark off the bench, but not necessarily morphing into a consistent, high-volume scorer like some had hoped."
"Bowen began last season in Iowa’s starting five but later moved into a decreased role off the bench before missing the last handful of games due to a knee injury."
RETURNING
Coach McCaffrey builds most of his roster with high-school recruiting. Brauns is the only returning player who is a transfer (from Belmont). McCaffrey also doesn't have much in the way of highly-ranked players. However, he does seem to find players who fit his system of great ball handlers. He manages to compete in the B1G with a bunch of 3-star players, along with a 4-star or two sprinkled in.
This is a fairly young team for a group that returns six rotation players. Four of them were freshmen last year and only one or two of them are serniors.
Iowa returns 7 scholarship players, but only 2 of them contributed much last season.
The best returning player seems to be 6-10 Big Ten Co-Freshman of the Year, Owen Freeman. He was a good scorer and rebounder.
Josh Dix may be poised for a breakout season. In one thre-game stretch near the end of the season, he averaged over 21 points on 68% shooting, while shooting 62% on his threes.
After those two, the production drops off pretty hard. Harding and Dembele played a bit the other two guys didn't.
Evan Brauns took 5 shots all season, and made them all. Maybe he should have shot more.
Coach McCaffrey chose to redshirt Riley Mulvey last season. In his sophomore year, he played in 12 games, averaging 4 minutes and 1 point. Mulvey scored just 27 total points in 29 appearances over two seasons
Without Payton Sandfort, those guys are going to have to bear a lot of the load, since there is not a lot of help coming in.
RECRUITS
(#44 class, #9 in B1G)
"Koch is ranked 78th in the class nationally and Tadjo is 137th, according to the 247Sports Composite. While both are listed at 6-foot-8, each has a unique skillset — with Koch being a high-level scorer and Tadjo possessing elite athleticism." Koch may have to come in and contribute right away.
Chris Tadjo is from the NBA Academy Latin America.
TRANSFERRING IN
(#127 class, #17 in B1G)
The only lower ranked transfer class in the B1G is Purdue with no transfers.
Drew Thelwell can pass well. He was #18 in the country in assists per game and #36 in A/TO ratio. If that translates from the Ohio Valley Conference, that would help the Iowa offense a lot. OTOH, he doesn't look like he will be a bigtime scorer. When he came out of HS, 247 called him a "shooting guard". Go figure.
I suspect that Thelwill will be Iowa's starting PG.
CONCLUSION
Last season Iowa was #3 in the nation in A/TO ratio, behind UConn and Virginia. The team they are returning has some excellent ball-handlers.
Here are some ranks for Iowa from recent years:
Fran McCaffery teams have efficient offenses because they don't turn the ball over. In particular they don't have unforced errors with the ball. If you don't steal it, you aren't getting the ball.
His problem has been that his defense doesn't match up to his offense. When they do, as they did in 2021 and 2022, they are one of the top teams in the country.
As for the coming season, this roster has a couple of good-looking players returning and possibly a very good point guard. After that, I don't see much. If Payton Sandfort doesn't return, this team should have a hard time making the NCAA tournament. If he does, they might have a chance.
Torvick projects the Hawkeyes as the #54 team in the country and #14 team in the B1G. He projects a 17-14 record and 9-11 in the B1G.
====================
Since I haven't watched Iowa in years. Maybe the last time I watched, Lute Olsen was the coach. I am relying on an article for description of the players.
Taking stock of where Iowa men's basketball roster stands as offseason rolls on
Next are the Iowa Hawkeyes, who finished in a 3-way tie for 6th place in the B1G. They are coached by Fran McCaffery who just finished his 14th season in Iowa City. In those 14 seasons, he has been to the NCAA tournament 7 times, including the three of the last four tournaments, but he has never made it past the second round.
They should be used to that in Iowa City. The last time they made it past the second round was in 1999, and the last time they made the Final Four was in 1980.
There are quite a few coaches with Pac-12 history who coached at Iowa. Ralph Miller, Lute Olsen, Geroge Raveling, and Steve Lavin. Since McCaffery wouldn't come to the Pac-12, it looks like the Pac-12 has come to McCaffery.
Here is Coach McCaffery in action:
Unlike the Iowa footall team, the basketball team could score. Iowa quietly had the #16 offense in the country. Maybe no one paid much attention because their defense was only #157.
GRADUATING
| Player | Games | Starts | Minutes | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Notes |
| Ben Krikke | 34 | 34 | 31 | 15 | 7 | 2.7 | Valpo grad transfer |
"As a single-season transfer portal rental, Krikke was one of three Hawkeyes to start every game last season. He produced in that role, though his lack of defensive versatility and inconsistent rebounding hurt Iowa at times."
IN THE DRAFT OR TURNING PRO
| Player | Games | Starts | Minutes | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Can Return? |
| Payton Sandfort | 34 | 34 | 31 | 16 | 6.6 | 2.7 | Yes |
Payton Sandfort led the Hawkeys in scoring and was second in rebounding and assists. I have seen him projected as a second-round pick, so he may stay in the draft.
TRANSFERRING OUT
| Player | Games | Starts | Minutes | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Notes | Destination |
| Tony Perkins | 34 | 34 | 31 | 14 | 4 | 4.6 | Missouti | |
| Patrick McCaffery | 31 | 15 | 23 | 9 | 3 | 1.2 | Butler | |
| Dasonte Bowen | 25 | 8 | 14 | 4 | 1 | 2.0 | St. Bonaventure | |
| | ||||||||
Between graduation, the draft, and transfers, Iowa loses either three and one-half starters or two and one-half starters.
I assume Tony Perkins is not psycho He led the team in assists and steals.
"Perkins, who played a major role for the Hawkeyes last season, is probably the biggest loss of the group. A second-team All-Big Ten selection (as voted by coaches), Perkins was the motor to Iowa’s offense last season because of his ability to attack the basket and create for others."
Patrick McCaffery is the coach's son, and he has spent 5 years in Iowa City, including a year off for treatment of thyroid cancer. "McCaffery’s somewhat tumultuous season ended with him providing a spark off the bench, but not necessarily morphing into a consistent, high-volume scorer like some had hoped."
"Bowen began last season in Iowa’s starting five but later moved into a decreased role off the bench before missing the last handful of games due to a knee injury."
RETURNING
| Player | Games | Starts | Minutes | Points | Rebounds | Assists | FG% | 3-Pt % | A/TO | Class | Recruiting Stars | Recruiting Rank |
| Owen Freeman | 34 | 25 | 23 | 11 | 6.6 | 1.2 | 61% | 1.1 | So | 3 | 159 | |
| Josh Dix | 34 | 20 | 24 | 9 | 2.2 | 1.7 | 55% | 42% | 2.5 | Jr | 3 | 162 |
| Brock Harding | 34 | 0 | 11 | 3 | 0.6 | 2.6 | 36% | 38% | 3.4 | So | 3 | 150 |
| Pryce Sandfort | 32 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 36% | 35% | 4.7 | So | 4 | 99 |
| Ladji Dembele | 32 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 38% | 31% | 0.7 | So | 3 | 186 |
| Even Brauns | 18 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 100% | 0.4 | Sr 5 | 3 | 247 | |
| Riley Mulvey | Jr | 3 | 205 |
Coach McCaffrey builds most of his roster with high-school recruiting. Brauns is the only returning player who is a transfer (from Belmont). McCaffrey also doesn't have much in the way of highly-ranked players. However, he does seem to find players who fit his system of great ball handlers. He manages to compete in the B1G with a bunch of 3-star players, along with a 4-star or two sprinkled in.
This is a fairly young team for a group that returns six rotation players. Four of them were freshmen last year and only one or two of them are serniors.
Iowa returns 7 scholarship players, but only 2 of them contributed much last season.
The best returning player seems to be 6-10 Big Ten Co-Freshman of the Year, Owen Freeman. He was a good scorer and rebounder.
Josh Dix may be poised for a breakout season. In one thre-game stretch near the end of the season, he averaged over 21 points on 68% shooting, while shooting 62% on his threes.
After those two, the production drops off pretty hard. Harding and Dembele played a bit the other two guys didn't.
Evan Brauns took 5 shots all season, and made them all. Maybe he should have shot more.
Coach McCaffrey chose to redshirt Riley Mulvey last season. In his sophomore year, he played in 12 games, averaging 4 minutes and 1 point. Mulvey scored just 27 total points in 29 appearances over two seasons
Without Payton Sandfort, those guys are going to have to bear a lot of the load, since there is not a lot of help coming in.
RECRUITS
(#44 class, #9 in B1G)
| Player | Size | Position | Recruiting Stars | Recruiting Rank | Offers |
| Cooper Koch | 6-8 205 | SF | 4 | 69 | Illinois, Indiana, Purdue |
| Chris Tadjo | 6-8 220 | PF | 3 | 150 | Akron |
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"Koch is ranked 78th in the class nationally and Tadjo is 137th, according to the 247Sports Composite. While both are listed at 6-foot-8, each has a unique skillset — with Koch being a high-level scorer and Tadjo possessing elite athleticism." Koch may have to come in and contribute right away.
Chris Tadjo is from the NBA Academy Latin America.
TRANSFERRING IN
(#127 class, #17 in B1G)
The only lower ranked transfer class in the B1G is Purdue with no transfers.
| Player | Size | Games | Starts | Minutes | Points | Rebounds | Assists | FG % | 3-Pt % | A/TO | From | Class | Recruiting Stars | Recruiting Rank | Transfer Rank |
| Drew Thelwell | 6-3 195 | 34 | 34 | 34 | 10 | 3.0 | 6.2 | 44% | 34% | 2.7 | Morehead State | Sr5 | Unranked | Unranked | |
| . | |||||||||||||||
| . |
Drew Thelwell can pass well. He was #18 in the country in assists per game and #36 in A/TO ratio. If that translates from the Ohio Valley Conference, that would help the Iowa offense a lot. OTOH, he doesn't look like he will be a bigtime scorer. When he came out of HS, 247 called him a "shooting guard". Go figure.
I suspect that Thelwill will be Iowa's starting PG.
CONCLUSION
Last season Iowa was #3 in the nation in A/TO ratio, behind UConn and Virginia. The team they are returning has some excellent ball-handlers.
Here are some ranks for Iowa from recent years:
| Year | Offensive Eff | Turnover Rate | Non-Steal Turnovers | Defensive Efficiency | KenPom Rank |
| 2024 | 16 | 5 | 2 | 157 | 57 |
| 2023 | 4 | 8 | 1 | 168 | 41 |
| 2022 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 80 | 13 |
| 2021 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 75 | 7 |
Fran McCaffery teams have efficient offenses because they don't turn the ball over. In particular they don't have unforced errors with the ball. If you don't steal it, you aren't getting the ball.
His problem has been that his defense doesn't match up to his offense. When they do, as they did in 2021 and 2022, they are one of the top teams in the country.
As for the coming season, this roster has a couple of good-looking players returning and possibly a very good point guard. After that, I don't see much. If Payton Sandfort doesn't return, this team should have a hard time making the NCAA tournament. If he does, they might have a chance.
Torvick projects the Hawkeyes as the #54 team in the country and #14 team in the B1G. He projects a 17-14 record and 9-11 in the B1G.