Fullbacksympathy

Borchardt might be a D-1 athlete but he's not a D-1 basketball player. Props to him for turning down some serious football offers to play basketball for his state school. He is a big thick kid but look at how his uniform hangs. He has an unusually long body and short arms and legs so he plays shorter than he actually is. Actual D-1 post players would eat him up I believe. Will see as the season goes forward. And if Trueblood every get meaningful minutes for Nebraska, I'm afraid that would not bode well for our prospects. They are what they are, solid walkons that hopefully are working their tails off in practice to make those in the rotation better. Good for them. I disagree with your assessment of Borchardt. A major part of athleticism is coordination (hands, feet, IQ), and he has a lot of those things. He also has an abundance of lineman strength, which makes a huge difference defensively and on the glass when no one can move you. He can be shot over, though, I'll give you that. But when I say D1 athlete, I mean someone who is athletic enough to play a D1 sport on scholarship. He is athletic enough, in my opinion, to play D1 basketball, but his current build is tailored to football. With a decent diet and cardio, he morphs into a very strong post-body that can utilize the superior strength and physicality of his football background. Even now, his post defense is better than Hammond or Morrow (at the 5). He just can't run the court that well yet. I think conditioning is the only thing keeping him off the court. I don't think Trueblood gets meaningful minutes this year (nor did I say or imply that), but I think he's a hell of a practice player with a shot at contributing down the road. All I said was I'm glad we have him.

88-64 gg

I'm still really impressed with Borchardt. I thought his one-on-one post defense and screening were better than any of our bigs. It's only a matter of time before he gets meaningful minutes, imo. He just needs to lose about 15lbs. He's not a leaper, but he's definitely a D1 athlete (remember he turned down full rides in football) with a high bball IQ. I'm also glad we have Trueblood. The kid needs to learn defense, but offensively, he's pretty savvy. Good ball handler too. I am very encouraged by the passing and shooting ability of this team. I don't think other teams are going to be able to pack it in defensively this year at all. Hopefully our guards can figure out how to handle pressure. I'm still worried that a press break isn't being taught effectively. *Benny is shooting it well. If he's a threat out there, that's an enormous difference for his role. I thought he and Watson were about even tonight as far as helping the team, possibly Benny with the slight edge (defense). It's interesting watching Benny at the 2. I would've never pictured him there, but it's starting to make a little bit of sense, particularly if he can spot up. **Hammond continues to get better. He's starting to learn how to fight, which is all you can ask of him. ***Morrow's defense was night and day tonight. He was much more controlled, kept his man in front, and did a wonderful job with help defense. We are so much better with him affecting the game defensively and on the offensive glass. It might not show up in the stats, but he is a real pest on both ends. He keeps a lot of possessions alive and alters a lot of shots/drives. ****McVeigh is the real deal. Great passer and very reliable as a scorer. *****Jacobson is looking more in game shape. He's a serviceable big, no question, and that's probably all he'll be this year, but I think he ends up being an excellent player. What a freshman class. Unreal.

It's a lost art, and usually separates a good college guard from an NBA level guard or forward. Jordan, Nowitski, Kobe, Bird, RIP Hamilton, Bernard King, Maravich, West, etc... The last player I can remember having a great midrange jumper was Tyronn Lue. He could get a pull up elbow show almost any time he wanted it. Strickland comes to mind as well. Both NBA players. I think we see it less and less because it takes a lot of talent to hit that shot, and it usually happens coming hard off a screen or taking someone off the dribble.

in this instance im gonna go with Coach on this one, you risk putting shavon or White in foul trouble guarding smaller quicker twos, than we lose them for key stretches of the game, because we had them out guarding players they shouldn't be. For this season we will have to sacrafice and realize that at times, we will have players on the court that are not looking for their shot, its gonna hurt us, but i think the more dangerous proposition is putting Shavon or White at the two and risk getting them into significant foul trouble. As we've seen thru 3 games, if you impede the offender progress in anyway its gonna be called a foul. Cant risk those two players on the cheap ones, and they have to sit out for extended min, cant risk it. I get it, but I guess I look at it the other way--Shields and White both have guard skills offensively with big frames, and both of those guys are constantly looking for their shots, plus they both usually take care of the ball. I think they are both a similar threat to undersized guards (in terms of drawing fouls on them). Bottom line: the best basketball we've played this year occurred at Villanova when we had Watson, McVeigh, and Morrow on the floor at the same time, and that was against one of the best backcourts in the country. Do you really feel like there's a big dropoff from Tai to Shavon guarding the 2? Because I don't see that at all. I agree with White, but not Shavon.

All seven of Iowa's top scorers played the most minutes. That's what we need. Tai had 31 minutes (second only to Shields) and scored 5 points (25% fg) from the SG spot against inferior competition. That's awful. Watson, on the other hand, played 15 minutes and scored 7 (50% fg). Just do the math. We probably have another 15-20 point scorer if Watson logs 30 min. Maybe he fouls out, but it would probably be more likely that he adjusts defensively. Give him PT with leaders like AWIII and SS and he's probably going to get it figured out. Hell, let him foul out and fail a few times--that's how they learn.

85-58 gg

Watching Morrow, I think Molinari needs to spend an entire practice one-on-one with him on defensive fundamentals. The guy has gotten away with pure athleticism and willpower to this point, but I've also noticed some glaring lack of boxing out and balance defensively. He has the potential to be one of the most disruptive defenders we've ever had here, and if he gets his fundamentals down, he's going to be terrifying. I think the same of Watson. Coach Mo needs to work with him on those deficiencies as well. Both freshmen have the blessing of long arms, but it doesn't matter how long your arms are if you never learn to move your feet. We need them both to play a lot if we're going to be any good this year. Lastly, at this point, I think it makes way more sense from a +/- to have Watson, White, Shields, McVeigh, and Morrow out there as much as possible. Yeah, maybe we'll give up some points, but we'll score a ton of points as well. I don't buy it that Shields can't guard the 2. Take a step back and make someone shoot over 6'7". I'm willing to live with this given what we'd produce on the other end. If it stalls, you can always shake it up with two great defenders in Benny and Tai to buffer the D a bit. I also agree with feeding the post. I really feel like Hammond has some offensive skill that's going unnoticed, and it's not like he's a selfish player so there wouldn't be a black hole issue. Feeding the post is akin to running the football--it keeps the defense honest.

I think the rest of your post was spot on, but I don't think Ochefu is an NBA center. I think he's fringe for sure. He's certainly athletic enough. I hear you though.

Watson -- Parker/Evelyn/Trueblood White -- Evelyn/Trueblood (I don't think Tai should handle the ball) Shields -- Webster McVeigh -- Fuller/Jacobson Morrow -- Hammond/Jacobson ----- I call this our best lineup, and I wouldn't mind these being the starters. All five players are a threat to score, and all five players play good defense. I'm proud of Tai and Benny's effort, and I'm glad they're on the team, but both of these guys should be viewed as defensive specialists and nothing more. Bring them off the bench to be sparks who can take risks, create turnovers, and annoy the crap out of the other team's best ball handlers. They aren't confident in their current roles as offensive facilitators, and they shouldn't be. It's not who they are. Hammond is serviceable as a backup center at this point, and so is Jacobson. Morrow needs more minutes to adjust to the speed of the game and the fouls he's not used to committing, but he's a dominant talent, and for awhile last night, he was giving an NBA center fits. McVeigh looks skinny, but he's very sturdy and confident. He's a much more physical player than I thought he would be, and he can definitely play the stretch 4 role. He's a great passer too, which shouldn't be overlooked. I think we have to play to our players' strengths and throw away the experience cliche. These young guys are playing at this level in AAU before they get here. They're an obvious upgrade in talent and skill. Put them out there.

Villanova--in that gym--is the best team we'll play this year, in my opinion. That's their, what, 28th straight home win? That's an extremely well-coached and talented team who will destroy the Big East and probably end up with a 1 seed again. It's really hard to gauge this game, but I actually came away pretty encouraged by our talent. We lost this game because of dumb turnovers. We'll get better on that front. I think Villanova was an absolute model team for what sort of intensity it takes to be really good on every possession. They kept their intensity steady while ours fizzled out. Outside of White, the ones who really, really, fought were the freshmen. I think the starting rotation needs to be shaken up.

80-50 good guys

75-67 Nova

88-65 9

My observations: First, the depth of the team is fantastic. We killed them with attrition in addition to being more skilled. I can't remember ever having a lineup with this many actual contributors. That will be huge in being able to matchup, play aggressive defense, and run like hell when we want to. Morrow is our best defender and most aware overall player. The guy is an absolute game-changer whether the stats indicate it or not. He really reminds me of Rodman. I don't recall him being scored on in the post either. Great wingspan. Tai looked the player he was lauded to be. He is an excellent athlete, and with his vastly improved physique, he's starting to understand that he's faster than 90% of the players he'll play against. Great defensive disruption and it looks like he now has the elevation to really finish. Huge upgrade if this continues. Wow. Trueblood and Borchardt look like Doc's scholarship players. These guys are as good of walk-ons as I can ever remember seeing. They could definitely be mid-major scholarship players. Nothing else really surprised me, but that's a good thing, because AWIII, Shields, Benny, McVeigh, and Jacobson all looked like who they were advertised to be. The future is bright, certainly, but I really think the now can be, as well. They're a complete team.

I think making it into bubble talk scenarios would be a success. Also, not being the victim to any massive upsets in the regular season would be great.

I don't mind White at PF. He's bulky enough and he's going to be a pain in the ass to chase around the perimeter on offense. 2/3 deep? Watson/Benny/Bakari Benny/Tai/Bakari Shavon/McVeigh White/Jacobson/Fuller Morrow/Hammond The more I look at the options (which we've really never had), the more excited I get, but that's an intriguing starting 5.

I think we have enough raw talent to be there this year. If the coaches can scheme it right and instill confidence, we've got a shot. I think Watson and Morrow, in particular, are huge compliments to Shields and White offensively. I don't think either one (i.e. Watson or Morrow) can be guarded one on one. If we get a healthy Jacobson, I think we'll roll out a complete team with serviceable bigs.

It sure seems like there is enough talented depth to actually have game to game matchup strategies. I don't remember a time that we could trust 9-10 guys to really contribute if called upon. For our lack of inside depth (which I only consider slight with the additions of Jacobson and Morrow), I think we can turn around run opponents into the ground with a bunch of 6'7" skilled athletes. It'll be really interesting to see how it shakes out. It's really an excellent group of newcomers who all bring a bit of uniqueness to the table.

When you watch his work ethic on the court, being a beast in the weight room/dinner table should be no surprise. Add no twitter account to the mix (he doesn't have one), and this might be my favorite modern recruit ever.

Interesting prospect. Great hands and use of the body. We'd have to chisel him up a bit, but I like his skill set. He's been well coached.

Depends who we're playing, I would think.

... he's got a nice reel though.

I know we're recruiting bigs, but what constitutes a "big"? 6'9"? What about 6'7" with a 7' wingspan like Morrow? Is he a big? What about 6'8" Jacobsen? Is he a big? These are genuine questions--not being contentious. I'm just wondering if the definition has changed. I with you on the weight. I'm just not sure height (i.e. a traditional center) is as important as it used to be given the speed of the game. Keep in mind, I continue to be a Hammond guy too... I think he'll be just fine as our functional center for years to come.

Great get. This kid has a very unique skillset--great ballskills, outside range, and a big frame. I'm getting the feeling Miles is done with centers, and he might be right on for doing it. The prospect of Jeriah and Ed in the same frontcourt is pretty darned imposing. Plus, size doesn't have to equate to one 7' player. Being able to switch the on-ball defender is just as important in today's pick and roll defense. Miles continues to do an incredbile job with recruiting. Our young talent stacks up against anyone.