quick glance at KenPom shows the median team FT% at 70% this season vs 71% last season. Probably totally insignificant. Our improvement is assuredly from graduating 2 relatively poor FT shooters and adding in several very good ones. Our opponents FT percentage is probably just a little bad luck.
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Michigan also does a great job of preventing free throws which impacts the sample of FTA both in how many and maybe in who U-M fouls.
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Interesting. That would seem to indicate that all of that crowd noise and waving behind backboards by home crowds trying to distract FT shooters doesn’t really make any difference.
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I think it’s 50-50 he stays, a long run into the tournament gives tremendous TV exposure. If he hits the radar and gets wind of first round potential…he’s gone. He just turned 20 so his NBA window is ticking. He’s not in school for a degree.
So why is his NBA potential so much better than Garza’s? Garza has been at Iowa for 4 years, without even a hint of leaving early. Even after the season he had last year, and the one he’s having this year, he’s still not being ranked any higher than Dickinson. Dickinson’s skill set is no better.
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Dickinson shows a little more defensive potential and is a little younger. But Garza has shown he can be a good outside shooter.
Dickinson doesn’t have the range Garza’s shown yet, which is a negative for Hunter.
But Dickinson already seems like a much better rebounder and defender. He has a couple inches on Garza, showed he can wall up and protect the rim etter than Garza ever has, and even showed the ability to hedge and recover on Wednesday while Garza can barely defend the post one on one.
If you look at Torvik’s numbers, in conference so far Dickinson has a better block rate, OREB rate and DREB rate than Garza. He probably doesn’t ever project to be a super sought after commodity in the NBA because he clearly doesn’t have the elite athleticism/agility you want from a modern NBA big, but he has enough potential there to be desirable.
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Honestly Dickinson has shown a lot more defensive potential. It’s hard to overstate just how bad Garza is defensively. I thought Dickinson would be a poor defender, but he has honestly been pretty solid on that end. Garza is just a complete disaster on that end.
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Not sure why a little more defensive potential makes the difference between 4 years with no hint of leaving early and a 1 and done.
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I’m not sure everyone grasps this. Garza is the primary reason why Iowa is so terrible defensively. He’s a historic offensive player but he’s so bad defensively that the team is stuck around 100th nationally in Adj Def Eff.
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as one of the top freshmen, Hunter is already all over the media and getting a fair share of exposure, and as sure on radar of NBA teams. IMO, Hunter’s shooting ability is totally under appreciated on this board, his percentage is off the chart and it is not all dunks and lay ups. He hardly misses from 5-10 feet neither. His mid-range jumpers are lethal.
Because it’s not a small gap defensively. Unless a player attacks Garza head on he will provide no contest of the shot. Just run at him and take a slight step right/left and you will get a completely uncontest layup. Garza would be amongst the worst defensive centers in NBA history.
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One thing I don’t understand: Didn’t Oklahoma State get a postseason ban? How are they in this projected Tournament bracket?
I’ll take any regional without Gonzaga or Baylor.
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They’re appealing, so until a decision is made on the appeal they’re eligible.
I’d assume the NCAA drags their feet as long as possible because having a player like Cade play in the tourney is good for the brand.
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Ah, I see. Thanks.
Well, he’s still got 1.8 blocks per game, and he’s only averaging 29 minutes. That’s not nothing. In any case, however bad his D in the NBA is projected to be, he’s been basically unstoppable on offense. Everything is a trade-off.
Blocks per game is not really a stat that anyone is concerned with when evaluating for the NBA.
Iowa’s defense is 13 points per 100 possessions better when Garza is on the bench.
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Block numbers are not the way to measure a player’s pure defensive ability