Post#911 » by minimus » Mon Jan 1, 2024 5:18 pm
Let quickly describe our young players progress in gleague:
Luka Garza
3 games, pure dominance: 36.7PPG, 57%FG, 33%3PT, 12.3RPG, 3APG, 1.7BPG. Luka has improved his body to the point that he becomes simply unstoppable in gleague. He is even blocking shots now. IMO he is first candidate to get NBA standard deal, once we have spot in rotation, which might happen around deadline or in offseason
Wendell Moore Jr
8 games, disappointment: 14.6PPG (down from 18PPG last year), 33%FG (down from 53%), 29%%3PT (down from 48%), he gets more steals 1.8SPG, but from what I see he gambles way too much and does not play good positional defense like he used to. I really dont understand what is the problem with Wendell. On paper he is exactly why we brought guys such as Troy Brown Jr, NAW, but starting from SL he has been a complete disaster.
D.J. Carton
14 games, 16PPG, 47%FG, 34%3PT, 3.8RPG, 4.3APG, 1.8SPG
My main concern with DJ is that he is an athletic comboguard who's skills and athleticism level is just enough for gleague and he does not have opportunity to improve his basketball awareness. I have not seen a single high IQ play from here, outside of dunks.
Trevor Keels
16 games, 15PPG, 45%FG, 31.4%3PT, 3.5RPG, 3.3APG, 1.7SPG
Physical comboguard, with limited athleticism. He has two ways to be successful in NBA: first, he should follow Kyle Lowry path, become student of the game, second, become exceptional shotmaker. I like about him that in some moment he has shown aggressiveness, mental and physical toughness. Unfortunately, other aspects of his game are mediocre at best
Daishen Nix
6 games, 20PPG, 36%FG, 21%3PT, 5.3RPG, 6.2APG, 2.2SPG
Another physical comboguard, with limited athleticism. But unlike Keels Nix came here as PG prospect. He has improved his body, he looks quicker now. He was shooting very well in preseason, but in gleague his shot has not been falling. Also I dont see much improvement in his playmaking.
Tyrese Martin
6 games, 11.5PPG, 40%FG, 40.6%3PT, 5.7RPG
I expected him to be an energy wing from bench (in gleague) making cuts, timely open shots. He have a chance to redeem himself after returnung from injury
Leonard Miller
11 games, 18PPG, 53%FG, 34%3PT, 7.1RPG, 2APG, 1.2BPG
In comparison with his previous season in Ignite Leonard is taking almost twice 3pt shots while making solid 34%, he also taking difficult threes: pullups, stepback etc. He also has shown good hands shooting from mid range and short range. My main concern is that while Miller is working more on his offensive game, he was drafted as high energy, high effort forward. On a recent video I saw how useless he is without his motor. He is 20yo, and still lacks physicality, so he needs to keep his motor.
Josh Minott
4 games, 14.5PPG, 46%FG, 18%3PT, 7.3RPG, 3.3APG, 3.5BPG
Josh Minott played many minutes as big this season, which is not very good for his development. Yes, he is blocking ton of shots, but he is not dominating in defense. His 3PT shooting is down to abysmal 18%3PT (last season 42%). In SL games he looked slow footed, I wonder if it is because he added some weight.
Sum up:
Because our main team is winning MIN kind of use all his efforts to keep winning. However, some choices Nix, Miller are made based on potential. These players are raw and cant contribute right now. Overall we were looking to add/develop a big guard: Nix, Krejci, Carton, Moore, Keels. It looks like an intentional thing, strategy for our roster construction. However, I often ask my self if instead of a big guard, we simply add a guard who can make a right play. Overall, I am kind of disappointed with our Iowa team play. They dont play like a team, their roster is poorly constructed, they lack bigs and shooters.
P.S. I have not seen many Iowa games, please feel free to comment, add.