PTL Updates

[BMPanther]

Did anyone go to the primetime games last night? If so, any stats on our guys or observations? The primetime league website sucks for info as they can't seem to get stats up in a timely fashion!

[9YRPLAN]

Re: PTL Updates

there is a good recap on the iowa rivals site. tom speaks highly of jordan, james, jones, and UNI as a whole.

[Panther Cat]

Re: PTL Updates

I went to the games last night and watched a half of each game. Here are some of my thoughts from the night.

Johnny Moran - For some reason the coach didn't play him too much, they ran a big lineup out there and played with no true PG. When he played he looked a lot like last year. Hit a DEEp 3 but also had a couple errant passes.

Matt Morrison - He didn't get many minutes when I watched. He's a lefty and it looks like he has a pretty good shot. Taking a redshirt next year will be huge for him because he needs to get a lot stronger. But he seems to have a lot of upside.

Adam Rodenberg - He isn't going to wow anyone. But he played extremely hard and went after every rebound really hard. If O'Rear ends up leaving he could fill that role of a bruiser to come in and move some bodies. He had a thunderous one handed dunk on a break away.

Austin Pehl - DIdn't get a whole lot of minutes but he looked OK when he played. He has a good body and build. Looked a little lazy though, didn't go after too many rebounds in my opinion. He also needs to work on his quickness, was a little heavy on his feet. I think he is still a year away from making big contributions on the court.

Adam Koch - Adam is Adam. He looked good off the dribble. He has been working on his outside shot, knocked down a couple of 3's. His shot looked really good, he caught it and shot it all in rhythm.

Ali Farokmanesh - Still has one of the purset shots I've ever seen. He didn't hit anything the first half though. Everything was online, but they came up short becaue he was shooting from real deep.

Jordan Eglesder - Jordan had an average half when I watched. I was hoping he'd be a little more active. He has been working on his outside shot, should some good touch on a few mid range shots. If he can stay healthy all off season it will really pay off.

Anthony James - He is extremely quick and plays great on ball defense. Him taking a redshirt last year was a plus. He isn't very big but he is so athletic and has the ability to score a bunch of points in a hurry. He plays like his true position is the 2, if he works on his ball handling a little more I think he could get some minutes this year because his defense looked good.

Marc Sonnen - He has really good size and build coming in for a true freshman. He has a nice looking shot as well. Physically he is ready to contribute, but with our depth at guard I could actually see him taking a redshirt year (but he is definitely capable of playing some minutes).

Antonio Jones - He really impressive me with how athletic he is. He looks really young for being a junior, but he has a decent build (similar to carlton reed). His defense was great, especially on the ball. He isn't a really great shooter and was pretty weak with his left hand. But he had some really nice athletic moves to the basket. UNI can use his athleticism and defense this year.

Kerwin Dunham - Kerwin is still working that mid range game. He likes to shot the 15-20' shots and he knocks them down. He had moments where he played really good defense and then some other moments where he lost his man. Kerwin looked a lot like last year, I'm hoping he really improves because he will be a key guy for us next year again.

Jake Koch - Everyone will compare his to Adam because they are brothers, but their games are very different. He has a bigger, wider body than Adam. He isn't as ethletic or quick as him either. But Jake is probably a better shooter. His ball has some rotation on it than anyone I've ever seen. Jake is a lot more ready to play than Austin Pehl, so I can see him getting some minutes this year.

Brian Haak - He played like he usually does. He was consistent and played within the system (a very unorganized system). He did a decent job.


A few other notes-

-Kwazdo was in attendance to watch some of the guys. He is working out in Minnesota this summer but hasn't left yet since he was overseas for the begging of summer.

-Anotonio Jones and Anthony James on the same team was making it tough for the team they were playing handling the ball. That was good to see.

-Matt Scneiderman is in the league this year. He played great, he looks a lot different then his days at UNI. He is slimmer and can still shoot lights out, but was also taking it to the rack off the bounce.

-Its too bad Clayton Vette didn't transfer to UNI. He has a really good build and has some nice moves on offense.

Iowa Notes (if anyone is interested)

-New freshman PG Cully Payne looked pretty good. He handles the ball pretty well and can shoot it alright. He is a lefty. His defense isn't anything to write about, but with no PG it will be him running the show in IC.

-Matt Gatens played PG the whole night, wonder if they are grooming him for that? He had a monster one handed dunk over someone. He looked pretty good, but I was disapointed they didn't play Johnny Moran or Matt Morrison there more.

-New freshman Eric May looked pretty good. He is etremely strong and athletic, he'll probably play a lot of minutes for them this year.

-Anthony Tucker looked like his put on some muscle.

-Aaron Fuller looks really aggresive.

-New freshman Brennan Cougil played. He is a big boy, but he is really slow. Has pretty good touch and really good hands. If he losses about 15 lbs he could be really good.

-Andrew Brommer is terrible. Is it possible that he could get any worse?

-Jarryd Cole looks back to normal after his knee injury last year. He is explose. He was shooting a LOT of mid range jumpers (not making many). I wonder if Iowa is trying to groom him to be the 4 and step out a big?

-New JUCO Devon Archie is really athletic, can jump out of the gym. But he can't make anything outside of a dunk or layup. His FT looked absolutely terrible.

-If John Lickliter plays any minutes for these guys it is laughable. He wouldn't even start for Wartburg (no joke).

[06panther10]

Re: PTL Updates

Thanks for the updates. Btw, Sonnen will not redshirt. I think most believe he will be getting significant minutes as a true freshman.

[9YRPLAN]

Re: PTL Updates

did UNI recruit payne over the years at all? i know that him and moran are often compared/contrasted.

[Panther Cat]

Re: PTL Updates

did UNI recruit payne over the years at all? i know that him and moran are often compared/contrasted.

I don't think they ever looked at him real hard. He commited to DePaul after his freshman year so a lot of teams backed off. Then he decommited and commited to Arkansas, after a coaching change there he reopened his recruitment. By the time all this way going on a lot of teams were already out of scholarships. He looks like he could be a decent player down the road. Not sure how he'll do this next year, but he defintely has some upside.

[Panthers to the Bone]

Re: PTL Updates

Thanks for the update!

[Kyle]

Re: PTL Updates

I was able to catch a couple PTL games tonight. It was exciting to see the new UNI guys.

Sonnen looked good, but didn't get a lot of playing time. I'll have to watch him in a few more games before I can get a feel for what his game is like.

James looked very good. He was draining pretty much every three he took and single handily got his team back in the game after being down double digits. It was obvious he was his teams go-to guy on offense, which is no small feat when you have a slew of solid division one talent to choose from (Coleman, Fuller, and new Iowa recruit Payne). I don't have the game stats, but I'm guessing he put up something close to 25 pts and shot over 50% from behind the arc.

Jones didn't see a lot of time either. He seemed frustrated most of the game and didn't really get into a good groove. He'll need to develop better poise and discipline, but his upside is exciting.

All our bigs looked good. Adam and Jake were both solid contributors on their team. Pehl looked much stronger than last year and seems to have improved. Rody had a couple nice blocks. He was guarding Cougill most of the game and dominated him.

Oh, and PS- Coleman started, but pretty much got out hustled the whole game. He is really out of shape.

[BMPanther]

Re: PTL Updates

I saw Jordan today...looks like he dropped about 40 pounds! I think he is going to be the real deal this year, no reason for him to get under 30 min. per game! Hopefully he keeps doing whatever he is doing, because he looks in the best game shape I have ever seen him in right now! Go Panthers!

[Panthers to the Bone]

Re: PTL Updates

I think it can become frustrating for some of the UNI guys when they drive over an hour to play and then don't get much PT. I think alot of it has to do with the unknown of the players, since the ones who don't play as much are new (Jones, Pehl, J.Koch, Sonnen, Morrison, etc...). I'm glad to hear James and Sonnen of the others are playing well. That's great depth for UNI this upcoming season. Just remember, this is the PTL and we had similar things said last year about certain guys...and some of them aren't here and others didn't get much playing time (or redshirted). It's fun to watch, but hard to guage how it will project into next year's rotation. I only say this to not get too excited when some of our favorite PTL-ers end up playing roles of 15 minutes or less when they shine in the summer. (end disclaimer)

Question for BM Panther:
Do you feel it is in Jordan's best interest to play 30 minutes per game? In the NBA, where a big man can squeeze more rest in throughout 48 minute games, only 5 centers in the NBA averaged 30+ minutes per game. In the case of Shaq, he's averaged 35 minutes per game over his career, but has played in less than 79 games (81 is the reg season max, so I gave him the benefit of a couple nights off) at least 2 games in 13 of those 18 years (and in all honesty, some of those years he played 79 games, and probably made the playoffs, so he ended up missing more like 6+ games during the year). My point is, in the long run, I don't think it's beneficial for a true center (which Jordan is) to be playing high minutes, b/c I think it shows career wise, centers aren't healthy all season long as their minutes go up. This is especially the case as big men get older. I want to see Jordan play a career for 15-20 years after college, b/c I think he can. Whether that's in the US or overseas, I think he can be a dominant big man. But, for UNI's sake of having him healthy all year, and for his future professionally where he can make good money, is it in his best interest to get those 30 minutes per game you were talking about?

[9YRPLAN]

Re: PTL Updates

if you dont mind reading more about the iowa players, there is a long PTL thread on the iowa free hoops board.

[TravelingPanther]

Re: PTL Updates

I saw Jordan today...looks like he dropped about 40 pounds! I think he is going to be the real deal this year, no reason for him to get under 30 min. per game! Hopefully he keeps doing whatever he is doing, because he looks in the best game shape I have ever seen him in right now! Go Panthers!

I couldn't believe how much he had changed physically last time I saw him. He's obviously been working very hard.

[9YRPLAN]

Re: PTL Updates

there are nothing but good things being said about UNI. basically the team to beat this year.

[CR Panther]

Re: PTL Updates

Kyle hit all the points that I saw last night. James looks to be making a statement with his defensive effort. He had some quick, experienced guards to deal with all night and really did well.

Austin about brought down the rim twice that I saw. It is fun watching him because and his size you don't expect the quick feet and athleticism that he has. He could prove to be a nice surprise in the future.

I know the consensus on here is that Sonnen will not redshirt. I just think it would really benefit him. Not that he is lost all the time or is physically underdeveloped. But if you add in James and Jones to take away Travis' minutes...and then some...where is his role? I think UNI can afford to have him sit.

Jones got no breaks last night. Hammered early and often on two drives. Then picked up a couple fouls on D. As noted above-he struggled shaking it off.

EC had two blocks within 40 seconds of the game. Not even a warm up shot. Then, scaled back some on D. Much of the first half was a back-forth street game.

Jordan vs Adam K in the first game. Lots of fun. I noticed Jordan's new bod as soon as I walked in the gym. Not sure he was beating others up the court any better-but the foot/hand action underneath the rim was really nice. Quicker pace down low it seemed.

[BMPanther]

Re: PTL Updates

Question for BM Panther:
Do you feel it is in Jordan's best interest to play 30 minutes per game? In the NBA, where a big man can squeeze more rest in throughout 48 minute games, only 5 centers in the NBA averaged 30+ minutes per game. In the case of Shaq, he's averaged 35 minutes per game over his career, but has played in less than 79 games (81 is the reg season max, so I gave him the benefit of a couple nights off) at least 2 games in 13 of those 18 years (and in all honesty, some of those years he played 79 games, and probably made the playoffs, so he ended up missing more like 6+ games during the year). My point is, in the long run, I don't think it's beneficial for a true center (which Jordan is) to be playing high minutes, b/c I think it shows career wise, centers aren't healthy all season long as their minutes go up. This is especially the case as big men get older. I want to see Jordan play a career for 15-20 years after college, b/c I think he can. Whether that's in the US or overseas, I think he can be a dominant big man. But, for UNI's sake of having him healthy all year, and for his future professionally where he can make good money, is it in his best interest to get those 30 minutes per game you were talking about?

You bring up a valid point, however I still think playing 30 min. a game would actually be good for Jordan, conisdering how hard he's worked to get in the best shape of his life. As a coach, why would you not want him in there if he's not tired. I saw what happened when he came out of the game last year, our outside shooters had a much harder time getting open looks and our inside game was near non-existant. I think he, if in the shape he's in now, and not hurting anywhere, can definately play 30 min/game; that is still 10 minutes a game of rest on the bench, plus timeouts and halftime. If he plays 30/game this year, I think he averages 20/12 and then we will see him in the NBA.