I’m going to go out on a limb, and say that Tracy Webster and Anthony Grant are thanking their good fortune right about now. The logical question would then be “Who in the fuck are Tracy Webster and Anthony Grant, and why are they lucky?” Tracy Webster is the interim head basketball coach at Depaul and Anthony Grant is the head basketball coach at Alabama. These two programs might not be national powerhouses at the current time, but both have shown improvement over the last few weeks, which usually means the program has some future promise. So again, why are they lucky? Well it’s simple: they have a common recruit that backed out of his commitment. That recruit: Cully Payne.
I am as big of basketball, and in particular Iowa basketball, fan as any 24 year old in Iowa. I went to games with my dad when I was little. I used to even go to the “Black and Gold Shootout”, (which is Iowa’s version of “Midnight Madness”, only it’s held after a home football game). Before I was a student at Iowa I would regularly make the drive up from Davenport in the Iowa February cold to see a game inside Carver Hawkeye Arena. I even made the trip to Indianapolis in 2006 for the battle for the Big Ten Tournament trophy which Haluska, Brunner, Horner and the rest of the boys brought back to Iowa City. Now I live five minutes from Carver…I have been to four games the last two years, and that’s only because the games were free to students.
So, let’s combine these two ideas: the lucky coaches from Depaul and Alabama, and the demise of Iowa basketball. Cully Payne committed to Depaul University when he was in eighth grade, but later withdrew from that commitment. He then committed to Alabama, but when Mark Gottfried got fired, he withdrew from that and committed to the Hawkeyes. Is it any coincidence that Jerry Wainright and Mark Gottfried are not coaching at Depaul and Alabama anymore? The news around Hawkeyeville was that Iowa got a highly touted point guard recruit from Schaumberg. Any fan who has watched Iowa this year consistently and knows basketball, I mean really knows basketball, (doesn’t just watch the highlights and regurgitate whatever the announcers and Sportscenter anchors say (which is 90% of the people I know who “know” sports), know that Cully Payne is not a D-1 point guard. I don’t mean to sound like many of the angry Iowa fans out there, but this point guard situation this year is a disaster. I have found myself rooting for Todd Jr (John Lickleiter) to come in the game because I feel our “offense” runs better with him in the game. I’m still not convinced we have an actual offense, as I think Iowa is leading the universe in shots fired up with under two seconds on the shot clocl
The Big Ten Network announcers have been heaping on the praise for Payne. I’m not really following their logic. The whole “He is the freshman leader in minutes played in the Big Ten!” argument seems to be a popular one. Look, I’ve coached high school baseball and softball and I have learned something. Write this down then put a little dashy and put Geoff Estes by it “Sometimes a program’s success is measured in how little the sub-par players are required to play”. Just because Payne is averaging over 30 minutes a game, that doesn’t make him an impact freshman in the conference, it makes Iowa’s backcourt GOD AWFUL. Through ten Big Ten games, Payne’s stat line looks like this:
Min – 30.9/gm, Fg% - .317, 3pt fg % .200 (6-30), Ft% - 57.9%, Rebounds – 3.1/gm, Asst – 32, Turnovers – 34, Steals – 4, points – 6.9/gm
Look at those stats for a minute. More turnovers than assists. A terrible 3pt percentage in an offense that focuses on the threeball. Only four steals for a point guard, who isn’t even guarding the best ball handler on the other team because that responsibility has fallen to fellow freshman Eric May, who has guarded Even Turner, Manny Harris, and Demitri McCamey the last three games. I looked everywhere for a +/- for the Hawks, but when I couldn’t find one, I figured it wasn’t a big deal since every player is probably in the minus area. Apparently they also do not have stats for average feet a jump shot gets off the ground because Payne’s would be about 10.7 feet. If there was an average “jump passes” per game, Payne would be around 54.4/gm. And if they had stats for time spend dribbling with strong hand (in Payne's case left) it would be about 98.9%.
So where is this animosity coming from? Honestly, it isn’t aimed at Cully Payne. He is probably a good guy and is making the most of his abilities. I’m more so wondering where the basketball sense has gone that used to belong to the Iowa coaching staff and the announcers and writers who cover Iowa basketball. Jeff Peterson was far from an all-conference point guard last year, but I dare someone to say he wouldn’t be playing 40 minutes per game if he hadn’t transferred out (transfers are a whole ‘nother problem for this program that I will get carpal tunnel if I get into). I’m getting worried that when I leave the University of Iowa and move back to Davenport, or wherever I end up, that I will never want to make that freezing cold drive back to Iowa in the winter to see a packed Carver Hawkeye Arena. Bring back the days of Mike Henderson, Dean Oliver and Andre Woolridge. Bring back the days where I don’t feel like I could lace up my high school basketball shows and go toe-for-toe with our starting point guard. Bring back the days of bounce passes and positive assist to turnover ratios. Bring back the days of…(gulp)…Alford.
I am as big of basketball, and in particular Iowa basketball, fan as any 24 year old in Iowa. I went to games with my dad when I was little. I used to even go to the “Black and Gold Shootout”, (which is Iowa’s version of “Midnight Madness”, only it’s held after a home football game). Before I was a student at Iowa I would regularly make the drive up from Davenport in the Iowa February cold to see a game inside Carver Hawkeye Arena. I even made the trip to Indianapolis in 2006 for the battle for the Big Ten Tournament trophy which Haluska, Brunner, Horner and the rest of the boys brought back to Iowa City. Now I live five minutes from Carver…I have been to four games the last two years, and that’s only because the games were free to students.
So, let’s combine these two ideas: the lucky coaches from Depaul and Alabama, and the demise of Iowa basketball. Cully Payne committed to Depaul University when he was in eighth grade, but later withdrew from that commitment. He then committed to Alabama, but when Mark Gottfried got fired, he withdrew from that and committed to the Hawkeyes. Is it any coincidence that Jerry Wainright and Mark Gottfried are not coaching at Depaul and Alabama anymore? The news around Hawkeyeville was that Iowa got a highly touted point guard recruit from Schaumberg. Any fan who has watched Iowa this year consistently and knows basketball, I mean really knows basketball, (doesn’t just watch the highlights and regurgitate whatever the announcers and Sportscenter anchors say (which is 90% of the people I know who “know” sports), know that Cully Payne is not a D-1 point guard. I don’t mean to sound like many of the angry Iowa fans out there, but this point guard situation this year is a disaster. I have found myself rooting for Todd Jr (John Lickleiter) to come in the game because I feel our “offense” runs better with him in the game. I’m still not convinced we have an actual offense, as I think Iowa is leading the universe in shots fired up with under two seconds on the shot clocl
The Big Ten Network announcers have been heaping on the praise for Payne. I’m not really following their logic. The whole “He is the freshman leader in minutes played in the Big Ten!” argument seems to be a popular one. Look, I’ve coached high school baseball and softball and I have learned something. Write this down then put a little dashy and put Geoff Estes by it “Sometimes a program’s success is measured in how little the sub-par players are required to play”. Just because Payne is averaging over 30 minutes a game, that doesn’t make him an impact freshman in the conference, it makes Iowa’s backcourt GOD AWFUL. Through ten Big Ten games, Payne’s stat line looks like this:
Min – 30.9/gm, Fg% - .317, 3pt fg % .200 (6-30), Ft% - 57.9%, Rebounds – 3.1/gm, Asst – 32, Turnovers – 34, Steals – 4, points – 6.9/gm
Look at those stats for a minute. More turnovers than assists. A terrible 3pt percentage in an offense that focuses on the threeball. Only four steals for a point guard, who isn’t even guarding the best ball handler on the other team because that responsibility has fallen to fellow freshman Eric May, who has guarded Even Turner, Manny Harris, and Demitri McCamey the last three games. I looked everywhere for a +/- for the Hawks, but when I couldn’t find one, I figured it wasn’t a big deal since every player is probably in the minus area. Apparently they also do not have stats for average feet a jump shot gets off the ground because Payne’s would be about 10.7 feet. If there was an average “jump passes” per game, Payne would be around 54.4/gm. And if they had stats for time spend dribbling with strong hand (in Payne's case left) it would be about 98.9%.
So where is this animosity coming from? Honestly, it isn’t aimed at Cully Payne. He is probably a good guy and is making the most of his abilities. I’m more so wondering where the basketball sense has gone that used to belong to the Iowa coaching staff and the announcers and writers who cover Iowa basketball. Jeff Peterson was far from an all-conference point guard last year, but I dare someone to say he wouldn’t be playing 40 minutes per game if he hadn’t transferred out (transfers are a whole ‘nother problem for this program that I will get carpal tunnel if I get into). I’m getting worried that when I leave the University of Iowa and move back to Davenport, or wherever I end up, that I will never want to make that freezing cold drive back to Iowa in the winter to see a packed Carver Hawkeye Arena. Bring back the days of Mike Henderson, Dean Oliver and Andre Woolridge. Bring back the days where I don’t feel like I could lace up my high school basketball shows and go toe-for-toe with our starting point guard. Bring back the days of bounce passes and positive assist to turnover ratios. Bring back the days of…(gulp)…Alford.
love the post geoff e. id like to add the total lack out of state recruiting with todd lickliter. when todd was at butler he could stick to the talent located within the state of indiana, easily one of the top 10 high school basketball states in the country and todd also benefited from being close to big cities like chicago, indinapolis and detroit. However here in iowa the high school basketball is in a word subpar. i just dont believe you can win at iowa with just iowa high school basketball kids. i use my friend brendan cougill. fat slow and white usually doesnt cut it in the big ten. thats not saying brendan cant get better and make a serious contribution but as a freshman he is getting eaten alive in the paint area in the big ten. thats not saying the state of iowa never produces top d-1 talent. harrison barnes never gave a iowa a real look then again when north carolina, kansas, duke and ucla are looking at you i cant blame him for signing with north carolina, i think any of us would have made the same decision. im not looking for iowa to be a final four team every year. im looking for a team that can make the ncaa tourney on a yearly basis and be competitive in the big ten and every couple years make a run at the big ten title. also it would be nice to go to carver and come out after the game with your ears ringing
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