7 Guys I Love In The 2014 NBA Draft

So I am not going to go nearly as in-depth as I did with my NFL Draft coverage, and I will freely admit that my ability to scout basketball pales in comparison to my football analysis. Still, I watch enough college basketball to find guys that I really like. I will admit that my list skews horribly towards the Big Ten, but that's who I watch the most, so I have the most confidence in what I have seen from those players. Still, there are a couple guys outside the B1G as well as an international prospect, because I've got to represent for Hrvatska.

Zach LaVine - If there is a star to have after the first ten picks, this is the guy (although he is right on the border of being in the first 10 picks). Ridiculous athleticism and range for days. He's raw, and with that comes inconsistency, but the tools are there for him to be great. The chances he reaches his full potential may not be great, but they're not bad either. The only reason he isn't guaranteed to go in the Top-8 is that he was underutilized and misused at times at UCLA (their coach has a history of doing things like that, and I'm one of his defenders). Because of that, there is uncertainty with his game, but even if he is a terrible NBA player, he'll still be super fun to watch, and isn't that what's most important?

Roy Devyn Marble - Homer pick? Maybe, but I don't see how he can't be better than Tony Snell. He has range, he can handle the ball fairly well, and he was the only guy on the Hawkeyes who could create his own shot. He's a guy who you can probably get away with at three different positions who will keep you in things for 20 minutes a game. Considering I have only seen him projected at the middle to end of the second round, that is really good value.

Mitch McGary - He's an athletic guy with size. He has back problems, which is terrifying, but I'd take a chance on him. I don't think he's an All-Star, but I do think he could be a competent starting center who can run the floor which is something just about any team could use.

Adreian Payne - Payne is a guy who is going to get downgraded, because he is a senior, but once you get outside the first five picks, upside starts meaning a whole lot less. Payne will never be an All-Star, but getting big man who can play defense and shoot well from the outside is an incredibly valuable piece to have. And here's the best part: He already is that player. Sure, consistency is an issue for any rookie, but he is going to flash that immediately and just get more and more consistent with it as time goes on. I have a hard time seeing a team not being happy with Payne.

Dario Saric - I have never seen him play, but he is from Croatia. Since my surname comes from the same land, I cheer for all Croats with all my heart. If he falls to the Bulls, he could become the new Toni Kukoc and set the world on fire. It will be totally awesome.

Nik Stauskas - I understand that Stauskas is pretty awful on defense, but he's pretty ridiculous on offense. He can do damage on or off the ball which means he can fit in anywhere. He's got decent enough handles and knows how to set up teammates, but the shooting is where he is going to make his money. I understand his defense is bad, but he's so much better on offense that I do not see how people could value Gary Harris over him. On top of all of that, Stauskas went from an awful body to a bad body in one year, so he might still get in better shape and improve his quickness.

TJ Warren - His game is ugly, but it works. There is a lot of herky jerky motion, but he uses it to keep defenders off balance and he seems to always make it to where he wants on the floor. It's partially because he is comfortable in awkward spots, but the guy scores. It may not be pretty, but if you can score, they can find a spot for you in the league. 

One Iowa Fan's Journey Through March Mad/Matness

I had been looking forward to this past weekend for a long time. Obviously, I knew Iowa's wrestling team was going to be in contention for a National Title since forever, because they are always in contention for a national title. But this was finally the year when Iowa basketball would make its triumphant return to the NCAA Tournament and wreak havoc on all those that got in their way. In hindsight, things did not quite turned out how I planned. Let's start from the beginning.

Basketball
Last Sunday, Iowa officially got their spot in the tournament, kind of. They had a play-in game for an 11-seed against Tennessee (for these purposes, the weekend started Wednesday night). As KenPom taught me, Tennessee was even more underrated than Iowa, so it was not only a tough matchup, but it was a tough matchup to get into the regular matchup. Ugh was about the only thought I could come up with.

But, I am wildly optimistic about Iowa sports. Since just about anything could happen in sports, I always assume the most positive outcome will happen. I saw the Tennesse matchup as tough, but the SEC barely knows what basketball is, so Iowa should win that one. Then UMass was a ridiculously weak 6-seed, and I haven't been very impressed with Duke all year. That puts Iowa in the Sweet-16 against Michigan, who are dangerous when hot, but Iowa destroyed them the last time they played, so, yes, I did have Iowa making it to the Elite-8 before losing to Louisville (Side note: None of these things are outlandish, especially Tennessee beating Michigan as they have very tough perimeter defense that could give the Wolverines fits). Going into Wednesday night, I had convinced myself that good things were about to happen for the Hawkeyes.

Then Wednesday night started, and Iowa looked great to start off the game. They moved the ball well and Tennessee's shaky shooting was as shaky as advertised. I was ready to start talking trash to both UMass and Duke. But Tennessee crawled back and somehow were only down by three points going into halftime. Still, Iowa was up three points despite getting nothing from Roy Devyn Marble. Once he gets going, Iowa should be able to extend their lead. Also, Tennessee can't shoot, so that's another point in Iowa's favor.

Unfortunately, Marble showed flashes but never really got going, and Tennessee started hitting threes like they were Doug McDermott. And still, Iowa stayed right in the game. Adam Woodbury was amazing; Peter Jok was ridiculous, and even Zach McCabe played really well. They hung close enough for Marble to hit a clutch shot and send the game into overtime. There was still hope.

But that hope quickly disappeared. Iowa just couldn't get things together, and Tennessee had everything going for them. Iowa got outscored 14-1 in overtime to give them their largest margin of defeat through the entire season. After this entire season where Iowa showed they could hang with anyone, but could never pull it out, they hung with Tennessee and just couldn't pull it out. I felt empty, but then I remembered something. The real NCAA Tournament starts tomorrow, and Iowa's wrestling team had a legitimate shot at a national title.

Wrestling:
There was good news and bad news to that, though. I already had plans to go to an Astros Spring Training game in Kissimmee on Thursday, as she had an early flight on Friday morning in Tampa. That meant no wrestling for me on Thursday. I avoided all social media and wouldn't even watch ESPN, as the scroll at hte bottom may spoil a result for me. The good news was that by me avoiding everything on Thursday, I would have 13 straight hours of wrestling to watch on Friday. This had me very excited.

So I end up getting back to my place at around 9:30 after five straight hours of driving and very little sleep. Still, this was the NCAA Wrestling Tournament; there was way too much excitement for me to feel tired. Session I started off well. Cory Clark came out like a man on a mission. Ramos had a close match, but I'll allow that from Ramos, because he's proven himself pretty well these past four years. Iowa suffered their first loss when Dziewa lost, but he was the one guy expected to lose in the first round, so it was not that big of a deal. He wrestled better against Dutton than he did in their previous match, so it was a step forward. After that, both Grothus and St. John looked good in taking care of their opponents.

And then things fell apart. In two of Iowa's next three matches, Iowa suffered huge losses. Nick Moore and Ethen Lofthouse, both 5-seeds in the tournament, suffered first round upsets. The other three remaining Hawkeyes did take care of business, but that was rough. Nick Moore had been wrestling great, and I honestly thought he might be the second best guy at 165 (it was a distant second, but still), and Lofthouse looked healthy with a bracket that lined up perfectly for him to make the finals since both Ed Ruth and Gabe Dean were on the other side. Looking at how the tournament played out, I think he would have had a hell of a time beating Sheptock, but a semifinals appearance would have been a whole lot better than how things turned out.

Even my optimism began to wane.

I'm just now watching Session I of the tournament, and through eight weight classes, I have already given up on Iowa's championship hopes.
— Hott Joe (@HottJoe) March 21, 2014

I then ate a quick lunch and got into Session II. Clark took care of business, and Ramos nearly gave me a heart attack, as he had his second close matchup, this one even closer than the last, as he managed to beat Zane Richards in Sudden Victory. Still, a win is a win. Grothus got beat by Maple, but I expected that. But, everybody else took care of business. St. John, Evans, Burak, and Telford all wrestled well and advanced to the quarterfinals. Iowa had six guys in the winner's bracket.

And that was all it took for me to get my optimism back. When other teams go to the consolations, I assume they will quickly lose again, but when Iowa guys lose, I just assume that they are going to wrestle tough and grind their way back to an All-American finish. By now, you should already know that my optimism was not well placed.

Dziewa got one win before losing to the #2 seed at his weight in sudden victory who just happened to be from Minnesota which put a knife in my chest. Grothus lost his first consolation match against a guy he had already beaten twice this season, which dug that knife a little deeper. Nick Moore won two consolation matches before being on the receiving end of another 5-point move to get eliminated from the tournament and twist that knife a bit. Finally, Lofthouse topped it off by only winning one match in the consolations before getting shut out in his next match. I don't know what else knives can do, so I guess it just did another 360 twist again.

But I still had six wrestlers to look forward to in the championship bracket of Session III. Iowa had two favorites, one underdog, and three tossups. This tweet sums up my emotions well.

I'm about to watch Session III, and I'm excited at what Iowa could do, yet still terrified. Sports are illogical, and I'm a mess. #Hawkeyes
— Hott Joe (@HottJoe) March 21, 2014

Here's how Session III went:

Bad: It started off how I expected as Cory Clark just didn't have enough to beat eventual National Champion, Jesse Delgado.
Good: After that, Ramos kept Iowa fans terrified but got a late takedown in the third to advance to the semifinals.
Bad: Derek St. John wrestled his lackadaisical style but was unable to create scrambles and instead just got repeatedly taken down to lose his match 11-4.
Good: Mike Evans won in a tiebreaker over Matt Brown in an excellent match to advance to the semifinals. This was probably the match that had me most excited as it was not only a tough win, but it was a tough win over Penn State which makes it twice as nice.
Bad: Nathan Burak lost to Chris Penny, who he had beaten earlier this season.
Good: Bobby Telford finally got over the hump and beat Adam Coon in a tiebreaker.

Overall, 3-3, and it was a total rollercoaster of emotions. At this point, I had watched 10 straight hours of wrestling. I was mentally drained but physically anxious. I also had three dogs being pests, so we went for a quick two-mile run to get the bad vibes out. In the biggest shocker of the day, I actually took a shower between my 13 hours of wrestling.

At that point, I had finally caught up to the live viewing on ESPN for Session IV, the semifinals. The good news, although I was not watching, was that the three guys who lost in the quarterfinals all won their first consolation match to guarantee their spots as All-Americans. Six All-Americans, things could be worse.

For the semis, we'll start at Heavyweight, Tony Nelson is just a better version of Bobby Telford. Telford managed a win at the dual, but Nelson was wrestling great in this tournament, and Telford just didn't have enough to beat him. This was a bummer, but it was the easiest match for me to take.

Tony Ramos again tried to give all Iowa fans a heart attack in his rematch against AJ Schopp. Ramos just did not get to his offense at all in the first period. Then Schopp rode out Ramos in the second period and then got a quick escape to ensure that he would get a riding time point. Things were not looking good when Tony Ramos did Tony Ramos things and not only got a takedown but took him to his back for a five-point move to secure the victory and move onto the championship. At least Iowa would have one guy in the finals.

And god damn, it should have been two. I can't imagine how Mike Evans feels about his match against Chris Perry, because even days later, it's tough for me, who has no connection to Mike Evans outside of the fact that we attended the same university years apart, to write about it. No scoring happened in the first and Perry was able to get an escape in the second period, but as time was ticking down, Evans pulled off a takedown to lead 2-1 going into the third period. Evans had the decision and chose down. At the time, it seemed questionable, and it turned out to be an awful decision. Perry rode him out and Evans never came close to getting the escape. They were going into overtime. They got in a scramble, and this happened.

Yep. That's what looks to be a pin. In fact, I'll go so far as to say that this is definitely a pin. There have been lesser pins in the WWE, but the ref, despite looking right at it, refused to call the defensive pin. Chris Villalonga, from Cornell, suffered his first loss of the tournament on way less than this, but the ref didn't want to make the call. In the end, they went to ride-outs, and Evans got ridden out, and Perry escaped and avoided Evans enough to avoid the last-ditch attempt at a takedown. John Smith, coach of Oklahoma State, then got interviewed and didn't understand why Iowa fans were booing. I yelled a lot of expletives at my television. Evans should have made the finals, and it really sucks that he didn't. There's nothing more I can say.

After 13 hours of wrestling and standing for every Iowa match that they showed (because I'm a very pathetic individual), I was pretty tired, so I watched a few dribbles of basketball and went to bed.

Saturday morning was the medal round, and it was not a good showing for the Hawkeyes. I'll rank it from my favorite to most disappointing performance.
1. Cory Clark - He lost his first match to Megaludis, but he wrestled really hard. Megaludis was just a little more solid, and the new takedown rules (which I completely agree with) benefited Nico. Still, Clark was going for it, and that's what really matters. On top of that, he dominated his 5th place match with an 8-1 win over Dylan Peters.
2. Bobby Telford - He was the only person to make it into a third place match, and he ended up taking fourth. A win over Mike McClure is always impressive, but it was 1-0, so that is a classic Telford there. He didn't get to his offense in the third place match and lost Mike McMullan 3-1. Nothing too exciting, but he's a heavyweight, so that's never really expected.
3. Nathan Burak - He took eight place, yet still finishes this high as he wrestled hard but lost to Morgan McIntosh.
4. Mike Evans - He just didn't have it after getting screwed in the semis. I don't blame him. He lost two matches that weren't particularly close to take 6th place.
5. Derek St. John - He finished in 5th place, but he got beaten badly by Ian Miller of Kent State, and then he never got a chance to redeem himself as Brian Realbuto injury defaulted out of their 5th place match. For a guy that grinded out every second of every match during his four years at Iowa, it's disappointing to see him take a beating and never get one last shot at another match. Still, it was a great career for DSJ.

Finally, I made it to Saturday night. ESPN was going to make me wait for the Ramos match as they were starting at 174. This was extra depressing as I had to start the night off by watching Chris Perry win a National Title despite getting pinned in the semifinals. That meant Tony's match was going to be seventh. I make it through the matches, realize that once Tony Nelson lost, Penn State had basically secured their fourth straight National Title. But this night was not about the team race for me anymore. Iowa was stuck in fourth, so it was time to see the culmination of Tony Ramos's four hard years at Iowa where he would take on Tyler Graff, a guy who always wrestled him extremely close. This match would be no different.

If you were trying to sell people on watching wrestling, I would not rely on this match. It was a deliberate match. Neither guy wanted to make a mistake, and neither guy did. No scoring in the first. Graff got an escape in the second. Ramos got an escape in the third. Sudden victory, and not a score was to be had. Tony went down and could not escape from Graff. My heart sank. Tony needed to get a ride out to force it to another sudden victory period. The period started and Graff was close to squirming his way out. He did everything that he could to get away from Tony. He twisted and turned, and that would be his downfall. He turned over to his back, and Ramos planted him there for the two back points before riding him out for the rest of the period to win the National Title at 133 pounds. Ramos took his time to flex, get his hand raised, and sprint over and jump into the stands with his family and friends. After 5 years in the program, and four as a starter, Tony Ramos finally got the asterisk that he so richly deserved next to his name in the Iowa wrestling room.

Overall, this was a terrible weekend to be an Iowa fan. The basketball team got a bad seed and couldn't even make it to the round of 64, and everything is lining up for the team that beat them. On top of that, the most hated man in Iowa guided his team into the Sweet 16.

On top of that, the wrestling team had disappointing loss after disappointing loss and never came close to sniffing the overall title. Despite all that, the lasting image from this weekend will still be Tony Ramos jumping into those stands to celebrate five years of hard work. Sports are stupid. They are cruel, and they will make you feel miserable. I felt terrible way more than I felt good this weekend, but that one moment of a Hawkeye's dream coming true made it all worthwhile.

The 11 Most Valuable Iowa Hawkeyes

The B1G season is over halfway done, and it is pretty clear what kind of team the Hawkeyes are this year. They're really good. They aren't great, but they have the talent to play with anybody. All of their losses (outside of Ohio State) can easily be explained away with free throws, as I show here:

Villanova - Didn't make free throws down the stretch.
Iowa State - Didn't make free throws down the stretch.
Wisconsin - Gave up four free throws when McCaffery got the boot.
Michigan - Refs didn't call fouls, so Iowa didn't get to the free throw line enough.
Michigan State - Could only make free throws down the stretch but didn't make enough of them.
Ohio State - Only shot 62% from the stripe, but 15% from three is what really killed them.

I honestly have an easier time seeing the basketball team win a National Championship than the wrestling team (Quick summary: Penn State has freakishly good wrestlers, and most of Iowa's team squeaks by in their matches), and I never thought I would be able to say that. Iowa may have the deepest team in the NCAA. That is positive in that lots of good players is a good thing, but also bad, because it means that very few Hawkeyes stand out above the rest. Since Iowa rolls 11 deep, I thought that this would be a good time to look at these 11 players to see who are the most important pieces for Iowa to make a significant run in the NCAA Tournament.

11. Peter Jok - Basically, everything that he provides is provided better by Josh Oglesby. So, he's probably not going to see many meaningful minutes down the stretch. Still, he is only a Freshman, so his role will increase as time goes on.

10. Zach McCabe - If McCabe is on, that's great. He plays gritty defense and can knock down open threes when he is open. But, Iowa doesn't need a big contribution from McCabe. If he is off and can only contribute four tough fouls, they will still be fine. With the other depth they have in the front court, they will be okay if McCabe is not on fire.

9. Anthony Clemmons - Clemmons has not played well for the most part this season, but if he can play well, it will really help out the team. If he is working well as a point guard, it gives them a chance to rest both Gesell and Marble so that they can be at full-strength during crunch time. He doesn't need to be a scorer, but if he can play solid defense and make the right decisions with the ball in his hands, then Iowa will be putting even more pressure on opposing teams.

8. Adam Woodbury - Yes, Woodbury is a starter, but I think most Iowa fans would agree that he is not the center that has been playing the best basketball for this team. Still, he is very useful. Any time you can put a legit 7 footer out there to play defense and get in the post, that has incredible value. Even if he just puts his arms straight up, he adds a lot of challenges to anybody coming into the paint. He always knows where he is supposed to be, and that reliability adds to his impact, but the ceiling of his impact is fairly low.

7. Josh Oglesby - Oglesby is finally living up to that "shooter" label that was bestowed upon him after last year's disastrous season. It was disastrous on offense, but his defense took a leap forward which is something that has carried over to this season. He's not athletic enough to be a shutdown defender, but he is always in the right spot, and he plays his man tough. If he can add to that the three point threat, the Hawkeyes offense becomes incredibly difficult to stop. He's not going to get starters minutes, but he can make a huge impact in just 15 minutes if he is hot.

6. Jarrod Uthoff - The other reliable shooter, although Uthoff brings a little bit more to the table as an inside presence who shows some nifty moves every now and then. Uthoff doesn't have the power to be dunking on people, but he plays fairly smart basketball, and if he is on, he can make impact plays on both sides of the court. Also, bonus points for Wisconsin hating him so much.

5. Melsahn Basabe - Melsahn is a pure energy guy, but he causes some serious issues when he is running the court. I honestly think that Melsahn is better than the next guy on the list, but Iowa has the option of spreading the floor with Uthoff at the four, so Melsahn is not as necessary. Still, the defense and energy he can provide is huge. He also can dominate the offensive glass, and he has some nifty moves to get good looks near the basket. He really fits in with this team well.

4. Gabe Olaseni - When Olaseni knows where to be on the floor, Iowa is really tough. He doesn't always know where to be, but he has gotten better and better each year. When I first saw him, I never expected much beyond some garbage time minutes, but he has improved exponentially over the years. He is a beast, and he sprints down the floor for the opportunity to get an easy look. He has springs in his legs, as he can jump and rejump better than most big guys. He doesn't need to be a big scorer, but if he can get a few putbacks and protect the rim, Iowa will be tough to beat.

3. Mike Gesell - This is the guy that I had the most trouble ranking. He could be five spots lower if you are fine with Marble running the point, where Marble has been shown to be pretty good. You could make the argument of making him a spot higher, because Marble is best when he can come off screens to drive to the hole or get an open jumper. Overall, I'm closer to the latter. If he can make this offense go, then everything else falls into place. He does a great job of taking care of the ball and even though he is barely leading in assists, his assists seem more valuable as he puts his teammates in an easy position to score. If he can hit the three when he gets the opportunity, that's all gravy.

2. Aaron White - White can disappear for an entire half, but that doesn't mean I want that to happen. He is the most efficient player on the team, by far, and it is just a matter of getting him the ball. White is nonstop energy, so he will find open windows, but Iowa needs to be aware of those windows and get him the ball when he gets to those areas. If they are getting him the ball, he is going to score, and he will probably draw some fouls as well. He also is one of the better players at the full-court press and trap that Iowa likes to play which can lead to a couple turnovers if done properly.

1. Roy Devyn Marble - Maybe it's just me, but I don't think people are talking nearly enough about the leap that Marble has made this season. He has become such a smarter player and just better in every facet of the game. His defense is a ton better as he is in the right spots on the zone but does a good job of picking his spots when going for steals. His shot is much improved, but the big thing is that he is even better at getting to the rim. This has been huge, as even if his shot is off, he can still make an impact on offense. The other game, he looked terrible as his shots were way off, so he just started driving to the hole. After starting 0-3, he repeatedly drove to the hole to get his shot, and then felt comfortable enough to fire another three which he made. Last year, he was going to keep throwing up bricks, but he was able to reset his rhythm and get into a good groove and be a positive impact on offense. I know Iowa fans love Aaron White, and I love him too, but Roy Devyn Mamba is the most valuable player on this team.

I wrote most of this before Tuesday's letdown against Ohio State, so I took some time off to give myself perspective. I'm not a big believer in teams not being clutch or not knowing how to win close games. Honestly, the bounces just haven't gone Iowa's way. But the talent is there, and that is what matters. They could definitely make a "shocking" run in the tournament, and it wouldn't really surprise me at all. Go Hawks.