Fran McCaffery's solution to a lack of point guard depth? Clone Bryce Cartwright. Still pending NCAA ruling… (H/T RKN Photography)
With the first official game less than two weeks away it’s about time for the High Porch Picnic to start talking about Iowa basketball. We’ll start with a positional breakdown of returning Hawkeye starters and follow it up with a general basketball preview and what we can expect from Iowa throughout the year. Next up is Point Guard. Note that the lists are ordered by projected starters first.
Compton's Finest- Bryce Cartwright
Height/Weight: 6'1"/188 lbs
Position: Point Guard
Year: Senior
Talk about a pleasant surprise. That is exactly what Cartwright was last season. The player that every announcer loved to remind us was straight out of Compton, started off the season pretty mediocre, but exploded onto the scene once Big Ten play started up. In fact, here is how I described him on my old blog back in January after Iowa got blown out by Northwestern:
An offensive-minded, decent-passing, turnover-prone, inefficient-scoring, matador-like-defending, point guard. He has nights where he can be special, but there are nights where he will frustrate the living hell out of you.
Now, here is a quote from my end of the season review:
Cartwright started the season as an inefficient shooting, decent passing, turnover-prone point guard. He ended the season as an inefficient-shooting, awesome-fucking-passing, turnover-prone point guard.
He's not the perfect point guard, by any means. (He still has a tendency to play that matador style of defense) But, those assists. Oh man. Those assists. Cartwright was the winner of "My Favorite Chart of the Year" award. Yes. I have a favorite chart of the year award. I just created it now. Anyway, here is the chart:
ISN'T IT JUST SO BEAUTIFUL? Every single month, Cartwright found a way to up his assists per minute on the court. He finished the season second in the Big Ten in assist rate. His 39.8% assist rate was only second to Darius Morris. However, once Big Ten play started, Mr. Cartwright led the Big Ten in assist rate. His 43.01% assist percentage put Darius Morris in his place. (Suck it, Michigan)
That being said, Cartwright did have his weaknesses. First and foremost, he wasn't a terribly efficient scorer. He was the third best scorer on the team in 2010-2011, averaging 0.35 points per minute (behind Basabe's 0.45 and Gatens' 0.38). That, by itself, isn't bad. It's the 42.08% eFG% and 0.90 points per scoring attempt that it took to put up that 0.35 points per minute. The main culprit of his bad shooting? Two point jump shots outside of the paint. On those field goal attempts, Cartwright shot 26.22%. And 48% of his two point shots taken, came outside of the paint. More shots in paint please, Bryce!
Another weakness, that Bryce needs to work on this season, is getting those turnovers down. His turnover percentage of 24.05%, was the eleventh worse in the Big Ten last season. The only other guys who played point guard and who are higher up on that list? Keith Appling and Aaron Craft. Both of who were freshmen last year.
So, what are we looking for with Bryce this season? Well, he's not going to become a super efficient scorer. He is who he is, and he can't really shoot the ball outside of the paint. So a successful season for him would be more shots in the paint, while keeping the assists at last year's Big Ten play level, and cutting those turnovers by A LOT. Will he do all that? Probably not. But after a full year in Fran's system, he should be much improved.
Devyn Marble's Cousin!- Steven McCarty
Height/Weight: 6'0"/166 lbs
Position: Practice Squad Point Guard
Year: Sophomore
McCarty was rumored to be joining the team as a walk-on/practice squad guy last season, if I remember correctly? Honestly, his claim to fame is that he's Devyn Marble's cousin. He shouldn't really see any playing time outside of Iowa's exhibition game, or maybe against someone like Chicago State. Devyn Marble will be the backup point guard this year. And, honestly, Matt Gatens would play point guard before McCarty found himself playing point guard in a meaningful Big Ten game. But, hey. We're glad to have you on the practice squad, Steven!
Comments are closed.