2011 Iowa Basketball Preview: Small Forward

Posted by on in Basketball, Iowa

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. Today, it’s small forward. Note that the lists are ordered by projected starters first.
 
ED NOTE: There may be some confusion as to how we’re listing these players. For example, while Devyn Marble is actually a shooting guard we expect him to play at small forward. The players are categorized on the positions we expect them to play primarily, not their natural position. Thus, despite Eric May getting some time at small forward we expect him to primarily play as a shooting guard. Maybe if Todd Lickliter recruited guys who actually had set positions we wouldn’t be in this mess. Damn you, Todd.
 
The Legacy – Roy “Devyn” Marble Jr.
Height/Weight: 6’6/194
Position: Shooting Guard (Wing)
Year: Sophomore
 
*Now, it may seem presumptuous to name Devyn the starting power forward as he’s supposed to battle Eric May for the spot but when you consider May’s reliability over the past year or so…I’m going with Marble. Despite Devyn’s birth name actually being Roy Marble Junior I don’t think he wants to be called Roy. He wants to be his own man, make his own name and not be held to the same standards as Iowa’s all-time leading scorer. A natural shooting guard, Marble has been molded into Iowa’s starting small forward thanks to his versatility. In high school he was only 6’5, 170. By his freshman year he had put on 20 pounds. Now, he’s listed as 6’6, 194. Kids are growing all the time.
 
Marble is a long athlete who showed flashes of being a capable scorer last season. He's still raw, though. This will be a big season for him. What did he do right last year? Well, he showed a nice ability to finish in the paint. His 78.05% FG% on shots in the paint was a close second on the team to Jarryd Cole's 78.41%. Outside of the paint, however, it wasn't pretty. On two point shots outside of the paint, he shot 25% (team average 28.17%), and on three point shots, he made only 26.83% of his attempts from downtown. (31.40%) Oh, and did I mention, that Marble was only better than Brommer and Archie when it came to shooting free throws last season? So, the shooting definitely needs some work.
 
Other than his outside and free throw shooting, Marble had a pretty good year statistically. He finished the season around the 11% mark in defensive rebounding rate, which is actually pretty good for a guard. And he became Fran's go-to-guy when he needed a lockdown defender. He wasn't always a great defender, but he has potential. He's 6'6" and has the wingspan of, at least, a 6'8" guy. So even if he's going against someone who is faster off the dribble, those long appendages should help him keep his man in front of him. Not to mention, they should be damn nice when Fran calls for the Hawkeyes to full court press/trap.
 
Marble had not been practicing due to a concussion but returned after two weeks and says he's better than ever. 
 
The Prius – Zach McCabe
Height/Weight: 6’7/232
Position: Power Forward (Cornerman)
Year: Sophomore
 
Considering his size and weight it’s understandable to question my classification of McCabe as a small forward. But I’m counting on Aaron White to emerge as the solid backup to Basabe and for McCabe to come in when Marble is getting some time off. Furthermore, McCabe has the range that power forwards (aside from Dirk Nowitzki) lack. As a freshman he attempted 84 three pointers which accounted for 16% of the team total. A chart of his team impact in that area:
 
 
Most games, McCabe was accounting for at least a quarter of our three pointers. The downside is that he only shot .290 for the season. McCabe has been named the offseason MVP by Fran and has also bulked up his strength and conditioning. I expect his perimeter shooting and post game to improve as a sophomore (and a cut down in bad passes). I think BT Powerhouse said it best when talking about his outside shooting:
McCabe missed 60 three-pointers while only shooting 29% from outside. He will either need to start knocking them down or quit shooting them altogether. 
Thus, we’ll need to see McCabe get better from behind the three point line or else he’ll be seeing more and more time at the four spot. I think Fran will try him out at the three…but it's Zach's job to impress.
 
The Cox Man – Cody Cox
Height/Weight: 6’7/232
Position: Small Forward
Year: Sophomore
 
What do you know about Cox? Probably about as much as we do. He played a whopping nine minutes last year, went 0-4, picked up an assist, a steal and a personal foul. He’s a walk-on from Waterloo West High School who probably won’t see any action unless we’re playing: NW Missouri State, Chicago State, North Carolina A&T and whatever other scrub schools are scheduled for the preseason. I really hope, seriously hope, that Cody Cox posterizes some guy. Why? Can you imagine all of the jokes we could make? Man, talk about endless fun.

* – Paragraphs 2 and 3 written by Tito Hawk

Image credit to Zimbio

2 Responses to “2011 Iowa Basketball Preview: Small Forward”

  1. Tito Hawk on

    Ha. I wrote those paragraphs at like 1:30 am on Friday night/Saturday morning. My eyes were blurry from lack of sleep and a few beers. I'm glad it was still legible.