247Sports shares pick for Iowa basketball’s most intriguing 5-man lineup
While Iowa’s date against 2023 Elite Eight participant Creighton in the Gavitt Tipoff Games on Nov. 14 might still seem worlds away from now, the Hawkeyes’ overseas trip is rapidly approaching.
For the first time since the summer of 2017, the Iowa Hawkeyes will be heading to Europe for some extra summer work. Iowa is heading overseas for a three-game set across Paris and Spain in the beginning of August. Iowa will spend four days in Paris (Aug. 6-9), three days in Valencia (Aug. 10-12) and three days in Barcelona (Aug. 13-15).
It comes at a great time for the program, too. The Hawkeyes are replacing a lot of production with the losses of Kris Murray, Filip Rebraca and Connor McCaffery.
Now, the Hawkeyes will get a jumpstart at figuring out what its best lineups look like for the 2023-24 men’s college basketball season.
“We are grateful to have the resources available to provide this opportunity for our student-athletes. Not only will our players experience different cultures and create lifelong memories with their teammates, but we get 10 extra team practices leading up to the trip. With us adding six new players, I believe this is a perfect time for this opportunity,” Iowa head men’s basketball coach Fran McCaffery said of the overseas trip.
Those dates and box scores will give us an indication of how everything is coming together. In the meantime, 247Sports revealed its thoughts on what every Big Ten team’s most intriguing five-man lineups look like heading into the 2023-24 men’s college basketball season.
Here’s how 247Sports’ Isaac Trotter lined Iowa up and what he had to say about this five for the Hawkeyes.
An offer for Hawkeyes fans
For the best local Iowa news, sports, entertainment and culture coverage, subscribe to The Des Moines Register.
PG Tony Perkins
2022-23 stats: 12.3 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.4 steals per game
2022-23 shooting percentages: 44.0% FG, 33.3% 3-point FG, 76.3% FT
Career stats: 700 points (7.6 points per game), 250 rebounds (2.7 rebounds per game), 163 assists (1.8 assists per game), 83 steals, 17 blocks
G Josh Dix
2022-23 stats: 2.0 points, 0.9 rebounds, 0.9 assists per game
2022-23 shooting percentages: 40.4% FG, 40.0% 3-point FG, 66.7% FT
Career stats: 62 points (2.0 points), 28 rebounds (0.9 rebounds per game), 28 assists per game (0.9 assists per game)
SF Payton Sandfort
2022-23 stats: 10.3 points, 4.1 rebounds, 1.5 assists per game
2022-23 shooting percentages: 40.4% FG, 34.3% 3-point FG, 86.4% FT
Career stats: 511 points (7.6 points per game), 199 rebounds (3.0 rebounds per game), 70 assists, 24 steals, 11 blocks
F Ben Krikke
2022-23 stats: 19.4 points, 5.9 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 0.9 blocks per game
2022-23 shooting percentages: 55.2% FG, 27.9% 3-point FG, 79.6% FT
Career stats: 1,596 points (13.1 points per game), 532 rebounds (4.4 rebounds per game), 162 assists (1.3 assists per game), 89 blocks, 71 steals
C Even Brauns
2022-23 stats: 7.0 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.4 blocks, 1.2 assists per game
2022-23 shooting percentages: 58.3% FG, 68.9% FT
Career stats: 410 points (4.5 points per game), 281 rebounds (3.1 rebounds per game), 70 blocks, 53 assists, 29 steals
What 247Sports said about this lineup
Here’s what Trotter had to say about why this lineup is fun for the Hawkeyes:
Patrick McCaffery and Dasonte Bowen are both going to play a lot, but when they are on the bench, Iowa has some interesting rotation choices. Krikke is destined to carry a big load for Iowa offensively, but Fran McCaffery could use Brauns’ defense to save Krikke’s juice for the heavy offensive burden. Brauns is bouncy, tough and strong. Physically, he might be able to hold up better against Big Ten fives than Krikke.
If Krikke can extend his jumper out to the 3-point stripe, that’d be a huge development for the staff to play both Krikke and Brauns together. But you have to know where Dix is located. You can’t let Sandfort breathe. Oh, and Perkins is the best player on the floor. A Perkins-Krikke ball screen with Brauns in the dunker spot and both Sandfort and Dix stretching the floor could be easy-to-execute and tough-to-guard offense for the Hawkeyes. – Trotter, 247Sports.
My thoughts
With Kris Murray, Filip Rebraca and Connor McCaffery all moving on, there’s a number of players that need to take big-time steps forward. Such is the nature of college basketball.
The 2023-24 season feels like it’s setting up to be the Tony Perkins Show in a lot of ways for the Hawkeyes. He’s the experienced, savvy veteran guard that brings back the type of pedigree where you feel comfortable that he can go score in double-figures every night. Perkins will also be asked to be more of a distributor this season, so how well he embraces that role will likewise go a long ways toward determining the Hawkeyes’ potential.
Then, Payton Sandfort’s continued emergence will be pivotal. It’s been proven and it’s obvious that Sandfort can fill it up with a barrage of 3-point buckets at really any point in time. But can he now morph into a consistent offensive threat?
As far as this lineup goes, like Trotter discussed, it really will hinge on how Fran McCaffery wants to use the two bigs. Will he play both Ben Krikke and Even Brauns together quite a bit? Or, will he opt for more of a four-out, one-in arrangement in 2023-24?
Krikke improving his 3-point shot from the 27.9% accuracy of last season could indeed do wonders for this lineup. It just opens up so many possibilities when you think about the ability of Perkins to get downhill and the respect opponents would have to pay to both Josh Dix and Sandfort’s shooting.
Like many of the other players on this roster, Dix’s development and year-over-year improvement will be pivotal. Right now, there’s still so much projection with this Iowa team heading into next season. That’s what makes it equal parts a little scary and potentially very fun.
[lawrence-auto-related count=3]
Contact/Follow us @HawkeyesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Iowa news, notes, and opinions.
Follow Josh on Twitter: @JoshOnREF
