Iowa MBB notes: Jok’s defense, Gesell at PG, Ellingson’s status

IOWA CITY - Spraining the same ankle twice has slowed but not stopped Iowa sophomore guard Peter Jok during training camp.

Jok fought through the aches and rehabbed every day. He initially missed court agility drills and had separate conditioning sessions. Later he transitioned to running the stairs at Carver-Hawkeye Arena before returning to practice.

Conditioning is vital for Jok toward becoming a key contributor in Iowa's offense. He played sparingly last year in Big Ten play, in part because of his defense. Improving his stamina was a focal point this off-season.

'I feel like if I'm in good shape, I can play defense better and offense better, instead of playing offense and not defense,” Jok said. 'If I feel like if I'm good shape I can do both.

'I feel like I can do both better than last year. It's all mental. Defense is all mental. It's how bad you want to play defense and this year I took it as a challenge to play defense and I feel like I'm on a different level.”

So far, Jok has shown Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery he can do both.

'Defensively he's light years ahead of where he was last year, so he can play significant minutes,” McCaffery said. 'He could end up being in the starting lineup at some point without question.

'I think his improvement is what we hoped it would be. Now he's got to do it in the games when the games start on Friday, but I do feel like his approach has been really good.”

Jok has also shown his teammates that he's becoming a capable defender.

'I think he's put more of an emphasis on his defensive habits and how he plays the defensive side of the basketball,” Iowa senior forward Aaron White said. 'He's always been able to score the ball. He can shoot it with the best of them. He can take guys off the dribble because of his ability to shoot.”

GESELL TO OPEN AT POINT

Iowa junior Mike Gesell has shifted from the point to shooting guard multiple times in his two seasons with the Hawkeyes. Gesell appears set to open the game Friday against Hampton at point guard, McCaffery said Wednesday.

'He's been great. He's a point guard,” McCaffery said.

Gesell, who led the Big Ten in assist-to-turnover ratio last year, said it's 'more than likely” he starts at point. Either way, he'll play both positions on Friday.

'My whole life I've been playing the one and two. I'm used to it,” Gesell said. 'I'm comfortable at it. They're not that much different to be honest, especially in our system. We have a lot of freedom with Coach McCaffery. As a point guard, you have to know the plays, one through five. Not a lot changes when I move over to the two.”

SENIOR LEADERSHIP

White, a two-time, third-team all-Big Ten selection, earned bids to invitation-only summer skills camps this summer conducted by LeBron James and Kevin Durant. While there weren't any drills he learned that he can apply, he developed confidence going into his final season at Iowa.

'I believe I'm one of the best players in our conference, in the country,” White said. 'I think that kind of validated it, me going to those camps and playing well. But other than that, I've just got to play with that confidence, that mean streak, that I'm one of the best players on the floor, no matter what game, no matter who we're playing. That's kind of what I take.”

FRESHMAN'S STATUS TBD

Freshman shooting guard Brady Ellingson still is recovering from a persistent foot injury that required surgery over the summer, McCaffery said. Ellingson, who hails from Sussex, Wis., has lifted weights for much of the fall but has missed about three weeks of on-court practice time.

McCaffery remains optimistic he'll use Ellingson, but a red-shirt remains a possibility.

'You get to a point where you say, ‘OK, that's it,'” McCaffery said. 'We're not there yet.”

l Comments: (319) 339-3169; scott.dochterman@thegazette.com