3 takeaways: NBA scout on Marble, going big in OT

OVERVIEW OF MARBLE'S PERFORMANCE

I caught up with one of the many NBA scouts who attended the Battle 4 Atlantis, and this one had plenty of takes on Iowa senior guard Devyn Marble.

The scout said he likes Marble and was impressed with Marble's 30-point performance in the opening-round 77-74 victory. With Iowa trailing by 13 and only 10:05 left in the game, Marble carried the Hawkeyes with a 3-pointer, a steal that led to an Aaron White breakaway dunk, then another 3-pointer followed by a pair of free throws.

The scout also understood Marble's point drop-off on Friday based on his lower-leg cramps that prevented him from finishing Thursday's game. But he said Marble needs to be more consistent from the outside. Marble was 8-of-23 for a game-high 24 points against Villanova in the championship game and only 2-of-7 from 3-point range. He kept the Hawkeyes in the game late in regulation with a pair of traditional three-point plays plus a key assist to a White 3-pointer.

“I think that's where I've come a long way, just finding ways to win,” Marble said. “It's not always about scoring. I told you guys, I have games where I score a lot and I have games where I don't score a lot. I'm still impacting and dominating the game in other aspects, be that steals, rebounds, whatever it is. Finding ways to win is what my job as a senior.”

But he also missed the front end of a one-and-one that could have given the Hawkeyes the lead with 30 seconds left.

Marble was 6-of-12 from the free-throw line against Villanova and called the misses uncharacteristic.

“I was struggling with free throws this whole tournament,” Marble said.

Marble's 30 points against Xavier was the tournament-high and his 24 against Villanova was the third most. He also led the tournament in scoring with a 20.3 average.

The scout said “there's no way he's 6-6.” He's right. Marble stands 6-7. But he noticed Marble played several minutes against Villanova at small forward and said Marble is a pure two-guard. The scout said Marble fits as a potential second-round pick or a priority free agent next summer and he probably ends up in the developmental league next year. The scout also pointed out more than 100 players on opening-day NBA rosters started their professional careers in the D-League.

GOING BIG TO WIN

Iowa opened the overtime against Villanova with a big lineup: Marble, center Adam Woodbury, forwards Aaron White, Melsahn Basabe and Jarrod Uthoff. Although it seemed strange at the time, there was one important reason Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery elected to go that route.

“We put Woody in there to win the tip, which is what he did,” McCaffery said. “I think the first and most important thing is to get possession in overtime and we scored a three-point play and got up three right off the bat. A lot of times that's the momentum that we need.”

White scored on a drive and was fouled on the first possession. He put Iowa up 75-72, giving the Hawkeyes their last lead of the overtime loss.

Within two offensive possessions McCaffery substituted Woodbury for point guard Anthony Clemmons. But it came a little too late. Following White's three-point play, Villanova knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers to claim the eighth and final scoring change.

“If we can get a stop, we're up five and it changes a lot of things,” McCaffery said. “So I struggled with that. They were small and quick and going off the dribble and do I go back to Gabe (Olaseni), do I go back to Woody? Because Woody played well in the first half. I thought Gabe played pretty well. I was going to have to go back pretty soon because we had a bunch of guys at four (fouls).”

SCOUT'S HONOR

The NBA scout broke down several other Iowa players, including Iowa's Aaron White. He lauded White's unique skills but questioned why he wasn't aggressive enough on offense.

It is inexplicable how White can go from assertive and dynamic in some games to at times passive in others. Against Villanova, White scored nine points on 2-of-4 shooting. White drilled a 3-pointer to put Iowa ahead 68-65 late in regulation but at times disappeared. He led the team in rebounding a year ago, but had only three against the Wildcats. He also had five turnovers.

In first halves against both Xavier and Villanova, he played 13 minutes and attempted only one shot. White was a major player last year in the Big Ten and earned third-team all-league honors. But against UTEP, he scored 10 points in the first half.

White is the Big Ten's best offensive big man in transition. But he needs to get more involved early on – whether it's organically or artificially – for Iowa to gain balance on offense.