Iowa MBB notes: Shooting guard, opening tip

IOWA CITY - It's no secret that Iowa needs more production from its shooting guards. Sophomore starter Peter Jok ranks sixth on the team in scoring at 6.2 points per game, while senior backup Josh Oglesby puts up only 3.7 points a game. It's maybe the sport's premier scoring position but both have struggled with consistency in replacing all-Big Ten guard Devyn Marble.

In Big Ten play, Jok owns just one game with double-digit points. He hits 33.3 percent from the field and from 3-point range. Oglesby averaged 6.6 points per game as Marble's backup last year and has 17 double-digit scoring games in his career. Twice last year he scored 17 points in a game. His career high was 24 points against Indiana as a freshman.

But Oglesby, a Cedar Rapids native, has lacked both production and attempts this year. Only twice in eight Big Ten games has he taken more than three shots. His eight-point effort was crucial in a road win at Ohio State, but in the last seven games he's averaged just 2.0 points in 22.0 minutes of action.

Jok averages 18.3 minutes, while Oglesby averages 20.8. Saturday, Oglesby played 23 minutes and shot only once.

'I think in Josh's case, it's a function of a couple of things,” Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery said. 'When Josh comes in the game, teams guard him very closely. He will not typically shoot a bad shot. The one shot he took (against Wisconsin), he was actually covered, and that's very rare for him, and he missed it. If you're up in his face, he's not going to shoot the ball. He's not that kind of shooter. He's not that kind of player. He's going to move it on. He's going to feed the post, he's going to swing it, he's going to move without it until he gets a better shot opportunity.

'I don't think it's anything more than that. I don't think it's a confidence thing. I understand why you would say that because his numbers aren't great. But he's just not that kind of player where he's going to come into the game and hunt shots and fire away regardless of how the other team is playing him. He's a team player and the reason why he played as many minutes as he did without shooting the ball that much is his defense was spectacular and he gives us solid play. There's going to be times when he catches fire, but he's not going to put up contested shots.”

Guards often are interchangeable in the Big Ten like Marble last year, who played both the point and shooting guard with regularity. If a team has a dynamic scorer at the point, often you might get a 3-point shooter or a lockdown defender at the two-guard. But in the Big Ten, it's primarily a scoring position.

Here's a look at the scoring production of the league's primary two-guards so far this season:

Illinois: Kendrick Nunn (10.9); Indiana: James Blackmon (16.5); Maryland: Dez Wells (13.5); Michigan: Caris LeVert (14.9 - injured); Michigan State: Bryn Forbes (9.8); Minnesota: Andre Hollins (14.5); Nebraska: Terran Petteway (18.6); Northwestern: Tre Demps (12.1); Ohio State: D'Angelo Russell (19.4); Penn State: D.J. Newbill (21.5); Purdue: Kendall Stephens (10.1); Rutgers: Bishop Daniels (7.8); Wisconsin: Josh Gasser (7.4).

To compare shooting guards from team-to-team is not always fair. Gasser isn't asked to take on a huge role because the Badgers boast the best frontcourt in possibly college basketball. Forbes is a complementary guard and 3-point specialist alongside Travis Trice and Denzel Valentine. Rutgers point guard Myles Mack is his team's go-to ballhandler and scorer. Illinois has lost Rayvonte Rice to an injury and suspension. But Iowa needs a consistent lift from that position going forward or it could struggle to reach its second consecutive NCAA tournament.

Opening Tip

Controversies have stuck to Iowa center Adam Woodbury recently like cat hair on a black Iowa sweat shirt. That's especially true after an 11-day, high-profile situation with ESPN Dan Dakich over whether Woodbury intentionally or inadvertently poked the eyes of two Wisconsin players on Jan. 20.

A lower-profile incident took place on Jan. 17 when Woodbury yanked the arm of Ohio State's Amir Williams in the opening tip. Iowa won possession, took a 9-0 lead and ultimately won the game.

'Iowa does what Wisconsin does. It's genius. It's the greatest thing I've ever seen,” <URL destination="http://buckeyextra.dispatch.com/content/blogs/hoops-and-scoops/2015/01/01-20-15-the-ol-jump-ball-trick.html">Ohio State Coach Thad Matta said on his radio show and reported by the Columbus Dispatch.

</URL>Woodbury has continued to win the tip that way, and did it against Wisconsin's Frank Kaminsky last Saturday. Woodbury jumped with his left arm and used his right arm to pull down Kaminsky's right arm.

McCaffery said Monday he had not heard from the Big Ten about his center's tactic. He added that only recently was he made aware of the situation.

'To be honest, I really didn't pay attention to it,” McCaffery said. 'It is something that has been brought to his attention. I said to him, I really never noticed it and that he did it and I told him to just jump up and try to win the jump ball. I said, ‘I don't know if you were doing it on purpose or on accident, but if you are doing it on purpose, stop it,' and he said, ‘OK.'

'I never taught him to do that. I think a lot of times in those situations, guys figure things out and do it and if they have success, they keep doing it. As I looked back on it, he didn't do it all the time. He did it a lot, and it wasn't until then that I heard about it. I don't think he's going to be doing it anymore.”

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