Uthoff looking to step up

NORTH LIBERTY — The skill set is there. It's always been there. Jarrod Uthoff's long arms and lengthy frame have more definition to them now, and his game suggests there's nothing that he can't do on a basketball court.

But last year's statistics suggested something different for the nearly 6-foot-10 Iowa junior small forward. Uthoff didn't start any games, but that wasn't part of the plan anyway. He flashed moments of athletic ability that indicated he was special. Then, inexplicably, he disappeared.

Uthoff admits he's a perfectionist, but at times his intense desire turned into a negative for himself and his team. Often he bypassed open shots to make one more pass. Sometimes, it worked. But he's a multifaceted scorer, and Uthoff believes he didn't live up to his ability. He seeks to rectify that this year.

'I'm trying to be more aggressive and actually shoot when I'm open,' Uthoff said. 'A lot of times in the season I'd pass up shots, thinking I'd get a better one or not really ready to shoot.

'I was way too timid.'

The primary transition for Uthoff starts with those mental road blocks. That has taken root in summer Prime Time League action. Scoring is the optimum for Uthoff, not passing. If he sees an open shot, he takes it. If he doesn't, he might attempt it anyway. Last night, for instance, Uthoff took perimeter shots even with a hand in his face. It didn't matter. Uthoff drilled 11 of 16 shots and scored 28 points.

'He poses a lot of difficulties playing against him,' Iowa center Adam Woodbury said. 'He makes really tough shots as you saw. The shots he was making were fairly contested. He just shot right over the top. He has a knack for doing that. I'm glad I didn't have to guard him; that's all I have to say.'

Shooting when he's not ready to set poses an awkward adjustment for Uthoff. But it's one he believes will elevate his game this winter.

'In the season I had to have my feet set, the laces right,' Uthoff said. 'I had to be confident because I didn't want to take a bad shot. I didn't want to be off balance, and I didn't want to let my teammates down. I feel more comfortable catching and shooting, that's going to be big for me.'

Uthoff, a Cedar Rapids Jefferson graduate and Wisconsin transfer, finished fourth in scoring (7.6), rebounding (4.6) and minutes (18.2) last year. But his numbers waned in Big Ten play, when he failed to score more than eight points in Iowa's final 14 regular-season games. He didn't score at all in the final two at Michigan State and against Illinois with eight missed shots.

Some of his problems weren't necessarily of his own making, however. Iowa was one of the nation's deepest teams and often rotated 11 players. Spreading minutes that thin often left a few players on the bench too long. Uthoff became that casualty at Michigan (nine minutes), against Ohio State (eight minutes), at Minnesota (seven) and against Illinois (eight).

'It was hard,' Uthoff said. 'Even though you're playing, you get in for a few minutes and then you come out. It's hard to get a rhythm going.

'I think it was tough for everyone. We had so many guys.'

But Uthoff challenged himself entering the Big Ten Tournament. Unlike his teammates, who floundered in a loss to Northwestern, Uthoff flourished. He scored 17 points on 5-of-6 shooting, including three 3-pointers. He also grabbed nine rebounds in 22 minutes. It was the type of game most expected from Uthoff throughout the season, especially after he scored in double digits 10 times in the team's first 17 games.

'I was more comfortable that game,' Uthoff said. 'I just came in there and had the mind-set of let it fly.'

With a 24.6-point scoring average in five PTL games, Uthoff embodies that mentality. Now, it's about translating it to Carver-Hawkeye Arena, which is what Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery told him in their postseason meeting.

'He told me to look forward to next year and told me to be more aggressive,' Uthoff said.

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