Hoops snapshot: Iowa men's basketball after 5 games

In a year of transition, the only constant so far for the Iowa men's basketball team is its inconsistency.

The team is 2-3 and has beaten an SEC team (Alabama), yet lost to Long Beach State, which was 17-16 last year. The minutes are all over the place, as is the production. Such is the life for a team with a new coach in Fran McCaffery, a shift in philosophy and basically six new players contributing key minutes. It's hardly unexpected.

After five games, there are plenty of questions for McCaffery. After five games, I'm not sure he (or anyone else for that matter) has the answers. But here's a look at the pressing issues surrounding the basketball program two weeks into the season. 

1. Is there a point guard controversy brewing? Now, basketball is much different from football when it comes to playing time. Backups play more often in basketball, and the only issue about starts is the "GS" column for season-ending statistics. Minutes matter more than starts.

At Iowa, point guards Cully Payne and Bryce Cartwright have split time this year almost down to the minute. Payne, a returning sophomore, has taken each start but has struggled from the field, hitting just 28.6 percent of his shots and averaging just 3.8 points a game. His assist-to-turnover ratio has been strong, however, at 17-to-8.

Cartwright, a junior-college transfer, has yet to start but is the team's third-leading scorer at 9 points a game. He is hitting 38.3 percent of his shots but has 14 assists to 13 turnovers. He has outscored Payne in three games and tied him in the other two games

Cartwright has played seven more minutes than Payne in the team's first five games, but the greatest disparity came in the fifth game against Long Beach State. Cartwright had 17 points to Payne's none. Cartwright played 30 minutes to Payne's 13. Payne had a couple of early fouls, but Cartwright stepped in and hit 8-of-16 shots and had only three turnovers.

This scenario gets tricky for McCaffery if Cartwright's numbers continue to dwarf Payne's production. Payne started every game last year, is a team leader, is well-liked by his teammates and a tri-captain. But winning is paramount for a program that hasn't played postseason basketball for four consecutive years. This situation bears watching as Iowa plays at Wake Forest, then meets in-state competition the second week of December.

2. What's the postscript? Iowa's four primary post players have logged inconsistent minutes and have produced mixed results in Iowa's first five games. Senior tri-captain Jarryd Cole started strong with 17 points, eight rebounds and 30 minutes against South Dakota State. In the past four games Cole has combined for 17 points and an average of 19 minutes. Red-shirt junior Devon Archie didn't play in the opener, posted a double-double against Xavier (10 points, 11 rebounds), but has produced only four points and seven rebounds in the last two games. Freshman Melsahn Basabe averages nearly 20 mintues a game and has had one 10-point game and one game with no points. Junior Andrew Brommer has had two games of six points and two games of zero points.

The verdict after five games? This position is a work in progress. That's the postscript. 

3. Mount McCaffery erupts. McCaffery already has been hit with two technical fouls this year, one more than Iowa had the entire 2009-10 season. In two other games he has blown up at officials or hit clipboards. Five games into his campaign, it's undetermined if McCaffery's fiery enthusiasm is a much-needed wake-up call for the basketball program or will become a detriment if it's a common occurrence. We shall see.

4. Bench points, minutes rise. More than half of Iowa's points the last two games have come from bench contributors. Against Long Beach State, Iowa's reserves scored 42 of the Hawkeyes' 72 points.  Cartwright, freshman guard Devyn Marble and freshman forward Zach McCabe each played more than half the game against Long Beach State, with Cartwright and McCabe each posting 30-plus minutes. Two of the team's three leading scorers -- McCabe and Cartwright -- primarily come off the bench.

5. Gatens' impact upon return. Gatens, a junior tri-captain, had a solid debut against Xavier, scoring 15 points and dishing three assists in 27 minutes. He followed with four points in 34 minutes against Alabama and four points in 20 minutes against Long Beach State. One wonders how much Gatens' surgery on his left hand just three weeks before his first game has impacted his play. One thing is for certain; if it's bothering him, he'll never tell anyone about it.

UP NEXT: Iowa plays host to Southern Illinois-Edwardsville (2-3, plays at UMKC on Wednesday night) at 5:35 p.m. Friday.