Jordan Bohannon becoming true point guard for Iowa

NORTH LIBERTY — Coming into Iowa, there were questions around whether or not Jordan Bohannon would be best used as a point guard or off the ball. Those weren't in his head, nor were they in Coach Fran McCaffery's, mind you, but they were out there.

Bohannon's outside shot, the role he played at Linn-Mar and his ability to defend point guards off the dribble in the Big Ten all were factors in those questions.

Through one season, whoever was asking those questions or was curious if he could be a true point guard at the Big Ten level has a resounding answer. Now into his second Prime Time League, Bohannon's focus — like any second-year point guard — is to become as well-rounded as he can.

A couple really good qualities can get you onto the Big Ten All-Freshman team. Several really good qualities can get you to All-Big Ten — oh, and your team to the NCAA Tournament.

'I'd like to say I am (a true point guard) because of the way I run the team (on the floor) and get them to the right spot, the amount of film I watch, the smarter I've gotten over the past year making the right reads,' Bohannon said. 'Obviously it takes a couple years to really establish yourself into that role, but I feel like this past year I really started to feel more comfortable with the ball and make the right plays.'

Bohannon averaged 10.9 points and 5.1 assists while shooting 38.8 percent from the field during his freshman campaign, but it was late in the season when he consistently played like an elite-level point guard.

After his 24-point, 8-of-10-from-3 barrage at Maryland, Bohannon then closed the season with three straight games of at least 19 points and 10 assists, with 24 and 10 against Indiana at the Big Ten Tournament, 19 and 11 against South Dakota in the NIT and 25 and 13 in the Hawkeyes' season-ending loss to TCU.

Bohannon said earlier this summer after a PTL game that the light sort of clicked in those final few games on how he could use certain parts of his game to his advantage.

He said the outside shot that he's had at his disposal for years could be a decoy, based on the fact that opposing guards realized they had to guard him starting at half court. Forcing the defender into making a choice of how they want to get beat is every guard's dream, and Bohannon said he felt like that was where he got in those final three games.

This summer has been an experiment of what exactly he'd pick to have as choices going forward.

'I'm pretty dominant with my right hand, so obviously my left hand, I've been working on that a lot with left-handed floaters, getting to the basket and changing hands at the basket,' Bohannon said. 'That's where the ability to get to the foul line comes to play because they can't guard me if I'm going either way.

'I've (also) watched guys in our league and how good they are on ball screens. That's something I want to do this year is be hard to guard off the ball screen because it's so hard to guard that.'

While considering that stats at the PTL rarely transfer over directly to the regular season, given the intensity of defense played, Bohannon's shooting percentages and the breakdown of the types of shots he's taking bare evidence to what he's saying.

He's 43 percent from the field and 48.2 percent from 3-point range, but also is 36.4 percent from inside the arc. Of his 100 shots taken in five PTL games, 44 have been in or around the lane, via layups and floaters with both hands.

Finding shots he hasn't always taken has been coupled with finding shots for his teammates, which is something he's always prided himself in being able to do well. Bohannon said becoming a true point guard — especially one in the Big Ten — means executing in the pick and roll.

If the questions shift from 'can he do it?' to 'can he do it again?' then Bohannon wants to be ready to answer again.

'You can obviously tell we've been doing a lot of that at Prime Time,' Bohannon said. 'That's one of my focuses because I believe I can get it to the right guy at the right time because of my basketball IQ. I'm able to make the right read at the right time, whether it's dropping off to the roll guy or dropping off to the replace guy or pulling up for a jump shot. It's hard to guard that, especially with the team we're going to have this year.'

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