DI reporters Will McDavid and Nick Steffen debate three points heading into the Game Time League’s season-opener tonight.
Buy or Sell: Sam Logic will record a double-double in her 2014 Game Time début
McDavid: Buy. An All-Big Ten first-team performer, Logic orchestrated the conference’s most potent offense, posting a league-high 7.5 assists per game. In Game Time play last summer, she was even more impressive, nearly averaging a triple-double.
Her outstanding court vision and unselfishness make her a constant double-double threat, but pairing her with versatile forward Ali Browning in Game Time play practically ensures this outcome.
Steffen: Buy. Logic has performed exceptionally the last three years, earning 24 double-doubles in her career at Iowa.
Every year Iowa Logic gets better — she garnered three of her four triple-doubles last year alone. In 18 of the Racine, Wisconsin, native’s career games she has dished out double-digit assists.
Logic was named an honorable mention All-American by the Associated Press this past season as well as earning a host of other honors. Look for Logic to continue to do very well this summer.
Buy or Sell: The top performer in Game Time’s opening week will be a non-Iowa player.
McDavid: Buy. Sort of. While Logic enters the Game Time League as its most highly regarded participant, incoming freshman Whitney Jennings — who hasn’t played for Iowa yet — will deliver the week’s most impressive performance.
At Logansport High School, Indiana, Jennings submitted one of the most spectacular statistical seasons in the state’s history of basketball, posting averages of 32 points per game, 7.4 assists per game, 8 rebounds per game, and 1.1 blocks per game as a senior.
While opposing coaches will plan for big names such as Logic, Jennings enters Wednesday’s competition well under the radar, a condition she will be more than ready to exploit.
For now, opposing defenses remain blissfully unaware of Indiana’s Gatorade Player of the Year. By the end of Wednesday’s games, Jennings will have shown them the error of their ways.
Steffen: Sell. Logic, the Game Time No. 1 draft pick, will be the top performer Wednesday.
She’s entering her senior year at Iowa with four triple-doubles (second in career triple-doubles in Big Ten history) and 24 double-doubles. She also has 622 career assists, more than any other Hawkeye. That ranks ninth in Big Ten history.
She started all 36 regular-season games last year and was the Big Ten’s Player of the Week three times and named to the Big Ten Honor Roll five times.
Buy or Sell: Game Time will have a new MVP in 2014.
McDavid: Sell. Jennings and Browning will give reigning co-MVPs Logic and Melissa Dixon a run for their money, but at least one of the incumbents will retain the Game Time crown.
Dixon’s league-leading 33 points per game last year and Logic’s nearly triple-double averages of 29 points, 8 assists, and nearly 12 rebounds make the two Iowa returnees prohibitive favorites.
Despite the presence of a bevy of talented athletes, none will match the consistent excellence of Iowa’s two outstanding upperclassmen.
Steffen: Sell. With last years co-MVPs returning, it is most likely that this year’s MVP will be chosen between the two of them. Both have impressive stats — Dixon with 210 career 3-pointers — and Logic with all of the accolades we’ve both mentioned so far.
Watch out for both Hawkeyes.