Watch out, Golden State

On multiple occasions at Iowa basketball’s media day, players and coaches drew comparisons between the Hawkeyes and the reigning NBA Champions.

“We’re going to have five guys on the floor – kind of like Golden State, how they play in the NBA,” sophomore point guard Jordan Bohannon said. “Everybody can shoot the ball and it spaces the floor.”

Head coach Fran McCaffery dished out the Warrior comparisons as well.

“[Bohannon] reminded me a lot of Steph Curry when you watch him play,” he said. “He can pull the jumper right in your face. He’s fearless. He’s got unbelievable range.”

Tyler Cook: shot-blocker extraordinaire

Tyler Cook put in work this offseason to refine his all-around play offensively, but McCaffery took note of his improvement on the defensive side of the ball.

“I think you’ll see a different shot blocking presence in Cook this year,” he said.

Last season, Cook blocked 11 shots.

Weapons on Deck

Iowa only lost one starter last year, so the offensive weapons are piling up for the Hawkeyes.

It returns three starters including Bohannon, Cook, and Isaiah Moss, as well as Nicholas Baer and Cordell Pemsl off the bench, and incoming freshmen Luka Garza and Jack Nunge.

The surplus of talent means McCaffrey has plenty of players to choose from, especially early in the season.

“Every practice you have to give your all, pretty much every play,” Nunge said. “When you sub out, the next guy coming in, he’s still a great player. You can’t just take any plays off.”

Sixth Man like Nicholas Baer?

In his time at Iowa, Baer has been known as a spark plug off the bench.

A player who does everything on the floor, Baer earned himself some starts last year, but that might not happen this year.

Baer said he prefers to start, but his head coach wants what’s best for the team.

“He probably deserves a start, and that’s typically what I’ve done,” McCaffrey said. “We’ve got some other guys that are really playing well, so we could give ourselves that instant spark off the bench in Nicholas Baer, who was clearly the best player in the Big Ten in that capacity last year.”

– Adam Hensley and Pete Ruden

Click below for more photos

[masterslider id=”117″]