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Iowa Basketball: Where do the Hawkeyes need to improve for 2018-19?

By Lukas Harkins

NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 28: The Iowa Hawkeyes bench reacts in the second half against the Illinois Fighting Illini during the Big Ten Basketball Tournament at Madison Square Garden on February 28, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 28: The Iowa Hawkeyes bench reacts in the second half against the Illinois Fighting Illini during the Big Ten Basketball Tournament at Madison Square Garden on February 28, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images) /
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NEW YORK, NY – FEBRUARY 28: Bohannon #3 of the Iowa Hawkeyes high fives. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY – FEBRUARY 28: Bohannon #3 of the Iowa Hawkeyes high fives. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images) /

2. Let it fly from beyond the arc

Should a top-60 3-point shooting team by percentage really rank 222nd in the nation in trifectas attempted? I don’t think so. In order for the Hawkeyes to maximize the talents of the players on the roster, they might need to embrace the new age of hoops and let it fly from deep. There are a lot of really deadly shooting teams in college basketball and Iowa could be in that group next year if some players step up.

Let me preface this by saying no blame goes to point guard Jordan Bohannon. The 6’1″ guard consistently lets it fly from deep. In fact, he averaged 6.8 3-point attempts per game this past season and made opponents pay with his 43.0% clip from deep. It is hard to improve much on those numbers (although his 40.3% shooting from inside the arc could be better).

Bohannon was the best shooter both in volume and percentage last season but he has other quality shooters around him. Most notably, players like Luke Garza (34.8%), Isaiah Moss (38.6%), and Maishe Dailey (38.9%) combined to shoot an average of 7.4 3-pointer per game. Given their lethality from beyond the arc, these players should naturally take more shots next season.

In addition, top-100 recruit Joe Wieskamp is coming in. The 6’4″ shooting guard is a solid 3-point threat (34%) who scored at will at the high school level. He is the highest-rated recruit to commit to Iowa. If Iowa starts to shoot the three with more regularity as a team, the high-volume shooters like Bohannon (and even Moss to an extent) will get better looks and the team can be more efficient overall.

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