Tag: Luka Garza

247Sports tabs Iowa Hawkeyes’ Patrick McCaffery as potential 2022-23 breakout star

247Sports’ Isaac Trotter listed Iowa forward Patrick McCaffery as one of his potential breakout stars for the 2022-23 basketball season.

With Kansas’ 72-69 rally over North Carolina in the NCAA Tournament’s national championship game, the 2021-22 college basketball season is officially a wrap. While Iowa’s stay in March Madness was an abbreviated one, the season itself was a big surprise to many prognosticators.

Iowa was picked to finish ninth by the league’s media entering last season. With Iowa replacing national player of the year [autotag]Luka Garza[/autotag], it made sense why some media members might be down on the Hawkeyes at the beginning of this past season.

Instead of the projected ninth-place finish, Iowa wound up ending the Big Ten regular season with a 12-8 league mark to earn the No. 5 seed in the Big Ten Tournament. Of course, the Hawkeyes went on to win the Big Ten Tournament by dispatching of then-No. 9 Purdue in the championship game, 75-66.

Sophomore forward [autotag]Keegan Murray[/autotag] emerged as one of the nation’s best players, upping his points per game average by more than 16 points. Murray averaged 23.5 points and 8.7 rebounds per game to place himself in the conversation for all of the major national player of the year awards.

Now, with Murray having declared for the 2022 NBA draft and guard [autotag]Jordan Bohannon[/autotag] having exhausted his eligibility, Iowa finds itself in similar circumstances to the beginning of last season. Plenty of analysts will be expecting a step backwards for Iowa given the production the Hawkeyes are losing.

That means more opportunities for those returning to campus, though, and Iowa will be hoping for a pair of forwards to make significant leaps during the 2022-23 men’s college basketball season. [autotag]Kris Murray[/autotag] and [autotag]Patrick McCaffery[/autotag] are both great candidates to make serious strides entering next season. In fact, 247Sports writer Isaac Trotter included McCaffery as one of his potential breakout stars for next season.

Kris Murray is going to be the trendy pick to step up for Iowa after Keegan Murray’s departure for the NBA. Kris Murray is going to be a star, but McCaffery could also be one, too. McCaffery really had a polished offensive game. His usage rate should get a big bump next year, and the 6-foot-9 forward will form a powerful 1-2 punch with Kris Murray. – Trotter, 247Sports.

Again, both Murray and McCaffery will be popular picks to take steps forward in their production. Murray averaged 9.7 points and 4.3 rebounds per game in just 17.9 minutes of floor time on average. Meanwhile, McCaffery was one of Iowa’s three players to average double-figure scoring last year. McCaffery averaged 10.5 points and 3.6 rebounds per game in 24.2 minutes of floor time on average.

It’s easy to see both Murray and McCaffery seriously improving upon their averages from this past season. Beyond that, Iowa will need to add some talent from the transfer portal to go along with the pair of three-star guards the Hawkeyes are bringing in. According to 247Sports, Iowa signed three-star point guard [autotag]Dasonte Bowen[/autotag] from Brewster Academy in New Hampshire and three-star shooting guard [autotag]Josh Dix[/autotag] from Abraham Lincoln High School in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

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Iowa basketball commit Owen Freeman impresses at NY2LA Swish N’ Dish

247Sports reporter Brandon Jenkins mentioned Iowa commit Owen Freeman as one of the players that impressed at the NY2LA Swish N’ Dish.

Iowa men’s basketball head coach [autotag]Fran McCaffery[/autotag] and his teams have won at least 20 games each of the past four seasons. Sophomore Keegan Murray emerged as a national player of the year candidate this past season, averaging 23.5 points and 8.7 rebounds per game.

The Hawkeyes rode the stardom of [autotag]Keegan Murray[/autotag] and a talented supporting cast that included the Big Ten’s all-time 3-pointers leader in [autotag]Jordan Bohannon[/autotag] to a Big Ten tournament title and a 26-10 overall record. The season ended with another disappointing NCAA Tournament flameout against the 12th-seeded Richmond Spiders, 67-63.

Still, it was quite the season for a team that was replacing the 2020-21 season’s national player of the year in [autotag]Luka Garza[/autotag]. In order to keep the good times rolling, McCaffery and his staff need to continue to lure top talent to Iowa City.

It appears that the Hawkeyes are doing just that with class of 2023 power forward [autotag]Owen Freeman[/autotag]. The 6-foot-10, 220 pound power forward is rated as the No. 83 player nationally and the No. 11 power forward in the 2023 class according to the 247Sports composite rankings. Freeman took part in the NY2LA’s annual Swish N’ Dish event.

247Sports reporter Brandon Jenkins mentioned Freeman as one of Friday night’s eye-catchers.

Fran McCaffery has found a potential go-to guy on the inside in Owen Freeman. He has excellent hands and touch around the basket and combines it with solid footwork and a will to battle for success on each low post possession. It was good to see him taking advantage of his size yesterday evening as he finds joy playing around the basket. He projects as another big man target Iowa will go through when a quick two points are needed. – Jenkins, 247Sports.

It’s great to hear that McCaffery and company appear to have found another talented scorer on the inside. Freeman is currently the only player committed to the Hawkeyes in the 2023 class. Iowa signed a pair of players in the 2022 class, three-star point guard Dasonte Bowen out of Brewster Academy in New Hampshire and three-star shooting guard Josh Dix from Abraham Lincoln High School in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

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Iowa Hawkeyes’ Keegan Murray named Naismith Trophy finalist

After sophomore Keegan Murray averaged 23.5 points and 8.7 rebounds per game, the star forward was named a Naismith Trophy finalist.

Iowa sophomore forward Keegan Murray had a season for the ages. After averaging 23.5 points and 8.7 rebounds per game, Murray was named one of four finalists for the Naismith Trophy.

The 6-foot-8, 225 pound native of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, joins Kansas senior guard Ochai Agbaji, Wisconsin sophomore guard Johnny Davis and Kentucky junior forward Oscar Tshiebwe. The award is presented annually to  recognize the nation’s most outstanding men’s college basketball player. With Murray’s inclusion among the finalists, it now marks three consecutive seasons that the Hawkeyes have had a Naismith Trophy finalist.

Luka Garza was also a finalist during the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons. Of course, Garza won the Naismith Trophy last season after 24.1 points, 8.7 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.6 blocks per game. Garza shot 55.3 percent from the field and 44.0 percent from 3-point range last season with the Hawkeyes.

Murray’s 23.5 points per game ranked fourth nationally and was tops among power-five players. His 8.7 rebounds per game ranked second in the Big Ten behind only Illinois junior center Kofi Cockburn. Murray recorded 26 games where he eclipsed 20 points and 16 games where he surpassed 25 points.

He increased his points per game average from last season by more than 16 points per game. Illinois’ Rick Schmidt was the last Big Ten player to increase their points per game average by more than 16 points per game from one season to the next. Schmidt accomplished that feat back in the 1973-74 season. Murray also averaged 1.9 blocks, 1.5 assists and 1.3 steals per game and shot 55.4 percent from the field and 39.8 percent on 3-point attempts.

Murray became Iowa’s fourth consensus first-team All-American, joining Murray Wier (1948), Charles Darling (1952) and Garza (2020 and 2021). Murray totaled a Big Ten Tournament record 103 points, averaging 25.8 points in the Hawkeyes’ four Big Ten Tournament games en route to the program’s third tournament title. The sophomore star earned Big Ten Tournament Most Outstanding Player for his efforts in the tournament.

Murray also registered a program-best six Big Ten Player of the Week awards this season. That feat meant Murray joined Ohio State’s Evan Turner and Purdue’s Caleb Swanigan as the only players in league history to win the weekly award six or more times in a single season since the honor was introduced in the 1981-82 season.

Murray is also a Wooden Award semifinalist, was named to the Lute Olson National Player of the Year midseason list and is a Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year finalist.

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Iowa Hawkeyes men’s basketball NCAA Tournament history

Fifth-seeded Iowa tips off against No. 12 seed Richmond on Thursday. What does the rest of Iowa’s NCAA Tournament history look like?

Iowa (26-9, 12-8 Big Ten) is back into the NCAA Tournament after punching its ticket with a Big Ten Tournament championship win over Purdue, 75-66. The fifth-seeded Hawkeyes will face No. 12 seed Richmond (23-12, 10-8 Atlantic 10) in the NCAA Tournament’s first round from the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, N.Y.

After winning four games in four days to capture the Big Ten Tournament title, Iowa has emerged as a trendy pick to perhaps come out of the Midwest region and reach the Final Four. As far as those expectations go, Iowa head men’s basketball coach Fran McCaffery knows the Hawkeyes can’t get ahead of themselves.

“The only way we handle that is to specifically focus on the next game and not look too far ahead or not think too much about all of the talk around what’s possible. I think you have to take care of the present. That’s what we’re trying to do,” McCaffery said to reporters ahead of Iowa’s NCAA Tournament date versus Richmond.

With sophomore forward Keegan Murray leading the way, Iowa has a chance to make a serious run in this year’s edition of March Madness. Murray was recently named first-team All-America by the Associated Press after a season in which he has averaged 23.6 points per game.

“For me, it was really just putting my head down and not listening to what anyone had to say about me. I feel like if I listened to other people’s opinions, I wouldn’t be here right now. For me and my brother, we really just worked in silence. We worked out with each other a lot and got each other better, and I think that was one of the key things that allowed me to have my run this year and also last year, my ascension. I just credit the hard work and the people that have been around me and stuck with me,” Murray said of his breakout season.

Iowa certainly hopes it’s a memorable 28th NCAA Tournament appearance. What has the rest of Iowa’s NCAA Tournament history looked like? Here’s the full history.

Luka Garza’s first double-double helps Pistons players make history

Garza, along with Saddiq Bey and Hamidou Diallo, accomplished something no teammates have done in 50 years.

Saddiq Bey on Saturday drained a go-ahead 3-pointer with 1.9 seconds left in overtime to send the Detroit Pistons to a victory over the San Antonio Spurs and snap a four-game losing streak.

Bey finished with 21 points and 17 rebounds while Hamidou Diallo scored a game-high 34 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Pistons during the 117-116 win. Pistons rookie Luka Garza had 20 points and a career-high 14 rebounds for his second 20-point game.

With Bey, Diallo and Garza each recording at least 20 points and 14 rebounds, they became just the third trio of teammates to reach those numbers in the same game in the past 50 years.

Garza recently stepped into the rotation with the Pistons dealing with a lengthy injury report with players banged up and in the health and safety protocol. He has started in each of the past three games, averaging 14.7 points and 9.7 rebounds over that span.

Detroit is in mostly a developmental role this season and has had the opportunity to get extended looks at several players on the roster, including Garza. He has played sparingly this season but has flashed his potential this week in an increased role.

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‘It was a dream come true’: Luka Garza thankful for first NBA start

Garza called it a dream come true to start in his first NBA game on Tuesday as the Pistons were without Isaiah Stewart.

Luka Garza called it a dream come true to start in his first NBA game on Tuesday as the Detroit Pistons hosted the Miami Heat at Little Caesars Arena.

The Pistons were forced to turn to Garza with Isaiah Stewart out following a two-game suspension for his role in an on-court altercation with LeBron James on Sunday. The contest was the first for the Pistons since facing the Los Angeles Lakers.

Garza responded by producing seven points, three rebounds and two assists during the 100-92 loss to the Heat. He battled through some foul trouble, logging only 17 minutes, and scored all seven of his points in the second quarter on consecutive possessions.

Pistons head coach Dwane Casey liked the physicality Garza brought.

I thought Luka did a good job. I thought he came in and gave us some size, rebounding and some toughness in the paint. We were down a big man and don’t like playing Jerami there but it gives us some speed, quickness and scoring. They competed.

The appearance by Garza was only his ninth of the season and first logging significant meaningful time in the first half after previously only playing in mop-up duty. The team has often used him in the NBA G League in order to get him minutes with playing time at a premium.

Garza had been looking forward to starting in the NBA for a long time.

It was a dream come true. When you grow up, you think about starting every game in the NBA and to actually do it is an unreal feeling. I just wish I could have stayed out of foul trouble a little bit more and been able to be out there and help the team.

Following the loss to the Heat, the Pistons will have a quick turnaround and begin a five-game road trip on Wednesday in Milwaukee. Garza will likely start once again as Stewart finishes up his suspension following his actions on Sunday.

The team likes what Garza can bring to the table on a nightly basis and it will certainly need that once again from him with a shorthanded roster on Wednesday night.

This post originally appeared on Rookie Wire! Follow us on Facebook!

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Pistons’ Luka Garza could see more time after Kelly Olynyk injury

Garza has played sparingly with the Pistons to start the season but that could change following the injury to Olynyk.

Luka Garza has played sparingly with the Detroit Pistons to start the season but that could change following the recent news of the injury to center Kelly Olynyk.

The Pistons on Thursday announced that Olynyk will be reevaluated in six weeks after an MRI revealed a Grade 2 MCL sprain in his left knee. He initially suffered the injury in the fourth quarter on Wednesday against the Houston Rockets.

With Olynyk out, Garza will likely see a larger role moving forward.

Garza has logged just five appearances with the Pistons and has even played two games with the Motor City Cruise in the NBA G League to get additional time. On Thursday, Garza recorded 22 points and nine rebounds with the Cruise, his second 20-point game.

The Pistons recalled Garza from the Cruise following the contest.

Garza will likely now have the opportunity to see more playing time with the Pistons now that Olynyk is down. He has impressed with his decision-making and ability to score in the paint and from outside, and that will now be brought to the Pistons.

Detroit will face the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday at 7:30 p.m. EST.

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Dwane Casey explains what Pistons want from Luka Garza in G League

Garza neared a double-double in his debut with the Motor City Cruise on Saturday in their G League season opener.

Detroit Pistons rookie Luka Garza neared a double-double on Saturday in his debut with the Motor City Cruise during their regular-season opener in the NBA G League.

Garza finished with 24 points, nine rebounds and two assists in 34 minutes of work in a 140-117 win over the Cleveland Charge. He converted on 8-of-17 shot attempts from the field, including 2-of-5 from 3-point range, during his first contest with the Cruise.

Saben Lee led the Cruise with 42 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.

Pistons head coach Dwane Casey on Sunday called it a great opportunity for Garza, Lee and the rest of the team assignees to play with the Cruise. Casey explained what the team wants to see from Garza, along with Lee, with Motor City.

His screening, rolling and shooting. Luka is an excellent 3-point shooter and his decision-making. Once he catches the ball in the pocket and the same with Saben — running the floor, continuing to move the ball, find the open guy. … Saben is a tough kid, same as Luka. Those things from those two young men are going to be huge for them, which, in turn, is going to help us.

With playing time limited in Detroit, Garza will have the opportunity to see extended minutes with the Cruise throughout the season and continue his development. He certainly had a strong debut on Saturday, something that he can build on moving forward.

Motor City returns to action on Thursday vs. the Wisconsin Herd.

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Pistons’ Luka Garza assigned to Motor City Cruise in G League

Garza is averaging 3.3 points and 1.3 rebounds in 8.1 minutes over his four appearances with the Pistons this season.

On Monday, the Detroit Pistons announced that they assigned second-round pick Luka Garza to the Motor City Cruise, their affiliate in the NBA G League.

Pistons guard Saben Lee and forward Isaiah Livers will also join the Cruise.

Detroit opted to send Garza to the Cruise after playing sparingly to this point of the season. He is averaging 3.3 points and 1.3 rebounds in 8.1 minutes over his four appearances. He has mostly played in mop-up duty and hasn’t been a part of the rotation.

The opportunity to play with the Cruise will ensure Garza can log extended time in scrimmages and practices. With the Cruise playing in Detroit this season, Garza will likely make a few appearances throughout the year in the G League.

The Pistons wanted to make it a priority to have their G League affiliate located closer to Detroit to allow players the opportunity to practice and play extended minutes. With playing time at a minimum, Garza will have the chance to develop his game with the Cruise.

The Cruise tip off the regular season on Saturday vs. the Cleveland Charge.

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Pistons’ Luka Garza reacts to scoring first points in the NBA

Garza on Saturday made his regular-season debut and had the opportunity to score his first points in the NBA.

Detroit Pistons rookie Luka Garza on Saturday made his official regular-season debut on the road versus the Chicago Bulls and had the opportunity to score his first points in the NBA.

With the Pistons down 27 points, Garza checked into the game just a few minutes into the fourth quarter. He would finish with three points, two rebounds, two steals and one assist in six minutes of work during the 97-82 loss to the Bulls.

Garza registered his first point in a rather unique manner. He notched it at the free-throw line after Bulls center Nikola Vucevic was assessed a flagrant foul when he mistakenly caught Garza in the face with his left elbow.

He later got his first basket on a putback layup with 4:17 left in the game.

“Obviously, I would want it to come in a better circumstance when we’re not down by 20 but, obviously, it’s just a surreal moment to be here and be on this stage,” Garza said. “In the moment when you’re down, it’s not really important, but I’ll always be able to look back on that.”

Garza will likely spend much of the season in a developmental role but could eventually see time on the court in certain situations. With the Pistons rebuilding, Garza will be part of a promising young core that could turn Detroit into a team on the rise over the next several seasons.

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